レアジョブ英会話 Daily News Article Podcast

The owner of home shopping network pioneer QVC, which for years garnered the attention of millions of TV viewers looking for a deal on baubles and housewares, is planning to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A filing about imminent bankruptcy protection by parent company QVC Group, which also owns HSN, formerly the Home Shopping Network, arrives as long-running TV shopping networks struggle to adapt to the rapid shift by consumers now tuning in to livestreams on TikTok, or online marketplaces like Shein. According to an annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said that it intends to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas after reaching a restructuring agreement with creditors. Its goal is to emerge from bankruptcy protection before the summer is over, but the West Chester, Pennsylvania, company warned that its access to funding is difficult to predict. It noted significant fees and other costs in connection with the preparation for the bankruptcy protection. QVC Group has attempted to revive flagging sales for some time, which in 2024 were down almost 30% compared with its peak of more than $14 billion in 2020. Shares in QVC Group, which went for over $900 a decade ago, were trading for less than $3 a few weeks ago. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Myron Segel, QVC, which is short for Quality Value Convenience, built a following primarily of women aged 50 and older, according to Lawrence Duke, a clinical professor of marketing at Drexel University's LeBow College of Business. He said in a blog post that QVC benefited from repeat purchases by its base of viewers. But that group has aged and is shrinking, he noted. And competition has increased substantially. Consumers have increasingly dropped cable subscriptions and look less and less to scheduled programming, Duke said. Such programming has been replaced by live platforms such as TikTok Shop, where consumers can buy products touted by influencers with tens of thousands of followers on Instagram and YouTube. Low-cost marketplaces like Shein and Temu are also commanding more attention, Duke wrote. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

President Donald Trump, as part of his campaign pitch to “make America affordable again,” promised to cut Americans’ electricity bills by at least half. But it hasn’t worked. “You're getting $1,300 to $1,500 bills for electric. And West Virginia has decided that they're going to run on coal for at least 2040,” said Caitlin Ware, a pastor at Sandyville United Methodist Church. And many in West Virginia are now facing utility costs surpassing rents and mortgages. Anthony Crihfield Jones, owner of the overstock retail shop, JCD Bargain and Trading, pays “$1,218.67, yeah, for one building,” he said. Electricity has increased 4.8 percent in February nationwide, and piped natural gas prices rose 10.9 percent compared with a year earlier, outpacing overall inflation. “You don't have a choice when it comes to electric and water. And so, you know, you can't decide to just not have electric for that month,” said Ware. Many downtowns across the country have struggled to bounce back since the pandemic. And the rising electricity prices have made it impossible for some small businesses to survive. “We're seeing businesses lock up, you know, businesses are closing,” said Ware. Heather Santee’s local bakery, in Ravenswood, West Virginia, was among those that did not survive the brutal winter and high electric bills. “I try to stay so positive. And look toward the future, you know, and bigger plans. But sometimes it's just so sad, you know, walking down there, seeing it,” said Santee, who closed her shop on February 12. “I was getting ready, like I had a bunch of stuff made up and everything, and was getting ready for Valentine's Day because holidays were $700 to $1,000 days. So, I would have had the money if I could have just got two days. Just two days,” she said. But coal remains king in West Virginia, a state that relies on aging coal-powered electric plants more than any other. It is an outlier nationwide because of its resistance to adopting cleaner, cheaper sources of energy such as natural gas, nuclear power, and renewables like wind and solar. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

A new kind of club has emerged in Amsterdam—one where participants choose to go offline, away from their phones and other devices. The gathering reflects a wider trend, especially among younger people, to step away from screens and connect with others and themselves. Around 200 participants at the Posthoornkerk in Amsterdam hand in their smartphones at the door before heading into a two-hour creative session. It's the latest event by the Offline Club, which began in 2024 as a small initiative by three students in Amsterdam. It has developed into a growing network of offline events across Europe. The Offline Club, originally launched as a casual meetup in a café, now organizes sessions in 18 cities and has built a following of around 600,000 on Instagram. The session in Amsterdam opens with a live piano performance by composer and pianist Cécile Schulte. Participants then engage in various offline activities, including crafting and writing exercises, such as preparing a speech for their future 80th birthday. Co-founder Ilya Kneppelhout says the events are designed around different themes. Some focus on individual activities like reading, writing, or puzzles, while others are more social, involving board games or group walks. The aim is to encourage people to "slow down and reflect, go inwards," Kneppelhout says. Several attendees describe the appeal of the events as a break from digital routines. Bernard Kappele, a 27-year-old user experience researcher, says working with physical materials like pen and paper feels grounding and reminds him of activities from childhood. "So it definitely also is a bit of an inner child, who doesn't want to be behind the screen and be online all the time," he says. The growth of the Offline Club reflects a wider trend, particularly among younger people, to spend less time on digital platforms. This trend is also visible online, with social media users sharing plans to reduce or stop their usage in the coming years. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

The rhythmic sounds of construction muffle the thud of farmers' hoes on a chilly morning in Rwanda's capital, where new efforts aim to protect remaining agricultural land from relentless development in Africa's most densely populated country. Eighty-four-year-old Mukarusini Kurisikira had been a farmer before she fled the country to Congo in 1994. Upon returning, she said, her family's land, which had stretched across the hills, had been taken away for construction. She gestured toward Kigali's high-rise buildings. Now she grows maize and sweet potatoes on a piece of land the size of a small cottage, which she said is barely enough to feed her. “It is all I have,” she said, looking warily at construction equipment on a ridge nearby. Now she has a measure of protection. Since September, Rwanda's government has been mapping agricultural land and using satellite imagery to track any development encroaching on farmlands and forests in a country where the population is expected to reach 22 million in a couple of years. Rwanda is striving to ensure food security amid the latest global pressures on farm inputs like fertilizer, whose prices have been rising since the Iran war began. The government has imposed fines of up to $3,000 and jail terms of up to six months on developers found to be encroaching. Some buildings in Kigali have been torn down, though people associated with them didn’t want to comment for fear of government retaliation. The government now plans to incorporate drones for better real-time monitoring. Meanwhile, land use data from the mayor’s office shows that the Kigali master plan has dedicated nearly a quarter of land—22%—to agriculture. City authorities acknowledge that housing construction is attractive due to demand, but say future projections show that “farming will be even more productive.” They say the demand for food is also rising and believe that, with innovation, it can be grown on smaller pieces of land. The government last year printed and displayed maps showing areas in districts across Rwanda that are designated for construction and reserved for agriculture. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Workers at one of the nation’s largest meatpacking plants, who staged a multi-week strike, have reached an agreement with plant owner JBS USA, the company and labor union representatives announced. The Swift Beef Co. plant in Greeley, Colorado, will immediately return to normal operations after weeks of uncertainty, JBS USA said in a statement. The agreement comes after thousands of workers at the meat processing plant led a three-week strike with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 Union in a bid for higher wages and better healthcare. The strike ended on April 4 after JBS USA agreed to resume negotiations. The workers and JBS USA agreed to wage increases over the next two years and a $750 one-time bonus. The tentative agreement represents a contract with “all gains, countless improvements, and not a single concession,” the union said. The contract requires the company to pay for personal protective equipment and defends workers against increases in healthcare  costs, according to the union. Local union president Kim Cordova said workers picketed through extreme weather “because they knew their worth and refused to be disrespected. Today, that sacrifice has been rewarded.” “This is what union power looks like,” Cordova said in the statement. The union did not immediately respond to the Associated Press’ requests for further details. JBS USA said it is pleased that an agreement has been reached, but expressed disappointment that union leadership chose to eliminate pension benefits that were negotiated last year. The company said the pension was designed to strengthen long-term retirement security and argued the union chose to shift those dollars into short-term wage increases rather than into the long-term financial future of workers. The union will also withdraw seven alleged unfair labor practice charges, according to JBS USA. “With the agreement now finalized, JBS USA looks forward to restoring stability, supporting its workforce, and continuing to invest in the Greeley facility for the future,” the company said in its statement. The strike at Greeley was the first strike at a U.S. slaughterhouse since workers walked out at a Hormel plant in Minnesota in 1985. That strike lasted more than a year and was marked by violent confrontations between police and protesters. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

American woodcocks came to New York City looking to strut their stuff, and New Yorkers fell in love. The curious birds, known for their bobbing walks and kazoo-like calls, have drawn a crowd to Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan since arriving in late March. Dozens of spectators are gathering at the park every day to try to catch a glimpse of the grapefruit-sized birds as they poke their long bills in the ground for earthworms. "It's a very charismatic bird. I mean, it's goofy-looking. It's got eyes that are always looking at you, no matter where you are. It does this nice little dance when it's nervous," said Bill Rankin, a Yale University professor who stopped by the park. "Having two of them together is a kind of nice little romantic story of spring." The woodcocks are known to stop at Bryant Park every year as they migrate north in early spring. They are strange-looking critters, seemingly assembled from the parts of other birds—a round body, enormous eyes, and a long, thin bill. They're also called "timberdoodles" or "bogsuckers" by some. They've attracted more fans than usual at the park this year, in part because of widely shared videos and pictures on social media. Crowds of bird fans carrying smartphones and cameras are craning daily for a look at its silly walk, while mostly maintaining a respectful distance. The walk, which made the woodcock a viral hit on social media, consists of the bird shimmying and bobbing its head. Some woodcock lovers describe it as a mating dance, but scientists who study them have different theories. They've described it as possibly an antipredator display or foraging technique. "What you're seeing in Bryant Park when it's sitting around when these crowds are looking at it, is mostly a little bit of foraging behavior," said Andrew Farnsworth, a scientist with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "A little of roosting and stretching, and then some of this sort of, you know, kind of sensory stuff looking around, and a little bit of deception, too." This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Before Stu Goldberg begins his night shift driving for Uber, he pulls out a notebook to read a handwritten list of reminders. "No tickets. Full stops," he'd scrawled in the book. "Careful backing up. Watch for pedestrians and bikes." With a PhD in neuropsychology and decades of experience running his own business, Goldberg, 74, didn't picture chauffeuring strangers around when he retired. But financially, things didn't go as planned. So, he makes the best of his situation, shuttling passengers through New York City at night. "I like the freedom. I like the flexibility. I like meeting people," Goldberg said. "I like that most of the time I can get, once or twice a day, a good conversation with somebody." Goldberg is one of a growing number of Americans who have "unretired" in recent years. After concluding decades-long careers at hospitals, universities, and corporations, they returned to the workforce due to insufficient retirement savings, rising living costs, and a desire to stay active. Some are finding gig work or contract jobs through apps or digital platforms. Delivering people and parcels, taking care of pets, or folding other people's laundry suits them because they can set their own hours and work, or not, when they choose. "We're living longer, so people are working longer because they have to fund those extra years," said Carly Roszkowski, vice president of financial resilience at the nonprofit organization American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). "And this concept of retirement for most people, as like a cliff or a day they're working towards, really isn't a reality for most." Goldberg wanted to teach after winding down his software and telemarketing company. But he needed to earn more money than what the occasional adjunct professor job teaching statistics would pay. "Uber came up, and it was not a bad choice for me because I was comfortable driving people," he said. "I felt it could be a good way to make money and keep most of it." About 1 in 5 Americans over age 50 who aren't retired say they have no retirement savings, according to a survey the AARP conducted in January 2025. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

One sweltering afternoon in the Cuban capital, dozens of commuters on bicycles, scooters, and electric motorcycles gathered in a tidy row at the entrance of the Havana Bay Tunnel. They were waiting for the Ciclobús, a bus specially fitted to take people—and their rides—through the underwater tunnel linking Old Havana to the eastern side of the island. The diesel-powered bus can accommodate around 60 travelers and their vehicles, making enough trips to transport more than 2,000 people per day. It features a front seating section, but half its metallic frame is an open bay for cargo. Riders enter via a specialized ramp and stay with their vehicles for the duration of the trip, holding onto wall-mounted grab bars for balance. Bicycles, motorcycles, and scooters are not allowed in the tunnel. While the Ciclobús is not new, it has never been as popular—and essential—as Cuba navigates its most severe energy crisis in decades. The energy blockade imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump in January has forced the country to ration gasoline to only 20 liters (5 gallons) per vehicle through a cumbersome appointment process that can take weeks or even months, halting public transportation. These days, the streets of Havana are almost empty of cars but teeming with thousands of bicycles and small electric motorcycles that have become the only way to get around. “My husband owns a bicycle, so I'm riding as his companion,” said Ingrid Quintana, a resident of East Havana, who works in the old part of Havana, while waiting for the tunnel bus. “It’s an option we have, because there’s no public transportation, and we can’t afford to pay for a private taxi, so we ride the Ciclobús.” The Ciclobús is the shortest public transportation route on the island, covering 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) in about 15 minutes. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

The innovations of Apple Inc. are on show at the new Apple Museum in the Netherlands. It traces 50 years of the iconic brand's innovations, from its first experimental models to the world-changing iPhone. Located in Utrecht, the museum features a wide collection of Apple products, including early machines from the 1970s, the original Macintosh, and later devices that helped shape personal computing. “The museum is set up in a way that when you enter, you start in the garage, which is where it all began, and it's not so that it was their headquarters, but it tells a lot about the two people that founded Apple, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, and what the basis is of their vision behind the products,” says Ed Bindels, museum founder. "So, step-by-step, we'll tell them things about how the logo developed, about the design language they use. So, I hope when people leave this museum, they know more about Apple, and if they use an Apple product, they look different to that product. That's what we hope.” The journey through the museum starts in a garage—or at least a reconstruction of one. This was where Steve Jobs worked away on the prototypes, exploring what could be created with electronic components. One of the most eye-catching items in the museum is the Apple 1, as it represents the very beginning of Apple’s story. It marked the first product sold by Apple, which was co-founded by Wozniak and Steve Jobs. Apple Museum board member Antonie de Kok says, “These are unique. They are very valuable. One has just been sold for more than one million (dollars) because there are only a few left, and it's the start of Apple as we all know it now. This was the first thing they ever developed.” Museum officials say it is Europe’s largest Apple Museum, with over 5,000 items from computers to posters, iPads, iPhones, and other items produced by Apple. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Korogocho is one of Nairobi's busiest food markets, where there's a never-ending supply of food waste. It could become an environmental problem, but a small company has turned it into a business opportunity. The World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank, claims nearly 40 percent of food produced in Kenya is lost or wasted, even as millions face food insecurity. In Nairobi alone, the city generates an estimated 2,000 to 2,500 tonnes of food waste every day, much of it ending up in dumpsites where it contributes to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Miramar Foundation, a non-profit that says it looks for solutions to development challenges. But for wastepreneur Martin Komu, this waste is not an endpoint. It's a starting point. Moving through Korogocho market, he and his team collect discarded overripe avocados and banana leaves, which form the bulk of the waste, and transform them into valuable products. Komu describes the operation: "We do waste management in Korogocho market through a circular economy approach, where we use the waste generated in Korogocho market as the main source of our raw materials. We have several products we manufacture from the waste generated from Korogocho market, which include avocado oil, which we extract from overripe avocados. We make briquettes from charred banana leaves. Banana leaves account for 80% of all the waste generated within Korogocho market." After the collection, the team sorts the waste by hand, separating usable organic material from the rest. Some of it is layered into compost pits to produce organic fertilizer, while avocados are carefully prepared and processed into oil. Nearby, banana leaves are charred and compressed into briquettes, an affordable and cleaner alternative to traditional cooking fuels. According to a scientific study in the journal Nature last November, "Producing briquettes is a great way to protect the environment by preventing open burning or landfilling of these biomass streams. In addition, this helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigates the harmful impacts of improper waste disposal." This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Australia’s online safety watchdog said it was considering a court case against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube, alleging they are not doing enough to keep Australian children younger than 16 off their platforms. Experts say the Australian courts could decide what steps the platforms can reasonably be expected to take under the laws that took effect on December 10, banning young children from holding accounts. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant released her first compliance report since those laws took effect, demanding that ten platforms remove all Australian account holders younger than 16. While five million Australian accounts had been deactivated, a substantial number of Australian children continued to retain accounts, create new accounts, and pass platforms’ age assurance systems, the report said. Inman Grant said in a statement her office had “significant concerns about the compliance” of half of those ten platforms. Her office was gathering evidence against the five that they had not taken “reasonable steps” to prevent young children from holding accounts. Courts could order fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to comply. eSafety would decide on whether to initiate court action against any platform by midyear. Age-restricted platforms that aren’t under investigation are Reddit, X, Kick, Threads, and Twitch. Communications Minister Anika Wells said the five criticized platforms were deliberately not complying with Australian law. “Australia's world-leading social media laws are not failing, but big tech is failing to obey the laws,” Wells told reporters. “We started with our world-leading social media minimum age. We will continue with our digital duty of care that puts the onus on big tech companies to protect Australians from online harm,” she added. eSafety had identified “poor practices” such as platforms allowing unlimited attempts for a user to pass their age assurance methods and prompting the user to try to pass the age assurance method even after they declared themselves underage. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, told The Associated Press it was committed to complying with Australia’s social media ban. “We’ve also been clear that accurately determining age online is a challenge for the whole industry,” the statement said. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

A scientist who pioneered the modern food processing safety standards used around the world was awarded this year’s World Food Prize, crediting his work for averting millions of cases of foodborne illness and reducing food waste. Huub Lelieveld of the Netherlands earned the award after six decades spent advancing ways to improve food safety and advocating for trade regulations that allow safe food to get around the world more easily. “I just did what I thought was right,” Lelieveld said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I want everybody to have enough food, but … it should also be safe.” Lelieveld began his career as a food researcher at Unilever at a time when mechanisms for manufacturing safe food products were, to him, “illogical,” he said. Food was often sterilized or chemically preserved after production, and equipment needed to be shut off once or twice each day to be cleaned, which was both difficult and time-consuming. The processed food also required heavy use of preservatives, salt, sugar, and acids to reduce the risk of contamination, which detracted from flavor and nutrition. “I realized very soon that they did things in the wrong way, in my view,” Lelieveld said. “From the beginning, I’ve been working on … convincing people that you should do it in a different way.” Lelieveld worked with colleagues to develop hygienic production methods and equipment, making food manufacturing more efficient and less reliant on chemicals. Having scaled the processes at Unilever and shown that they worked, Lelieveld said the company gave him permission to publish the research for dissemination and use globally. “My philosophy was: You should not compete on food safety,” Lelieveld said. “Spreading the technology, the hygienic technology, was very important.” Unsafe food causes 600 million foodborne illnesses and 420,000 deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization. “Lelieveld was selected for translating food safety science into global regulations, legislation, and practice, a movement spanning dozens of countries,” Gebisa Ejeta, chair of the Laureate selection committee, said in a statement. “His initiatives are estimated to have benefited millions of consumers worldwide.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.

One of the most recognizable pieces of Japanese art: Katsushika Hokusai's The Great Wave Off Kanagawa. The 18th-century woodblock print famously shows three boats being tossed around in a storm. It's one of more than 200 works by the painter and engraver on show in Rome. The exhibition is the most comprehensive dedicated to the undisputed master of Japanese art ever to be staged in Italy. It marks the 160th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and Japan and traces the artist’s entire creative career, from works rooted in tradition to his most revolutionary pieces. Francesca Villanti, an art historian and scientific advisor to the exhibition, says it is a “rich, comprehensive collection, assembled by a great admirer of Hokusai, and thus selected with rigor, care, and a genuine love and passion for this Japanese artist’s prints.” Hokusai was the undisputed master of Ukiyo-e. It's a distinctive Japanese art style whose name means ‘pictures of the floating world,’ referring to the vibrant and dynamic socio-economic and cultural milieu that emerged in the early 17th century. Through his woodblock prints, Hokusai celebrated the beauty of the ephemeral, capturing the everyday life and landscapes of the Edo period with a dynamic realism that, at the time, seemed revolutionary. “What strikes us is his deep understanding of nature–partly because it is such an integral part of Japanese culture–and his grasp of its sheer scale and grandeur,” says Villanti. The works come from the prestigious collection of the National Museum in Kraków. For the first time, the museum has loaned its works to Italy for the first major monographic exhibition on Hokusai outside Poland. The Polish museum holds such a large collection of Japanese works thanks to Feliks Jasieński, a 19th-century Polish exile and collector who developed a deep passion for Japanese art while in Paris. He donated some 20,000 items to the museum in 1920. “I believe that we present quite a good range of different (aspects) of his art creations. For example, watching people, traveling people, different ways of showing a person and object from different perspectives,” says Beata Romanowicz, curator of the exhibition. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Cambodian lawmakers unanimously adopted a new law targeting online scam operations with up to life in prison, following a government pledge to shut them down by the end of April. All 112 members of parliament present voted to approve the legislation, which marks Cambodia’s first legal framework specifically aimed at a lucrative, illicit industry that has transformed the country into a global hub for cybercrime. The scam operations typically involve bogus investment schemes and feigned romances that collectively extort tens of billions of dollars from victims around the world every year. Justice Minister Keut Rith noted that thousands of people, especially from other Asian nations, are lured with fraudulent job offers and forced to work in scam centers in conditions of near-slavery. Keut Rith told lawmakers that these crimes threaten public security and significantly damage Cambodia’s global reputation. The legislation awaits review by the Senate and final approval by King Norodom Sihamoni. Directing what’s described as a technology fraud site would carry five to 10 years in prison and fines reaching $250,000. For cases involving human trafficking, illegal confinement, or violence, the prison term is 10 to 20 years. If a worker dies, as is often associated with failed escape attempts, offenders face 15 to 30 years or even life imprisonment. Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith, who leads the Commission for Combating Online Scams, recently announced that authorities have targeted 250 suspected locations since July, successfully shutting down 200. He said the enforcement efforts resulted in 79 legal cases against nearly 700 ringleaders and associates. Over the same period, the government has repatriated nearly 10,000 scam center workers from 23 countries. Experts are skeptical. Jacob Sims, a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Asia Center, pointed out in response to Chhay Sinarith’s remarks that past crackdowns often failed because they left financial and protection networks intact, allowing criminal operations to quickly start again. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

The price of a PlayStation is going up by another $100, the second time in less than a year that Sony has upped the price tag on its popular gaming console. Citing "continued pressures in the global economic landscape," the Japanese company said that the PS5 is now $649.99 in the U.S. The price for its digital edition was also raised by $100, to $599.99. The PS5 Pro is now $899.99, a $150 increase. The company raised prices similarly for other regions, including the United Kingdom, Europe, and Japan. Global trade has been upended by U.S. tariffs imposed on all of the nation's trading partners, and Sony bumped up the price for the PlayStation by $50 just last August. The war in Iran has created a massive bottleneck of energy and manufacturing supplies, creating more price pressures for everyday goods, including electronics. The cost of a Sony PlayStation is now about 30% more than it was at this time last year. "We know that price changes impact our community, and after careful evaluation, we found this was a necessary step to ensure we can continue delivering innovative, high-quality gaming experiences to players worldwide," Sony said in a blog post on its website. Though Sony did not specifically cite it as a cause, Iran's attack on Qatar's natural gas export facility forced it to shut down, threatening supplies of helium, a key ingredient used to produce computer chips. Qatar supplies a third of the world's helium, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Qatar's state-owned gas company said the shutdown would slash helium exports by 14%. Lower supply means higher prices, especially if the war drags on for months or longer, analysts said. While most people know of helium as the gas that makes party balloons float, it is also essential for manufacturing semiconductors used in computers and an array of other tech devices. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

The World Health Organization (WHO) marked World Tuberculosis Day on March 24. This year’s slogan is ‘Yes! We can end TB!’ Medics diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) in the Philippines are now using portable X-ray machines equipped with Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) software powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate the screening, early detection, and treatment. “It is a game changer, for the simple reason that this artificial intelligence are equipped to know the landmarks and then the parameters to check if an X-ray film has possessed or has a characteristic of a TB patient,” says Dr. Clarissa Dayrit-Halum, Technical Officer of the World Health Organization in the Philippines. “So, these are all installed in our machines, in our X-ray machines, and then the reading … The doctors will still evaluate all the readings of our AI. Don't get me wrong. They still read the results. It's just that it’s faster. The accuracy and specificity of our AI is very high, no less than 99%,” Dayrit-Halum adds. Currently, TB in the Philippines is a high burden. The country is in the number 3 slot globally, second to Indonesia. India holds the top spot with 26% of global cases, according to the WHO. “This mobile X-ray will help in the screening. It will accelerate the screening of the patients, and it will lead to a faster and even increase the volume of patients for a given regular time as compared to the conventional regular screening on X-rays,” says Dr. Camilio Cesar Baluyot. About 8.3 million people across the globe were newly diagnosed with TB in 2024. Not all infections are diagnosed, and the new numbers represent 78% of the estimated number of people who actually fell ill that year, according to WHO figures. WHO officials see the increase as an indication that screening and treatment are improving after health care disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, the number of deaths caused by TB fell in 2024 to 1.23 million, down from 1.25 million the year before. Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that attack the lungs and is spread through the air when an infectious person coughs or sneezes. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

The biggest new restaurant trend is small. Special menus with littler, less expensive portions are popping up all over, from large chains like Olive Garden and The Cheesecake Factory to trendy urban eateries to rural diners. Restaurants hope the menus will meet many different diners’ needs. Some want to spend less when they go out. Others are looking for healthier options or trying to lose weight. Many diners–both young and old–say they simply don’t want to eat so much during a meal. “These are really driven by, I think, changes in the way people are thinking about their relationship with food, the way they spend money on food, what is a good value and what's not,” said Maeve Webster, the president of Menu Matters, a culinary consulting firm. Last September, restaurateur Barry Gutin ran into two different friends who told him they were taking GLP-1s and were struggling to find restaurant meals that met their nutritional needs and smaller appetites. Gutin is the co-owner of Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar, which has locations in Philadelphia, Washington, Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Orlando, Florida. Gutin reached out to a doctor who specializes in weight loss and to Cuba Libre’s culinary director, Angel Roque. Over the next month, they developed the chain’s GLP-Wonderful menu, which is available upon request during dinner. The menu has five classic Cuban options, including grilled chicken and stewed beef brisket, that are designed to look beautiful and stimulate appetites, Gutin said. The portions are smaller and less expensive than items on the regular dinner menu, and they list nutritional information, including the amount of protein and fiber per serving. During a recent visit to Shelburne, Vermont, from his home in North Carolina, Jack Pless was delighted to see the Teeny Tuesday menu at Barkeaters Restaurant. Pless, who’s in his 60s and used to own a restaurant, said he can’t eat as much as he used to at one sitting. “So many times you go out to restaurants, especially me or my wife, and we'll take home a box and it'll sit in the refrigerator for two, three days and start to grow a beard,” he said. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Until recently, a call coming into the Danbury Fire Department meant alarms and tones immediately blasting at high volume—startling the firefighters before they headed out to scenes that could get their hearts pumping even faster. Capt. Kevin Lunnie said the effect could be “overwhelming.” He noticed a big jump in his heart rate when the alerts went off, which isn’t a good thing in a profession where heart problems are the leading cause of on-duty deaths. But the city is now taking a gentler approach. A new system that went online in September includes alarms that start softer before gradually increasing in volume, while a computerized voice calmly announces the information the firefighters need to know about the incoming emergency. “It’s much easier on your nervous system,” Lunnie said. Danbury, a city of around 87,000 people in southwestern Connecticut, is using the new alerts in its five fire stations, joining thousands of other departments around the U.S. and world, aiming to both reduce stress and improve response times. One weekday, a call came into Danbury’s main fire station, and the alert began with a single, soft tone. “Truck 1,” said the automated female voice. “Respond to sick person,” it said, giving the patient's address. Around the firehouse, warm, red lighting flashed while monitors displayed the nature and location of the emergency. A timer display began to count down from two minutes, with the goal of firefighters leaving the station before the time ran out. It’s both calmer and clearer than the old system, which began with full-volume single tones followed by a cacophony of longer ones that fluctuated between high and low pitches. Dispatchers would previously announce the calls over the station speaker system, which firefighters said could be static-y and hard to understand. “Most people found it very jarring,” Lunnie said of the system, which would jolt firefighters awake day or night. The new setup is integrated into the computer-aided dispatching system. So, when a dispatcher takes an emergency call and logs the initial information, it can alert the stations and units faster than department staff, while also sending the call information to firefighters’ phones and watches. The result, according to Danbury Assistant Fire Chief William Lounsbury, is quicker response times. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Commuters, residents, and tourists who take to social media during warm months to complain about sweltering subway systems in New York, Boston, and London should feel vindicated—new research says they aren't alone. As temperatures rise aboveground, the number of subway riders reporting uncomfortable heat belowground increases, according to a new study in the journal Nature Cities. This could worsen as climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, makes for a hotter planet. Northwestern University researchers analyzed more than 85,000 crowdsourced social posts on the social platform X and Google Maps reviews from 2008 to 2024 in those three major cities’ subway systems. They searched for keywords related to being too hot—or what they called “thermal discomfort”—in those metropolises, which are some of the world’s oldest and busiest. The experts looked for terms such as “hot” and “warm” while filtering out results that did not seem to relate to temperature, such as “hot dog.” The study’s authors said subway riders may expect temperatures to be naturally cooler underground. They found that a 1°F (0.5°C) increase in outdoor temperature led to a 10% increase in complaints in Boston, 12% in New York, and 27% in London. Earth’s average temperature warmed 1°F (0.56°C) from 2008 to 2024, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The researchers analyzed posts across seasons, time of day, and day of week. “Interestingly, over the weekend, people complained less,” said Giorgia Chinazzo, assistant professor in Northwestern’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, who co-authored the study with associate professor Alessandro Rotta Loria. Chinazzo speculated that one reason may be that people were dressing differently than on workdays. Flavio Lehner, an assistant professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences at Cornell University who was not involved in the work, said the research “follows the template of previous studies that link environmental conditions to human behavior using social media data.” He has also studied how warm conditions trigger a stronger online reaction. Lehner said limitations of the research include only monitoring three city transit systems and it being difficult to control for other factors influencing social media behavior. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Alligators were once in peril of being hunted to extinction, and formally listed on the Endangered Species List decades ago. Their numbers weren't too depleted to rebound in the wild if their habitat was maintained, say some experts. But around the time they were pronounced endangered, scientists with the state of Louisiana proposed a different way to boost their numbers while protecting their habitat: farmers would pay landowners a hefty price for eggs collected from nests on their properties, raise them to sell their meat locally and their skins on the luxury market, and then release a certain percentage back into the wild every year. Now, the state of Louisiana produces over 400,000 farmed alligators every year, with farmers bringing in an estimated value of $86 million, per the state's wildlife & fisheries department. Based on data from aerial nest surveys and wild hunting tags, the state allots every year, they decide how many to release back into the wild. As numbers in the wild have grown, they've gradually dropped the percentage returned each year, from close to 20% in the early 2000s to about 5% now. Farmers and state officials say the trackers help international authorities trace and enforce that every product comes from a legal operation. Kevin Sagrera, who operates Vermillion Gator Farm in Abbeville, Louisiana, also says the financial incentives for landowners to protect alligators’ habitat and, by extension, the alligator’s eggs, help boost an ecosystem that can provide these coastal areas protection from stormwaters. Advocates say gator farming has turned the demand for boots and bags into a reason to care for a species often seen as scary, bothersome, or solely useful for their leathery outsides. Not all conservationists agree with the practice and express concerns over tying conservation to capitalism. But for luxury brands launching sustainability goals to consumers who increasingly care about brands' environmental impacts, gator ranching tells a story they say adds to and justifies the value of expensive goods. Some of the scientists who study them see that as reality. "These wetlands, these alligators ... it has to have some kind of monetary value," said George Melancon, alligator research biologist for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. "Otherwise, people just forget about them.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Google Maps will depend more heavily on artificial intelligence to help people figure out where they want to go and the best way to get there as part of a major redesign. The overhaul driven by Google's Gemini technology will introduce two AI features into a digital mapping service used by more than 2 billion people worldwide. One tool called Ask Maps will expand upon conversational abilities that Google brought to the service last November, giving suggestions to users looking for things such as nearby places to charge their devices, cafes with short lines, or a detailed itinerary for a road trip involving several stops and excursions. Gemini's recommendations will draw upon a database spanning more than 300 million places and reviews from more than 500 million contributors that have been accumulated since Google Maps' debut more than 20 years ago. Google executives declined to answer a question about whether the company eventually plans to sell ads to boost businesses' chances of being displayed in Ask Maps' recommendations. Ask Maps initially will be available on Google Maps' mobile app for iPhones and Android software in the U.S. and India, before expanding to personal computers and other countries. In what Google executives are billing as the biggest change to the maps' driving directions, Gemini has also created a new tool dubbed Immersive Navigation that will present a three-dimensional perspective designed to give users a better grasp of where they are at any moment in time. The 3D renderings created by Gemini will include landmarks such as notable buildings, medians in the roads, and other aspects of the terrain that drivers are seeing around them as they drive to help them get their bearings more quickly. Google believes its AI guardrails are now strong enough to prevent the Gemini technology underlying Immersive Navigation from fabricating bogus places to go, a malfunction known within the industry as a “hallucination.” Immersive Navigation is also supposed to help Google Maps more clearly explain the pros and cons of different driving routes to the same recommendation, as well as point to the best places to park once a user arrives at a designated destination. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Most of America “sprang forward” for daylight saving time on March 8. Losing that hour of sleep can do more than leave you tired and cranky the next day. It could also harm your health. Darker mornings and more evening light knock your body clock out of whack, which means daylight saving time can usher in sleep trouble for weeks or longer. Studies have even found an uptick in heart attacks and strokes right after the March time change. There are ways to ease the adjustment, including getting more sunshine to help reset your circadian rhythm for healthful sleep. Daylight saving time began on March 8 at 2 a.m., an hour of sleep vanishing in most of the U.S. The ritual will reverse on Nov. 1 when clocks “fall back” as daylight saving time ends. Hawaii and most of Arizona don’t make the spring switch, sticking to standard time year-round—along with Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Worldwide, dozens of countries also observe daylight saving time, starting and ending at different dates. Some people try to prepare for daylight saving time by going to bed a little earlier two or three nights ahead. While getting back on schedule after an hour's change may not be that difficult for some people, it's an added challenge for the third of U.S. adults who already don't get the recommended seven hours of nightly shuteye. The brain has a master clock that is set by exposure to sunlight and darkness. This circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-hour cycle that determines when we become sleepy and when we’re more alert. The patterns change with age, one reason that early-to-rise youngsters evolve into hard-to-wake teens. Morning light resets the rhythm. By evening, levels of a hormone called melatonin begin to surge, triggering drowsiness. Too much light in the evening—that extra hour from daylight saving time—delays that surge, and the cycle gets out of sync. Sleep deprivation is linked to heart disease, cognitive decline, obesity, and numerous other problems. And that circadian clock affects more than sleep, also influencing things like heart rate, blood pressure, stress hormones, and metabolism. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Climate change's rising seas may threaten tens of millions more people than scientists and government planners originally thought because of mistaken research assumptions on how high coastal waters already are, a new study said. Researchers studied hundreds of scientific studies and hazard assessments, calculating that about 90% of them underestimated baseline coastal water heights by an average of 1 foot (30 centimeters), according to the study in the journal Nature. It's a far more frequent problem in the Global South, the Pacific, and Southeast Asia, and less so in Europe and along Atlantic coasts. The cause is a mismatch between the way sea and land altitudes are measured, said study co-author Philip Minderhoud, a hydrogeology professor at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands. And he attributed that to a “methodological blind spot” between the different ways those two things are measured. Each way measures its own areas properly, he said. But where sea meets land, there are a lot of factors that often don't get accounted for when satellites and land-based models are used. Studies that calculate sea level rise impact usually “do not look at the actual measured sea level, so they used this zero-meter” figure as a starting point, said lead author Katharina Seeger of the University of Padua in Italy. In some places in the Indo-Pacific, it's close to 3 feet (1 meter), Minderhoud said. One simple way to understand that is that many studies assume sea levels without waves or currents, when the reality at the water's edge is of oceans constantly roiled by wind, tides, currents, changing temperatures, and things like El Niño, said Minderhoud and Seeger. Adjusting to a more accurate coastal height baseline means that if seas rise by a little more than 3 feet (1 meter)—as some studies suggest will happen by the end of the century—waters could inundate up to 37% more land and threaten 77 million to 132 million more people, the study said. That would trigger problems in planning and paying for the impacts of a warming world. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol's newest recruit has floppy ears, four legs, and an amazing knack for finding people. Beau, a 12-week-old puppy, is joining a band of bloodhounds who are in demand for difficult cases across the upper Midwest. They trail missing children, people with dementia, and criminal suspects. The agency uses drones and aircraft to aid searches, but bloodhounds remain an age-old, low-tech solution. “These dogs are just specifically bred to search for people,” said Trooper Steven Mayer, who handles Bleu, one of the dogs. Bloodhounds have about 300 million scent receptors in their nose, vastly more than humans and more than other dogs, Mayer said. Their big, floppy ears and folds of skin help gather odor for the dog to trail people, sometimes after a week or more, he said. The dogs have scented from a wall someone touched, the dirt a person stumbled in, and vomit on a car door. Highway Patrol began using bloodhounds about 14 years ago, moving away from dual-purpose dogs to singular-purpose drug dogs and trailing dogs. The state force receives about 70 calls a year for their services, including one to Montana last year to help find a man suspected in the killing of four people at an Anaconda bar. Beau was born in Texas but has since moved to North Dakota's largest city, Fargo. His early training is mostly potty and kennel training and basic commands, as well as socializing him to different places, people, and environments, said Trooper Dustin Pattengale, Beau's handler. He won't be ready for a full or certified trail until he is about 9 months old. North Dakota's dogs are something of a social media sensation for the Highway Patrol. Beau's name was picked in a Facebook vote. Recent videos depict him chewing a toy bear and another bloodhound, Lorace, gallivanting in new boots. “Everybody loves a dog, I mean, especially these little babies, these floppy-eared ones,” said Mayer, who hopes the dogs' visibility yields earlier calls for their assistance. “The more word we can get out about the program and the faster we get calls on it, the easier we can get out and be available to help people,” he said. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Online influencers claim the secret to low-calorie rice, pasta, and potatoes may be as simple as chilling out. Are they right? Not quite. But a small yet solid body of science does suggest that chilling these carbohydrate-rich foods after cooking them still could help people slim down. Most of the carbohydrates in these foods come from starch, of which there are two types: hard-to-digest amylose and easily digested amylopectin. Most raw carbohydrates, like uncooked potatoes, are made mostly of the hard-to-digest starch or resistant starch, but cooking converts it into the easily digested one. This is why diabetics need to be mindful when eating starchy foods. But many influencers believe that chilling those cooked foods triggers “retrogradation,” a process that converts easily digested starch back into resistant starch, making it harder to digest even if the food is then reheated. What does that mean for calories and blood sugar? Multiple studies since 2015 have found that people who ate rice that was cooked and then cooled had sometimes significantly lower blood sugar levels after eating compared to people who ate freshly cooked rice. Those findings are generally well-accepted. Less studied is whether retrogradation also reduces the calories available from these foods. Dr. David Ludwig, an endocrinologist and researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital, said, “It doesn’t appreciably change the calorie content of that food, (but) it may well affect your hormones and metabolism in a way that makes controlling calories a lot easier.” Eating foods high in resistant starch reduces the surge in blood sugar typically seen after consuming cooked carbohydrates, he explained. And that’s key not only for diabetics. Studies have shown that those sugar spikes activate the brain’s reward mechanism and trigger cravings, making overeating at snacks and later meals more likely. Also, those blood sugar surges increase the body’s production of insulin, which not only makes us feel hungry but prompts the body’s metabolism to store more calories as fat, Ludwig said. “When the food retrogrades, it digests more slowly,” he said. “It’s going to keep your blood sugar more stable. You’ll have less insulin to drive fat storage and likely have an easier time avoiding overeating.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.

During winter in Minnesota, people lined up in single-digit cold at the Moorhead Dairy Queen (DQ) as if spring were in the air. The annual March 1 opening of the 77-year-old walk-up ice cream shop is a tradition, no matter the weather. Heavy snow, subzero cold—people will brave a blizzard for a Blizzard. “It just says that we're tough, and there are things that are really important to us,” said Jerry Protextor, a retired pastor who stood in line for a butterscotch milkshake and a chocolate-mint Blizzard. “It's just a part of community.” March is very much a winter month in the Upper Midwest, though the weather can vary wildly. The annual opening of the Dairy Queen “heritage store” brings the hope of spring and a familiar promise for people who need something to look forward to, especially with unrest in the world, owners Troy and Diane DeLeon said. “It’s a sense of unity. It’s a tradition for many families,” Diane DeLeon said. Wintry weather typically has a long hold on the region, and that was certainly true last March 1, as the temperature was a brisk 6 °F (-14 °C) when the Dairy Queen opened. Patrons could gaze over snowy surroundings as they ate their icy treats. An average of 1,200 customers stopped by the Dairy Queen on its opening day. Some showed up early and waited in their cars. Being first in line brings yearlong bragging rights. The store typically closes in late October. Julie Bergseid arrived before 7 a.m. to be first in line after two years in a row as second. “Usually there's a little bit of a line after a bit, so you gotta get here before they start,” she said. “It's momentous that this is the start of spring, no matter what the temperature. This starts it: going to the DQ, getting your first ice cream of the season.” Bundled up in snow pants, long underwear, wool socks, and mittens, she planned to sit down at a patio table and enjoy her barbecue, a Peanut Buster Parfait, and a Dilly frozen treat. “It won't melt. That's the nice thing,” Bergseid said. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Imagine dining on “edible plastic” made from algae and collagen from fish skins. While you ingest the dish, ocean-borne plastic pollution seemingly floats above you, projected across the restaurant's huge domed ceiling. It's an experience—and dish—inspired by large garbage patches found in our seas. In Denmark, Chef Rasmus Munk doesn't offer dishes at the Alchemist restaurant. Instead, he whisks guests on an “immersive dining experience” combining performance, music, projections in its planetarium-like domed dining room, and, of course, food. Opened in 2019 at the site of a former industrial harbor area in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, Alchemist was named the world's fifth-best restaurant in 2025. It has two Michelin stars, signifying excellence in cuisine, out of a maximum of three possible for one establishment. Guests at this restaurant can experience 50 “impressions,” most of them edible. Dining there means trying various foods—a large eyeball dish featuring caviar and codfish eye gel, and nettle butterflies served atop cheese and artichoke leaves—over many hours, in a slow process that invites reflection on the food and surrounding projections. “We convey messages through our food. Our food is our medium of expressing ourselves,” said Munk, whose dishes also explore issues such as state surveillance and animal welfare. Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said in January that Denmark would explore whether gastronomy could be formally recognized as an art form. If realized, it could become the first nation to legally place cooking—or at least the highest versions of it—on a similar pedestal to painting. Other nations with famed food cultures, including France and Japan, haven't made similar moves. Last year, UNESCO granted Italian cooking cultural heritage status. Denmark has previously expanded what constitutes art and culture, for example, by awarding a lifetime national arts honor to heavy metal act King Diamond. Last year, the Sonning Prize, Denmark's largest cultural award, was awarded to French gastronomic artist and chemist Hervé This. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Global energy trade is in turmoil as war around the Persian Gulf chokes off oil and natural gas shipments, causing prices to soar. Asia is the most exposed since it relies heavily on imported fuel, much of it shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passageway that carries a fifth of global trade in crude oil and liquified natural gas (LNG). About 13 million barrels of oil per day moved through the corridor in 2025, according to energy consultancy Kpler. That's about a third of all seaborne crude, the unrefined petroleum that is processed into fuels such as gasoline and diesel. Few regions are as exposed to Middle East energy flow disruptions as East Asia. “If the Strait of Hormuz closure is prolonged, then we do expect oil and gas prices to increase across Asia. But this again would depend on the severity of the blockage and, importantly, how long the blockage lasts. We've already seen this price spike happen,” said Amy Kong, energy transition researcher at Zero Carbon Analytics. Japan imported 2.34 million barrels of crude per day in January, about 95% of its total imports that month, according to its Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Japan is often ranked as the world's second-largest LNG importer. South Korea relies nearly entirely on energy imports. The Korea International Trade Association says it gets around 70% of its crude oil and 20% of its LNG from the Middle East. Taiwan also imports nearly all of its LNG. It has been trying to reduce its reliance on the Middle East but still sources about one-third from Qatar, which halted LNG production after attacks on its facilities. In Manila, authorities banned non-essential travel and personal use of government cars to cut fuel use. Japan and South Korea have large energy supply stockpiles. While Taiwan announced that it has enough supplies for March and contingency plans for the future. But analysts say reserves are temporary buffers and energy-intensive industries, like Taiwan's semiconductor industry, remain vulnerable. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Beyond Meat is dropping “Meat” from its name as it moves beyond the struggling market for plant-based burgers, sausages, and tenders and expands into new categories like protein drinks. The company, rebranded as Beyond The Plant Protein Co.—or simply Beyond on its packaging—changed its website and social media channels. Beyond introduced its first beverage, a sparkling protein drink called Beyond Immerse, in January and plans to release a protein bar this summer. The refresh could be critical for the brand. U.S. sales of plant-based alternatives to meat are flagging and have dragged Beyond down with them. The company's net revenue dropped 14% in the first nine months of 2025. Its shares have been trading below $1 since the start of this year. “For me, it is an opportunity to reshape the company around very real food that is directly from plants,” said Beyond President and CEO Ethan Brown, who founded the company in 2009. “It’s about delivering all those benefits of the plant kingdom to the consumer in ways that they’re going to be able to easily integrate it into their lives.” Beyond is not the only vegan food company making a pivot. Consumer demand for protein is skyrocketing, and several companies are scrambling to serve up more plant-based options. Eat Just, which makes plant-based eggs, introduced a protein powder made with mung beans last spring. In January, Impossible Foods announced a partnership with Equii Foods to develop protein-packed breads and pastas. Silk, a plant-based dairy brand, also unveiled a protein drink in January. Chris Costagli, a food thought leader at NielsenIQ (NIQ), said plant-based brands have struggled in recent years as customers scrutinized their labels and found unfamiliar ingredients, added sugars, or high sodium content. After peaking in 2020, U.S. retail sales of plant-based meat have plummeted, falling 26% over the last two years, according to NIQ. “There’s a lot of fillers and gums and texturizers and things that give those products a more familiar feel,” Costagli said. “I think as people have been paying closer and closer attention to what they’re actually ingesting, it’s causing some products to stumble.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Billions fewer birds are flying through North American skies than decades ago, and their population is shrinking faster, mostly due to a combination of intensive agriculture and warming temperatures, a new study found. Nearly half of the 261 species studied showed big enough losses in numbers to be statistically significant, and more than half of those declining are seeing their losses accelerate since 1987, according to the journal Science. The study is the first to look at more than the total bird population by examining the trends in their decrease, where they are shrinking the most, and what the declines are connected to. “Not only are we losing birds. We are losing them faster and faster from year to year,” said study co-author Marta Jarzyna, an ecologist at Ohio State University. The only consolation is that the birds that are shrinking in numbers the fastest are species—such as the European starling, American crow, grackle, and house sparrow—with large enough populations that they aren't yet at risk of going extinct, said study lead author Francois Leroy, also an Ohio State ecologist. Cornell University conservation scientist Kenneth Rosenberg, who wasn't part of the study, said the species declining fastest in the new research “are often considered pests or ‘trash birds,’ but if our environment cannot support healthy populations of these extreme generalists and extremely adaptable species that are tolerant of humans, then that is a very strong indicator that the environment is also toxic to humans and all other life.” The biggest locations for acceleration of bird loss were in the Mid-Atlantic, the Midwest, and California, the study found. And geography proved important when Leroy and Jarzyna looked for reasons why so many bird species are shrinking ever faster. When it came to population declines—not the acceleration—the scientists noticed bigger losses further south. When they did a deeper analysis, they statistically connected those losses to warmer temperatures from human-caused climate change. “In regions where temperatures increase the most, we are seeing strongest declines in populations,” Jarzyna said. “On the other hand, the acceleration of those declines, that’s mostly driven by agricultural practices.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Joelle Haley went into labor on Christmas Day. Her son, Kieran, was born two days later, premature at only 24 weeks. To help calm herself, Haley would grab yarn and needles and crochet each day while in the Children's Hospital of Michigan Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at DMC Hutzel Women's Hospital in Detroit. It's been Haley's hobby since second grade, and something she's now using to help calm other premature babies in the NICU and their mothers. “I had heard a nurse mention that they wished that they had some here, and I asked what she meant out of curiosity,” Haley told reporters. “And since I crochet myself, I was like, ‘I can help with that. I'll find a pattern.’ And I posted on a Facebook page and had a lot of people reach out—more than I expected.” Amigurumi, from the Japanese, are knitted but mostly crocheted, small stuffed toy animals made of colorful yarn. The tentacles on the yarn octopi give babies something soft to grab, clutch, and pull instead of breathing and feeding tubes, wires, and other lifesaving and monitoring equipment. Some babies receiving care require breathing support, said Dr. Jorge Lua, medical director at Hutzel Women’s Hospital, which is part of the Detroit Medical Center. “Some babies will have security blankets. Our babies will have the octopi to keep them cuddled and make them more secure, decrease the anxiety on the part of the baby,” Lua said. Haley said she often saw her son tug at the tubes connecting him to NICU equipment. Another benefit of the octopi is that they help soothe the babies and their parents. “It helps me feel comforted that I was able to help other children,” said Haley, who lives in suburban Detroit. “Seeing my son with his (octopus) helps me know that he'll be safe and comforted when I'm not here. So, I hope it brings that same feeling to other families.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.

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 wishes and use the gift to improve waterworks projects. Concern over the safety of Osaka's waterworks systems grew after a massive sinkhole swallowed a truck and killed the driver last year. It was linked to a damaged sewer in Saitama, north of Tokyo. Osaka had 92 cases of water pipe leaks under city roads in the fiscal year ending March 2025, the city's waterworks official Eiji Kotani told The Associated Press. With a population of 2.8 million, Osaka is the country's third-largest city and serves as a western Japanese capital. Most of Japan's main public infrastructure was built during the rapid postwar economic growth. Urban development in Osaka, a regional commercial hub, started earlier than many other cities, and its water pipes and other infrastructure are also aging earlier, Kotani said. Osaka needs to renew a total of 259 kilometers (160 miles) of water pipes, he said. Renewing a 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) segment of water pipes would cost about 500 million yen ($3.2 million), Kotani said. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

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 alerted. Employees can ask Patty how to make various menu items or tell Patty to remove items from digital menus if they've run out of ingredients. Burger King said it's also exploring using Patty as a way to improve customer service. The system can track when employees say keywords like “welcome,” “please,” and “thank you” and share that with managers. When asked about that capability by The Associated Press, Burger King said the intent is to use Patty as a coaching tool, not a tracker of individual employees. “It's not about scoring individuals or enforcing scripts. It's about reinforcing great hospitality and giving managers helpful, real-time insights so they can recognize their teams more effectively,” Burger King said in a statement. Burger King added that the keywords are “one of many signals to help managers understand service patterns.” “We believe hospitality is fundamentally human. The role of this technology is to support our teams so they can stay present with guests,” Burger King said. Patty is part of a larger app-based BK Assistant platform that will be available to all U.S. restaurants later this year. Burger King is one of several fast-food chains experimenting with artificial intelligence. Yum Brands said last spring it was partnering with Nvidia to develop AI technologies for its brands, which include KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. McDonald's ended a partnership with IBM in 2024 that was testing automated orders at its drive-thrus. The company is now working with Google on AI systems. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

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 has cultivated since its early days on Twitter, before the platform rebranded as X. The account has attracted a loyal global following, he said. "Our regular social media followers just eat this stuff up," Zimmer said. "But obviously this is all in fun, and we encourage our travelers to be comfortable." U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy reacted to the post with a GIF of actor John Krasinski from the TV show The Office looking into the camera and saying, "Yes!" Duffy has been encouraging passengers to dress more formally while flying, part of a civility campaign he launched last November—called "the Golden Age of Travel Starts with You." The Transportation Department said the campaign was "intended to jump-start a nationwide conversation around how we can all restore courtesy and class to air travel." The airport released a statement clarifying its post was intended as a joke. "Today's post about 'banning' pajamas was another playful nod to day-of-travel fashion debates," it said. "We encourage our passengers to travel comfortably and appreciate our loyal followers who enjoy the online humor." This article was provided by The Associated Press.

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 the literacy screenings largely based on their proximity to schools with lower performance scores on kindergarten readiness assessments. Across Columbus City Schools, more than 63% of kindergarteners were behind on language and literacy skills during the 2024-2025 school year, according to state kindergarten readiness assessment (KRA) data. Concerns about childhood literacy extend far beyond Columbus. Nationally, the percentage of fourth graders considered proficient in reading sits just above 30%, according to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation's report card. Reading proficiency has dipped 4 percentage points since 2019 as schools have struggled to make up for pandemic learning losses. Literacy screenings are not typically conducted in medical settings, but several prominent pediatric care centers, including Boston Children's Hospital, promote early literacy resources to families in recognition of reading's importance for a child's development. Kids who enter kindergarten with lower reading ability often struggle to catch up in later grades. Almost three-fourths of kindergarteners who test in the bottom 20% of students for readiness exams remain in the bottom 20% of their class by fifth grade, according to The Children's Reading Foundation, a nonprofit organization. This article was provided by The Associated Press.  

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 disclosed. Boston U.S. District Judge Patti Saris dismissed the case after the parties settled, though the order allowed either side to reopen it within 60 days if the agreement is not finalized. An eBay spokesperson referred to the order for comment and said the company had nothing further to add. When the suit was filed, the company said “the misconduct of these former employees was wrong,” and that it would “do what is fair and appropriate to try to address what the Steiners went through.” In 2020, federal prosecutors charged seven former eBay employees, alleging they carried out a coordinated harassment campaign against the couple after becoming angered by coverage in the couple’s online newsletter. Most of the defendants pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy and cyberstalking and were later sentenced to prison terms or home confinement. In 2024, eBay Inc. agreed to pay a $3 million criminal penalty under a deferred prosecution agreement with federal authorities. Aside from harassment that included anonymous deliveries of items, the employees also planned to break into the couple’s garage to install a GPS device on their car. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

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 mascot made its entrance into the arena to cheers from the crowd. More than 17,000 visitors filled the event floor from February 13 to 15, supported by over 1,100 staff working across the venue. Screens showcased Pokémon Go, the mobile game phenomenon that has received more than one billion downloads globally since launching in 2016. These are one-versus-one battles to catch Pokémon in the wild using the popular mobile phone app. In another area, players competed in Pokémon UNITE. Competitors formed teams of five players within their region and battled in five-versus-five matches on Nintendo Switch or mobile devices. Video game competitors played Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet across three age divisions. Players brought four Pokémon into double battles against their opponents. Chris Brown, Director of Global Esports and Events at The Pokémon Company International, said the scale of the tournament demonstrates the franchise's enduring appeal. “Today at this show, we've got over 6,800 competitors,” he said. “This is the largest e-sport tournament in Europe. One of the largest e-sport tournaments in the whole world.” Brown said the event attracted participants from every corner of the globe. “We've got 71 countries and regions represented. So, it truly is a global event. It's not just Europe,” he said. “We've got players from North America, from Latin America, obviously, of course, all over Europe.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.

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 one of the world’s fastest-growing digital markets. From farms to classrooms, AI is fast emerging as a tool for many Indians to boost efficiency, helping them cut time, rising costs, and labor constraints. In New Delhi, students and educators are using AI technology to help them find solutions for their work. Anirudh Singh, a Master’s student in social work from Delhi University, has developed a virtual dashboard using AI as part of an internship project on mapping six states for weather predictions in 2026, including data on heat and rain risk. “I think AI is just reducing the tedious work that students generally had to do. Like, looking at various studies and then coming for a single line or a single crux of that article, we have to read the whole article. AI is reducing the tedious work, and that's what Google did when it came, and AI just improved on it,” he said. Educator Swetank Pandey teaches at a civil services coaching center, a sector known for its fierce competition and mammoth volume. Millions of young Indians compete for civil service jobs each year, and coaching institutes are forced to process vast numbers of tests, evaluations, and revisions. Pandey said AI has made that workload easier to manage. Pandey said the technology helps him carry out the same task on a loop, allowing tens of thousands of answer sheets to be evaluated in as little as 20 to 25 minutes. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

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 crème. "How does The Hershey Co. continue to position Reese's as its flagship brand, a symbol of trust, quality, and leadership, while quietly replacing the very ingredients (Milk Chocolate + Peanut Butter) that built Reese's trust in the first place?" Reese wrote in the letter, which he posted on his LinkedIn profile. Hershey said that Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are made the same way they always have been, with milk chocolate and peanut butter that the company makes itself from roasted peanuts and a few other ingredients, including sugar and salt. But some Reese's ingredients vary, Hershey said. "As we've grown and expanded the Reese's product line, we make product recipe adjustments that allow us to make new shapes, sizes, and innovations that Reese's fans have come to love and ask for, while always protecting the essence of what makes Reese's unique and special: the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter," the company said. Brad Reese said he thinks Hershey went too far. He said he recently threw out a bag of Reese's Mini Hearts, which were a new product released for Valentine's Day. The packaging notes that the heart-shaped candies are made from "chocolate candy and peanut butter crème," not milk chocolate and peanut butter. "It was not edible," Reese told The Associated Press in an interview. "You have to understand. I used to eat a Reese's product every day. This is very devastating for me." This article was provided by The Associated Press.

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 procedures with the stated goal of slashing bureaucracy and accelerating the availability of new medicines. Since arriving at the agency last April, Makary has launched a series of directives that he says will shorten FDA reviews, including mandating the use of artificial intelligence by staffers and offering one-month drug assessments for new medications that serve “national interests.” It contrasts with the FDA's more restrictive approach to other products, including vaccines. In their piece published in February, Makary and Prasad state that dropping the two-trial requirement reflects modern advances that have made drug research "increasingly precise and scientific." “In this setting, overreliance on two trials no longer makes sense,” they write. “In 2026, there are powerful alternative ways to feel assured that our products help people live longer or better than requiring manufacturers to test them yet again.” The FDA officials predicted the shift would lead to “a surge in drug development.” Dr. Janet Woodcock, the FDA's former drug director, said the change makes sense and reflects the FDA's decades-long move toward relying on one trial, combined with supporting evidence, for various life-threatening diseases, including cancer. "The scientific point is well taken that as we move toward greater understanding of biology and disease, we don't need to do two trials all the time," said Woodcock, who led the FDA's drug center for about 20 years before retiring in 2024. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

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 responsibilities, and fears of being judged by colleagues, friends, and family members are some of the obstacles that prevent people from hitting pause on their work lives and setting out in search of new perspectives, according to sabbatical experts and people who have taken sabbaticals. American attitudes toward taking time off are different from those in much of Europe, where free time and rest are prioritized, said Kira Schrabram, an assistant professor of management at the University of Washington’s business school who studies meaningful and sustainable work. In the European Union, workers are entitled by law to at least 20 days of paid vacation a year. But more companies are allowing weeks or months of paid or unpaid leave as a way to retain valued employees, according to Schrabram. Seven years ago, she brought her experience researching burnout to the Sabbatical Project, an initiative founded by Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer DJ DiDonna that promotes sabbaticals as “a sacred human ritual” to which more people should have access. Schrabram, DiDonna, and University of Notre Dame Professor Emeritus Matt Bloom interviewed 50 U.S. professionals who took an extended break from non-academic jobs. From the responses, they identified three types of sabbaticals: working holidays that involved pursuing a passion project; “free dives” that combined exciting adventures with periods of rest; and quests undertaken by burned-out people who engaged in life-changing explorations once they had recovered sufficiently. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

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 high as the potential for budget uncertainties and fraud looms large. California has opted to eliminate copayments for some families, while Washington and Oregon cap what families pay. In Vermont, a payroll tax on employers funds childcare subsidies. In New Mexico, the plan relies heavily on the financial windfall from oil and gas production—including earnings from a recently minted $10 billion trust fund for early childhood education. It's a delicate balance for a progressive governor who initially set out to rein in the industry. “I think you're going to see more states look for ways to do it,” the governor said. “It's really a workforce engine, while paying real respect to the affordability crisis that families have.” Lujan Grisham wraps up her tenure next year, and state lawmakers, wary of unchecked spending, opted during the legislative session to take a cautious approach. They're leaving the door open to copayments if public finances deteriorate. That's a compromise Lujan Grisham had to make. The New Mexico legislation allows the state to create a waitlist when demand for assistance outpaces available slots. It's an effort to prioritize access for children in vulnerable circumstances—ranging from extreme poverty to disabilities and those at risk of developmental delays. It's also a response to concerns that the rapid expansion of child care subsidies to all income brackets may squeeze out slots for low-income families. Attendance from low-income families declined as assistance expanded to higher income brackets, according to a review by legislative analysts. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.