レアジョブ英会話 Daily News Article Podcast

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.