Topic Reading-Vol.4897-9/20/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

World's first AI minister will eliminate corruption, says Albania's PM

With a population of 2.7 million, Albania is a small country that lies in Southeastern Europe’s Balkan Peninsula. Unlike its eastern neighbor, Christian-dominated Greece, about half of Albanians are muslims. Recently, the Prime Minister Edi Rama appointed not a minister of AI but a new AI minister. The new minister is called just Diella, meaning sun in Albanian, whose role is to ensure the country will become free from corruption in public procurement. In fact, Diella has already helped over a million applications on the e-Albania platform. Now, the PM expects her to become responsible for examining and administering online applications for government procurements and contracts, not just as a symbolic gesture of his administration. Though Diella doesn’t really qualify as a real member of the cabinet, as she is neither 18 years old nor a human citizen, she may outperform a human minister or administrator because she works 24/7 without taking a rest or any graft but only with electricity. Will she attend the cabinet meetings?

Read the article and learn about the world’s first AI minister in Albania.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2znzgwj3xo

Topic Reading-Vol.4896-9/19/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Japan sets record of nearly 100,000 people aged over 100

Japan’s life expectancy is one of the longest in the world, 87 for women and 81 for men. While the number of Japanese nationals shrank by over 900,000, or 0.75%, to 120 million last year, the number of Japanese aged 65 or older increased to over 36 million, around 30% of the population, thanks to the healthy lifestyle and universal healthcare system. Furthermore, there are nearly 100,000 centenarians in Japan as of this month, 88% of whom are women. The number grew significantly in the last five decades, as there were only around 1,000 centenarians in 1981 and about 10,000 by 1998. This year, around 52,000 people turned 100, and each received a silver cup from the government on September 15, Respect for the Aged Day. However, it is suspected that not all the centenarians on record are still alive because some of the dead persons might not have been reported by the remaining family for financial reasons.

Read the article and learn about a country with 100,000 centenarians.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd07nljlyv0o

Topic Reading-Vol.4895-9/18/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Feeling stressed? Here's five ways to manage it better

When you’re in stressful situations, like being attacked, in danger, or under pressure, the stress hormone called Cortisol is released. It helps the body manage stress by increasing blood sugar and enhancing the brain’s use of glucose. Also, it regulates metabolism, blood pressure, immune function, and the sleep-wake cycle. So, feeling stressed could help you regulate physical and mental conditions for a short time. However, when stress continues, it can lead to physical health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, digestive issues, and a weakened immune system. Also, chronic stress could cause or worsen anxiety, depression, fatigue, and irritability. Indeed, managing stress is essential for your performance and health. You should accept stress, do any exercise, go to bed earlier, talk to others, and try not to worry about it too much. Hope these tips won’t add any stress to you!

Read the article and learn about what stress does to you and how you should manage it.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg42zq7nqxwo

Topic Reading-Vol.4894-9/17/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers,　

Who are the 57 members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation?

Qatar had been hosting truce negotiations between Israel and Hamas, and was about to close a ceasefire deal for Gaza. But on September 9, Israel attacked a Hamas office in Qatar’s capital, Doha, killing five Hamas negotiation members and one Qatari personnel. In fact, in just three days between September 8 and 10, Israel carried out strikes in six countries, including Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, and Qatar. Now, leaders of the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, OIC, gathered at an emergency summit in Doha this week. Founded in 1945 and headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, the League of Arab States is an intergovernmental organization of 22 Arab states in the Middle East and North Africa. Its primary mission is to strengthen relations, coordinate policies, and foster cooperation among its member states on security, economic, and political issues. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, OIC, was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is a political and diplomatic forum for 57 Muslim countries, including Arab League nations and populous countries like Indonesia, Pakistan, and Nigeria. The total population of the OIC exceeds two billion people, representing over 25% of the world's population. Many of the Arab League states are close allies of the USA, and some are even hosting US military bases, such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar. If US-backed Israel keeps attacking sites and people in these states for the sake of self-defense, there may be a change in geopolitics in the Middle East.

Read the article and learn about the Arab League and OIC.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/15/who-are-the-57-members-of-the-organisation-of-islamic-cooperation

Topic Reading-Vol.4893-9/16/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Wuxi school introduces reclining chairs for student naps

Students tend to feel sleepy after lunch. Some primary schools in China have their students take a nap at their desks after lunch to increase their attentiveness for afternoon classes. They found that after-lunch naps seem to improve concentration during afternoon classes. Now, an experimental school in Eastern China has introduced ergonomic recliners and desks for a better nap, which look like some airlines’ premier economy class seats. The school says this ergonomic setting has improved students’ academic performance. Indeed, a short nap of ten to 20 minutes makes you feel refreshed and restores cognitive function to improve academic or work performance. But if you simply take a nap at the desk, you may hurt your back and neck. So, if you do the right thing, you’d better do it right, but be careful not to oversleep!

Read the article and learn about ergonomically designed desk-napping desks and chairs.

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202509/09/WS68bfefaaa3108622abc9fcc7_1.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4892-9/15/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Whey to go: Is cheese the new reason to travel? 

Cheese is made from the curdled milk of cows, goats, sheep, or water buffalo, separating the curds from whey. The curds are then drained, salted, and aged to develop a wide variety of flavors, textures, tastes, and forms. Besides the animals’ species, what they eat and where they are grown make significant differences to the final product, not to mention the production process and aging. France boasts over 1,000 cheese varieties, including creamy Brie and Camembert, firm Comté and Cantal, strong blue-veined Roquefort, and various goat's milk chèvres. Just like wines, many French cheeses are guaranteed their authenticity by the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system. So, just like wineries, visiting local cheese museums, cheese producers, and meadows where cows and goats are raised would make you feel and appreciate the art of cheese more. Also, there is a newly opened cheese museum in Paris near the Notre-Dame Cathedral, where you can learn the science and traditions behind cheese production and shop for various kinds of French cheeses. Touring France for cheese!

Read the article and learn about another way to enjoy traveling in France.

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250905-is-cheese-the-new-reason-to-travel

Topic Reading-Vol.4891-9/14/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

The asteroid that will spare Earth might hit the moon instead. What happens if it does?

It was about 66 million years ago when an asteroid ten kilometers long struck Earth, created a huge crater of 200 km in diameter, and caused the mass extinction event that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs. Last year, astronomers discovered an asteroid that is around 60 meters in diameter and named it YR4. It passed by Earth at a distance of only 828,000 km, or 2.16 lunar distances. Fortunately, astronomers predict a near-zero chance of this asteroid striking our planet, but a 4.3% chance of hitting the Moon next time it comes back in late 2032. If that happened, the impact would splash fine-grained lunar sands and rocks that could reach our planet. Though most of them would be burned in the atmosphere, they could hit satellites and space stations orbiting our planet. Since space infrastructure is essential for our daily lives, including the Internet, navigation, and weather monitoring, our lives would be significantly affected. Also, by then, humans might have installed bases on the Moon. Such projects may need to be revised if astronomers recalculate the asteroid’s trajectory when the asteroid returns to view from Earth in 2028. What about the next-to-next encounter in 2036?

Read the article and learn about this potentially life-threatening asteroid.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/25/science/asteroid-2024-yr4-potential-lunar-impact