レアジョブ英会話 Daily News Article Podcast

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.