Topic Reading-Vol.5062-3/4/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

A four-day science-backed guide to forging better friendships that will improve your life

Unlike family members or relatives, you can choose and make friends yourself. You can have a good time with your friends, share a bond of mutual interest, trust, and respect, and offer help or support when needed. Studies show that fostering good friendships will bring health and mental well-being. Then how?

You can’t just have fun with friends all the time. You learn to manage the ups and downs of being good friends. Sharing interests definitely helps deepen friendships. For example, exercising, playing sports, learning an instrument, making dishes, or doing a ritual together all keep your friends closer to you. Also, going out and spending time in nature will enhance your well-being and, therefore, help social connections. After all, your mental health is influenced by your mindset.

Read the article and learn the benefits and ways to keep good friendships.

Note: As this article was published last year, read 2025 as 2026.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250103-a-four-day-guide-to-forging-better-friendships-to-improve-your-life

Topic Reading-Vol.5061-3/3/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

How the sound of sport is being reimagined for deaf fans

Just like the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup, an international sports event is held every four years for deaf athletes, called The Deaflympics. Last November, its 25^th Summer Games took place in Tokyo, marking the 100^th anniversary of the event. The event featured 21 sports, including athletics, football, swimming, basketball, cycling, golf, handball, judo, shooting, tennis, and wrestling. The Deaflympics is also regarded as an important testing ground for inclusive technologies, where users and providers meet and work together to enhance sports experiences. One technology that helped the spectators feel the vibe was onomatopoeia, words that imitate, resemble, or suggest the natural sounds associated with objects or actions, such as Bang, Splash, Smash, Click, Beep, or Meow. The AI-driven, visual, and multilingual sound-recognition technologies were used to help Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) viewers experience the stadium atmosphere with onomatopoeia in their languages. Also, at judo events, spectators who wore special vibration devices felt the players’ movements captured by microphones and sensors in the mat. Now, sound is no longer just heard, but can be read and felt.

Read the article and learn about inclusive technologies used at the Tokyo Deaflympics.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260216-how-the-sound-of-sport-is-being-reimagined-for-deaf-fans

Topic Reading-Vol.5060-3/2/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Gender pay gap won't close for another 30 years, warns trade unions group
In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 entitles individuals to equal pay for "like work," work rated as equivalent, or work of equal value. The act protects against unfair treatment based on age, disability, marriage, race, religion, sexual orientation, and gender. However, according to a trade union, despite a slow, long-term downward trend, there is still a considerable pay gap between men and women in the UK. On average, men are paid 12.8% more than women by UK companies with more than 250 staff in the same industries. The gender pay gap is equivalent to a month and a half of the annual pay. Though the gap varies by industry, like 27% in finance and insurance, 17% in education, and 13% in health, it still exists across the board, both in full-time and part-time. Also, the widest pay gap is seen among workers in their 50s. The union attributes the cause to the long-term effects of women pausing or reducing their career opportunities for childbearing and caring responsibilities. In the meantime, the total fertility rate of the UK is now around 1.4, far below the reproduction level of 2.1. It seems essential to improve not only protections for expectant and new mothers, but also parental leave for both parents to reduce the gender pay gap while increasing the fertility rate.
Read the article and learn the inconvenient fact about the gender pay gap in the UK.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg5l75yx6vo

Topic Reading-Vol.5059-3/1/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

China has another solution to its shrinking population: robots

Thanks to the massive workforce, gigantic market size, and the government’s initiatives, China’s economy grew rapidly in the last two decades and has become the world’s second-largest economy, only after the USA. Those who have contributed to the growth are now, or soon, retiring and aging. They will need care sooner or later. Traditionally, children took care of their parents in China, but things have changed as many of them work away from home for opportunities. Also, even after the removal of the decades-long one-child policy, China’s total fertility rate has fallen to around 1.0, well below the 2.1 reproduction level. As a result, its population declined by more than 3 million last year. How will China maintain economic growth and provide care to aging seniors with a smaller workforce and population? One solution is already there. Robots. In fact, China is the world’s largest market for industrial robots, with over half of all robots worldwide. Industrial robots are key to improving productivity and increasing production output. Also, China is keen on humanoid robots, which could help or replace humans in factories, distribution, stores, restaurants, and care services. As the capabilities and productivity of these robots and humanoids are further enhanced by AI, they are expected to mitigate China’s population and demographic issues, even though they may replace the existing workforce or reduce employment opportunities until humans re-skill or up-skill themselves to the new environment. So, it seems that the timing and speed of transition, replacement, and reinforcement are the key to coping with China’s demographic and social challenges.

Read the article and learn about China’s socio-demographic challenges and technological solutions.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/13/china/china-population-robots-intl-hnk-dst

Topic Reading-Vol.5058-2/28/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Now there’s a $2 charge to toss coins in the Trevi Fountain — and tourists are still ignoring the rules

The Trevi Fountain is an 18th-century Baroque landmark fountain in Rome. It is popular for its artistic beauty, its iconic appearance in films, and the tradition of throwing coins in the fountain. Last year, over 10 million visitors approached the fountain, around 70,000 during the peak periods. Visitors throw a coin with their right hand to guarantee a return trip to Rome, another for love with an Italian, and the third for marriage with an Italian. Around 1.5 million euros are thrown into or around the fountain a year, which are collected and donated to charity. Now, to manage crowds at this overwhelmed landmark, visitors have to buy a 2-euro ticket to approach the fountain and throw coins into its waters. Venice charges 5 to 10 euros for day-trippers to visit the historic city center to cope with overtourism, too. Visiting popular tourist hot spots seems to have become more expensive and restrictive nowadays.

Read the article and learn about the newly introduced charge to approach and throw coins at a historic landmark in Rome.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/02/travel/trevi-fountain-rome-fee-overtourism

Topic Reading-Vol.5057-2/27/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Kim Jong Un chooses teen daughter as heir, says Seoul

When the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea, was established in 1948, Kim Il Sung, a former revolutionary military commander, became the leader of the Soviet-backed country. Following his death in 1994, his heir-apparent, Kim Jong Il, succeeded to the role of Supreme Leader. 17 years later, in 2011, Kim Jong Un, the second of three children of Kim Jong Il and his first lady, succeeded his father’s position at the age of just 27 or 28. He was born in 1983 or 1984 and studied at an international school in Berne, Switzerland. Recently, Kim Jong Un has been seen taking his young daughter, Kim Ju Ae, with him to important events, including a military parade and a trip to China, as if she were his heir or second-in-command. Though he is still in his early 40s and looks quite energetic, he might have already decided who should be the next leader of the nuclear-armed, secretive, and authoritative country. South Korea’s intelligence agency thinks she is the one. However, Kim Ju Ae is believed to be only 13 or 14 years old. What would happen if Kim Jong Un became unable to rule the dynasty?  

Read the article and learn about the succession line of the Kim Dynasty.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0e1g7kwglo

Topic Reading-Vol.5056-2/26/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

China is the clean energy superpower, but there’s another snapping at its heels — and it’s moving even faster

Superpowers of the economy are also the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. If you look at the top three countries of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), China emits about 30%, the USA 11%, and India 8% of the world's GHG. But if you compare China and India, whose populations are about 1.4 billion respectively, India emits much less GHG per capita than China. Will India emit as much GHG as China does now when its economy grows to the same level? Presently, India is burning a lot of coal to generate electricity to meet the growing demand, but it is also the world’s third-largest solar power producer. Also, the country is replacing more electric vehicles, three-wheel rickshaws, and motorcycles on the road with electric ones. Recently, because of Chinese companies' fierce competition and over-capacity, the costs of solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries have become economically advantageous over fossil fuels, and India is adding renewable energy faster now. Another incentive towards renewable energies is that domestically generated renewable power helps India become less reliant on other countries for fossil fuels. New economies are growing with renewable energies.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/11/climate/clean-energy-china-india-electrostates