World News for Students of English

23-09-2026 07:00

Musician Ed Sheeran is facing serious problems on his American tour after all of his opening artists quit. The trouble started when rapper Macklemore showed pictures of war and called for a free Palestine during a concert.

The billionaire owner of the stadium told Sheeran to remove Macklemore or cancel his shows. Sheeran let Macklemore leave because he wanted to save jobs for his crew members, but other musicians were angry about this decision. They left the tour because they believe artists should speak freely.

At his first solo concert in Philadelphia, Sheeran spoke directly to the crowd. He apologized for his mistakes and called the situation in Gaza catastrophic and wrong. Sheeran will now play all the remaining big concerts completely alone with just his guitar.

Difficult words: remove (to take someone or something away from a position, place, or job), solo (done by one person alone without help from others), catastrophic (when something causes great damage or suffering).

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