Voicy初の公式英語ニュースチャンネル「Voicy News Brief with articles from New York Times」。チャンネルでは、バイリンガルパーソナリティがThe New York Timesの記事を英語で読み、記事の中に出てくる単語を日本語で解説しています。
Voicy Journalでは、毎週金曜日にその週に読んだ記事を、まとめて紹介します！１週間の終わりに、その週の放送をもう１度聞いて復習するのも良いかもしれません。VoicyのPCページやアプリでは、再生速度も変えられるので、自分の理解度に応じて、調整してみましょう。
9/26(土)の放送
Mary Trump Sues President and Family, Claiming Fraud of Millions
著者：Alan Feuer
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company
NEW YORK — In her bestselling memoir, Mary Trump, President Donald Trump’s niece, told a family story that detailed the ways in which she claims that her relatives — the president among them — tricked, bullied and ultimately cheated her out of an inheritance worth tens of millions of dollars.
On Thursday, she told her story again — this time in a lawsuit.
The suit, filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, accused Trump, his sister Maryanne Trump Barry and their brother Robert, who died in August, of fraud and civil conspiracy. It seeks to recover the millions of dollars that Mary Trump claims to have lost.
On Thursday, Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, defended the president at a news conference, saying, “The only fraud committed there was Mary Trump recording one of her relatives, and she has really discredited herself.”
Lawyers for the president and Robert Trump did not respond to requests for comment. Trump Barry also did not return a telephone call from a reporter.
When Fred Trump Jr., the president’s older brother, died from an alcohol-induced heart attack in the early 1980s, he left Mary Trump, his daughter, a profitable portfolio that included a stake in nearly 1.8 million square feet of prime Trump family real estate in Brooklyn and a portion of a group of property partnerships known as the Midland Associates Group. Because she was a teenager at the time, the portfolio was overseen by the president and his siblings.
The suit maintains her aunt and uncles embarked on “a complex scheme” to siphon money away from her by, among other things, taking “exorbitant management fees, consulting fees, and salaries.”
In 1999, when Fred Trump Sr. died and his will was to be executed, Trump and his brother and sister sought to gain control of Mary Trump’s portion of the empire, according to the suit. Mary Trump and her brother, Fred Trump III, contested Fred Trump Sr.’s will in March 2000.
The suit contends the family cut off health insurance payments to Mary Trump and her brother — “an act of unfathomable cruelty” because one of Fred Trump III’s children had cerebral palsy and required round-the-clock nursing care.
As Mary Trump’s legal fees began to mount, Trump and his siblings tried to “squeeze Mary out of her interests altogether,” the suit maintains. They told her they would not settle the probate case or reinstate her health care unless she relinquished her stake in Midland and her Brooklyn real estate holdings. Even then, they provided her with inaccurate financial statements in an effort to drive down the amount they had to pay her.
Fraud 詐欺
memoir (個人の) 回顧録、体験記
inheritance 遺産、相続財産
civil conspiracy 民事共謀罪
discredit ～の信用を失う
profitable 収益性の高い
siphon (資金などを) 抜き取る、吸い取る
exorbitant 適正な範囲を超えた、法外な
execute 執行する
unfathomable 計りがたい、理解し難い
cerebral palsy 脳性まひ
round-the-clock 24時間体制の
probate (遺言の) 検認
reinstate ～を元に戻す
relinquish (所有物などを) 放棄する、手放す
9/27(日)の放送
Alphabet Settles Shareholder Suits Over Sexual Harassment Claims
著者：Daisuke Wakabayashi
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company
OAKLAND, Calif. — Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has settled a series of shareholder lawsuits over its handling of sexual harassment claims, agreeing to greater oversight by its board of directors in future cases of sexual misconduct and committing to spend $310 million over the next decade on corporate diversity programs.
The settlement, filed Friday in California Superior Court, also said employees would no longer be forced to settle disputes with Alphabet in private arbitration. Workers had demanded that change after details of sexual harassment cases at the company became public two years ago.
In addition, Alphabet said it would limit confidentiality restrictions when settling harassment and discrimination cases and ban workplace romances between managers and subordinates.
The Silicon Valley company was hit by a wave of shareholder lawsuits after The New York Times reported in 2018 that the board of directors had approved a $90 million exit package for a star executive, Andy Rubin, even after an investigation deemed a sexual harassment claim against him credible. Rubin has denied the claim and others against him.
Five lawsuits in California were eventually consolidated into one case. One of them, brought by James Martin, an Alphabet shareholder, said board members had allowed illegal conduct to proliferate, ignored their fiduciary duties and became enablers of sexual harassment and discrimination.
Other shareholder suits are awaiting action in federal court and in Delaware, where Alphabet is incorporated. The federal cases are on hold pending the outcome of the California suits, while the matter in Delaware is in mediation.
Julie Goldsmith Reiser, a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, one of the firms representing Alphabet shareholders, said the $310 million commitment was meaningful because the tech giant was paying the money directly and it was earmarked to address one of the root problems at the company.
The settlement with Alphabet also does not direct money to the people who sued, but it does steer funding and policies to prevent the bad behavior from recurring. Reiser hailed it for setting a new level of corporate governance and accountability, as well as a standard for the rest of the technology industry. The level of board involvement and executive accountability, she said, “goes far beyond what we’ve seen in other settlements.”
Shareholder Suits 株主訴訟
Settle 和解
Oversight 監視、監督
Decade 10年
Arbitration 仲裁
Confidentiality 秘密性
Subordinates 部下
Deemed 思われる
Credible 信憑性がある
Proliferate 激増する、増殖する
Fiduciary 信用上の
Enablers 実現する人
Incorporated 法人化、登記
Mediation 仲裁
Earmarked 資金を向ける
Recurring 循環、再発
Accountability 責任
9/28(月)の放送
Trump Announces Barrett as Supreme Court Nominee
著者：Peter Baker and Nicholas Fandos
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump introduced Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court on Saturday, presenting her as a champion of conservative judicial principles and igniting a partisan and ideological battle to confirm her before the election in just 38 days.
During an ceremony in the Rose Garden with Barrett at his side and her husband and seven children in the audience, Trump said she would make decisions “based on the text of the Constitution as written” much as her mentor, Justice Antonin Scalia, the icon of legal conservatives for whom she once clerked, had done.
“She is a woman of unparalleled achievement, towering intellect, sterling credentials and unyielding loyalty to the Constitution,” Trump said, as he pressed for rapid action by the Senate. “This should be a straightforward and prompt confirmation,” he said.
In her own remarks, Barrett directly aligned herself with Scalia, who died in 2016 and whose widow, Maureen Scalia, was in the audience. “His judicial philosophy is mine, too — a judge must apply the law as written,” Barrett said. “Judges are not policymakers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold.”
Democrats wasted no time on Saturday announcing their opposition to Barrett. Responding to the president’s assertion earlier in the week that he wanted his choice on the court before the Nov. 3 election to rule on any challenges he might bring to the outcome, they took aim at both her judicial philosophy and the rushed process to force her confirmation.
“Justice Ginsburg must be turning over in her grave up in heaven, to see that the person they chose seems to be intent on undoing all the things that Ginsburg did,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader. In a separate statement, he said that making the nomination so close to the election a “reprehensible power grab” that was “a cynical attack on the legitimacy of the court.”
In choosing Barrett to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the president opted for the candidate most likely to thrill his conservative base and outrage his liberal opponents, drawing sharp lines on some of the most divisive disputes in American life like abortion, religion, guns and health care at a time when voters have already begun to cast ballots in the contest for the White House.
ignite 火をつける、燃え上がらせる
partisan 派閥の
text （演説や論文の）本文、原文
clerk (動)書記を務める
unparalleled 比類のない
towering 高くそびえる
sterling 本物の、一流の
credential(s) (複)資格証明書、成績証明書
unyielding 強固な
align oneself with… …と提携する、団結する
assertion 提案
be intent on 熱心な
undo 元通りにする、台無しにする
reprehensible 非難すべき
cynical 皮肉な、冷笑的な
opt for 選ぶ、選択する
outrage 憤慨させる
cast ballot(s) 投票する
9/29(火)の放送
Switzerland Votes to Approve Paternity Leave
著者：Noele Illien
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company
ZURICH — Swiss voters on Sunday agreed to adopt a law mandating paternity leave, making it the last nation in Western Europe to do so and beating back strong conservative opposition to the proposal.
Fathers in the country had been allowed one day off for the birth of a child — the same time given for moving homes — but the new ruling will increase that to 10 days of paid leave.
And voters also separately rejected a referendum that would have blocked freedom of movement of European Union citizens into the country, an issue pushed by a right-wing party.
The paternity leave law was approved by Parliament last year, but a group of conservative politicians collected more than 50,000 signatures on a petition opposing the measure. In the Swiss system of direct democracy, that forced the issue to be put to a referendum before it could come into effect.
Despite being one of the world’s wealthiest nations in terms of per capita income, Switzerland has often lagged behind on questions of gender equality. Women in the country gained the right to vote only in 1971, and wives required permission from their husbands to work outside the home until 1988.
For supporters of the measure, the result is seen as a step toward correcting inequalities between the sexes.
Min Li Marti, a lawmaker in Switzerland’s national council, said there was still room for improvement. “There is still a lot to be done with regards to uniting family and career,” she said.
Three-fifths of voters backed the paternity leave measure.
Under the law, which is expected to apply beginning Jan. 1, biological fathers will be able to take the 10 days of leave within six months of the birth of a child. They will be entitled to receive 80% of their salary at a daily cap of 196 Swiss francs (about $210).
The measure is modest compared with those in other European countries. The European Union, of which Switzerland is not a part, passed a directive last year requiring member states to extend their parental leave to four months, two of which cannot be transferred from one parent to another. Countries have until 2022 to adopt the directive as law.
Paternity Leave 父親の育児休暇
[語源：pater(=father)↔︎mater(=mother)]
☝️maternity leave, parental leave
mandating 義務付ける
beating back 撃退した
☝️beat(叩いて)+back(後退させる)
paid leave 有給休暇
☝️paid(給料が支払われる)+leave(休暇)
referendum 国民投票
[語源：referされなければならないもの]
per capita 一人当たりの
☝️ラテン語per(〜毎に)+capita(頭)
☝️decapitate(頭を切り落とす)
lagged behind 後れを取った
☝️jet lag(時差ぼけ)=ジェット機の速さに体が遅れる
required permission 許可が必要だった
measure 法令
uniting 両立する
[語源：uni(一つ）にする]
backed 支持した
biological fathers 生物学上の父親
cap 上限
[語源：cap(蓋)]
modest 控えめ
directive 指令
adopt 採択する
[語源：adopt(選ぶ)→選んで養子にする、採択する]
9/30(水)の放送
Trump Announces Plan to Ship 150 Million Rapid Coronavirus Tests
著者：Katherine J. Wu
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company
President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday announced a plan to distribute 150 million rapid coronavirus tests purchased by the federal government to states, tribes and other jurisdictions in the coming months.
Experts praised the news as a welcome endorsement of the importance of rapid and widely available testing while the nation continues to struggle in its fight to rein in the coronavirus, which has so far killed more than 204,000 people in the United States.
But the test numbers cited by federal officials, experts said, are nowhere what is needed to contain the spread of the virus.
“I’m happy that they are trying to invest in technologies that would expand the number of tests that could be done in the U.S.,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “That said, 150 million tests is really a very small drop in the bucket, considering how these tests are envisioned to be used.”
Since the pandemic’s early days, the country has struggled to get testing off the ground. More than 100 million coronavirus tests of various approaches have been conducted across the United States, with nearly 850,000 conducted each day.
But these numbers still fall short of the millions per day some experts say are needed to adequately assess the virus’s true prevalence in the population and help keep outbreaks in check. Long delays in returning results and supply shortages continue in many places.
Rapid tests, which don’t need to be routed through labs, have been proposed as an appealing alternative to fill that gap, especially if given frequently enough to catch infections early.
The tests that are to be distributed by the federal government, a product called BinaxNOW manufactured by Abbott Laboratories, do not require specialized equipment and can yield results within 15 minutes, based on a quick and relatively painless swab that shallowly samples the nostrils. Adm. Brett Giroir, a member of Trump’s coronavirus task force, demonstrated the administration of one of the credit-card-sized tests from a lectern in the Rose Garden.
Some 6.5 million of those tests would ship this week, said Giroir, adding that they could be used in settings such as doctor’s offices or pharmacies.
rapid 迅速な、短時間の
tribe 部族
jurisdiction 管轄区域
praise 称賛、褒める
endorsement 承認
rein 制御する、統制する
envision 想像する、思い描く
off the ground 軌道に乗せる
adequately 適切に、的確に
prevalence 有病率
alternative 代替手段
lectern 講壇
10/1(木)の放送
Cats Shed More Than Dogs. The Coronavirus, Not Fur.
著者：James Gorman
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company
A new scientific report confirms that cats and dogs can be infected by the novel coronavirus, and that neither animal is likely to get sick. Cats, however, do develop a strong, protective immune response, which may make them worth studying when it comes to human vaccines.
There is still no evidence to suggest that pets have passed the virus to humans, although cats do shed the virus and infect other cats.
Infected dogs in the new study didn’t produce the virus in their upper respiratory tracts and didn’t shed it at all, although some other studies have found different results. Neither the cats nor the dogs in the study showed any illness.
The authors of the report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published Tuesday point to real world transmission to emphasize why pets are not a significant concern for human infection. Angela M. Bosco-Lauth and other researchers at Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences note while millions of humans have been infected with the virus worldwide and 1 million have died, there are only a handful of reports of pets that have become infected naturally.
If cats can shed the virus, why aren’t they infecting people, which is a theoretical possibility? One reason is that the number of humans who have contracted the virus is so large, and they are the ones giving it to cats. Another possible reason is that infection in everyday life is very different from infection in the lab.
In the new experimental work, scientists inserted pipettes in the nasal cavities of cats and dogs to give them the virus. The animals received anesthesia before the procedure, but the point is that this doesn’t happen in most homes. Later, other cats were put into close contact with the infected cats, who were shedding the virus.
The infected cats that showed immunity, Bosco-Lauth said, were animals that were infected by contact with other cats. And, she said the immune response was stronger than in some other laboratory animals, although how long that protection might last is completely unknown.
shed (不要な物)を取り除く、(葉など)を落とす、
(習慣など)を捨て去る
when it comes to 〜のことになると、
〜に関して言えば
respiratory tract 気道
veterinary 獣医(学)の
theoretical 理論上の
insert 挿入する
pipette ピペット
the nasal cavity 鼻腔
anesthesia 麻酔、(一時的な知覚)麻痺
last 続く、持ちこたえる
10/2(金)の放送
Disney Lays Off 28,000, Mostly at Its 2 U.S. Theme Parks
著者：Brooks Barnes
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company
LOS ANGELES — For six months, Disney has kept tens of thousands of theme park workers on furlough with full health-care benefits in hopes that a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel would appear. On Tuesday, Disney conceded that none was coming.
The company’s theme park division said it would eliminate 28,000 jobs in the United States. Theme parks will account for most of the layoffs, although Disney Cruise Line and Disney’s retail stores will also be affected.
“As heartbreaking as it is to take this action, this is the only feasible option we have in light of the prolonged impact of Covid-19 on our business, including limited capacity due to physical distancing requirements and the continued uncertainty regarding the duration of the pandemic,” Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, said in an email to “cast members,” Disney’s term for its theme park workers.
About 67% of the layoffs will involve part-time jobs that pay by the hour. However, executives and salaried workers will also be among those laid off. Disney’s theme parks in California and Florida employed roughly 110,000 people before the pandemic. The job cuts, which will come from both resorts, will reduce that number to about 82,000.
Disneyland in California has remained closed because Gov. Gavin Newsom has not allowed theme parks in the state to restart operations. About 32,000 people work at the Disneyland complex and the majority are unionized and have been on furlough since April.
D’Amaro said in a statement that the layoffs were “exacerbated in California by the state’s unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen.” Disney held a virtual news conference Sept. 22 in an attempt to pressure Newsom to lift restrictions. “The longer we wait, the more devastation to the Orange County and Anaheim communities,” D’Amaro said then. “It’s time.”
In a statement Tuesday evening, Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said: “Without a vaccine it is impossible to eliminate the economic impacts caused by this virus.” By taking a “science-based approach” to reopening, he continued, “we can minimize the health and economic risks that would be caused by opening and shutting repeatedly.”
lay off 解雇する／退職させる
☝️lay off の場合は動詞で、layoffの場合は名詞
furlough 一時帰休／賜暇
a light at the end of the tunnel 困難の先にある（希望の光）／困難の終わり
full health-care benefits 療養補償（給付）
division 部門
account for 〜を占める／〜を説明する
exacerbate （６／２０の復習） （悪い状況をさらに）悪化させる／深刻にする
devastation 荒廃／壊滅的な被害
science-based approach 科学に基づいた手段
minimize 最小限に抑える／小さくする
