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6/27(月)の放送の英文記事と英単語：陰謀、懇願、信憑性

FBI Raids Orlando Museum and Removes Basquiat Paintings

raid　奇襲する、強制捜査する
affidavit　宣誓供述書
authenticity　信憑性、真正性
conspiracy　陰謀、謀略
wire fraud　電信詐欺
provenance　起源、出どころ
solicitation　懇願、勧誘、教唆

著者：Brett Sokol and Matt Stevens
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

The FBI raided the Orlando Museum of Art in Florida on Friday, taking all 25 works that had been part of an exhibition on the life and work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, the museum said.

An affidavit filed to secure the search warrant called the collection’s origin story, as it had been described by its owners and the museum, into question, and noted that there was reason to doubt the authenticity of the artworks.

The New York Times had previously reported that the FBI’s Art Crime Team had been investigating the authenticity of 25 paintings that the museum had said were created by Basquiat and were on exhibit there for months.

A spokesperson for the museum said Friday that it had complied with a request from the FBI for access to its “Heroes & Monsters” exhibit and that the exhibit was now in the FBI’s possession.

“It is important to note that we still have not been led to believe the museum has been or is the subject of any investigation,” the spokesperson, Emilia Bourmas-Fry, said in an emailed statement. “We continue to see our involvement purely as a fact witness.”

The Basquiat exhibit had been set to close Thursday, and the works were scheduled to be exhibited next in Italy. Museum officials said they would continue to cooperate with authorities.

A spokesperson for the FBI confirmed that a federal search warrant had been executed Friday at the museum and said that the investigation by the Art Crime Team was ongoing.

The unsealed search warrant, which the Times reviewed, was signed by a judge Thursday. The 41-page affidavit was issued on the basis that two possible crimes may have occurred: conspiracy and wire fraud. In the documents, the FBI said it was investigating the exhibition and attempted sale of 25 paintings, and said its investigation had revealed, among other things, “false information related to the alleged prior ownership of the paintings.”

Authorities also said that their investigation had revealed “attempts to sell the paintings using false provenance, and bank records show possible solicitation of investment in artwork that is not authentic.”

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6/28(火)の放送の英文記事と英単語：行き詰まり、手詰まりの状態、代理購入

Biden Signs Gun Bill Into Law, Ending Years of Stalemate

stalemate　行き詰まり
gridlock　手詰まりの状態(≒stalemate, impasse)
galvanize　(刺激を与えて)行動させる、～させる
fall short of …　… に達しない、届かない
the culmination of …　… の集大成
straw purchasing　代理購入
the boyfriend loophole　ボーイフレンドの抜け穴

著者：Emily Cochrane and Zolan Kanno-Youngs
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a bipartisan gun bill intended to prevent dangerous people from accessing firearms and increase investments in the nation’s mental health system, ending nearly three decades of gridlock in Washington over how to address gun violence in the United States.

Final passage of the legislation in Congress came one month after a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, left 19 children and two teachers dead, a horror that galvanized a core group of bipartisan lawmakers to strike a narrow compromise.

“God willing,” Biden said as he put his pen down Saturday morning, “it’s going to save a lot of lives.”

The president acknowledged that the measure fell far short of the sweeping measures he had pushed for, but he said it included some long-sought priorities.

For lawmakers, advocates and survivors of gun violence, the law is the culmination of decades of work, building on repeated failed efforts to overcome Republican opposition and overhaul the nation’s gun laws in response to mass shootings across the country. But the law’s enactment came the same week that the Supreme Court, citing the Second Amendment, struck down a New York law limiting where gun owners could carry a firearm outside the home.

The passage of the gun bill also provided Biden with a legislative accomplishment just before he headed to Europe for a pair of summits that will focus primarily on Ukraine.

The gun legislation will expand the background check system for prospective gun buyers younger than 21, giving authorities up to 10 business days to examine juvenile and mental health records. It sets aside millions of dollars so states can fund intervention programs, such as mental health and drug courts, and carry out so-called red flag laws that allow authorities to temporarily confiscate guns from any person found by a judge to be too dangerous to possess them.

It pours more federal money into mental health resources in communities and schools across the country, setting aside millions for school safety. The legislation also toughens laws against the trafficking of guns and straw purchasing, the practice of buying and selling weapons to someone barred from purchasing guns. And for the first time, it includes serious or recent dating partners in a ban against domestic abusers buying firearms, tightening what is known as the boyfriend loophole.

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6/29(水)の放送の英文記事と英単語：誓約、傾斜路、予定する

New York’s Subway System Vows to Be 95% Accessible by 2055

vow　誓い、誓約
lag　遅れる
ramps　傾斜路
transit system　交通システム
slate　予定する
Populace 　人々

著者：Michael Gold
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

NEW YORK — New York has lagged for years behind other major U.S. cities in making its subway system accessible to people with disabilities: Just 126 of its 472 stations, or 27%, have elevators or ramps that make them fully accessible.

But Wednesday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it would add elevators and ramps to 95% of the subway’s stations by 2055 as part of a settlement agreement in two class-action lawsuits over the issue.

The agreement, which still requires court approval, would establish a clear — and lengthy — timeline to address a problem that has effectively barred people who use wheelchairs and mobility devices from fully accessing the city’s transit system.

Under the settlement, the transportation authority will make an additional 81 subway and Staten Island Railway stations accessible by 2025. It will make another 85 stations accessible by 2035, 90 more by 2045 and then 90 more by 2055.

The subway stations slated for changes include nine that are currently partially accessible, in which passengers who cannot use stairs have access only to trains traveling in one direction.

“We don’t have equity, we don’t have equality, if people are left out of their ability to use a mass transit system that for so many people — more than half of New Yorkers — is the only way to get around,” said Janno Lieber, the authority’s chair.

Both Lieber and disability groups acknowledged that the agreed-upon timeline was slow. Transit officials have said engineering concerns, construction time and costs all necessitate a long-term plan.

And even when the work is completed — more than six decades after the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act, which barred discrimination against people with disabilities in public facilities — the subway is still not set to be 100% accessible.

“We would like sooner,” said Jean Ryan, president of Disabled in Action, a nonprofit organization that is a plaintiff in the lawsuits. “But they say they can’t do it sooner. And you don’t make somebody promise to do something that they can’t do.”

The changes required by the settlement will benefit a wide band of the populace who struggle to use narrow fare gates or climb subway stairs. But the settlement’s most transformative effects will be felt by people with disabilities who have long been excluded from broad swaths of New York’s subway system and, by extension, parts of the city it serves.

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6/30(木)の放送の英文記事と英単語：裁定、中絶権、差し止め命令

Advocates on Both Sides Prepare for New Maneuvers, in Courtrooms and Beyond

ruling　裁定、決定
Roe v. Wade　ロー対ウェード裁判
abortion rights　中絶権
unplanned pregnancies　計画外妊娠
injunction　差し止め命令
complicit in　～に加担する
take heart　勢い付く

著者：Kate Zernike
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

The Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade has unleashed a frenzy of activity on both sides of the abortion fight, with anti-abortion forces vowing to use the ruling to push for near-total bans in every state in the nation, and abortion-rights groups insisting they would harness rage over the decision to take to the streets and push the Biden administration to do more to protect abortion rights.

The court said its ruling Friday was needed to end what it called a half-century of bitter national controversy sparked by Roe, but its decision set off more immediate and widespread controversy than the original ruling — and guaranteed pitched battles and extraordinary division ahead.

The maneuvering was already underway.

In Florida, where the legislature recently passed a ban on abortion after 15 weeks, lawmakers pushed the governor to call a special session to consider a ban after six weeks. In South Dakota, where abortion became illegal upon the court’s decision, Gov. Kristi Noem called for a special session to discuss adoption and health care for women with unplanned pregnancies, pushing back on accusations that the ban would dramatically increase health risks for pregnant women.

The National Right to Life Committee renewed calls toward its original, bigger goal of a constitutional amendment banning abortion nationwide. It and other anti-abortion groups pledged to punish prosecutors who have said they would not enforce abortion bans and vowed to take other steps to limit access to abortion, including pushing for legislation prohibiting people from crossing state lines to get abortions or obtaining abortion pills in states where they are illegal.

Abortion-rights groups were gearing up, too. On Monday, opponents of Florida’s 15-week ban will seek an injunction to stop it from taking effect. Groups promised court fights over the so-called trigger bans that took effect after Friday’s ruling.

The Women’s March promised street protests in a “Summer of Rage” and said it would back primary challenges to Democrats it considered complicit in the appointment of the conservative Supreme Court majority.

Abortion-rights supporters could take heart over what appeared to be broad public disapproval of Friday‘s ruling. A CBS News/YouGov poll conducted immediately after the court handed down its decision shows that Americans considered it a “step backward” for the nation by more than a 20% margin.

Nearly 60% of Americans and two-thirds of women disapproved of the ruling.

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7/1(金)の放送の英文記事と英単語：投獄、断固として、違法化する

Amazon Restricts LGBTQ Products in United Arab Emirates

Criminalize 　違法化する
Imprisonment　投獄
Indicative　指示して
Adamant　断固として
Queer　変単語

著者：Karen Weise
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

Amazon moved to restrict items and search results related to LGBTQ people and issues on its website in the United Arab Emirates on Monday after receiving pressure from the government there, according to company documents viewed by The New York Times.

The Emirati government gave Amazon until Friday to comply under threat of penalties, the documents show. It was not clear what those penalties would be. Homosexuality is criminalized in the Emirates, punishable by fines and imprisonment, according to the State Department.

Amazon’s restrictions on products in the Emirates are indicative of the compromises that tech companies are willing to make to operate in restrictive countries, even when professing to be adamant about free expression in their own country. Netflix has pulled shows in Saudi Arabia and censored scenes in Vietnam, Apple has stored customer data on Chinese servers despite privacy concerns, and Google removed an app for a Russian opposition leader last year after facing a threat of prosecution there.

After hearing from the Emirates, Amazon had its Restricted Products team take steps to remove individual product listings, and a team that manages the company’s search abilities hid the results for more than 150 keywords, the documents show.

The targeted search terms ranged widely. Some were broad, such as “lgbtq,” “pride” and “closeted gay,” while others indicated intentional product searches, including “transgender flag,” “queer brooch,” “chest binder for lesbians” and “lgbtq iphone case.” All of those terms returned “no results” when The Times tried queries on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Several specific book titles were blocked, including “My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness,” by Nagata Kabi; “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” by Maia Kobabe; and Roxane Gay’s “Bad Feminist.” All are available in print and digital formats on Amazon’s website in the United States. (Gay is a frequent contributor to The Times.)

“As a company, we remain committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, and we believe that the rights of LGBTQ+ people must be protected,” Nicole Pampe, an Amazon spokeswoman, said in a statement. “With Amazon stores around the world, we must also comply with the local laws and regulations of the countries in which we operate.”

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7/2(土)の放送の英文記事と英単語：証言台、表面上の印象、恐ろしい

Maxwell Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison as Epstein Case Nears Its End

Socialite 　(社交界の)名士
Conspire　共謀する
Magnate　有力者
Throngs　群衆
Lurid　恐ろしい
Patina　表面上の印象
Lectern　証言台

著者：Benjamin Weiser, Rebecca Davis O’Brien and Colin Moynihan
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

NEW YORK — Ghislaine Maxwell, the former socialite who conspired with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually exploit underage girls, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday by a judge who said she played a pivotal role in facilitating a horrific scheme that spanned continents and years.

Maxwell, 60, the daughter of British media magnate Robert Maxwell, was convicted on Dec. 29 of sex trafficking and other counts after a monthlong trial, at which the government presented testimony and other evidence depicting Maxwell as a sophisticated predator who groomed vulnerable young women and girls as young as 14 years old, for abuse by Epstein.

Her sentencing, which drew throngs of onlookers and journalists to a lower Manhattan courthouse, brought a measure of resolution to a lurid case whose primary actor eluded justice by suicide.

The investigations into the behavior of Maxwell and Epstein showed how prominent members of society used wealth and status to exploit and abuse the vulnerable. And the case afforded a gaze into a world where the patina of glamour hid the routine infliction of intimate, life-changing cruelty.

“The damage done to these young girls was incalculable,” said Judge Alison J. Nathan of U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

The sentence was shorter than the government had recommended — federal prosecutors in Manhattan had asked the judge to impose a sentence of at least 30 years. If the conviction is upheld, Maxwell, with time potentially credited for good behavior and the two years she has spent in jail, could leave prison in her 70s.

Maxwell’s lawyers had sought to discredit her accusers’ accounts and argued that the government was trying her for Epstein’s crimes.

Maxwell spoke in court Tuesday — her first public remarks since her July 2020 arrest. Standing at the lectern in blue prison scrubs, her ankles shackled, she acknowledged “the pain and the anguish” of the victimized women who had addressed the court. But she stopped short of apologizing or accepting responsibility for her crimes.

“It is the greatest regret of my life that I ever met Jeffrey Epstein,” Maxwell said. “Jeffrey Epstein should have been here before all of you.”

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7/3(日)の放送の英文記事と英単語：血統、適合した、対面の

Children in Latin America Showed the Most Learning Loss of Pandemic

grim　厳しい　
permanent　永続する
descent　血統
in-person　対面の
tailored　適合した

著者：Ana Lankes
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

A pair of studies from U.N. agencies and other development groups paint a grim picture for a generation of Latin American students, who have lost almost half their school days since the pandemic started and whose reading and math skills are falling drastically behind.

Four-fifths of children at the end of primary school are now unable to understand a simple written text, up from half before the pandemic, according to the reports. Only sub-Saharan Africa has worse educational outcomes.

School closures in Latin America lasted longer than anywhere else except South Asia — an average of 225 days, compared with 141 days for schools around the world overall. Lack of access to computers and the internet means that many children dropped out or received poor instruction. Average scores in reading and math for third and sixth graders may be worse today than they were 10 years ago, wiping out a decade of modest advances, according to one report — and the effects could be permanent. Today’s students can expect to have 12% lower incomes throughout their lifetime, meaning a loss of $1,565 in average annual earnings, the studies found.

“My biggest concern now is that this will really break the progress we were making slowly toward improving opportunities and reducing inequality, which is the biggest problem we have in Latin America,” said Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, the World Bank’s vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Latin America was already one of the world’s most unequal regions before the pandemic, and learning losses hit vulnerable groups particularly hard. In Brazil, for example, the World Bank report noted that only about one-third of students of African descent have access to a computer at home, compared to more than half of white students.

In rural areas, connectivity is even worse. Across Latin America, only one-quarter of households have access to the internet, although the rate varies by country. Girls, who were often expected to do household chores or care for sick relatives during the pandemic, suffered the most.

The report suggests returning to in-person classes, providing teachers support and training, and focusing on assessments to evaluate learning losses and create tailored programs for schools. Above all, the report says, reversing the damage from lost learning needs to become a priority for governments.

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