Topic Reading-Vol.5176-6/26/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Instant noodles have a bad reputation — but the world still can’t get enough of them

Invented by a Japanese businessman in 1958 to fill hungry stomachs, instant noodles are precooked and dehydrated noodles that are quickly prepared just by adding hot water. Because of their palatability, convenience, long shelf life, and affordability, today about 120 billion servings are consumed worldwide. China consumes the most, with more than 40 billion servings annually, followed by Indonesia’s 15 billion and India’s 8 billion. On a per-person basis, Vietnamese and South Koreans eat the most, about 80 servings per year. Because instant noodles are affordable and satisfying for the tongue and stomach because of their alluring combination of salt, sugar, fat, and carbs, they make eaters addicted. They are also ultra-processed foods, such as snacks, sweets, and frozen ready-to-eat meals. Even though instant noodles are comfort food and readily available anywhere around the world, you want to avoid consuming such highly processed food too often for your health.

Read the article and learn about what instant noodles are and how they were invented.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/instant-noodles-unhealthy-beloved-global-market-intl-hnk

Topic Reading-Vol.5175-6/25/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

AI is sparking a jobs boom — just not for newbies

As AI takes more human roles, thousands of jobs, such as repetitive, structured, predictable tasks, such as data entry, telemarketing, customer service, coding, and administrative positions, have been eliminated in the US. Accordingly, there are significantly fewer job openings for these entry-level jobs, which are suitable for new graduates to start their careers. As of March, over 5% of recent college graduates were unemployed, while the overall unemployment rate stood at 4.2%. Upskilling is one way for job seekers to qualify for remaining job opportunities, but AI is also upgrading while they are learning new skills. As for US employers, instead of growing talent through jobs, they are looking for senior-level talent who can manage AI and teams around the fast-moving world, and they are competing to hire people from the same small pool of talent. But this eliminates not only young people’s job opportunities but also their chance to bloom in the future. What seems essential for businesses might not be just replacing jobs with AI but improving and growing with AI.

Read the article and learn how AI is affecting the US job market.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/11/business/ai-jobs-work

Topic Reading-Vol.5174-6/24/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Costs, careers and choice: Why Indians are having fewer children

The total fertility rate (TFR) is the average number of children a woman would have over her lifetime. Though it had been declining gradually over decades, India’s TFR was still above 3.0 births per woman in the 2000s. Recently, however, it has fallen below 2.1, the replacement level to keep the population stable. Even though the figure remains higher than in other developed countries, the downward trend of the fertility rate reflects fundamental changes in India’s society. The drop in TFR in developed communities such as Delhi and Bengaluru, and Southern states with good health and education systems like Kerala, is as significant as in another populous country, China. In the meantime, in poorer states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, with lower education levels and higher infant mortality rates, fertility rates are twice as high as those in high-income states. Better education, career development, lower child mortality rates, changes in family values, along with inflation, seem to have led India’s women to choose to have fewer or no children. The world’s most populous country is now facing the same problem as other developed countries. 

Read the article and learn about the changes and factors behind the falling fertility rate in India.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/14/costs-careers-and-choice-why-indians-are-having-fewer-children

Topic Reading-Vol.5173-6/23/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Morocco’s answer to drought is in the ocean. Could more of Africa follow its lead?

The world is now using more water than nature provides by rain and snow, and as a result, rivers and lakes are shrinking, wetlands are drying up, and aquifers are declining. Morocco spans from the Atlantic Ocean to mountainous areas and the Sahara Desert. As drought occurs more frequently and for longer, the country can no longer rely on rainfall and dam inflows. So, the country with a population of 37 million launched a project to provide fresh water from the Atlantic to coastal cities while using dam water and rainfall for inland areas. The project includes building desalination plants, dams, wastewater reuse, and water pipelines. The energy-intensive desalination plants are powered by eco-friendly wind and solar power. Economically, desalinated water will boost agricultural outputs and secure farming jobs, which account for a third of the nation’s workforce. However, they also produce high-salt-concentration brine with chemical residues, which could damage marine ecosystems when discharged back into the ocean. Currently, over 20,000 desalination plants are in operation around the world, most of which are fossil-fuel-powered and in the Middle East. Morocco wants its water project to be shared by other water-stricken African countries.

Read the article and learn about how Morocco is managing the water crisis.

https://edition.cnn.com/world/morocco-desalination-ocean-africa-spc

Topic Reading-Vol.5172-6/22/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Swiss voters reject 10 million population cap

While Switzerland’s total fertility rate sits around 1.3, well below the 2.1 replacement rate, its population has grown by nearly 30% in the last three decades to 9.1 million. The driver of the population growth is foreign residents, who now account for as much as 27% of the nation’s population. They contribute significantly to the nation’s economy and society, particularly in tourism, hospitals, and care homes. For example, about half of hotel workers are now immigrants. While they become a much-needed workforce immediately, the rapid increase in the adult population has put strain on transport, housing, and the environment. Recently, a proposal was made by a right-wing party to cap the nation’s population at 10 million. At the direct vote on June 14, 55% of the voters rejected the proposal and 45% supported the population limit. Politicians and business leaders are particularly relieved by the result because they want to keep the country’s commitment to Europe’s free movement of people, a crucial requirement to be part of Europe’s single market. But the 5% gap in the vote might change to the other side depending on social stability, economic pressure, and living conditions.

Read the article and learn about the population increase and cap in Switzerland.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20ygjem17zo

Topic Reading-Vol.5171-6/21/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Maasai women turn drought into income through fodder farming in Tanzania

Maasai people live in Kenya and northern Tanzania. They traditionally make their living by herding livestock, mainly cattle, goats, and sheep. When drought hit the region, they would lose their livestock. Traditionally, Maasai women are responsible not only for managing domestic duties and raising children but also for building homes and milking livestock. Recently, they came up with drought-resistant livestock fodder, which not only feeds their livestock but also generates money. It is part of the climate-adaptation initiatives that are coordinated by the Pastoral Women’s Council (PWC), a women-led membership organization that serves over 450,000 Maasai pastoralists, whose lives and wealth mostly rely on their animals. When climate change accelerates, people of all kinds and ages need to adapt their living to more severe extreme weather conditions.

Read the article and learn about Maasai women’s initiative to survive and thrive during droughts.

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/6/11/maasai-women-turn-drought-into-income-through-fodder-farming-in-tanzania

Topic Reading-Vol.5170-6/20/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Why have World Cup hydration breaks attracted criticism? It's the ads.

While basketball and American football are divided into four 10-to-15-minute quarters, a soccer/football match is split into two 45-minute halves, excluding the stoppage time added by the referee for injuries or substitutions. Now, since the 2026 World Cup games are being hosted in Canada, the USA, and Mexico, game conditions vary widely. FIFA, then, introduced mandatory 3-minute hydration breaks taken 22 minutes into each half for all of the 2026 World Cup matches, to ensure equal conditions for all teams amid dangerous heat. While the additional mandatory breaks hydrate and recharge the players, they disrupt the natural flow and momentum of matches. Fans aren’t necessarily happy with the two disruptions in the middle of the game and the extended game time. In the meantime, the hydrogen breaks bring economic benefits. Since each of the 104 matches has two 3-minute extra ad times, there will be a total of 832 30-sec commercial slots, which will generate substantial revenue for the broadcasters and then for FIFA. Will all soccer games be divided into four quarters?

Read the article and learn about the extra breaks FIFA added to the World Cup games.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/worldcup/2026/06/18/world-cup-hydration-breaks-ads-chart/90600595007/