レアジョブ英会話 Daily News Article Podcast

Conservationists are marking 25 years of crocodile breeding and recovery in Cambodia, with a record release of a critically endangered species. Once believed extinct, Siamese crocodiles were rediscovered in Cambodia in the early 2000s. Conservationists at Fauna & Flora International have worked to save them by breeding them in protected conditions and then releasing them into remote areas of forest to bolster wild populations. International demand for crocodile skins and the boom of the crocodile farming industry has been blamed for pushing the species to extinction in Cambodia. “Twenty-five years ago now, Fauna & Flora rediscovered a population of Siamese Crocodiles in Cambodia,” says Pablo Sinovas, country director of Fauna & Flora International in Cambodia. “The species was thought to be extinct in the wild up until that point. And so, following that discovery, we have been working with the government and with local communities to help bring the species back from the brink of extinction. We are doing that by protecting the habitat, by monitoring populations, and importantly by breeding the species in captivity and taking it back into remote areas in the wild where they are also protected by those local community patrols.” Following the groundbreaking discovery, Fauna & Flora launched the Cambodian Crocodile Conservation Programme with the goal of safeguarding the recovery of the species. “Siamese crocodiles are one of the rarest reptiles in the world,” Sinovas says. “To help with its recovery, we are releasing them in very remote sites in the Cardamom Mountains, a jungle area where the species can be safe. And we are doing this because it is an important species for the ecosystem. As a top predator, it contributes to maintaining ecosystem health. Also in Cambodia, this is a very important species culturally. It is considered to be sacred by Indigenous people in that landscape. And so, the recovery of the species is essential from an ecological, as well as cultural, perspective.” To mark 25 years since the rediscovery of Siamese crocodiles, Fauna & Flora released 50 crocodiles into the Cardamom Mountains last month. They say this is the largest crocodile release on record. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed off on legislation designed to protect songwriters, performers and other music industry professionals against the potential dangers of artificial intelligence. The move makes Tennessee, long known as the birthplace of country music and the launchpad for musical legends, the first state in the U.S. to enact such measures. Supporters say the goal is to ensure that AI tools cannot replicate an artist’s voice without their consent. The bill goes into effect July 1. “We employ more people in Tennessee in the music industry than any other state,” Lee told reporters shortly after signing the bill into law. “Artists have intellectual property. They have gifts. They have a uniqueness that is theirs and theirs alone, certainly not artificial intelligence.” The Volunteer State is just one of three states where name, photographs and likeness are considered a property right rather than a right of publicity. According to the newly signed statute—dubbed the Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act or “ELVIS Act”—vocal likeness will now be added to that list. The law also creates a new civil action where people can be held liable if they publish or perform an individual’s voice without permission, as well as use a technology to produce an artist’s name, photographs, voice or likeness without the proper authorization. Yet it remains to be seen how effective the legislation will be for artists looking to shield their art from being scraped and replicated by AI without their permission. Supporters like Lee acknowledged that despite the sweeping support from those inside the music industry and unanimous approval from the Tennessee Statehouse, the legislation is untested. Amid ongoing clashes between the GOP supermajority and a handful of Democrats, this level of bipartisan agreement is a shocking anomaly. Many Tennessee musicians say they don’t have the luxury of waiting for a perfect solution, pointing out that the threats of AI are already showing up on their cellphones and in their recording studios. “Stuff comes in on my phone and I can’t tell it’s not me,” said country star Luke Bryan. “It’s a real deal now and hopefully this will curb it and slow it down.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.

The theft of sensitive information belonging to millions of AT&T’s current and former customers has been recently discovered online, the telecommunications giant said in March. In a March 30 announcement addressing the data breach, AT&T said that a dataset found on the “dark web” contains information including some Social Security numbers and passcodes for about 7.6 million current account holders and 65.4 million former account holders. Whether the data “originated from AT&T or one of its vendors” is still unknown, the Dallas-based company noted—adding that it had launched an investigation into the incident. AT&T has also begun notifying customers whose personal information was compromised. Consumers impacted by this breach should be receiving an email or letter directly from AT&T about the incident. The email notices began going out on March 30, an AT&T spokesperson confirmed to The Associated Press. Beyond these notifications, AT&T said that it had already reset the passcodes of current users. The company added that it would pay for credit monitoring services where applicable. AT&T also said that it “launched a robust investigation” with internal and external cybersecurity experts to investigate the situation further. AT&T has seen several data breaches that range in size and impact over the years. While the company says the data in this latest breach surfaced on a hacking forum several weeks ago, it closely resembles a similar breach that surfaced in 2021 but which AT&T never acknowledged, cybersecurity researcher Troy Hunt told the AP. Avoiding data breaches entirely can be tricky in our ever-digitized world, but consumers can take some steps to help protect themselves going forward. The basics include creating hard-to-guess passwords and using multifactor authentication when possible. If you receive a notice about a breach, it's a good idea to change your password and monitor account activity for any suspicious transactions. You'll also want to visit a company's official website for reliable contact information—as scammers sometimes try to take advantage of news like data breaches to gain your trust through look-alike phishing emails or phone calls. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

The fast-food chain Chick-fil-A backtracked from its decade-old "no antibiotics ever" pledge intended to help prevent human antibiotic resistance linked to the rampant use of the drugs in livestock production. Instead, the company said in a statement that it will embrace a standard known as "no antibiotics important to human medicine," often abbreviated as NAIHM, which entails the avoidance of medications commonly used to treat people and limits the use of animal antibiotics to cases of actual animal illness. Livestock producers have long used antibiotics to boost rapid weight gain in animals such as chickens, pigs, cows and sheep, improving the profitability of their businesses. Over the past decade, however, many nations, including the United States, have begun to restrict the practice as evidence mounted that it was contributing to drug resistance and reducing the effectiveness of antibiotics against disease in humans. Chick-fil-A said it will begin shifting to the new policy in the spring of 2024. A company spokesman added that the move reflects company concerns about its ability to acquire sufficient supplies of antibiotic-free chicken. One of the poultry industry's largest companies, Tyson Foods, said last year that it was reintroducing some antibiotics to its chicken production and removing its “No Antibiotics Ever” package labeling. It began to eliminate antibiotics from some of its poultry production in 2015. In a May 2023 video featured on the Tyson Foods YouTube channel, Tyson's senior director of animal welfare, Karen Christensen, described the shift as "based on scientific research and industry learnings." She noted that Tyson planned to begin using antibiotics known as ionophores, which don't play a role in human medicine, to "improve the overall health and welfare of the birds in our care." Ionophores have long been used to promote growth in livestock. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Meta sunsetted Facebook News in early April for users in the U.S. and Australia as the platform further deemphasizes news and politics. The feature was shut down in the U.K., France, and Germany last year. Launched in 2019, the News tab curated headlines from national and international news organizations, as well as smaller, local publications. Meta says users can still be able to view links to news articles, and news organizations can still be able to post and promote their stories and websites, as any other individual or organization can on Facebook. The change came as Meta tries to scale back news and political content on its platforms following years of criticism about how it handles misinformation and whether it contributes to political polarization. “This change does not impact posts from accounts people choose to follow; it impacts what the system recommends, and people can control if they want more,” said Dani Lever, a Meta spokesperson. “This announcement expands on years of work on how we approach and treat political content based on what people have told us they wanted.” Meta said the change to the News tab does not affect its fact-checking network and review of misinformation. But misinformation remains a challenge for the company, especially as the U.S. presidential election and other races get underway. “Facebook didn’t envision itself as a political platform. It was run by tech people. And then suddenly it started scaling and they found themselves immersed in politics, and they themselves became the headline,” said Sarah Kreps, director of the Tech Policy Institute in the Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy who studies tech policy and how new technologies evolve over time. News makes up less than 3% of what users worldwide see in their Facebook feeds, Meta said, adding that the number of people using Facebook News in Australia and the U.S. dropped by over 80% last year. However, according to a 2023 Pew Research study, half of U.S. adults get news at least sometimes from social media. And one platform outpaces the rest: Facebook. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

A Southern California police department has been handcuffed by Lego after the toy company asked the agency to stop adding Lego heads to cover the faces of suspects in images it shares on social media. The Murrieta Police Department has been using Lego heads and emojis to cover people’s faces in posts on social sites since at least early 2023. But the altered photos went viral after the department posted a statement about its policy, prompting several news articles and, later, the request from Lego. “Why the covered faces?” the department wrote on March 18 in an Instagram post that featured five people in a lineup, their faces covered by Lego heads with varying expressions. The post went on to reference a California law that took effect January 1, limiting departments from sharing mugshots on social media. “The Murrieta Police Department prides itself in its transparency with the community, but also honors everyone’s rights and protections as afforded by law; even suspects,” the department wrote. Across the U.S., law enforcement agencies have often posted galleries of photos for “Mugshot Mondays” and “Wanted Wednesdays” to social media in efforts to bolster community engagement. But experts increasingly point to the harmful effects of putting such images online. For people awaiting trial, mugshots can carry a presumption of guilt. And for anyone seeking to move past a criminal conviction, the images can make it hard to get a job and haunt them for the rest of their lives. Murrieta police had an internal discussion about posting photos of arrestees in general and announced a new department policy on Instagram in January 2023. The community had requested more of their “Weekly Roundup” posts, so the department said it started using the Lego heads and emojis to comply with the law while still engaging with Murrieta residents. But on March 19, the toy company reached out and “respectfully asked us to refrain from using their intellectual property in our social media content, which, of course, we understand and will comply with,” Lt. Jeremy Durrant said in a statement. “We are currently exploring other methods to continue publishing our content in a way that is engaging and interesting to our followers.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Garden centers enjoyed a pandemic boom, particularly with millennials, as people looked for outdoor activities during lockdowns. Now, garden centers are hoping to keep that interest up, even as they deal with higher costs, a tough hiring environment, and ever more volatile weather. The Garden Center Group, which tracks sales of about 125 centers, said sales are up by about 25% compared with 2019, but stayed flat between 2022 and 2023. Spending on lawn and gardening activities continued to rise, with an average household spend of $616 in 2022, an increase of $74 from 2021. Younger households in the 18- to 44-year-old age group saw larger increases in spending than older households. The spring season is crucial since garden centers can make about 60% of sales during the 12 weeks of spring. At Flowercraft in San Francisco, houseplants, vegetable starts, and citrus trees are selling well as the spring season, the biggest season by far for garden centers, gets underway. Although spring hasn’t quite kicked into high gear yet in San Francisco, smaller items such as four-inch plants or six plants in a pack are selling better than bigger one-gallon to 15-gallon plants. At the East Coast Garden Center in Millsboro, Delaware, higher costs are another issue. To offset higher costs, the center had to raise prices. For example, a one-gallon flower was around five dollars, now it's more than six dollars. Unpredictable weather has also been a challenge that has affected sales, including droughts in some parts of the country while record-setting rain flooded other areas. And like many industries, garden centers have been hit hard by worker shortages, with many now having to offer higher pay and benefits to attract new employees, further stressing their bottom lines. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

An artificial intelligence robot called Theo is a new high-tech weapon in the battle to root out disease from Dutch tulip fields. The robot, which checks each plant and kills diseased plants, is replacing a dwindling number of human “sickness spotters” who patrol bulb fields on the lookout for diseased flowers. On a spring morning, the robot trundles along rows of yellow and red “goudstuk” tulips, checking each plant and, when necessary, killing diseased bulbs to prevent the spread of the tulip-breaking virus. The dead bulbs are removed from healthy ones in a sorting warehouse after they have been harvested. The virus stunts the growth and development of plants leading to smaller and weaker flowers. It also weakens the bulb itself, eventually leaving it unable to flower. “In every tulip field, there's a certain percentage of sick tulips. And every year, they need to be taken out in order to prevent the sick tulips from infecting other healthy tulips. And, we used to do it always by hand and we could never do everything in one year because it was too much. And now, we have the robot here with us. And, the robot is really amazing. It can work through the day, through the night, through the weekends. It never takes a break. And it does it also better than humans,” says Allan Visser, a third-generation tulip farmer who is using the robot for the second growing season. The robot rolls on caterpillar tracks through fields at one kilometer per hour (0.6 mph) hunting out the telltale red stripes that form on the leaves of infected flowers. Erik de Jong of H2L Robotics, the company that makes the robots, says artificial intelligence helps them identify sick flowers, and very precise GPS coordinates allow them to pinpoint the flowers that need to be destroyed. However, Theo's skills and efficiency come with a hefty price tag. The robot costs 185,000 euros ($200,000). As part of efforts to tackle tulip-breaking virus, there are 45 robots patrolling tulip fields across the Netherlands as the weather warms up and farmers approach peak season.  This article was provided by The Associated Press.

McDonald’s apologized for a global technology outage that shuttered some restaurants for hours on March 15. The company said the outage was caused by a third-party technology provider and was not a cybersecurity issue. It started around 12 a.m. CDT during a configuration change and was close to being resolved about 12 hours later, the Chicago-based company said. “Reliability and stability of our technology are a priority, and I know how frustrating it can be when there are outages. I understand that this impacts you, your restaurant teams and our customers,” Brian Rice, the company’s global chief information officer, said in a statement. “What happened today has been an exception to the norm, and we are working with absolute urgency to resolve it. Thank you for your patience, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused,” the statement added. The company said the outage also wasn’t related to its shift to Google Cloud as a technology provider. In December, McDonald’s announced a multi-year partnership with Google that will move restaurant computations from servers into the cloud. The partnership is designed to speed up tasks like ordering at kiosks and to help managers optimize staffing. Earlier, McDonald’s in Japan posted on X, formerly Twitter, that “operations are temporarily out at many of our stores nationwide,” calling it “a system failure.” In Hong Kong, the chain said on Facebook that a “computer system failure” knocked out orders online and through self-serve kiosks. Downdetector, an outage tracker, also reported a spike in problems with the McDonald’s app over several hours. Some McDonald’s restaurants began operating normally again after the outage at locations in Bangkok, Milan and London. A worker at a restaurant in Bangkok said the system was down for about an hour, making it impossible to take online or credit card payments but allowing it to still accept cash for orders. A worker at a Milan restaurant noted that the system was offline for a couple of hours and a technician walked them through getting it back up and running. Media outlets reported that customers from Australia to the U.K. had complained of issues with ordering. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

As rural hospitals continue to struggle financially, a new type of hospital is slowly taking root, especially in the Southeast. Rural emergency hospitals receive more than $3 million in federal funding a year and higher Medicare reimbursements in exchange for closing all inpatient beds and providing 24/7 emergency care. While that makes it easier for a hospital to keep its doors open, experts say it doesn’t solve all of the challenges facing rural health care. People might have to travel further for treatments for illnesses that require inpatient stays, like pneumonia or COVID-19. In some of the communities where hospitals have converted to the new designation, residents are confused about what kind of care they can receive. Plus, rural hospitals are hesitant to make the switch, because there’s no margin of error. “It’s ironic” that the facilities that might need the most help can’t afford to take the risk, said Carrie Cochran-McClain, chief policy officer at the National Rural Health Association. She pointed to having to give up certain services and benefits, such as a federal discount program for prescription drugs. Nebraska’s first rural emergency hospital opened in February in a city called Friend. Though residents expressed concerns at a September town hall about closing inpatient services, the importance of having emergency care outweighed other worries. “We have farmers and ranchers and people who don’t have the time to drive an hour to get care, so they’ll just go without,” said Ron Te Brink, co-CEO and chief information officer. “Rural health care is so extremely important to a lot of Nebraska communities like ours.” “If my intuition is correct, it will probably work well for some communities and it may not work well for others,” said Hospital CEO Dr. Kenneth Williams. Cochran-McClain said her organization is trying to work with Congress to change regulations that have been a barrier for rural facilities, like closing inpatient behavioral health beds that are already scarce. As Quinten Whitwell, the CEO of Irwin County Hospital, sees it: “As this program evolves, there will be more people that I think will understand the value.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.

U.N. agencies warn that electrical waste—everything from discarded refrigerators to TVs to e-scooters to mobile phones—is piling up worldwide, and recycling rates are low and likely to fall even further. Some contain hazardous elements like mercury and rare Earth metals that are prized by tech companies. In Kenya, some businesses are finding ways to recycle discarded electronics in a bid to make money and reduce the environmental impact. Every morning, people flock to the dumpsite to sift through the garbage for anything worth selling. Some collect plastics which can be sold on to recycling plants. At Dandora dumpsite, waste stretches in all directions. But Steve Okoth, a resident, is on the lookout for something else... e-waste. However, the job is not without risks. “When the e-waste comes here, it contains some powder which affects my health. It affects my health in that when it is burnt it releases gases, which when they enter the body you can't come to work because of chest problems. But we have no option really. Some people's health is really bad, like mine. But we are now used to the smoke because if you don't go to work, you will not eat,” he says. 62 million tons of e-waste were produced globally in 2022, according to a new report by the U.N. And it could rise to 82 million tons by 2030, says the UN’s fourth Global E-waste Monitor (GEM). This represents a huge amount of precious resources that just end up in dumps. So recycling plants like Nairobi's WEEE Centre are trying to make a dent in that e-waste mountain. “We use the circular economic principles of repair, refurbish, recycle, repurpose to manage electronic waste and make sure it does not end up in the environment because we know electronic waste has hazardous consequences, and right now it is the fastest growing industry in the world,” says Catherine Wasolia, COO of WEEE Centre. The WEEE Centre has collection points across Kenya where people can deposit old electronics. Currently, only 1 percent of the demand for rare earth elements is met through e-waste recycling. But the UN estimates that there were 91 billion US dollars worth of metals embedded in 2022's e-waste. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

A pioneering bill to curb the rampant pace of fast fashion won unanimous approval in the lower house of the French Parliament, making France one of the first countries worldwide to target the influx of low-cost, mass-produced garments. The fashion industry is among the world’s biggest producers of greenhouse gas emissions. France is seeking to reduce the allure of fast fashion items, setting a precedent in the fight against the environmental degradation they cause. Lawmakers on March 14 unanimously approved the bill, greenlighting it for the Senate to consider—either to approve it or to tweak it and send it back to the lower house—before it can become law. Christophe Bechu, the minister for ecological transition, hailed the vote as a historic step toward reining in the “excesses” of fast fashion. The bill will introduce stringent measures, including banning advertising for the most inexpensive textiles and imposing an environmental levy on these low-cost products. The bill specifically targets fast fashion giants, calling for companies to disclose their products’ environmental impact. This move seeks to pivot the industry toward more sustainable practices, encouraging transparency and accountability. It’s a measure that promotes environmental protection and aims to safeguard France’s prized high fashion industry. Renowned for luxury brands such as LVMH’s Louis Vuitton and Chanel, France has seen its lower-end market sectors suffer due to stiff competition from fast fashion retailers like Zara, H&M, and the emerging Chinese powerhouses Shein and Temu. By imposing these measures, France aims to level the playing field and promote a more sustainable fashion landscape. However, producers such as Shein have countered the criticism, long arguing that their business model, albeit fast, effectively keeps the proportion of unsold garments very low. This, they claim, contributes to reducing waste—a crucial aspect of sustainability in fashion. Luxury giants such as LVMH and Kering regularly face criticism for the billions of dollars of unsold inventory yearly. French supporters of the bill argue it paves the way for future action, including a proposed EU-wide ban on the export of used clothing to tackle the escalating problem of textile waste. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

A judge has denied Apple’s motion to dismiss a class-action lawsuit claiming that stalkers are using its AirTag devices to track victims—and that the tech giant hasn’t done enough to prevent them. Apple’s $29 AirTags have become popular items since their 2021 release, helping users keep tabs on the location of anything from their lost keys to wallets and luggage. But stalkers have also taken advantage of AirTags and similar products to follow individuals without their consent. In December 2022, Apple was sued by dozens of plaintiffs who said they were stalked by AirTag users. They alleged that Apple failed to mitigate such dangers and should have done more to protect victims—claiming AirTags “revolutionized the scope, breadth, and ease of location-based stalking” and that current safety features are inadequate. Apple attempted to dismiss the litigation in a filing last year, arguing the company “took proactive steps to try to deter misuse” and that it should not bear liability for injuries caused by third parties. But San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria dismissed that motion on March 15. Chhabria ruled that, while most of the class-action plaintiffs’ claims were “inadequately pled,” three can proceed for negligence and strict product liability under California law. The remaining claims were dismissed in a separate order. Chhabria detailed arguments from both Apple and the plaintiffs in the ruling. Included were accounts from the three remaining claims of victims being stalked by former partners or others through AirTags that were allegedly attached to their cars, resulting in emotional and sometimes financial harm. All three of these cases involve “purported defects” of AirTags that made it harder for the victims to both understand the tracking and quickly stop it, March 15’s ruling outlines, including unclear or delayed notifications, as well as an inability to disable the devices remotely, which allegedly prolonged stalking. “Abusive and dangerous location tracking is only becoming more common, so it’s imperative to do everything we can to give voice to the victims, and to push for accountability and change,” Gillian L. Wade, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, told The Associated Press via email. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

A horse-riding school in Australia is using cows as animal therapy to help people of all ages. This new type of mental health service is growing rapidly in Australia, but psychologists say national guidelines are necessary for the safety of both humans and animals. Karl McKeown is from Melbourne, Australia. He was born with cerebral palsy and scoliosis and four years ago he suffered a brain aneurysm. Coming to the Euroa Horse Park in Victoria is helping him recover by taking part in animal-assisted therapy. “And it does make you think, you have to slow down. They don’t come up to your speed, you’ve got to go back to theirs and it does give you a whole new focus,” says McKeown. “And they become more aware of their body language, their communication, and the trust and respect grows,” explains Vanessa Hawkins of Euroa Horse Park. Animal-assisted therapy participants say they can feel real mental and physical improvements from being in the presence of animals, but health experts are still on the fence as to the therapy’s clinical benefits. This sector is growing very fast in Australia and psychologists say there’s an urgent need for national guidelines and regulatory boards. “The field is really in its infancy, and a lot more research is needed,” says Professor Sue Cotton of Orygen Youth Mental Health. “There are a number of countries in Europe that already have legislation in place that stipulates how many hours of training and that sort of thing,” says psychologist Melanie Jones. To help regulate this emerging sector, Wendy Coombe started a non-profit organization. “I think therapy animal, or animal-assisted therapy, has been used across a range of different services that do not always include a therapist,” says Animal Therapies Limited director Wendy Coombe. Experts say people who are considering using this kind of therapy should do their research on the service provider and also ask for guidance from bodies such as the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. “It’s on us to actually be really, really clear if we are providing therapeutic services so that vulnerable people in the community don’t become misled,” says Jones. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Australian households are still very much feeling the pressure of a higher cost of living. Some have found ways to get cheaper groceries using unusual methods. One such method which is becoming more and more popular is to become a member of a food co-op that’s managed in person or online. Eight years ago, Angela Webster became a member of the Veggie Co-op to try to reduce the cost of her groceries.“I'd just been widowed. So, I was a full-time working mom with a five-year-old son. And I really wanted to find ways of connecting to community, and also ways to feed him healthily,” she explains. The Veggie Co-op started in the 1970s when a group of single Sydney mothers decided to put some of their money into a common pot to buy fresh produce. Today, the 12 families that are part of that group are saving a significant amount of money. Each week, one of the families is in charge of going to the local Flemington markets to buy 12 boxes of fruit and vegetables wholesale and at a discount. “Then you just pick up from whoever did the shop on that day. And we all contribute exactly the same amount of money. So, $25,” says Veggie Co-op member Anne Jackson. “If you went and bought that one at the common supermarkets you'd probably pay over 200 bucks,” adds Webster.  After years of inflation, some retail prices are starting to go down in Australia. But for many households, the shopping bill is still very high. Some consumers are being creative to keep costs low. Farmer Jayne Travers-Drape created an app that puts consumers and growers directly in touch. “The orders go directly to the farmers once they close off in our app and they're picked and then packed and they arrive at my hub between 24 and 48 hours,” says Box Divvy founder Jayne Travers-Drape. “This kind of community-based pushback where you unite together with more people so as to have more market power is a mechanism through which consumers can try to actively work against that kind of price gouging,” says Gigi Foster of the University of New South Wales. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Trader Joe’s mini canvas tote is the latest item to cause a stir on social media, so much so that resellers are taking advantage of the hype. The mini totes are offered in four colors — blue, red, green, and yellow — and they are all in high demand. The bags, retailing for $2.99, are now advertised on platforms like eBay and Facebook Marketplace for many times their original price. Offers from third-party sellers range significantly, with listings ranging from about $20 for a single bag to as high as $999 for a set of four. Videos shared on social media show crowds of customers visiting Trader Joe’s stores hoping to get their hands on one of the highly-coveted mini totes. Beyond the checkout line, TikTokers have gained tens of thousands of views for sharing and customizing their bags with detail paint, buttons, and embroidery designs. “Our Mini Canvas Tote Bags certainly sold more quickly than we anticipated,” said Nakia Rohde, a spokesperson for Trader Joe’s. “Before we had the opportunity to promote them in any way, customers across the country found them at their neighborhood Trader Joe’s.” While Trader Joe’s is no stranger to having its products go viral, the Monrovia, California-based grocery chain also said it does not condone the reselling of its products—with Rohde stressing that “our customers, in our stores, are our focus.” Exclusivity and limited supply are always key factors impacting both prices and consumer behavior. Beyond the added influence of the internet, that’s previously been displayed in demand for products ranging from the scarcity of Huy Fong Foods’ Sriracha to empty toilet paper shelves seen at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We as humans seem to hoard things that social media makes us think is desirable or important,” Jay Zagorsky, a clinical associate professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, told The Associated Press via email. He added that such bulk buying—whether it’s Trader Joe’s mini totes or COVID-era toilet paper—can also help consumers feel more secure, as future availability may be uncertain. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Whenever bestselling author Robin Cook releases a new medical thriller, the head of the public library in West Haven knows demand for digital copies will be high. So will the price. Like many libraries, West Haven has been grappling with the soaring costs of e-books and audiobooks. The digital titles often come with a price tag that’s far higher than what consumers pay. While one hardcover copy of Cook’s latest novel costs the library $18, it costs $55 to lease a digital copy — a price that can't be haggled with publishers. And for that, the e-book expires after a limited time, usually after one or two years, or after 26 checkouts, whichever comes first. While e-books purchased by consumers can last into perpetuity, libraries need to renew their leased e-materials. The modestly funded West Haven Library has spent more than $12,000 over the last three years to lease just 276 additional digital titles beyond what patrons can access through a consortium of public libraries. Eighty-four of those books are no longer available. If that same amount had been spent on paper books, it would have covered about 800 titles. “Imagine if a playground was built at a school with tax dollars, only to be taken down after two years of use,” librarian Colleen Bailie said at a recent public hearing. Publishers, however, argue the arrangement is fair considering e-book licenses for libraries allow numerous patrons to “borrow” them and the per-reader cost is much less expensive than the per-reader rate. Librarians in several states have been pushing for legislation to rein in the costs and restrictions on electronic material, which has been growing in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic. Patrons are stuck on long waiting lists for audio and e-books, and digital offerings are limited. This year, lawmakers in states including Connecticut, Massachusetts, Illinois, Hawaii and New Hampshire have proposed bills aimed at closing the affordability gap. A bill was introduced in Virginia but was tabled in February. They face strong opposition from the publishing industry, which argues the legislation undermines intellectual property values and will harm the publishing ecosystem. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

South Korea's government criticized senior doctors at a major hospital for threatening to resign in support of the weekslong walkouts by thousands of medical interns and residents that have disrupted hospital operations. About 12,000 junior doctors in South Korea have been off the job for several weeks to protest a government plan to sharply increase medical school admissions. Officials say the plan is meant to add more doctors to deal with the country's rapidly aging society, but doctors say universities can't handle an abrupt, steep increase in the number of students, and that would eventually hurt the quality of South Korea's medical services. The government began steps several weeks ago to suspend the licenses of the striking doctors after they missed a government-set Feb. 29 deadline for their return. The walkouts now threaten to enter a critical phase as senior doctors at the Seoul National University Hospital and its affiliated hospitals decided to resign en masse if the government doesn't come up with measures that can address the dispute by March 18. Senior doctors at other major university hospitals could take similar steps. “If the government doesn't take steps toward sincere, reasonable measures to resolve the issue, we decided to submit resignations, starting from March 18,” Bang JaeSeung, leader of the Seoul hospital's emergency committee, told reporters. But the committee's decision doesn't make participation mandatory, so it's unclear how many doctors could turn in resignations. There are a total of about 1,480 medical professors at the Seoul National University Hospital and its three affiliated hospitals, most of whom concurrently work as doctors there. Most doctors who submit resignations will likely continue to work to prevent a medical crisis, unless hospital authorities accept their resignations immediately, emergency committee officials said. But by law, they said the doctors' resignations will be automatically processed a month after their submissions. Several weeks ago, the University of Ulsan College of Medicine in the southeast also decided to let its senior doctors submit resignations on a voluntary basis, according to Kim Mi-na, head of the university's emergency committee. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Nissan and Honda announced on March 15 that they will work together in developing electric vehicles and auto intelligence technology, sectors where Japanese automakers have fallen behind. The chief executives of Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. appeared together at a news conference in Tokyo to announce that Japan’s second and third biggest automakers will look into areas with a potential for collaboration. The details of the non-binding agreement are still being worked out, both sides said. The executives said the companies will develop core technologies together, but their products will remain different. Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida stressed that speed is crucial for the companies in developing technological solutions. Honda President Toshihiro Mibe said the companies share common values and could create “synergies” in facing their formidable rivals. The world’s automakers are rapidly shifting toward electric vehicles, focusing on batteries and motors instead of gas engines, as concerns grow about emissions and climate change. But Japanese automakers have fallen behind rivals such as Tesla of the U.S. and BYD of China in developing EVs, partly because they have historically been so successful with combustion engine vehicles. Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, has often said the world is not ready for a complete shift to EVs, in part because of the lack of a charging infrastructure, and instead has pushed hybrids, which have a gas engine in addition to an electric motor. But Toyota is also expected to aggressively deliver on an EV push in the coming years. Nissan is relatively ahead in EVs among Japanese automakers because it was among the first to come out with an EV with its Leaf, which went on sale in late 2010. High expectations for the Nissan-Honda agreement were reflected in sharp increases in the stock prices of both companies on March 14 after a Japanese media report said such a deal might be in the works. The executives said no mutual capital ownership is involved in the agreement for now, but the companies may look into the possibility down the road. “How we can raise our competitiveness is what we are determined to pursue,” Uchida said. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Historic numbers of students from India are studying at foreign universities as a fast-growing, aspirational generation of young people looks for opportunities they can’t find at home. India estimates that 1.5 million students are studying at universities elsewhere—an eightfold increase since 2012—with no country attracting more than the U.S. It represents a loss for India, with many students seeing universities as stepping stones for careers overseas, but a boon for American schools. As record-setting enrollment by students from China has ebbed, U.S. universities have turned to India as a new source of full-price tuition payments.  India’s economy is growing, but joblessness remains persistent even for college graduates. Jobs are being created in fields such as construction and agriculture, but they don’t meet the demands of a newly educated workforce, said Rosa Abraham, an economist at Azim Premji University. “I think many young people today feel like the economy isn’t meeting their potential, their aspirations, and so they want to try their chances abroad if they can,” she said. “We produce engineers whose degrees don’t have value, so people leave the country,” said Lokesh Sangabattula, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in materials science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). India’s own higher education system is also short on capacity. As its population surges, competition for admission to India’s top universities has become frenzied. Acceptance rates at some elite Indian universities have fallen as low as 0.2%, compared to 3% at Harvard University and 4% at MIT. The vast majority are coming for graduate programs, often in science, math, and engineering—fields that have faced persistent labor shortages in the U.S.—though undergraduate numbers also are rising as India’s middle class expands. One selling point is the chance to work in America for up to three years after graduating, a benefit provided by the U.S. government and known as optional practical training. America’s shift toward Indian students is visible on campuses like the University of Texas, Dallas, where enrollment from China fell from about 1,200 to 400 over the past four years. Meantime, enrollment from India grew from about 3,000 to 4,400. This article was provided by The Associated Press.