Topic Reading-Vol.5254-9/12/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

9/11: What happened and how many people died in September 11 attacks?

Yesterday, the US marked the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It was early morning on September 11, 2001, when 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger planes: two departed from Boston, one from DC, and another from New Jersey, all of which were loaded with fuel for their transcontinental flights to California. Shortly after their departures, they were all hijacked and controlled by Islamist extremists for their suicidal missions. Two airplanes hit and destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, one crashed into the Pentagon, the US military’s headquarters in DC, and another crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. A total of nearly 3,000 people were killed, including all those on board the four planes, more than 2,700 on the ground, including 343 firefighters in the Twin Towers helping with the evacuation. Shortly after the attacks, the US and its allies invaded Afghanistan to eradicate Al-Qaeda and hunt down the masterminds. Around the world, flight safety measures were tightened to prevent hijackings. Yesterday, a memorial service was held at each crash site.

Read the article and learn about the terrorist attacks that took place 25 years ago.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c98elnpr0kzo

Topic Reading-Vol.5253-9/11/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

How Cubans are navigating the US oil blockade with rechargeable fans and solar-powered Chinese tricycles
In addition to the decades-long trade sanctions, the US administration launched a fuel blockade to Cuba, targeting oil tankers heading to Cuba and threatening tariffs on supplier nations, including Mexico and Venezuela. This has added more severity to the already suffering in the Cuban economy and everyday life. Such are widespread and continual blackouts, clean water shortages due to disabled water treatment and pumping facilities, and an increase in diseases because of failing water systems and food refrigeration. Also, cars and buses don’t have enough fuel to serve their purposes. However, Cubans have overcome whatever obstacles are placed in their way for decades to live without daily essentials through creativity and resilience. For example, farmers pasteurize milk over charcoal fires, commuters ride Chinese-made solar-powered e-tricycles, and restaurants grind coffee by hand if they ever have a diner. Cuba has very little fuel supply, but it seems abundant in vitality and ingenuity for survival.  
Read the article and learn how resilient Cubans are.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/05/americas/cuba-us-oil-blockade-electricity-creativity-intl-latam

Topic Reading-Vol.5252-9/10/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

UN votes to adopt new world map to reflect Africa's true size

Drawing an accurate two-dimensional flat map of a three-dimensional sphere is mathematically impossible because flattening a globe always introduces distortion. In the 18th century during the colonial era, the Mercator projection became the standard for navigation because it preserves angles and shapes. Even today, it is the most commonly used map projection, including Google Maps. However, it inflates the landmasses the farther they are from the equator. For example, Greenland appears the same size as Africa, but its real size is comparable to the DR Congo alone. Also, Africa appears the same size as South America, but it is actually one and a half times as large. On September 5, sponsored by Togo and supported by the African Union (AU), the “Correct the Map” resolution was adopted at the UN General Assembly. It aims to correct a centuries-old visual bias that makes Africa appear smaller in education, media, and global policy, and to present Africa’s true size. Since the resolution is not binding, Africa might be shown in different proportions on world maps, at least for a while. The USA was the only state that voted against the “Make Africa Greater Resolution”. It seems that the current administration wants to redraw the world map to make America look greater.

Read the article and learn what world maps mean to Africa.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce30vp55dnlo

Topic Reading-Vol.5251-9/9/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

It’s a top guest complaint but many hotels can’t fix it

For a hotel room in the same district, the higher the price you pay, the cleaner and fancier the room you can expect, including cleanliness, furniture, linens, bathroom, and bed. However, until you get into the room or lie in the bed, you may not know how much noise is coming from outside your room, including noise from the street, hall, elevator, icebox, swimming pool, or adjacent rooms, especially when your neighboring guests enter the room late at night and start talking or turn on the TV.  Newly constructed luxury hotels usually have thicker walls and windows that reduce the noise from outside or adjacent rooms. Also, some hotel booking sites show a soundproof sign on the property or rooms. But when other guests talk in the hallway or elevator hall, your sound sleep might be disturbed. One thing you could do is to request a room on a higher floor, in a quieter part of the building, or away from the elevator when you book or check in at the hotel. Another way, budget permitting, is to stay in a suite whose bedroom is separated by at least two doors from the hall. But probably the surest and cheapest tool that helps mitigate a noise problem in your hotel room is to bring earplugs.

Read the article and learn about the noise problem in hotels.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/03/travel/noise-hotels-complaints-solutions

Topic Reading-Vol.5250-9/8/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Netherlands moves billions in gold to London in 'crisis preparedness' move

Gold is precious because of its unique physical properties, rarity, and historical admiration. It never rusts or loses its shine even after thousands of years. Also, it is easy to melt and shape, ideal for accessories, and it allows electricity to pass through with very little energy loss, suitable for electronics. About 226,600 tonnes of gold have been mined so far, and nearly 3,600 tonnes are newly mined each year.

Central banks keep gold to diversify their foreign exchange reserves and protect against economic and political risks. Recently, the Dutch central bank (DNB) moved 86 tonnes of gold stock from the USA and Canada to the Bank of England to strengthen its resilience and preparedness under increasing geopolitical unrest. The share of its gold stock in the US was reduced from 31% to 18.5%, while the share in London was increased from 18% to 32%. Does this move reflect the recent ambiguity and unpredictability of US foreign policies? Also, how were the 86 tonnes of gold bars moved across the Atlantic Ocean?

Read the article and learn about the recent Dutch central bank’s $12 billion golden move.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgy51xlz39o

Topic Reading-Vol.5249-9/7/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Health crisis looming as Gaza heads towards rainy season, warns WHO

Located about 76km southwest of Jerusalem on the Mediterranean coast, Gaza is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. It was the most populous city in Palestine with a population of a little over two million. In October 2023, the Gaza war broke out, and the 3-year war has killed over 80,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians. It has also brought out a high humanitarian crisis as Israel destroyed most of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, such as hospitals and schools, and essential services, including water, electricity, and sanitation. Though the fourth peace plan was agreed, Israel’s blockade has still been cutting off daily necessities, including water, food, and medical supplies. Around two million Palestinians still live in Gaza, most of whom are internally displaced, across hundreds of temporary camps and shelters. There, water quality has deteriorated, microbiological contamination skyrocketed, and cases of acute diarrhea have doubled since March. As the rainy season approaches, flooding will occur and then send sewage, waste, and contaminated water into places where displaced people live, which could cause a public health disaster. In addition to supplying daily essentials, building water and sanitation infrastructure is urgently needed for people in Gaza.

Read the article and learn about the health crisis in Gaza.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/1/health-crisis-looming-as-gaza-heads-towards-rainy-season-warns-who

Topic Reading-Vol.5248-9/6/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Forget Starbucks coffee - Gen Z like their drinks ice cold

What drink did you buy at Starbucks last time? Founded in 1971, Starbucks is a global coffeehouse chain that operates more than 40,000 locations in 87 countries. It offers a wide variety of coffee, tea, and other cold drinks, such as iced coffees and teas, cold-brew coffees, and a variety of Frappuccinos. In the US, cold drinks now make up over 70% of Starbucks’s beverage sales. Their Gen Z customers, those who were born between 1997 and 2012, especially like cold drinks, and over 60% of their purchases are cold drinks. They seem to enjoy customizing cold drinks themselves as a form of self-expression and identity, like clothing or hair color. This is good for the coffee chain’s business because the prices of popular Frappuccinos are twice as high as regular coffee. Also, more than 70% of their customers now buy cold drinks year-round, and other fast-food and drinks chains are following suit. Driven by young customers, competition for cold drinks is heating up these days.

Read the article and learn what young people buy at Starbucks.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2r9n2mrp8o