Topic Reading-Vol.2979-6/7/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Gourmet home delivery is here to stay in Dubai

How is your appetite for eating out during or after the lockdown or business closures in your area? Are you looking forward to dining at your regular or favorite restaurant, or less motivated to go out to eat? Take-out and home-delivery have become a popular alternative for restaurants during the pandemic. You might have seen cars lining up for drive-through or takeout windows at fast-food restaurants and Uber bikes are rushing busily on the street.

But what about gourmet restaurants? Are they still in business? Unfortunately, they aren’t exempted from restrictions imposed on other restaurants even though high-end diners are ready to order their dishes. In Dubai, while numbers of world-class eateries are closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, some of the top-notch restaurants now offer their signature dishes for dine-in. They have special packages and arrangements to make sure their dishes are delivered, presented, and eaten at their standards.

Will such high-end food delivery become part of a new dining experience in the future?

Enjoy reading the article and think which you would choose for your next birthday or anniversary, dine-out or dine-in?

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/02/middleeast/dubai-food-delivery-spc-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2978-6/6/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

A guide to how you can support marginalized communities

America again is showing another deeply rooted division. This time, not gun control or politics but racial discrimination.

On May 25, a 46-year-old African-American male died in Minneapolis, Minnesota while being handcuffed and pushed face down on a city street by a white police officer. The officer kept his knee on the man’s neck for over eight minutes. Since the victim had not been responsive for nearly three minutes, the use of excessive force, possibly intended, has been investigated. He was arrested on suspicion of having used a counterfeit $20 bill at a local store.

This incident triggered harsh protests across the country against the treatment of non-white communities in the US. If you lived in such a diverse community where racial, religious, cultural, social, and political gaps have been widening, you would be sensitive and knowledgeable about the differences. How should you become knowledgeable about this complex topic and society without prejudice, discrimination, or bias?

Read this article and find tips to learn about marginalized communities in the US.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/30/us/how-to-be-an-ally-guide-trnd/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2977-6/5/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

A guide to how you can support marginalized communities

These men were the elected leader of the most powerful nation in their respective region., the US in North America, Brazil in South America, and Russia in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Each of them claims himself as a powerful and capable leader. They are also quite vocal to the public via Twitter and other media.

On March 10 when only 962 cases of coronavirus and 28 deaths were reported in the US, Ronald Trump said they were prepared and doing a great job with the novel virus, and it would go away.

On March 24 when 2,247 cases and 46 deaths were reported, Jair Bolsonaro said the novel virus would be like the little flu or a little cold.  

On April 19 when 42,853 cases and 362 deaths were reported in Russia, Vladimir Putin said the situation was under total control.

As of the end of May, the reported number of coronavirus cases were nearly 1.8 million in the US, about half a million in Brazil, and almost 400,000 in Russia, world's #1, #2, and #3, and increasing faster than any other nation. Also, confirmed deaths by Covid-19 were over 100,000, nearly 30,000, and over 4,500 respectively.

None of these leaders has appeared with a face mask yet, at least publicly.

Read the article and think about what a strong leader means to their nation and people.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/30/us/how-to-be-an-ally-guide-trnd/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2976-6/4/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

If you're going to go out to eat, listen to these tips

Some of you might have dined out already even during or after a lockdown or business closures. Others may be planning to eat at a restaurant as soon as business activities resume. Whichever the case might be, what are your priorities to choose a restaurant? They might have been the food, menu, service, atmosphere, and cleanliness. But amid the coronavirus pandemic, you may be prioritizing non-food factors, such as hygiene, disinfection, distancing from others, airflow, and contactless procedures including menu and order procedures. For example, an online menu over a booklet or touch panel, facemask rather than a friendly smile, ala carte in lieu of all-you-can-eat buffet, and mobile payment instead of a credit card. You may also want to find a “Disinfected” sign on your table rather than “Reserved.” If you want to be more careful, you may want to bring your non-plastic straw, silverware, and even a napkin with you just to be safe.

By the way, would you like a human or a robot to serve your meal?

Enjoy watching the video and think about how you would choose a restaurant.

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/05/29/gupta-dining-out-restaurant-explainer-coronavirus-town-hall-vpx.cnn

Topic Reading-Vol.2975-6/3/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Roger Federer is the highest-paid athlete in the world as only two women make top 100

How much is too much? Three top athletes, a beloved tennis player Roger Federer, football superstars Ronaldo of Juventus and Messi of Barcelona earned over 100 million dollars respectively for the year ending May 31, according to Forbes. Federer became the first tennis player who was ranked the top on Forbes' world's 100 highest-paid athletes list. Most of his earning came from prize money and endorsement while the two football players earned lucrative salaries and endorsement. However, along with other highly paid athletes, they had to take cuts in salaries and endorsement as the world’s economy has been shrinking since March because of the pandemic. In fact, the combined earning by the 100 highest-paid athletes decreased by 9% to $3.6 billion.

Even though those very top athletes earn tens of million dollars, a cut is a cut, a ranking is a ranking.

Enjoy reading the article and guess how much the 100 highest-paid athletes will earn this year.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/29/sport/forbes-federer-women-rich-list-spt-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2974-6/2/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

The worst is yet to come for India's slowing economy

India reported that its Gross Domestic Production, GDP, grew 3.1% in the Jan-Mar quarter this year. It was the weakest quarter in eight years, at least. However, this reflects only a few days of the nationwide lockdown to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The initial nationwide lockdown for India’s 1.3 billion people came into effect on March 25. Only essential activities are allowed in containment zones. The movement of passenger vehicles and buses is permitted only in non-containment zones. Air travels, either domestic or international, remain prohibited except for authorized purposes. People aren’t allowed to go out between 7:00 pm and 7:00 am except for essential purposes. All schools, theaters, malls, places of worship remain closed. No business, no jobs. Thousands of migrant workers left cities to go homes in their rural villages. People’s movement especially by railways, tourism, auto manufacturing, and Bollywood have all been badly hit by the lockdown for the last two months and at least for the next few weeks. So, you can easily predict show sharp economic shrink in the Apr-Jun quarter. When will the Indian government reverse the gear? How long will it take for Asia’s third-largest economy to show a recovery?

Enjoy reading the article and learn about the impacts on India’s economy.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/29/business-india/india-gdp-intl-hnk/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2973-6/1/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Uber destroys thousands of bikes and scooters

Jump is a scooter and electric bicycle sharing system headquartered in San Francisco, USA. Their distinctive bright red-orange bikes are also seen in Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and some countries in Europe. The bike-sharing company was acquired by Uber in April 2018.

Lime, a US transportation brand that runs electric scooters, electric bikes, normal pedal bikes, and car-sharing systems in various cities around the world, struck an investment deal with Uber and took over Jump business. Though Lime will inherit many of Jump’s electric bikes, they did not want older models in the US, at least. So, Uber had to deal with tens of thousands of unwanted old e-bikes and decided to destroy them. They claim “recycling” e-bicycles is more responsible than selling or giving them to others considering the maintenance, liability, and safety concerns.

Sounds like the 21st-century business model with 20th-century business practices, doesn’t it?

Enjoy reading the article and think about responsibility means to businesses nowadays.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52832791