Topic Reading-Vol.5245-9/3/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

France relaxes strict cheese-making rules after prolonged drought

Appellation d'Origine Protégée (AOP) rules are European Union regulations that protect regional foods, drinks, and agricultural products tied to a specific geographic area and traditional local expertise. Famous French mountain cheeses like Abondance, Beaufort, and Comté are protected by these strict AOP rules and specifications, including every step of production and processing, the local environment, and animal feed. However, because of the severe drought this summer, France has temporarily relaxed some of the AOP rules to produce these cheeses. Now, producers of these cheeses can temporarily supplement cow diets with fodder and grain from outside the designated geographical zones. The question is whether different animal feed makes a noticeable difference to the flavor and taste of these cheeses, and if it does, how much. Also, no one knows if farmers will find enough local feed for their cows in the future. Another impact of the changing climate.

Read the article and learn how the quality and authenticity of premium cheeses are maintained.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c980e36dd5do

Topic Reading-Vol.5244-9/2/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Scottish Highlands benefiting from 'coolcation' trend

Greek islands, Italian coasts, and Spanish beaches are Europe’s popular destinations for summer vacationers, along with cities like Paris, London, and Barcelona. However, as wildfires, droughts, and heatwaves are making these popular destinations less comfortable in summer, more vacationers are looking at cooler places in northern Europe, such as Scotland, Iceland, and Scandinavian countries. Indeed. As summer gets hotter, coolcation in the Scottish Highlands and The Hague, a Dutch coastal city, have become new destinations for coolcation. Good news for local businesses and the economy. Also, increased tax revenues may fund the maintenance and upgrade of local infrastructure. In the meantime, prices rise, places become noisier, and roads and public transportation get too crowded. Also, once a place becomes an Instagram hotspot, too many people may come to further Instagram the spot, disrupting local lives. Is the other hemisphere too cold for summer vacation?

Read the article and learn how climate change is redrawing Europe’s summer tourism map.  

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd9wp3p4301o

Topic Reading-Vol.5243-9/1/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Google, Microsoft and OpenAI among 100 firms calling for better cyber defences

On August 26, part of a massive glacier collapsed in the Himalayas, triggering a catastrophic landslide and deadly flooding along the Nepal and Tibet border. Hundreds were killed, and over a thousand are missing. None of the man-made defence structures, including dams, reservoirs, levees, dikes, and floodwalls, could stop the devastating flood from wiping away buildings, bridges, vehicles, and people.

Recently, OpenAI and Anthropic each reported incidents in which their autonomous agents escaped isolated testing environments and hacked platforms, the world’s first AI-enabled cyberattacks. They suggest that the existing protective measures, security systems, and defence mechanisms aren’t protective enough to ensure the safety and security of IT systems against AI hackers. On August 27, a group of more than 100 prominent tech and financial firms, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Google, VISA, and MasterCard, issued their joint open letter calling on organizations and businesses to upgrade their cyber defences to protect them from AI-powered cyberattacks. The letter warns that AI-driven cyberattacks will become exponentially more sophisticated and widespread in the coming months, and urges global organizations, utilities, and governments to act swiftly to protect critical infrastructure, such as hospitals, water treatment plants, and the internet grid. The video footage of the devastating Himalayan flood looked like a science fiction movie. AI-powered cyberattacks will be instant, widespread, and disruptive to lives, systems, and businesses around the world. And they will come without a warning.

Read the article and learn how vulnerable the world is to natural disasters and cyberattacks.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyz11475l1o

Topic Reading-Vol.5242-8/31/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Norway mourns King Harald as new era begins under Haakon VIII

The Kingdom of Norway is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy that lies on the Scandinavian Peninsula. After the Norwegian parliament declared the dissolution of the union with Sweden in 1905, Prince Carl of Denmark was elected King of Norway and took the name Haakon VII. He reigned over the country until his death in 1957, and was then succeeded by Olav V. When he died in 1991, Harald V became King of Norway until his death on August 28. He was very popular and was often called the grandfather of the nation. Then his second child and only son, Haakon VIII, succeeded the monarch of Norway at the age of 53. His heir apparent is his firstborn daughter, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, not his secondborn prince, because of the 1990 constitutional change that designates the eldest child, regardless of sex, as taking precedence in the line of succession. Though Norway’s king carries out mostly ceremonial, representative, and symbolic duties, long live the king.

Read the article and learn about royal succession in Norway.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/29/norway-mourns-king-harald-as-new-era-begins-under-haakon-viii

Topic Reading-Vol.5241-8/30/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Why Rohingya refugees are protesting in Cox’s Bazar, 9 years after genocide

The Rohingya are a mostly Muslim ethnic group who live in the western coastal state of Rakhine, one of the poorest states in Myanmar. After Buddhist-majority Myanmar launched a military crackdown in Rakhine following an attack by an armed group in 2017, many of the Rohingya escaped and crossed the border to Muslim-majority Bangladesh in a mass exodus. Since then, more than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees have been living in about 30 camps in Cox’s Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh, forming the world’s largest refugee settlement. As the Rohingya aren’t officially recognized by Myanmar’s government, they are the world’s largest homeless and stateless ethnic group. To mark nine years since the military crackdown, tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees in the camps held mass protests and rallied on August 25, calling for justice, accountability for the 2017 atrocities, safe and dignified repatriation to Rakhine State in Myanmar, and full citizenship rights. The Secretary-General of the UN also called for renewed global attention & action to the plight of the Rohingya, and for the international community to provide humanitarian assistance, alongside livelihood opportunities & self-reliance support.

Read the article and learn about the hardship and suffering of the Rohingya refugees.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/25/why-rohingya-refugees-are-protesting-in-coxs-bazar-9-years-after-genocide

Topic Reading-Vol.5240-8/29/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

World's oceans hit highest temperature on record as El Niño grows

Oceans cover about 80% of the Southern Hemisphere and 60% of the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, average worldwide sea temperatures usually reach their annual peak in March to April when the summer ends in the Southern Hemisphere. The highest average ocean surface temperatures were recorded in March 2024. This year, a very strong El Niño weather phenomenon is warming the surface of the eastern and central tropical Pacific Oceans and is predicted to develop towards the end of the year, which will make the ocean surface temperatures hotter than now. According to the EU’s Earth Observation Program, the average ocean surface temperature outside the polar regions on August 22 was 21.1C, hotter than the previous record. This year, the world is experiencing more severe weather conditions and events than ever, including heatwaves, droughts, storms, and wildfires. As global warming accelerates and the strong El Niño develops, how hot will the ocean temperatures be in March or April next year?  

Read the article and learn how catastrophically the planet is warming.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62m4gpnp78o

Topic Reading-Vol.5239-8/28/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Iranian women defy efforts by hardliners to enforce wearing of hijab

The 1979 Iranian Revolution overthrew the pro-Western monarchy and established an Islamic Republic led by cleric Khomeini. Immediately, the authorities started urging women to wear the hijab, a headscarf many Muslim women wear as a sign of faith, privacy, and modesty. Iran’s penal code criminalizes women in public without a hijab, but it does not define what it means clearly and has not been enforced consistently. Prayer leaders and hardliners claim the hijab is essential for cultural identity and have been pressing the authorities to enforce the code more strictly to remove what they call “public nudity.” However, Iran now has other priorities to deal with, including water scarcity, economic sanctions, and war against the USA and Israel. Indeed, Iran desperately needs unity among men and women, the old and the young. So, when women without hijab take part in government-supportive gatherings, the authorities have very little to say or do, at least for now. Is the US giving Iranian women the chance to show themselves more openly?

Read the article and learn about the change in Iran’s headscarf requirement.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/08/22/middleeast/iran-hijab-women-defy-hardliners-intl