レアジョブ英会話 Daily News Article Podcast

RareJob
  • 5.0 (9)
  • LANGUAGE LEARNING
  • UPDATED DAILY

レアジョブオリジナルの英会話ニュース教材です。世界の時事ネタを中心に、ビジネスから科学やスポーツまで、幅広いトピックのニュースを毎日更新しています。本教材を通して、ビジネスで使える実用的な英会話表現や英単語を身に付けることができます。

  1. 1H AGO

    Louis Vuitton’s Dutch arm agrees to pay 500,000 euros to settle a money laundering case

    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 Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act ... and did not do enough to prevent money laundering by its customers. For an extended period, the company failed to properly identify the customers who repeatedly came to spend large sums of cash,” the prosecutors' statement said. A spokesperson at Louis Vuitton's head office in Paris did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Prosecutors alleged that after buying luxury handbags, the woman sent them to China to be resold to make it look like the proceeds came from legitimate trade. A money laundering case is ongoing against the woman and two other suspects, including a former sales assistant at Louis Vuitton in the Netherlands. The assistant is alleged to have tipped off the woman when new and expensive bags came into stock and warned her that if her spending exceeded limits, Louis Vuitton would be required to alert authorities about suspect payments. The settlement with the Dutch arm of Louis Vuitton was reached out of court “to free up limited courtroom space at the Rotterdam District Court,” prosecutors said. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

    2 min

  2. 1D AGO

    Biodegradable beads for sustainable carnival celebrations

    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 ground. But the beads are increasingly seen as a problem. Despite efforts to collect them for reuse, many are trashed or left on the ground. A few years ago, the city pulled 46 tons of them from its storm drains. This year, in an effort to be greener, three krewes are throwing biodegradable beads instead. “Sustainability is a big, important thing. I think the city of New Orleans used to actually gauge the success of Carnival based upon the tonnage of waste from the street, and that is a terrible gauge. We should actually be looking at the excitement on people's faces, or what the memories they've taken away. That's the success of a Carnival season, not the garbage that we produce,” says Greg Rhoades, co-founder of Krewe of Freret, one of the three krewes using sustainable beads. Rhoades hopes those receiving the beads will make use of them. “As you have thousands of riders going down the street throwing things to people, we wanted to limit our waste, ultimately. You know, this is something that people should take home, items they value. We wanted people to not discard these items, to value them, to put them on their altar,” he says. The sustainable beads—called “PlantMe Beads”—were developed at Louisiana State University and are 3-D printed from a starch-based material. “The process for this is now pretty simple. We have a file that we made that has the geometry of these beads. It takes around two hours to print one using a basic 3-D printer,” explains Alexis Strain from Louisiana State University. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

    2 min

  3. 2D AGO

    Cash bouquets rival flowers as coveted tokens of love in Zimbabwe

    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, amen,” wrote another. At a decades-old flower market in the capital, Harare, florist Tongai Mufandaedza patiently assembled one such 'money bouquet.' Using adhesive and bamboo sticks, he folded crisp $50 notes into decorative cone shapes, weaving them with stems of white roses. As Valentine’s Day approached, he expected business to surge. “The market has improved because of the money bouquets,” said Mufandaedza, who has worked at the country’s biggest flower market for three decades. “(On) Valentine’s Day, we are going to have more, more, more customers, because this is something which is trending. Everyone (wants to) impress,” he said, then patched the arrangement in bright red wrapping and ribbons. Among those browsing the market was Kimberleigh Kawadza. Her preference was clear. “The person who came up with the trend, I just need to give them a hands up. They did a good job,” said the 23-year-old. “It’s a way of appreciating my partner, it’s a 100 for me, it’s a 100.” Prices vary widely. Smaller bouquets may contain as little as $10, while larger arrangements can run into the thousands. In some cases, they are even cheaper than traditional floral gifts. A bouquet of dollar notes with a value of $10 costs $25, while a bouquet of 10 good-grade red roses costs between $35 and $40, Mufandaedza said. Unlike traditional floral gifts, the appeal of money bouquets is as practical as it is romantic for Zimbabwe’s economic realities, where liquidity often carries more immediate value than luxury. “People still love flowers, but when they see the notes on top, the love feels hotter and the gesture even more meaningful,” he said. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

    3 min

  4. 3D AGO

    200 love letters found in a Nashville home tell the story of a couple’s courtship during WWII

    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 the library's metropolitan archivist, Kelley Sirko. That's where he met and dated Jane, another student at the college. The pair lost touch when Ray left Nashville. In the summer of 1942, he was drafted into the Army. Stationed at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, he decided to reestablish contact with Jane, who was then working as a medical lab technician at Vanderbilt University. The library doesn't have Ray's first letter to Jane, but it does have her reply. She greets him somewhat formally as "Dear Wm R." "It sure was a pleasant and sad surprise to hear from you," she writes on July 30, 1942. "Pleasant because you will always hold a place in my heart, and it's nice to know you think of me once in a while. Sad because you are in the armed forces—maybe I shouldn't say that, but war is so uncertain. However, I'm proud to know that you are doing your bit for your country." "You can't help but smile when you read through these letters," Sirko said. "You really can't. And this was just such an intimate look at two regular people during a really complicated time in our history." Sirko said Nashville archivists have not been able to locate any living relatives of Ray and Jane, so most of what they know about them is from the letters. The couple did not have any children, according to an obituary for Ray, who died in Nashville in 1989. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

    2 min

  5. 4D AGO

    Africa leads growth in solar energy as demand spreads beyond traditional markets, report says

    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 green energy ecosystem.” Some of that capacity has yet to be rolled out. Africa has only 23.4 gigawatts peak of working solar capacity, even though nearly 64 gigawatts peak of solar equipment has been shipped to the continent since 2017. A gigawatt peak represents 1 billion watts of maximum, optimum power output under ideal conditions. “Africa's growth is driven by changing policies and enabling conditions in a number of countries,” said John Van Zuylen, CEO of the Africa Solar Industry Association. “Solar energy has moved beyond a handful of early adopters to become a broader continental priority,” he said recently on the sidelines of the Intersolar Africa summit in Nairobi. “What we are seeing is not temporary. It is policies aligning with market dynamics.” Historically, South Africa dominated solar imports in Africa, at one point accounting for roughly half of all panels shipped to the continent. The latest data show its share has slipped below a third as demand surged elsewhere. Last year, 20 African nations set new annual records for solar imports, as 25 countries imported a total of at least 100 megawatts of capacity. Nigeria has overtaken Egypt as Africa's second-largest importer, as solar energy and battery storage provide a practical and affordable alternative to diesel generators and unreliable grid power. In Algeria, solar imports soared more than 30-fold year-on-year. Imports also surged in Zambia and Botswana. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

    3 min

  6. 5D AGO

    Olympic pin mania has collectors running between landmarks and swarming a trading center

    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 promotional agency, and she planned to complete the collection of seven neighborhoods—including Isola and Porta Venezia—and five iconic landmarks, like the Duomo. She teamed up with three collectors she met on the first day, and they developed a system to be among the first in line. "I know it can sound like it's a bit extreme, and (like) it's a waste of time. But actually, I've met these people that I am doing this with, so it's nice,'' said Pasqua, an English teacher in Milan. "It's a way to get to know the city that you live in or are visiting. It's also social. I'm really enjoying it, to be honest. And you take a little treasure with you home every day, so it's fun.'' Each day after receiving her pins, Pasqua says she stuffs them deep in her coat pocket–out of view from latecomers looking for a trade that she doesn't want to make. Pin collecting is an essential part of the Olympic subculture, with people traveling far and wide to the Games just to add to what is often a very substantial array of enameled pins at home. Elite collectors know the intrinsic value of each category, including retail, delegation, team, sponsor, media, and national Olympic committees. Japanese media pins are among the most coveted by die-hard collectors, for their rarity, while in Cortina, athletes were keen to get an Iran pin, and in Paris, Snoop Dogg's pins were the buzziest. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

    2 min

  7. 6D AGO

    Instagram chief says he does not believe people can get clinically addicted to social media

    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 determine how thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies would play out. She and two other plaintiffs have been selected for bellwether trials—essentially test cases for both sides to see how their arguments play out before a jury. Mosseri, who's headed Instagram since 2018, said it's important to differentiate between clinical addiction and what he called problematic use. The plaintiff's lawyer, however, presented quotes directly from Mosseri in a podcast interview a few years ago, where he used the term addiction in relation to social media use, but he clarified that he was probably using the term "too casually," as people tend to do. Mosseri said he was not claiming to be a medical expert when questioned about his qualifications to comment on the legitimacy of social media addiction, but said someone "very close" to him has experienced serious clinical addiction, which is why he said he was "being careful with my words." He said he and his colleagues use the term "problematic use" to refer to "someone spending more time on Instagram than they feel good about, and that definitely happens." It's "not good for the company, over the long run, to make decisions that profit for us but are poor for people's well-being," Mosseri said. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

    2 min

  8. MAR 11

    Studies test whether gene-editing can fix high cholesterol. For now, take your medicine

    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 Journal of Medicine, he said he was flooded with queries about how to participate in the next clinical trial. Everyone needs a certain amount of cholesterol. But too much, especially a "bad" kind called LDL cholesterol, builds plaque in the artery walls and is a main driver of heart attacks and strokes. Cardiovascular disease is the nation's—and world's—leading killer. Millions take cholesterol-lowering medicines such as statins, the cornerstone of treatment. But many still struggle to lower their cholesterol enough, and sticking with the drugs for life is difficult, with some quitting because of side effects. Years ago, Dr. Kiran Musunuru, a cardiologist now at the University of Pennsylvania, reported that some lucky people harbor a mutation that turns off a gene named ANGPTL3, lowering their levels of both LDL cholesterol and another bad fat, triglycerides. Separately, geneticists at UT Southwestern Medical Center found that still other people's extremely low LDL was due to loss of function of another gene named PCSK9. "It's a natural experiment in what would happen if we actually changed the gene," said the Cleveland Clinic's Dr. Steven Nissen, who, with Laffin, oversaw an ANGPTL3 study funded by Swiss-based CRISPR Therapeutics. Today, there are injected medicines that block proteins produced by the PCSK9 and ANGPTL3 genes in the liver, thus helping the body clear away cholesterol. The new research uses CRISPR, the Nobel Prize-winning gene-editing tool, to try switching off one of those genes in people at high risk of uncontrolled cholesterol. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

    3 min
See All (2K)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

レアジョブオリジナルの英会話ニュース教材です。世界の時事ネタを中心に、ビジネスから科学やスポーツまで、幅広いトピックのニュースを毎日更新しています。本教材を通して、ビジネスで使える実用的な英会話表現や英単語を身に付けることができます。

Information

You Might Also Like