レアジョブ英会話 Daily News Article Podcast

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 a...

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...

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. T...

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 De...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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 a...

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 e...

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...

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 i...

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 pow...

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...

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 Y...

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 d...

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 th...

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...

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 servi...

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 c...

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 fa...

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...

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 w...

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 ar...

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. Particip...