レアジョブ英会話 Daily News Article Podcast

Osaka has received a hefty gift of gold bars worth 560 million yen ($3.6 million) from an anonymous donor asking for its specific use: to fix the Japanese city's dilapidated water pipes. The gold bars weighing 21 kilograms (46 pounds) in total were given to the Osaka City Waterworks Bureau in November by the donor who wants to help improve aging water pipes, Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama told reporters. "It's a staggering amount, and I was speechless," Yokoyama said. "Tackling aging water pipes requires a huge investment, and I cannot thank you enough for the donation." The mayor said his city will respect the donor's...

Burger King is testing AI-powered headsets that can recite recipes, alert managers when inventories are low, and even track how friendly employees are to customers. Restaurant Brands International—the Miami-based company that owns Burger King, Popeyes, and other brands—said it's currently testing the OpenAI-powered headsets in 500 U.S. restaurants. The system collects data on restaurant operations and shares it via “Patty,” a voice that talks to employees through their headsets. If the drink machine is low on Diet Coke, Patty will tell the store's manager. If a customer uses a QR code to report a messy bathroom, the manager will be...

Tampa International Airport said on social media that it wanted to ban people from wearing pajamas at the Florida facility. No, it wasn't being serious. A post on the airport's official X account said that after successfully going "Crocs-free," Tampa International had "seen enough" of pajamas. "The madness stops today. The movement starts now," reads the post, which had been viewed 5.7 million times by mid-afternoon Eastern time and generated a debate about airport attire in the comments. Beau Zimmer, an airport spokesperson, told The Associated Press the post was part of the airport's longstanding social media persona—a tongue-in-cheek voice it...

For some young children in Columbus, Ohio, reading assessments don't start in the kindergarten classroom—they happen first in the doctor's office. With concerns rising about lagging childhood literacy rates across the country, Nationwide Children's Hospital has begun screening children's literacy skills starting at age 3 during pediatrician visits. The idea is to catch reading struggles early on and guide parents on how to help their kids. "They are all doing developmental screenings, they're all talking to parents repeatedly," said Sara Bode, the hospital's medical director of school-based health. "So this is an opportunity." The pediatric hospital chose clinics to provide th...

A Massachusetts couple who were subjected to threats and bizarre anonymous deliveries—including unwanted packages and disturbing items—by former eBay Inc. employees reached a settlement in their lawsuit against the company. In their 2021 lawsuit filed in Boston federal court, David and Ina Steiner said that the company engaged in a conspiracy to intimidate and harass them in order to “stifle their reporting on eBay.” The Natick residents, who run EcommerceBytes, an online newsletter focused on the e-commerce industry, said they were subjected to cyberstalking, death threats, and in-person surveillance by former eBay workers. The terms of the settlement were not disc...

The Pokémon Europe International Championships drew more than 7,000 competitors from 70 countries to London, making it Europe's largest e-sports tournament. The event showcased how the franchise has evolved from a 1990s Game Boy title into a global entertainment phenomenon. Judges formed a guard of honor to welcome players to the tournament floor, applauding as they entered the competition area. The championship trophy was on display, waiting for the eventual winner. A giant Pikachu hung from the event center ceiling, suspended high above the competition area below. Presenters introduced the opening ceremony on large screens positioned throughout the venue. The Pikachu m...

As the use of artificial intelligence surges across the globe, the technology is steadily gaining ground in India. Businesses, start-ups, and individuals are experimenting with new ways to improve efficiency and scale. The Indian government is also rolling out national initiatives to fund research and train workers in the field of AI. That push was displayed at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, which was attended by heads of state, senior officials, and technology executives. With nearly a billion internet users, India has also become a key focus for global tech companies to scale their AI businesses in...

The grandson of the inventor of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups has lashed out at The Hershey Co., accusing the candy company of hurting the Reese's brand by shifting to cheaper ingredients in many products. Hershey acknowledged some recipe changes but said that it was trying to meet consumer demand for innovation. High cocoa prices have also led Hershey and other manufacturers to experiment with using less chocolate in recent years. Brad Reese said in a February 14 letter to Hershey's corporate brand manager that for multiple Reese's products, the company replaced milk chocolate with compound coatings and peanut butter with peanut...

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to drop its longtime standard of requiring two rigorous studies to win approval for new drugs, the latest change from Trump administration officials vowing to speed up the availability of certain medical products. Going forward, the FDA's “default position” will be to require one study for new drugs and other novel health products, FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary and a top deputy, Dr. Vinay Prasad, wrote in a piece published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The announcement is the latest example of Makary and his team changing long-standing FDA standards and proc...

If you daydream about getting a break from work, you might picture two weeks of vacation or a long weekend getaway. But some people dare to imagine something bigger and find ways to get a substantial breather from stress or their day-to-day routines. Mini-sabbaticals. Adult gap years. Micro-retirement. Extended career breaks go by many names and take many forms, from using the time between jobs to explore, to taking an employer-approved leave, to becoming a digital nomad or saving up for a month-long adventure. Creating space for a reset, whether mental, physical, or spiritual, is the common thread. Cost, personal...

An ambitious universal childcare program aimed at fully footing the bill for working families across New Mexico is being enshrined into law, with state legislators making good on promises by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to make the state the first in the nation to offer such a program to families of all income levels. As parents across the nation grapple with crippling daycare bills that threaten to keep them at home and out of the workforce, political leaders from New York to San Francisco have been angling to expand access to free and subsidized care. The political stakes are...

The Dutch branch of French-based luxury goods maker Louis Vuitton has agreed to pay half a million euros ($595,000) in an out-of-court settlement linked to a money laundering investigation, the Netherlands's national public prosecution office announced. Prosecutors said the fashion house did not adhere to a law aimed at preventing money laundering and terrorism financing when a 36-year-old woman allegedly repeatedly used different names as she spent cash “on luxury goods at retailers such as Louis Vuitton.” The woman is suspected of spending more than 2 million euros in criminal proceeds from August 2021 to February 2023. “Louis Vuitton violated the Money Laundering and Terror...

The famous New Orleans Mardi Gras sees revelers come from far and wide to watch the lavish parades roll through the historic US city. In the narrow streets of the old French Quarter, raucous and continuous street parties take over. Traditionally, items like plastic beads are thrown from the parade floats to the watching crowds. Once made of glass and cherished by parade spectators who were lucky enough to catch them, today cheap plastic bead necklaces from overseas are tossed from floats by the handful. Spectators sometimes pile dozens around their necks, but many are trashed or left on the...

Romance in Zimbabwe is taking strikingly inventive forms, reflecting life in an economy where cash reigns supreme and sustainability gains new social value. You can’t buy love, the saying goes. But from florists in traditional markets to social media sellers angling for attention on TikTok, dollar bills rolled and pinned together to resemble a floral bouquet are increasingly rivaling fresh flowers as Valentine's Day’s most coveted tokens of appreciation in the southern African country. “Please God, make my lover see this,” commented one TikTok user under a video advertising glittering cash-and-flower arrangements. “May this bouquet locate me in Jesus name...

Highlights from a trove of more than 200 love letters that tell the story of a couple's courtship and marriage during World War II are now on display digitally through the Nashville Public Library, offering an intimate picture of love during wartime. The letters by William Raymond Whittaker and Jane Dean were found in a Nashville home that had belonged to Jane and her siblings. They were donated in 2016 to the Metro Nashville Archives. Whittaker, who went by Ray, was from New Rochelle, New York. He moved to the Tennessee capital to attend the historically Black Meharry Medical College, according to...

Africa was the world’s fastest-growing solar market in 2025, defying a global slowdown and reshaping where the momentum in renewable energy is concentrated, according to an industry report released in late January. The report by the Africa Solar Industry Association says the continent's solar installed capacity expanded 17% in 2025, boosted by imports of Chinese-made solar panels. Global solar power capacity rose 23% in 2025 to 618 gigawatts, slowing from a 44% increase in 2024. “Chinese companies are the main drivers in Africa’s green transition,” said Cynthia Angweya-Muhati, acting CEO of the Kenya Renewable Energy Association. “They are aggressively investing in and building robust supply chains in Africa...

A dozen people outside a Milan metro station on February 11 stared intently at their phones until 8 a.m., when an Instagram post provided a location. “Run, don’t walk: we’re in the Castello area,” said the post. “Pins are available while supplies last.” It sent the group sprinting. Early each morning in Milan, eager collectors gathered to await word of the exact spot where they could score highly prized, limited-edition Olympic pins that—if they were fast enough—were free. Ilaria Pasqua got up and out early every day from February 7 to snag the coveted pins from YesMilano, the city's promotion...

Adam Mosseri, the head of Meta's Instagram, testified during a landmark social media trial in Los Angeles that he disagrees with the idea that people can be clinically addicted to social media platforms. The question of addiction is a key pillar of the case, where plaintiffs seek to hold social media companies responsible for harms to children who use their platforms. Meta Platforms and Google's YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap have settled. At the core of the Los Angeles case is a 20-year-old identified only by the initials "KGM," whose lawsuit could...

Scientists are testing an entirely new way to fight heart disease: a gene-editing treatment that might offer a one-time fix for high cholesterol. It's very early-stage research, tried in only a few dozen people so far. But gene-editing approaches being developed by two companies show hints that switching off certain genes could dramatically lower artery-clogging cholesterol, raising hopes of one day being able to prevent heart attacks without having to take pills. "People want a fix, not a bandage," said Dr. Luke Laffin, a preventive cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic. After co-authoring a promising study published in the New England...

The computers inside modern trains are already doing much of the driving. At train maker Alstom’s factory in Derby, engineers are testing how far that technology could eventually go. From braking to controlling doors to making passenger announcements, every part of a train now runs through a central computer. And inside a lab known as ‘Train Zero,’ those systems are being tested in depth before the trains are ever put on track. Class 701 Aventra is a brand-new, fresh-off-the-production-line British-built train being put through its paces on a dedicated test track at Alstom’s Derby site. Before it enters passenger service...

The computers inside modern trains are already doing much of the driving. At train maker Alstom’s factory in Derby, engineers are testing how far that technology could eventually go. From braking to controlling doors to making passenger announcements, every part of a train now runs through a central computer. And inside a lab known as ‘Train Zero,’ those systems are being tested in depth before the trains are ever put on track. Class 701 Aventra is a brand-new, fresh-off-the-production-line British-built train being put through its paces on a dedicated test track at Alstom’s Derby site. Before it enters passenger service...

In Singapore, the question being asked is not if there will be flying taxis, but when. They're not taking off just yet, but flying taxis are taking center stage at Singapore's Air Show. The event is considered Asia's largest aerospace and defense exhibition. The week-long event attracts thousands of visitors. Phil Swinsburg is the director of Asia Pacific Operations & Business Development for Wisk Aero. He's keen to demonstrate the comforts on hand for passengers, at what the company describes as the world's first autonomous four-passenger air taxi. “A roller bag goes in the ‘frunk,’ which is our front trunk, and then p...

In France, civil servants will ditch Zoom and Teams for a homegrown video conference system. Soldiers in Austria are using open-source office software to write reports after the military dropped Microsoft Office. Bureaucrats in a German state have also turned to free software for their administrative work. Around Europe, governments and institutions are seeking to reduce their use of digital services from U.S. Big Tech companies and turning to domestic or free alternatives. The push for “digital sovereignty” is gaining attention as the Trump administration strikes an increasingly belligerent posture toward the continent, highlighted by recent tensions over Greenland that...

Cigarette smoking is part of daily life in New Delhi. Smokers standing outside tobacco vendors are a common sight. The Finance Ministry has begun imposing a higher rate of tax starting February 1, ranging from 2,050 rupees ($22) to 8,500 rupees ($92) per thousand cigarettes, depending on their size. The new tax is applied in addition to the existing 40% Goods and Services Tax. Rajeev Malhotra, a cigarette and betel leaf seller in the heart of the capital city, says while the increase in cigarette prices is likely to impact sales, “people who want to consume nicotine will always find a way to.” According to the Worl...

Tourists hoping to get close to the Trevi Fountain had to pay 2 euros ($2.35) starting February 2 as the city of Rome inaugurated a new fee structure to help raise money and control crowds at one of the world's most celebrated waterworks. The first tourists to pass through the new ticket check seemed unfazed by the tariff, noting it was a small price to pay for quality access to a fountain made famous by Federico Fellini's movie La Dolce Vita. "Before, there were problems accessing the fountain. There were a lot of people. Now, it's very easy," said Ilhan Musbah, a tourist...

PepsiCo is cutting prices on Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, and Tostitos chips this year to win back customers exasperated by years of price hikes. “For some consumers, low- and middle-income consumers, the biggest friction they have today in our category... is affordability,” PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said during a conference call with investors. “So, we have been testing multiple ways to give them affordability.” PepsiCo has leaned on price increases as the cost of packaging, ingredients, and transportation rose. In the fourth quarter, PepsiCo hiked prices by 4.5% globally. Prices for PepsiCo beverages rose 7% in North America, while prices for the comp...

By age 2, most kids know how to play pretend. They turn their bedrooms into faraway castles and hold make-believe tea parties. The ability to make something out of nothing may seem uniquely human—a bedrock of creativity that's led to new kinds of art, music, and more. Now, for the first time, an experiment hints that an ape in captivity can have an imagination. "What's really exciting about this work is that it suggests that the roots of this capacity for imagination are not unique to our species," said study co-author Christopher Krupenye with Johns Hopkins University. Kanzi is a bo...

A gym that's free to join that makes you feel fitter and healthier and gives back to the community—sounds too good to be true. This is GoodGym, where volunteers run to community projects, socialize, and improve their surroundings at the same time. Shoveling piles of compost and clearing weeds on a cold, damp January evening might not be most people’s idea of fun. But it’s smiles and chatter all around as a group of fitness enthusiasts put on their headlamps and get to work on the chores at a community garden in Battersea, South London. The group is one...

Digital content makers from across Africa gathered at the African Creators Summit, calling for content creation to be recognized as full-time work rather than a side hustle. Under the 2026 theme, “Building a Sustainable Ecosystem: Where Africa Trades Its SWAG,” more than 2,500 digital creators from 15 countries came together to examine how Africa can turn its cultural capital into income. Participants focused on monetizing what they described as “SWAG,” an acronym for Sound, Walk, Attire, and Grubs, which they said form the cultural pillars behind the continent’s growing global influence. Speakers said the fast-growing creator economy now functions like a full business e...

The Bank of Thailand has tightened regulations on online gold trading to curb the impact of fluctuating prices on the local currency. The new measures will not have a big impact on gold trading, which has become increasingly popular, but will improve the transparency of online platforms, the central bank's assistant governor, Pimpan Charoenkwan, said. The regulations, which took effect this month, cap online gold transactions conducted in Thai baht at 50 million baht ($1.6 million) per user per day. Any transaction exceeding that limit requires approval from the authorities. However, the rules do not apply to users who were already holding...

A new high-resolution map of distant galaxies may help scientists understand a mysterious invisible substance that helps hold the universe together. The ordinary matter all around us—stars, planets, and people—makes up just 5% of the universe. For decades, researchers have hoped to demystify what's known as dark matter, a material that comprises just over a quarter of our universe. Another equally mysterious force called dark energy makes up the rest. Dark matter doesn't absorb or give off light, so scientists can't study it directly. But they can observe how its gravity warps and bends the star stuff around it—for ex...

Some blind and low-vision fans had unprecedented access to the Super Bowl thanks to a tactile device that tracks the ball, vibrates on key plays, and provides real-time audio. The NFL teamed up with OneCourt and Ticketmaster to pilot the game-enhancing experience 15 times during the regular season games hosted by the Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons, and Minnesota Vikings. About 10 blind and low-vision fans had an opportunity to use the same technology at the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, California, where Seattle played the New England Patriots on February 8. With their hands on the device, they...

Can a few lines of verse make commuting less worse? That, in essence, is the question asked four decades ago by Judith Chernaik, an American writer in London who wondered whether posting poems inside subway cars might enlighten, amuse, and inspire riders. The result was Poems on the Underground, a project that turns 40 this year and has been copied in cities around the world. Since 1986, many millions of London Underground passengers have seen posters adorned with poems nestled among the advertisements on their daily journeys. More than a dozen poets whose work has featured in the project gathered in a...

Cheers rose from a bundled-up crowd as a loggerhead sea turtle that survived a likely shark attack trundled back into the ocean after months of rehabilitation in Florida, carrying a satellite tracker to see how she fares with only three flippers. The air on the beach was chilly, with temperatures in the 40s Fahrenheit (roughly 4 to 9°C). But the Atlantic Ocean has hovered around a comfortable 77°F (25°C), said Heather Barron, chief science officer and a veterinarian at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach. To acclimate the turtle for reentry, the facility kept her tank’s water temperature at aroun...

The UK toy market returns to growth for the first time in five years, but it's adults buying toys for themselves who are helping fuel the boom. The so-called kidults have helped the toy market in the UK post a year-on-year growth of six percent, according to figures by the British Toy and Hobby Association, with one in three pounds of toy sales being spent by kidults. Retro arcade cabinets and LEGO floral bouquets are some of the toys kidults can't get enough of. The kidult market now represents one-third of all toy spending in the UK, so it's a s...

Tens of thousands of visitors flocked to Lucerne as the Lilu Light Festival turned the city’s cobbled streets and riverfront into a glowing, interactive art experience. The festival drew artists from across Europe, blending inspiration and technology, to transform the city into one of Switzerland’s most picturesque winter destinations. In the square of Vögeligärti, the planet “Venus” by Immersive Light Factory glowed at the center, radiating warm light and showing one of Earth’s closest neighbors in wonderful detail. The planet installation was flanked on one side by the swirling “Carnival of Lights” by Lightspray Visual. Mechanical struc...

Your watch says you had three hours of deep sleep. Should you believe it? Millions of people rely on phone apps and wearable devices like rings, smartwatches, and sensors to monitor how well they're sleeping, but these trackers don't necessarily measure sleep directly. Instead, they infer states of slumber from signals like heart rate and movement, raising questions about how reliable the information is and how seriously it should be taken. The U.S. sleep-tracking devices market generated about $5 billion in 2023 and is expected to double in revenue by 2030, according to market research firm Grand View Research. As the devices...

The United Nations human rights chief has called on the United States to ensure that its migration policies and enforcement practices “respect human dignity and due process rights.” Volker Turk, in a statement relayed by spokesperson Marta Hurtado, decried the “dehumanizing portrayal and harmful treatment of migrants and refugees.” Hurtado said Turk called on leaders "at all levels in the U.S. to halt the use of scapegoating tactics that seeks to distract and divide, and which increase the exposure of migrants and refugees to xenophobic hostility and abuse." As US President Donald Trump marks the first year of his second t...

Deep in the Ecuadorian Andes, an ancient forest stands as a final sanctuary against the encroachment of human activity. This is the Yanacocha Reserve, the last refuge for the Black-breasted puffleg (Eriocnemis nigrivestis), a tiny hummingbird teetering on the edge of extinction. Measuring just 9 centimeters (3.5 inches), this emblematic bird of Quito is one of the most threatened species on the planet. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, its global population has dwindled to between 150 and 200 birds. Founded 25 years ago by the Jocotoco Foundation, the Yanacocha Reserve has become a centerpiece for Andean biodiversity. "We realized we were...

A former flight attendant accused of posing as a pilot and working as an airline employee fooled three U.S. carriers into giving him hundreds of free tickets over a span of four years, federal authorities say. But precisely how he is alleged to have done it—and why the airlines wouldn't have caught on sooner—has industry insiders scratching their heads. Dallas Pokornik, 33, of Toronto, was arrested in Panama after being indicted on wire fraud charges in federal court in Hawaii last October. He pleaded not guilty following his extradition to the United States. His federal public defender declined to d...