レアジョブ英会話 Daily News Article Podcast

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Garbage piles up on Birmingham’s streets after weeks of sanitation strike in the UK city
There is a stink rising over the United Kingdom's second-largest city. Garbage has piled up for a month in Birmingham during a dispute between the city and its trash collectors. It is a sore sight for the eyes and offensive to the nose. Mountains of garbage are said to be visible from space, and people have complained of seeing rats as big as cats in the refuse. “You can see the juice flowing out of the bags onto the road. It stinks,” Naeem Yousef said. “It’s bringing down the areas. People are saying, ‘Look at these areas, how dirty these people are.'” Members of Unite, the union representing garbage truck workers, walked off the job on March 11 over the elimination of a job position and painful pay cuts. The council said it had made a reasonable offer, that cuts would only affect a small number of jobs, and the jobs being eliminated were unnecessary. The Labour-run Birmingham City Council is effectively bankrupt because of a settlement over historic pay discrimination. As a result, it’s had to make significant budget cuts of 300 million pounds ($383 million) over two years and is only providing services required by law, including waste collection. As heaps of black bags littered sidewalks, with their contents spilling out of holes chewed by critters, the city council declared a major incident to bring in additional cleanup crews and vehicles. Photos on news sites and social media show furniture, mattresses and car bumpers illegally dumped alongside bulging trash bags. In one neighborhood, garbage sacks were set ablaze. “Our priority is tackling the misery and disruption for residents,” Angela Rayner, Deputy Prime Minister, said. “It is essential to protect public health by tackling the backlog of waste.” Kevin Hollinrake, a Conservative Member of Parliament, said the situation was “a national embarrassment” and could become a public health emergency. This article was provided by The Associated Press.
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Here’s what to know about nations considering the 1st global tax on emissions for shipping
Nations are trying to reach an agreement to charge commercial vessels a fee for their emissions in what would effectively be the world’s first global carbon tax. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), which regulates international shipping, set a target for the sector to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by about 2050, and committed to ensuring that fuels with zero or near-zero emissions are used more widely. The committee, comprised of IMO member states, is working to approve proposed new global regulations to put a price on maritime greenhouse gas emissions and to set a marine fuel standard to phase in cleaner fuels. The measures are more than climate aspirations—they will become mandatory for ships operating globally, said IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez, who thinks the industry must do more to cut carbon pollution. The committee will “set the course for a net-zero future for the maritime sector,” he told The Associated Press. The future of clean shipping hangs in the balance, said Emma Fenton, senior director for climate diplomacy at a U.K.-based climate change nonprofit, Opportunity Green. Fenton said a high price, simple flat-rate levy on shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions is the only way to decarbonize the industry equitably. “If an agreement is reached, it would represent a huge moment of solidarity in the fight to tackle climate change,” Fenton said. “For the first time, we will have, hopefully, an effective global framework tackling this international issue. Most emissions are tackled domestically.” Emissions from shipping have increased over the last decade—to about 3% of the global total according to the United Nations—as vessels have gotten much bigger, delivering more cargo per trip and using immense amounts of fuel oil. Some fear that anything short of a universal levy would jeopardize climate goals and allow wealthier ship owners to buy compliance while continuing to pollute. Ambassador Albon Ishoda, Marshall Islands’ special envoy for maritime decarbonization, said IMO's climate targets are “meaningless” without the levy. Revenue from a levy could be used to help developing countries transition to greener shipping, so they aren't left behind with dirty fuels and old ships. This article was provided by The Associated Press.
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Remember public phones? The Masters still offers old-school devices as alternative to cellphones
Attending the Masters for the first time was a new experience for Thomas Abraham, and it wasn't just about the golf. The 16-year-old from Houston had the rare opportunity to use a public telephone for the first time. "It was kind of cool," said Abraham, who phoned a friend while attending the Masters Par 3 competition on April 9 with his father, Sid. "I've never used one before. I figured it out. If I had to use one of those (rotary) phones, I probably would've had to ask my dad." Augusta National Golf Club requires its patrons to leave their cellphones and other electronic devices behind. In place of those security blankets, there are several public telephone banks of those throwback devices from days gone by. They are a foreign sight for many in the younger generation who've never seen a phone with an attached cord. Abraham is not unlike most teenagers—or adults, for that matter—who are very much attached to the world through their cellphones. At some point, chances are, patrons check for their phone—patting their pockets, reaching for the clip on their belts, wherever it usually is. And when they can't find it, well... "It's kind of panic mode," Abraham said. "We were at 18th (hole), and I went to reach in my pocket, and it wasn't there. Then I remembered it's in the car." He wasn't alone. "I've checked my pockets for my phone no less than 10 times today," said Ryan O'Connor from Little Rock, Arkansas. "I was sitting in the bleachers on the 16th green, and someone dropped a water bottle, and it made a loud noise, and I instinctively reached for my phone. Not there." The line at the public phone bank can stretch up to 10 people deep at the height of the Masters. And while they provide an outlet for those looking to touch base with the world outside of Augusta National's gates, there are some issues that come with them. Like, remembering phone numbers. This article was provided by The Associated Press.
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Scholarships for child care are drying up. Now families are paying the price
For parents who need to work but can't afford the steep cost of child care, federally funded scholarships can be a lifeline. Delivered through state child care assistance programs, the scholarships can mean the difference between a parent working full time—or not at all. But qualified families are increasingly being turned away, thanks to the rising costs of child care and the end of pandemic-era funds, and some families that had scholarships have seen them end. In three states—Arizona, Colorado and Texas—parents who apply face long waitlists. Other states have increased copayments for parents or have said they will serve fewer children. In March, the Trump administration laid off some employees who helped states implement child care assistance. It's left advocates worried about the future of federal child care programs. “What it means is that ultimately child care will become less safe, it’s going to become more expensive, and it’s going to become harder to find,” said Ruth Friedman, who was the director of the Office of Child Care under former President Joe Biden. In Colorado, a dozen counties stopped accepting new applications for the state's child care assistance program because they ran out of money, The Colorado Sun reported. For states trying to maintain child care assistance scholarships, the costs of running the programs have risen. Because many child care providers operate on the margins, the Biden administration increased the amount they receive when they take scholarship students. It's all evidence that the problems that vex the child care industry have not necessarily abated with the pandemic, said Karen Schulman, senior director of child care policy at the National Women’s Law Center. “The crisis was going on long before COVID,” Schulman said, citing the unaffordability of care for many families, along with the low pay of the child care workforce. Even as providers struggle to make a profit, child care is prohibitively expensive for many families. In a study of 2022 child care prices, the Labor Department found the median cost of care for an infant in a center was more than $15,600 in large counties—higher than the median rent in many places. This article was provided by The Associated Press.
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A machine using ultrasound and AI can gauge the fattiness of a tuna fish
Seafood lovers know that fatty marbling is what makes tuna sashimi and sushi so tasty, so for the industry, it's the fish's level of fattiness that's used to judge its quality and pricing. Usually, several people assess how fatty a tuna is by cutting the tail with a giant saw-like knife, an operation that takes about 60 seconds per fish. But now, a machine called Sonofai uses ultrasound waves to do the job in 12 seconds, operated by a person without prior knowledge of how to carve fish. Fujitsu, the Japanese company behind the technology, invited reporters for a demonstration of Sonofai, a word blended from "sono," referring to "sound," "f" for Fujitsu, and "ai," or artificial intelligence. The name refers to its components but also stands for "son of AI." A conveyor belt transports a whole frozen tuna, about a meter (3 feet) in size, into a machine that beams ultrasound waves. Sensors pick up the waves to draw a zigzagging diagram on a screen to indicate the fish's fattiness. Fatty meat absorbs fewer sound waves than lean meat, and AI sorts real data from misleading "noise," or irregularities. Hisashi Ishida, president of Sonofai, the startup behind the technology, who also heads Ishida Tec Co., which makes food-manufacturing equipment, says it's safer, more sanitary and efficient. "Fatty fish tastes good, feels better on your tongue and is called toro," he said. "Overseas needs are growing because sushi culture is now appreciated around the world." Beef has a grading system for fat and expected flavor, but being able to gauge the quality of tuna is new, according to Hideto Okada, who oversees AI at Fujitsu. But Sonofai won't be at your neighborhood sushi chef. Fish-processing outfits and fishing organizations are the likely buyers. The machine is set to go on sale in June for about 30 million yen ($207,000) each, at first in Japan but expanding to the U.S. and other places later. They'll also work on future upgrades to test for freshness, firmness and other characteristics of tuna and other fish varieties. This article was provided by The Associated Press.
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