Topic Reading-Vol.5035-2/5/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Climber Alex Honnold scales 101-floor skyscraper without safety gear

Taipei 101 is an iconic 508-meter-tall, 101-story skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. It had been the world’s tallest building from 2004 until Burj Khalifa was built in 2009. On January 25, a 40-year-old American rock climber, Alex Honnold, climbed the skyscraper without ropes, safety nets, or other equipment. The 91-minute nail-biting climb was streamed live on Netflix with a few seconds' delay just in case of an accident. After completing the climb, Hannold said he hoped people watching could be inspired by his climb to pursue their own challenges or goals, and added, “It’s so great. What a nice day.”

Read the article and watch the video of his amazing climb in the heart of Taipei.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gl0njzxjdo

Topic Reading-Vol.5034-2/4/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Why is Germany trying to build ‘Europe’s strongest conventional army’?

After Trump’s aggressive campaign to annex Greenland, Europeans seem to have lost confidence in the long-term ally. Those who value NATO and the EU are now seriously supporting the formation of a European NATO. Germany has already started reinforcing its military force, the Bundeswehr. It is going to spend over 100 billion euros on the defense budget, twice the 2021 spending, equivalent to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year. Also, starting from this year, all German men turning 18 are required to fill out a digital survey about their personal details, physical fitness, education, and willingness to serve in the Bundeswehr, and also to attend a mandatory medical examination to check their fitness for military service. The country pledged to increase its active duty personnel to 260,000 within a decade from the 184,000 troops it has now. Germany is situated in the center of Europe, and was the hot spot in World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. It is now strengthening its armed forces to cope with a new threat from the east.

Read the article and learn why and how Germany is reinforcing its military forces.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/19/why-is-germany-trying-to-build-europes-strongest-conventional-army

Topic Reading-Vol.5033-2/3/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Like digging ‘your own professional grave’: The translators grappling with losing work to AI

Interpreters translate spoken language, such as speeches, phone calls, or conversations, in real-time. Their skills include public speaking, short-term memory, quick comprehension, and, of course, translation. They often work in conferences, hospitals, courtrooms, and business meetings, and are usually paid by the time. Translators work with written text, converting documents from one language to another. They need to be linguistically competent in writing and grammar, and also specialized in industry knowledge, terms, and situations. They can work anywhere and are usually paid per word or page, or sometimes by the hour.

In 2016, Google launched neural machine translation. It is now used by more than 500 million people daily across over 200 languages. Then in November 2022, the first generative AI for public use was released: ChatGPT. It added voice translation and a standalone translation tool in the following years. Now, if you travel abroad or encounter a foreign language speaker, you can simply speak to your smartphone for instant translation. As for meeting, Zoom and Microsoft Teams offer live translation and interpretation features to break language barriers in meetings.

So, what is the situation and future of interpreters and translators?

Read the article and learn how these language professionals are struggling to survive in the era of machine translation.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/23/tech/translation-language-jobs-ai-automation-intl

Topic Reading-Vol.5032-2/2/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Oldest cave painting of red claw hand could rewrite human creativity timeline

Homo sapiens, modern humans, moved from Africa into Europe and Asia, and overlapped and interbred with Neanderthals, extinct sister species, until 45,000 years ago. Early humans lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers until around 10,000 years ago, when they started domesticating plants, such as wheat, barley, or rice, and animals, like sheep, goats, cattle, or pigs.

Recently, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, a stencilled outline of a hand made with red pigment was found on the wall of a cave. The painting is estimated to be as old as 67,800 years, about 1,100 years older than a stencil found in Spain. The faded hand stencil, along with other spectacular cave paintings, is believed to be the world’s oldest rock art that has been found so far. Also, the finding indicates that Homo sapiens had reached Australia and New Guinea about 15,000 years earlier than previously thought. Only recently, the earliest Homo sapiens was found to have been around 700,000 years ago, 300,000 years earlier than the previous estimate. The history of humans is being rewritten both backward and forward.

Read the article and learn about the recent discovery of the oldest art.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czx1pnlzer5o

Topic Reading-Vol.5031-2/1/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

How cocoa substitutes could tackle ‘chocflation’

If you like chocolate, you probably are aware that the same chocolate product has become much more expensive than it was a few years ago. That is because cocoa prices have experienced an unprecedented surge due to a massive global supply shortage caused by drier weather conditions, the spread of diseases, and higher production costs. Chocolate brands, producers, and patissiers are struggling to maintain the taste, flavor, and affordability of their products with the precious ingredient, but there is only so much that they can do. Now, help might be on the way. A Singapore-based startup has developed a new cocoa-free cocoa powder called PreferChoc. The powder is produced by fermenting and roasting seeds and grains, whose cost and carbon footprints are significantly lower than those of real cocoa. The company has also developed coffee bean-free coffee substitutes, another commodity in short supply. Just like margarine and soy milk, chocolate and coffee substitutes might become popular substitutes soon.

Read the article and learn about chocolate and coffee substitutes from Singapore.

https://edition.cnn.com/world/singapore-prefer-cocoa-free-spc

Topic Reading-Vol.5030-1/31/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

The world has entered a new era of ‘water bankruptcy’ with irreversible consequences

Whatever you spend more than you get, you’ll run out of it sooner or later, whether it’s money, food, or water. If we use more water than it is naturally replenished by rain and snow, we’ll face water scarcity, or in the worst case, water bankruptcy. According to a new report by the UN, the term water crisis can no longer describe how serious water scarcity is now around the world because we are extracting too much water from rivers, lakes, wetlands, and underground aquifers at a much faster rate than they are replenished. In addition, climate change has put some regions severely drier for longer, including the Southwest USA, South Asia, the Mediterranean region, and Southern Africa. As the world population increases, urbanization expands, and more data centers are being built for AI, the world needs to work more on conservation than consumption.

Read the article and learn how serious the global water crisis is.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/20/climate/water-bankruptcy-drought-united-nations

Topic Reading-Vol.5029-1/30/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

A hotline to report vapers and caning if you're caught: Singapore's e-cigarette crackdown

It is well known that the import or sale of chewing gum is prohibited in Singapore to keep the city-state clean and eliminate vandals by the sticky substance. Travellers are only allowed to bring in small amounts for personal consumption. As for smoking, it is still allowed, but only in designated smoking areas, on private property, or in private vehicles. However, just like drugs, importing, selling, or smoking of e-cigarettes (vapes) is completely banned in Singapore. Violators, including foreigners, are not only fined, but also could be jailed, mandated rehabilitation, or even caned. Recently, as K-pods, drug-laced vape pods that could cause hallucinations, seizures, or memory loss, have become popular on the black market, the authorities have been tightening their grip. But why are e-cigarettes banned while conventional cigarettes are allowed, which are proven to be harmful to health? In fact, the sale of e-cigarettes is banned in dozens of countries, including India, Thailand, and Mexico.

Read the article and learn why Singapore is tough on e-cigarettes.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3387lrz5g4o