Topic Reading-Vol.1206-7/31/2015

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

FT's new owner Nikkei eyes digital success

Buying a foreign newspaper at a three-time higher than the book value sounds like a bold move. Whether it is a sound investment or senseless extravaganza remains to be seen in the next few years.

Nikkei paid a staggering $1.3bn tag to acquire the full stake of the Financial Times, a prestigious English economic paper. The CEO of the Japanese newspaper said it is the FT's digital success that Nikkei wants to follow in footsteps. Indeed, the over-a-century-old newspaper company has made success in digital subscription model, which now derives as much as 70% of its revenue from its online and mobile subscribers.

The real question seems like not the price being paid but the value to be created.

Enjoy reading and learning about this recent take-over by Nikkei.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-33648595

Topic Reading-Vol.1205-7/30/2015

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Chrysler recalls 1.4 million hackable cars

Imagine the all the instruments, steering wheel and even gas and brake pedals are overridden by someone while you’re driving. You may feel like your car being taking over by ghost or something. That’s what could happen when the control and navigation system of a high-tech vehicle is hacked.

Chrysler has just announced a massive recall and software upgrade to prevent its “intelligent vehicles” from hacking. This move casts a cloud over “connected by the Internet” move that the all industries are working on. Information gathered by such connected things might offer convenience, efficiency and safety in an unprecedented scale but that connectivity itself could be vulnerable to malicious attacks or unintended flaws.

Enjoy reading and learning how scary intelligent car hacking is.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/24/technology/chrysler-hack-recall/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.1204-7/29/2015

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

NASA finds 'Earth's bigger, older cousin'

This planet is 1,400 light-year away, yet scientists not only spotted the presence but also figured the location, size and other characteristics. How could they do that? A planet doesn’t shine itself, it just orbits its sun like the Earth does. What sort of technology has made it possible for scientists predict such information?

The $600 million Kepler mission was launched in 2009 to look for habitable planets in the far-away Milky Way. The telescope can scan the light from those distant stars and sense slightest drop in a star’s brightness, which is presumably caused by passing of a planet.

It sounds possible so far but how could they guess how far it is from its sun and how big it is?

Enjoy reading and learning about this astonishing mission and technology.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/23/us/feat-nasa-kepler-planet-discovery/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.1203-7/28/2015

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Gay couple in legal fight with Thai surrogate over baby

A bit complicated issue here. A gay couple wanted to have a Thai woman give a birth to one of the pair’s biological baby. The surrogate mother received money for her labor and handed the baby girl to her father. The gay couple had been happy with the new family member until they heard that the surrogate mother wanted the baby back. She claims that she wants the baby back because she has missed her so much and also declared that the biological father and his husband are not an ordinary couple.

Is this just one of the common problems of subrogation or a matter of same-sex parental right? As more countries are recognizing the legal right of same-sex couples, this may not be just an individual case.

Enjoy reading and learning about this recent legal battle over a parent-ship.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/22/asia/thailand-surrogacy-gay-couple/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.1202-7/27/2015

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

New Zealand teen's hit Maori pronunciation video

Speaking something one strongly believes could spur unexpectedly high reactions. This is a good example of such cases. A video clip posted by a 15-year old New Zealander claiming for more effort to be made to preserve the indigenous language, Maori, was viewed by much more than he had imagined.

Although some of Maori words are commonly used in the islandic country, such as "kia ora" for hello and "ka pai" for good, only 4% of the population can speak the nation’s official language fluently.

When a language is lost, the whole culture will be weakened and therefore the history and knowledge will be lost.

Enjoy reading the article about and seeing the video of this young boy’s sincere appeal.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33619563

Topic Reading-Vol.1201-7/26/2015

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Italy breaches rights over gay marriage - European court

Even a government can be fined for not recognizing the right of same-sex couples. Now in Europe where cultures, races, languages and religions are highly diversified, 24 out of the 47 member states have already passed laws to recognize the status and protect the rights of same sex couples, including Ireland where most of the population is conservative Roman Catholic. Italy, the heart of the religion, has been called for taking legislative actions but has failed to do so despite the commitment by the government. Now they are fined for not to comply with the European Convention’s Human Rights’ protection.

It won’t be too long for national and local governments, businesses and school are all required to recognize, respect and treat same sex couples as in the way as they do to opposite sex couples.

Enjoy reading and learning about this recent ruling on gay marriage in Europe.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33611955

Topic Reading-Vol.1200-7/25/2015

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

A library cut by US-Canada border?

What do borders do beside dividing states? The form of a border varies. Manmade wall, fence or line whether visible or invisible, and natural divide such as river, lake or mountain. Whatever the form is, borders seem to have pros and cons such as separation, protection, inconvenience and in some cases opportunities to people who live around or go across them. Differences that could be seen across the border are currencies, taxes and duties, regulations, living standards, customs and human rights to name a few.

For most of us, crossing a border still is an intriguing moment, isn’t it?

Enjoy reading and seeing the people and activities along borders.

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20150611-the-beautiful-side-to-border-towns