Topic Reading-Vol.5080-3/22/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

The war created an oil problem. It’s not the only price you’ll pay

Nearly 90% of all the oil and gas flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, a 167km-long strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, goes to Asia. As the traffic through the Strait has been shut down by Iran, Asian countries are struggling to cope with the shortage of those fuels. Sri Lanka has declared every Wednesday a holiday for public institutions to conserve fuel. In Myanmar, private vehicles are allowed only to operate on alternate days depending on their licence plate numbers. Even in the USA, the world’s largest petroleum-extracting country, the prices of oil and gasoline soared recently, putting financial pressure on commuters and drivers. Other countries are also affected by price hikes in various items, including food, AI chips, aluminum, natural gas, plastics, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals, due to rising material and transportation costs. When a flow of oil and natural gas is disrupted, the whole world is affected in some way or another.

Read the article and learn about how the US and Israel’s war on Iran is affecting the lives and economy of the world.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/17/business/price-increases-oil-food-aluminum-iran-war

Topic Reading-Vol.5079-3/21/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

This is why you only breathe out of one nostril at a time

Your nostrils are the entrance to your respiratory system. They warm, condition, and filter the air you breathe. They also house your olfactory organs, which give you the sense of smell. That’s why when your nose gets stuffy or blocked, you don’t smell or taste well. Without noticing, your nostrils naturally switch between a dominant nostril for airflow while the other rests, called the nasal cycle. Regulated by the autonomic nervous system, this work-and-rest cycle prevents drying, cracking, and maintains mucus health. The cycle usually shifts every two to five hours without our recognizing it. Which of your nostrils is at work now?

Read the article and learn about the mechanism of our nostrils and the nasal cycle.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/08/health/nostril-breathing-wellness-conversation

Topic Reading-Vol.5078-3/20/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

How Iranians are evading internet blocks to contact family abroad

Iranians, especially those who live in Tehran, have been under heavy bombardment by Israel and the USA since February 28. Also, they have been under an internet blackout by their own authorities since January 8. Without phone or internet connections, how have they been conveying their situations to those who live abroad? One analogue yet practical way to talk to others abroad is to use a Turkish phone and an Iranian phone near their border, where signals from both countries reach, and hold them together while talking. Another, more digital way is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which secures your internet connection by creating an encrypted tunnel for your interactions. Connecting to the Internet via VPN, your data, location, and online identity are all hidden from the Internet Service Provider (ISP) or sensorship. Because of the desperate demands to hear the voices or messages from their loved ones, the prices of such arrangements have skyrocketed recently. However, there is no other way for Iranians to establish communication with the outside world. And when they talk, they say they are doing OK, no matter how heavy the bombardment around them might be. Who created a situation like this?

Read the article and learn how Iranians are connecting with others abroad.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgl58y5943o

Topic Reading-Vol.5077-3/19/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

How much of the Gulf’s water comes from desalination plants?

The total population of the six Gulf states, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is a little over 60 million, showing an increase of about 20% in the last decade. However, the area has no permanent rivers and receives very little rainfall. How does the arid region supply sufficient water to its growing population, businesses, and farming? Since the GULF countries border the Persian Gulf, they are making water by desalinating seawater. They produce more than 300 liters of water per resident each day from seawater at over 400 desalination plants along their coasts. Desalination of seawater is the process of removing salts, minerals, and impurities from seawater to produce water drinkable or suitable for irrigation and industrial use by membrane filtration or thermal distillation. Once processed, the water is then distributed through pipelines or in containers. In the Gulf region, plants and pipelines seem essential to produce and distribute essential liquids.

Read the article and learn how dependent the Gulf region is on seawater.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/12/how-much-of-the-gulfs-water-comes-from-desalination-plants

Topic Reading-Vol.5076-3/18/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

AI is exhausting workers so much, researchers have dubbed the condition ‘AI brain fry’

What if a dozen browser tabs open all at once, waiting for your judgment or directions? As more efficient and sophisticated AI tools are introduced in workplaces, more workers and managers are experiencing cognitive overload, called AI brain fry. It is mental exhaustion from using or supervising AI tools beyond one’s cognitive capacity. While asking an AI chatbot questions or having an AI tool do simple tasks like creating charts greatly saves time and workload for most workers, supervising what AI tools produce requires managers and specialists to conduct fact-checking and judgment, and fast. This is not a simple task like driving a car on a highway, but more like riding a monster motorcycle on a race track, where a simple mistake could easily lead to a fatal crash. To avoid such cognitive overload by new tools, users of powerful AI tools need to learn how to make better use of them within their cognitive capacity. Longer work hours certainly won’t help you work with AI, but attention span will.

Read the article and learn about how AI could bring cognitive overload to workers.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/13/business/ai-brain-fry-nightcap

Topic Reading-Vol.5075-3/17/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Former leader Ardern has left New Zealand. She’s not the only one

Compared with New Zealand, Australia is 28 times larger in land size and five times larger in population. Australia’s average economic output per person, GDP per capita, is over USD 65,000, and New Zealand's is around USD 48,000. Last year, both countries had about a 3%+ inflation. Sydney and Melbourne are the two largest cities in Australia, with a population of over five million respectively, while roughly one-third of New Zealanders, or 1.7 million, live in the largest city, Auckland. Thanks to the free movement agreements, citizens of either country can move and live in the other freely. Which of these two closely located Oceanian countries offers economic advantages over the other? Recently, migration between Australia and New Zealand has experienced a significant surge, with record numbers of New Zealanders moving to Australia for higher wages, better opportunities, and lower costs of living. Last year, over 120,000 New Zealanders emigrated, fueled by rising living costs and a weakening job market, and 60% of them settled in Australia, including the former prime minister and her family. Economic advantages seem to overwhelm national identity or values to many young people and families, causing so-called brain-drain to New Zealand.

Read the article and learn about the emigration crisis in New Zealand.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/06/world/new-zealand-australia-emigration-midlife-intl-hnk-dst

Topic Reading-Vol.5074-3/16/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Where do the 35 million foreigners living in the GCC come from?

Around 60 million people live in the six Gulf monarchies: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE, including Abu Dhabi and Dubai), Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain. These Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries share the same religious, cultural, and social values, including Islamic identity, Arabic language, and Bedouin-merchant lifestyle, as well as modest behavior and hospitality. These countries are all scarce in water resources, but extremely rich in oil and natural gas resources, which generate the vast majority of their government revenues and contribute a significant portion of their GDPs. Also common among the GCC countries is their heavy dependence on foreign workers, or expatriates. Even though nationals are the majority of the population in Saudi Arabia and Oman, non-nationals outnumber the nationals in the other four countries, most significantly in Qatar and the UAE, where over 80% of their populations are non-nationals. Then where do those expatriates come from?

Read the article and learn how dependent the GCC countries are on foreign workers.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/9/where-do-the-35-million-foreigners-living-in-the-gcc-come-from

Topic Reading-Vol.5073-3/15/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

These filmmakers know exactly how to get you hooked on bizarre one-minute dramas

A study found that the time an average person spends on a screen is now only 47 seconds, significantly shorter than in the pre-smartphone era. (Vol.5072) However, when it comes to a “micro-drama”, there is only a second or two to get viewers’ attention and stop them scrolling further on their smartphones.  Originating in China, a micro-drama is a highly serialized, short-form video series designed for mobile viewing, featuring dozens of 1–2 minute episodes with fast-paced, melodramatic plots, often shot in a vertical format. Viewers can watch the first five to ten episodes free, and then need to pay to watch the remaining episodes. Therefore, it’s not the title or trailer that grabs viewers’ attention but the impact of the beginning scene. In production studios in Korea, screenwriters, producers, and editors all use AI to save time and cost to produce numerous episodes and titles of micro-dramas. It seems that the time to grab and keep attention is getting shorter as people scroll the screen faster.

Read the article and learn about how micro-dramas are produced.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg5q6wq11no

Topic Reading-Vol.5072-3/14/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

You’ll likely move on in 47 seconds. Can I hold your attention a little longer?

It seems that most of us live in a life where we switch our attentions from one thing to another much faster than ever before. On the smartphone, many people keep swiping through the next videos or images in less than a minute. Also, people quickly turn their eyes to the screen whenever they have a few seconds to spare. A study found that the time an average person spends on a screen is now only 47 seconds, significantly shorter than in the pre-smartphone era. When there is always more content that grabs your interest at the blink of your eye, you may find it difficult to pay attention to off-screen activities and interactions that don’t gratify you with such instant pleasure. Then, how should you switch focus and concentrate on the work or task that requires good attention?

Read the article and learn about the mechanism of attention and how to improve it.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/27/health/attention-span-improvement-wellness-vis

Topic Reading-Vol.5071-3/13/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Five countries that are actively welcoming travellers in 2026
Tourism contributes economy, creates jobs, and improves infrastructure, if planned and managed sustainably. But if the number of tourists exceeds the sustainable capacity, it is labeled as overtourism, which often ends up creating bans, caps, and raising fees for tourists to curb the number, like in France and Italy. Still, there are countries that are welcoming more international visitors, in Africa, South America, and Europe.
Namibia, a South African country that borders the Atlantic Ocean and also South America, offers conservation-minded wildlife-spotting tourism. Brazil, the South American giant with the Amazon River, is encouraging visitors to travel around different regions, seasons, and types of experiences. Vietnam, an elongated coastal nation stretching over 1,600 km from north to south with a diverse climate and varied landscapes, has eased visa requirements and is about to complete upgrading Ho Chi Minh City’s international airport. Lithuania, a small Baltic country, is projecting to increase not just the number of travellers but the length of their stay so that they can experience local culture and food better. Canada, the world’s second-largest country after Russia, offers diverse tourism attractions stretching over 7,000 km east to west across six time zones. So, it’s better not to limit your travel destinations to already-popular world heritage sites, but rather expand your scope to other attractive places where local nature, culture, gastronomy, and environment are waiting for your visit.
Read the article and learn about places that are welcoming more visitors.
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260306-five-countries-that-are-actively-welcoming-travellers-in-2026

Topic Reading-Vol.5070-3/12/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

We feel it in our bones': Can a machine ever love you?

Loving someone is not just having a romantic feeling but involves a deep, conscious commitment characterized by care, respect, and unconditional support for another person's well-being, growth, and happiness. As the relationship develops, it often evolves beyond initial infatuation into a stable partnership built on trust, shared values, and mutual sacrifice, according to an AI overview. Nowadays, some people are emotionally so engaged with AI that they feel love for their AI companion or avatar. In an extreme case, a Japanese woman had a marriage ceremony with a ChatGPT character (Vol.4995). However, unlike human companions, chatbots are designed to engage users and agree with their perspectives and emotions. While they become comparable to humans in understanding emotions, chatbots are often submissively responding without feeling anything. But as people use AI more from an earlier age, another kind of “love” might be developed. In fact, many people love their pets just like their family members, even if they don’t speak the same language.

Read the article and think about what human love is about.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260209-can-a-machine-ever-love-you

Topic Reading-Vol.5069-3/11/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

The business of not ageing: Why people are spending $1,300 on longevity treatments

There are quite a few evidence-backed lifestyle habits to live longer, healthier lives, such as eating a nutrient-rich, balanced diet, engaging in regular physical activity, getting enough sleep, refraining from smoking or drinking alcohol, managing stress, and maintaining social connections, none of which costs any money but one’s mindset, attitude, and determination. In the meantime, there is an increasing number of businesses that offer longevity treatments, such as mindfulness sessions, mental longevity, diagnostics, neurostimulation, sleep optimization, and stress-resilience therapies, none of which seem to be supported by clinical trial data or evidence. These diagnoses and customized treatments cost thousands of dollars, but there are quite a few people who don’t mind spending money to delay aging and live longer. Indeed, longevity treatment might be a healthier way to spend money than on luxurious ornaments or dresses. However, if you live alone longer than your loved ones or friends, you’ll miss them a lot. Will there be loneliness treatments that you can buy?

Read the article and learn about the treatments for a longer life.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20260211-the-business-of-not-ageing

Topic Reading-Vol.5068-3/10/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

'The damage is already there': A controversial airport comes to Peru's Sacred Valley

Sitting above the Urubamba River valley in the Andes Mountains in Peru, Machu Picchu is a famous Incan citadel. Built around 1450, this historic sanctuary stands 2,430 meters above sea level in the middle of a tropical mountain forest, which was abandoned about a century later during the Spanish conquest. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1983, it is one of the most iconic symbols of the Inca civilization and a major archaeological site in the Americas, drawing around 5,000 visitors a day, 1.5 million annually. But Mach Picchu is hard to reach. After arriving at Lima, Peru’s capital, which is a long way from the other continent, you need to take a 1.5-hour domestic flight to Cusco, then take a four-hour train to reach Aguas Calientes to catch a 30-minute shuttle bus to the entrance. However, a new international airport has been under construction for decades in Chichero, only about a 1.5 to 2-hour train ride to Aguas Calientes. Once completed, the now-hard-to-reach Incan monument will be much more accessible to many more travellers. Already, more hotels are being built to accommodate more guests in the area. But what will happen to Incan roads, irrigation systems, structures, farmlands, and an inland salt mine, some of which are all still in use? Also, can the infrastructure and environment sustain so many visitors, workers, and businesses that are planned on paper? Conservationists, environmentalists, archeologists, indigenous communities, and even local operators and guides are protesting the airport project.

Read the article and learn about this Incan archaeological site.

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260205-a-controversial-airport-comes-to-perus-sacred-valley

Topic Reading-Vol.5067-3/9/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

How where you grow up affects your personality

Which determines human behavior, personality, and traits, nature or nurture? Nature, or genetics, refers to innate biological factors inherited from parents, including DNA, eye/hair color, and genetic likelihood of developing certain diseases or mental health conditions. Nurture, or environment, includes external factors, such as upbringing, parenting styles, social relationships, culture, and life experiences. How different would the personal traits of identical twins, who share almost identical DNA, be if they grew up in different families, places, or cultures? For example, while people in the West tend to be more individualistic, the Japanese people are often more collectivistic. Also, religions play a significant or fundamental role in shaping personal identity and cultural values. In the meantime, research shows that Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is over 50% heritable on average, while about 40% of personality traits are heritable, meaning the rest is developed or formed by the environment and opportunities. All in all, it doesn’t seem to be just one or the other, but both nature and nurture develop one’s personality and capability.

Read the article and learn how one’s personality could be developed differently.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260206-is-our-identity-affected-by-where-we-live

Topic Reading-Vol.5066-3/8/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

The island with an air-conditioned ‘forest’ to cope with scorching summers

Bordering Saudi Arabia and surrounded by the Persian Gulf, Qatar is a small peninsular Arab country with a population of just over 3 million, most of whom are expatriates and migrant workers. It is rich in natural gas reserves, contributing to over 18% of global liquid natural gas (LNG) exports. The airport in the capital, Doha, is a major global hub, serving more than 50 million passengers a year. Doha has become one of the most popular tourist spots in the Arabian Peninsula. However, Qatar has an arid, hot desert climate, with summer temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, making outdoor activities intolerable. To offer a year-round pleasant atmosphere, Doha’s Al Gharrafa and Umm Al Seneem parks blow cold blasts piped up from the street. People can jog, walk, or shop outside comfortably even in summer. On Gewan Island, a newly added man-made archipelago, visitors can enjoy walking a promenade under its air-conditioned forest. Artificial Intelligence is everywhere, helping people with their jobs. Doha’s artificial environment is certainly one of a kind, providing leisure to the residents and attracting visitors from around the world.

Read the article and learn about Doha’s newest attraction.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/gewan-island-qatar-air-conditioned-forest

Topic Reading-Vol.5065-3/7/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

China’s latest AI is so good it’s spooked Hollywood. Will its tech sector pump the brakes?

During the Cold War, the USA and the Soviet Union competed in their spaceflight technologies by sending animals and men into space, and landing astronauts on the Moon. It sparked rapid advancements in aerospace technology, reforms in science education, and the nuclear arms race. In this decade, military drones, humanoid robots, and AI have made significant technological advancements to the point where conventional technologies, skills, and labor are being replaced. Drones and counterdrones are now the major forces in the Russia-Ukraine War. Humanoid robots are working in factories, stores, and restaurants along with human coworkers. AI is taking the place of skilled, experienced, and knowledge workers. And China seems to be leading the race in speed, scale, and economy, thanks to the AI Plus initiative to integrate artificial intelligence across all economic, industrial, and social sectors, transforming AI from a technical tool into a core driver of productivity. Only about two years after ChatGPT’s debut, DeepSeek, a high-performance, cost-effective AI model, was released by a Chinese AI startup. To kick off the Lunar New Year, a band of humanoid robots performed Kung Fu, spin kicks, and back flips at the country's annual Spring Festival Gala. Then, in early last month, movie stars, celebrities, and famous characters appeared in cinematic videos and went viral. They were created with a new AI tool called Seedance 2.0 by ByteDance, a Chinese tech giant known for TikTok and Douyin. It is such an advanced and sophisticated tool that short videos are created from images, audio, video, and text prompts quickly and effortlessly. For example, you can see a fighting scene of famous stars like Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Hollywood was quick to react by issuing a warning notice to ByteDance for copyright infringement. As AI improves, so do deepfakes. The race and battle are already going on to protect copyrights from infringement and the public from being misinformed.

Read the article and learn about the latest example of AI’s sophistication.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/20/china/china-ai-seedance-intl-hnk-dst

Topic Reading-Vol.5064-3/6/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Six possible effects of Trump's climate policy change

Last month, the US president erased the scientific finding that climate change endangers human health and the environment and deregulated federal greenhouse gas emission standards for all vehicles and engines of model years 2012 to 2027 and beyond. The administration claims that the deregulation restores consumer choice, makes more affordable vehicles available for American families, and decreases the cost of living because of the lower cost of trucks. This reversal action against the global efforts will not only remove limits on carbon dioxide, methane, and four other greenhouse gases that spur heat waves, droughts, wildfires, and other extreme weather, but also lead to health problems and premature deaths in its own country. Also, the cars manufactured without environmental regulations in the US may be cheaper for domestic buyers in the short term, but will not be sold in other markets without meeting their respective environmental regulations and requirements. So, what will business leaders in the automotive industry do: enjoy the temporary pain relief to make the balance sheet cleaner, or move forward to the future trend in the bigger picture? They may also be wondering which wind will blow in the next election in 2028, the blue or the red.

Read the article and learn about another reversal move by the US administration.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd03ee39945o

Topic Reading-Vol.5063-3/5/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Global warming forced scientists to change the way they look at El Niño

El Niño, meaning “the little boy” in Spanish, and La Niña, “the little girl”, are two opposing climate patterns that break these normal conditions. El Niño occurs when the normal east-to-west trade winds that push warm water toward Asia weaken or reverse, and warm surface water from the western Pacific moves eastward towards South America. This prevents cold water from rising to the surface, upwelling, near South America, making the central and eastern Pacific become much warmer, and changing rainfall patterns and influencing global weather. When the trade winds strengthen, the opposite phenomenon occurs, La Niña. El Niño and La Niña events occur every two to seven years but not regularly, and they last nine to 12 months, sometimes for years. In the last three decades, these phenomena have been detected by comparing the ocean temperature in a specific part of the tropical Pacific. But as global warming has raised the temperatures of the whole tropical Pacific, the anomalies have become harder to see. Now, scientists subtract the temperature anomalies in the rest of the tropical Pacific from those in the region most important for El Niño. This update is just like replacing the old glasses with newly prescribed ones. With upgraded glasses, scientists can now see the changes in ocean temperatures earlier and better, and forecast long-range weather more accurately.

Read the article and learn about another influence of global warming.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/17/weather/el-nino-global-warming-pacific-ocean

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

Topic Reading-Vol.5055-2/25/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Macron urges Europe to start acting like world power

Even after the departure of the UK (Brexit) in 2020, the European Union (EU) is still an influential economic and political union. Combined, the EU is the world’s third-largest economy after the USA and China, representing around one-sixth of the global economy. EU’s top three economies are Germany, France, and Italy, generating 24%, 16%, and 12%, respectively, of the union’s total GDP. Emmanuel Macron has been serving as President of France since 2017. Facing mounting threats from Russia and growing tension with China and the USA, Macron recently urged Europe to start acting like a collective power. Considering the recent stand-off with the USA over Greenland, why not? The estimated population of the EU is around 450 million, 300 million more than Russia and 100 million more than the USA. Nearly the same number of new cars are being sold annually in Europe, including the UK, as in the USA. However, when it comes to elections, politicians tend to focus on the immediate domestic agenda, such as jobs, inflation, taxes, and social welfare. Make (country) Great Again is an attractive message to voters. Creating and maintaining collective power might be a slippery concept.

Read the article and learn about Europe’s presence in the world’s economy.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8n1zdnpd3o

Topic Reading-Vol.5054-2/24/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

The US slips to its lowest-ever rank in a global corruption index

CPI often refers to the Consumer Price Index, a key economic indicator, but there is another CPI, the Corruption Perceptions Index. Assessed by experts and business executives, this index ranks 182 countries and territories worldwide by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The index aims to end the injustice of corruption by promoting transparency, accountability, and integrity. The results are given on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Of the 182 countries ranked in the 2025 CPI, the top scorers were Denmark (89), Finland (88), Singapore (84), New Zealand (81), followed by five small European countries, and mighty Germany (77) in 10th place. The global average has fallen to a new low of 42, and more than two-thirds of countries score below 50. The worst three scorers were South Sudan (9), Somalia (9), and Venezuela (10). Under the Trump administration, the US scored its lowest CPI score at 64 and ranked 29th on the list, tying with the Bahamas, but below Germany, Canada, Japan, the UK, and France, the Western allies. What will the US’s score be during the second, third, and the last year of the Trump administration?

Read the article and learn the 2025 CPI result.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/10/business/corruption-index-transparency-international-united-states-intl

Topic Reading-Vol.5053-2/23/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

In the army now: Pictures that show how ordinary Ukrainians have been shaped by war

Four years have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine, and the war still continues. Over one hundred thousand soldiers have lost their lives, and many more have been wounded. The war changed the lives of those who were engaged in the war. Here are photos and thoughts of seven Ukrainians who have been serving to defend their homeland.

A 26-year-old woman who returned from Prague and became an army pilot to protect her country and future says, "Sometimes the hardest thing is the silence after the news of losses." A 37-year-old former NGO worker says, “Before, it was important for me to help others find their way, to become strong, self-confident. Now I understand that the technique of positive thinking does not save you from armed thugs." A 19-year-old ex-barista says she had learned about happiness, such as being close to her family and not being afraid of waking up the next day. A 42-year-old used to be a bioengineer specialized in creating 3D models for facial reconstruction surgeries. He has spent years as a combat medic in dugouts and says he wouldn’t rest after the war because there will be lots of reconstruction surgery to be done then. A 28-year-old who had served four years in the army returned from Poland and became a soldier again. He said almost all the friends he joined up with have died. A 42-year-old civilian who used to do a government job joined the army on the day of the Russian invasion. He was captured and held by Russia for over two years, the most harrowing experience of his life. A 35-year-old father of two was also in captivity in Russia for several weeks, saw his fellow soldiers abused, but couldn’t do anything to help them. He says, “While you're fighting, you're something, someone. As soon as you stop - then that's it, you're nobody."

Read the article and see the photos of Ukrainian soldiers who have been serving their country.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cddn2e11zm8o

Topic Reading-Vol.5052-2/22/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Warning of long airport queues under new EU border control system

Started to be operational in October last year, the new Entry/Exit System (EES) is an automated IT system for registering non-EU nationals traveling for up to 90 days, valid for three years, to 29 Schengen countries in Europe. It replaces manual passport stamping with biometric data collection (facial images and fingerprints) at border crossings to enhance security, prevent overstaying, and detect document fraud. The EES will be gradually introduced at border crossing points with full implementation by 10 April 2026. Unfortunately, the new system has already created long waiting lines at passport controls in many airports because most of the arriving passengers this year are required to register for the EES for the first time, which takes time and assistance. Also, not enough registration machines have been placed, and not all of them have been working properly. Even during this relatively slow travel season, when packed airplanes arrive at the same time, visitors have to wait for hours to clear passport controls. So, what will happen during the summer travel season? Do you want to schedule hours after arrival to wait for immigration on your vacation? Can you have your friends or driver wait for you for hours at the airport?

Read the article and learn about the new technology and process for passport control to Europe.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0k699pxwzo

Topic Reading-Vol.5051-2/21/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers,　

Pakistan's famous kite festival cautiously returns after 19-year ban

Punjab is a geographical and ethnolinguistic region across modern-day Pakistan and northwestern India. The Punjabi people traditionally celebrate the start of spring with a kite-flying festival, called Basant, around the end of January and the beginning of February. Lahore, the largest city in the region and the second largest city in Pakistan, became a major center for Basant celebrations with rooftops and open spaces filled with kite flyers, music, and seasonal fairs. Kite flying is very competitive, and it involves battles to knock other kites out of the sky by cutting their strings with sharp, metallic threads with chemical materials, causing trouble to power cables and danger to motorcyclists. Also, because there were so many excited kite-flying watchers who fell from rooftops and shot guns into the air, the festival was banned in 2007. After almost two decades of absence, the long-wanted spring festival returned earlier this month. However, while people seemed to remember how to celebrate the festival, young people had to learn how to fly kites and fight others because they had never done it before. Now, kite-flying skills need to be redeveloped to preserve the tradition.

Read the article and learn about Basant in the Panjub region.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1dkd5ql91lo

Topic Reading-Vol.5050-2/20/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

You’re brushing all wrong. 5 tips for better oral hygiene from an expert

The mouth is one of the most important organs. It is the world of microbes, saliva, soft tissues, and bones. Improving dental health affects the overall health because the mouth is the opening to the body. Brushing teeth after each meal is essential for your oral health, but when and how you do it makes a difference to enamel, gum tissue, saliva chemistry, and a living microbiome. Also, what type of toothbrush you use and how clean it is affects to keep your teeth and gums in good shape. Brushing teeth harder and longer with an unclean brush could even damage enamel and gums. Do you remember the advice your dentist gave you in the last dental checkup?

Read the article to learn how to make your teeth finer and shinier.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/05/health/oral-hygiene-teeth-brushing-tips-wellness

Topic Reading-Vol.5049-2/19/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

This year’s Olympic medals are worth more than ever

The 2026 Winter Olympics, Milano Cortina 2026, is taking place at sites across Lombardy and Northeast Italy. When the event ends on the 22^nd, more than 700 medals will have been awarded to the winners of the winter sports events. These medals are more economically valuable than ever because of the skyrocketing price of gold and silver, which have doubled and tripled, respectively, since the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The medals use quite a lot of these precious materials. For example, the gold medal weighs about 500 grams and is composed at 92.5% of silver and plated with six grams of gold. The silver medal weighs 420 grams and consists of 92.5% silver, and the rest is copper for durability. Even though the core value of the Olympic medals has been and will most likely be unchanged, the 2026 Olympic medals are financially the most valuable, at least so far.

Read the article and learn about how valuable Olympic medals are now.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/05/business/medals-winter-olympics-gold-silver-prices-intl

Topic Reading-Vol.5048-2/18/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Europe distrusts — but depends on — America. Can it afford to walk away?

Until recently, the USA and Europe had long enjoyed a close relationship, collectively called the West, sharing core values, such as individual liberty, the rule of law, and market capitalism. For example, their trade represents nearly 30% of the global total. The USA was one of the leading founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which was created in 1949 to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. However, the recent Trump administration’s attempt to capture Greenland, a sovereign territory of Denmark, either by money or force, has made its European allies lose trust in the USA. For energy security, it’s a big blow to European countries because they have increased the import of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) from the USA as an alternative to Russia since 2022. Also, Europe depends heavily on US tech enterprises for digital services, cloud infrastructure, and data centers. Even though it is unclear if the recent absurd US moves will continue under future administrations, the mindsets of Europeans seem to have changed considerably.

Read the article and learn how much Europe depends on the USA.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/05/business/europe-economic-independence-united-states-intl

Topic Reading-Vol.5047-2/17/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Your phone edits all your photos with AI - is it changing your view of reality?

High-tech smartphones that are equipped with multiple lenses, high megapixel sensors, and versatile zoom capabilities offer superior low-light performance, cinematic video, and AI-powered editing tools. In many cases, you might have been surprised to see how beautiful the object looks and how “precisely” details emerge in the photo you took. But are they authentic? After all, they are all digital cameras, which capture images, convert the light into electrical signals, and then into digital data. During the process, the “real” image was digitally processed, and this is where AI plays a substantial role. Instead of you editing digital images, today’s smartphones are doing it autonomously to make them look more appealing. They not only reduce noise, correct color, or despise blurry, but also fill in details that were not captured by the phone. If you want to see more “realistic” photos, you can opt out of such AI processing tools that run in the background. Which way would you prefer, with or without AI editing/enhancement? After all, doctoring is a slippery concept, and photographic truth might be an illusion.

Read the article and learn about what is going on in your smartphone camera.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260203-the-ai-that-quietly-edits-all-of-your-photos

Topic Reading-Vol.5046-2/16/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Have you got what it takes to go to the Moon?

It was 1972 when the last crewed mission, Apollo 17, sent men to the Moon. As early as next month, a lunar spaceflight mission, Artemis II, is planned to send four crew members to orbit the Moon. During the 10-day mission, the four crew members will live in a pressurized nine-cubic-meter capsule that houses a seating area, a hygiene compartment, and a small exercise space. There is no privacy whatsoever for 240 hours. In future lunar missions, humans will land on the Moon, about 384,000 km away from the Earth, construct a base, and live there for months, like astronauts have been doing in the International Space Station or Chinese taikonauts in their space station, Tiangong. They all need to be not only physically qualified but also mentally capable of coping with stress, isolation, and confinement. In addition, they all need to be good team members to accomplish the missions together, like members in research facilities in Antarctica. Cognitive abilities and psychological suitability are essential to live in extreme environments for months.

Read the article and learn about what it takes for space missions.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260202-the-skills-that-could-take-you-to-the-moon

Topic Reading-Vol.5045-2/15/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Bangladesh Nationalist Party sweeps to victory in first election since Gen Z uprising

Bangladesh is a country of South Asia located in the delta of the Ganges river where the Indian subcontinent meets mainland Southeast Asia. The Muslim-majority country lies between Hindu-majority India and predominantly Buddhist Myanmar. It was the eastern province of Pakistan until 1971, when it became independent as the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. With a population exceeding 173 million in a 130,000 km² land area, similar in size to Greece, its population density is one of the highest in the world.

The unitary parliamentary republic was served by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from 1996 to 2001 and again from 2009 to 2024. Her second premiership was marked not only by significant economic development but also by authoritative ruling, corruption, and suppression. When the July Mass Uprising, or Gen Z Revolution, occurred last year, the government carried out the mass killing of protesters, which further escalated the movement. As a result, Hasina was ousted from the premiership and fled to India. Earlier this month, general elections were held, and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Tarique Rahman, secured two-thirds of the parliament’s 299 seats. How will he govern the young, developing country, one of the world's most climate-vulnerable nations, particularly with rising sea levels, floods, and extreme weather conditions?

Read the article and learn about Myanmar’s general elections and new challenges.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgrzwn4yg7jo

Topic Reading-Vol.5044-2/14/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

These nets used to catch fish. Now they’re catching Russian drones

Last year, more than 2,000 Russian drones attacked the southern city of Kherson every week and killed over 100 people. While shooting down every drone is nearly impossible, there is an innovative and practical tool that helps protect people and infrastructures on the ground, nets. Tulip nets can thwart small drones, and fishing nets can protect tanks and electricity utilities from deadly kamikaze drones, which carry heavy explosives. These nets are donated by farmers and fishermen from many parts of Europe, and are being trucked to Ukraine by a variety of volunteer groups. They now protect hospital courtyards, power generators, shopping streets, and even open roads. Just like mosquito nets prevent mosquito bites and diseases such as malaria in tropical and subtropical regions, tulip nets and fishing nets are now protecting lives in Ukraine from Russian drones.

Read the article and learn how conventional nets are being used in Ukraine.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/01/europe/ukraine-fishing-farming-nets-drones-intl

Topic Reading-Vol.5043-2/13/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, Protein is so last year. 

Why fiber is the next big thing

Fiber is a carbohydrate in plant food, such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. It passes through the body undigested, promotes bowel regularity, helps control blood sugar, and lowers cholesterol. Also, because fiber-rich foods are filling, they help you control your appetite and thus reduce overeating. You should get enough fiber, say 25g to 30g+ daily, with a healthy diet. For example, eat whole grains instead of refined grains, keep the skin on potatoes, cucumbers, apples, and pears, or add berries and nuts to your breakfast cereal. These days, younger consumers in the USA are getting obsessed with their digestive health to improve their skin health and cognitive function. Food companies are then launching fiber-enriched food, snacks, and even drinks to capitalize on the trend. But why do they need highly processed, packaged products to get enough fiber, which is naturally included in real foods?

Read the article and learn what American consumers are keen on after protein.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/25/food/fiber-food-trends-2026

Topic Reading-Vol.5042-2/12/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

He calls me sweetheart and winks at me - but he's not my boyfriend, he's AI

AI companions are AI-powered chatbots or virtual avatars that provide human-like interactions, emotional support, friendship, or companionship. They adapt to user inputs to form deep, personalized, and even romantic relationships, and offer 24/7 emotional support and personalized interactions via text, voice, or visual. As they keep learning from what you’ve said, asked, shown, and searched, the more time you spend with them, the closer they become to you. Research in the UK found that over 60% of teens are using AI chatbots to get help for their studies, receive emotional advice, or companionship. Another study found that a third of teenagers under 19 said conversation with their AI companion was more satisfying than with a human friend. ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and My AI all offer such companionship, but age restrictions are tightening to protect young people and children from harmful attachments, sexual content, and emotional manipulation. 

Read the article and learn about how widely and deeply AI companions are used by young people.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62njv82n0wo

Topic Reading-Vol.5041-2/11/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

UN risks 'imminent financial collapse', secretary general warns

Founded in 1945 after World War II, the United Nations (UN) is an international organization dedicated to maintaining international peace, security, and cooperation. The organization is primarily funded by its 193 member states through mandatory assessed contributions for its two main budgets, the regular budget and the peacekeeping budget. The US and China are charged over 20% respectively for these two main budgets, followed by Japan, Germany, the UK, and France, while 175 of the 193 member states were each responsible for less than 1% of these budgets. However, a substantial portion of members’ obligations have not been paid in full or on time, particularly by the largest contributors, including the USA, China, and Russia, all of which are permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council. The USA alone owed 1.5 billion each in regular assessment and peacekeeping dues as of April last year. Without budgeted assessments and dues payments, the UN cannot maintain its operations or fulfill its financial obligations. Last month, the UN chief urged the member states to pay their unpaid dues ASAP, otherwise, the organization could financially collapse by July.

Read the article and learn about the financial crisis of the United Nations.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr579mdv4m7o

Topic Reading-Vol.5040-2/10/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Doomsday Clock 2026: Scientists set new time

Maintained by scientists since 1947, the Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents the estimated likelihood of a human-caused global catastrophe, such as nuclear threats, climate change, and disruptive technologies. The initial setting of the clock was seven minutes to midnight, where some sort of nuclear exchange or catastrophic climate change wipes out humanity. It was wound back to 17 minutes in 1991 when the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) was signed by the US and the Soviet Union. However, the clock has been wound forward continuously since then and was set at 85 seconds to midnight last month, due to ongoing wars and armed conflicts in many parts of the world, rising nuclear proliferation, and effects of climate change, as major countries have become more aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic. Also feared is the rapid growth and use of AI, which could exacerbate misinformation and disinformation. Are only powerful or influential governments responsible for advancing the clock’s hand? In fact, personal actions can also make a difference to help mitigate the climate crisis. Water and energy conservation, proper recycling, and the reduction of food waste could all help slow, or even reverse, the clock’s movement.  

Read the article and learn how close the world has become to Doomsday.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/27/science/doomsday-clock-2026-time-wellness

Topic Reading-Vol.5039-2/9/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

The surprising benefits of standing on one leg

Standing on one leg is a more physically demanding exercise than you might think. It strengthens ankle stabilizers, calf muscles, quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes while improving stability. Also, how long you can stand on one leg is a good indicator of your ability to balance, neurological function, and how well you’re ageing. That’s because starting from our 30s, we lose muscle mass as much as 8% in each decade. Also, our brain’s ability to integrate information from the eyes, sense the body position and the ground, and balance our body, declines as we age. Single-leg training exercises help us improve balance control and joint stability, and reduce the risk of falls. This simple exercise of standing on one leg doesn’t take so much of your time. You can stand on one leg while you’re brushing your teeth, watching TV, or chatting on the phone. Just be careful not to fall during the exercise.

Read the article and learn about what standing on one leg does to you and your ageing.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260114-the-surprising-benefits-of-standing-on-one-leg

Topic Reading-Vol.5038-2/8/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Spain plans to give half a million undocumented migrants legal status

In the last four decades, the total fertility rate in Spain has been well below the reproduction level of 2.1. However, its population has grown from 40 million to nearly 50 million in the last 25 years, mostly due to immigration. Now, a little over 80% of the Spanish population is White Europeans, about 8% are Latin Americans, and the rest came from other places. Since Spain’s population is aging and the fertility rate has been declining, the contribution of young immigrants is essential for its economy, social security system, and communities. Last month, Spain’s government announced that it would grant legal status to half a million or more undocumented immigrants living and working in the country for at least five months as of the end of last year. While the US is brutally cracking down, detaining, and deporting undocumented immigrants and revoking visas, Spain is trying to legalize immigrants for them and for the country.

Read the article and learn about Spain’s latest immigration policy.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62n6gw1dp9o

Topic Reading-Vol.5037-2/7/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

When something goes wrong at 186 mph: Inside the fast-reaction world of high-speed train drivers

High-speed rail (HSR) is a rail transport network that runs trains at speeds of over 200 km/h on upgraded tracks and 250 km/h or faster on dedicated tracks. The first HSR, the Shinkansen, appeared in Japan in 1964. Now, China has the world’s longest operational network of 50,000 km, followed by Spain’s 4,000 km, France’s 3,500 km, Germany’s 3,300 km, and Japan's 3,000 km network, all at a top speed of 300 km/h or faster. Despite their punishingly fast speeds, HSEs are safer than any other mass transport. For example, Japan’s 62-year-old Shinkansen network has had no operational derailment accident but two, both of which were caused by major earthquakes. However, accidents will happen. Last month, a Madrid-bound high-speed train derailed in Spain, killing 45 and injuring nearly 300. Then what is it like to design, build, operate, maintain, and drive such high-speed mass transport trains? 

Read the article and learn about the world of HSR.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/26/travel/what-its-like-to-drive-high-speed-train

Topic Reading-Vol.5036-2/6/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

US officially leaves World Health Organization

Under the first Trump administration, the U.S. withdrew from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in October 2017 and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in June 2018. It also announced its intention to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO). After the next presidential election, these withdrawals were reversed by the new administration under Joe Biden. However, after his reelection, the second Trump administration initiated the withdrawal from the WHO, UNESCO, and dozens of other international organizations and institutions. After the one-year notice period, the USA formally exited from the WHO on January 22, leaving unpaid dues of $260 million for 2024-2025.

A UN research report shows that during the COVID-19 pandemic under the first Trump administration, the US response was so slow and mismanaged that the US recorded one of the highest death rates in the world. Now, the administration said it would work with other countries bilaterally for disease surveillance and information sharing without specifying which countries. Will the threat-and-deal tactic work to prevent, prepare for, and respond to health crises?

Read the article and learn about another isolating initiative by the US administration.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn9zznx8qdno

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

Topic Reading-Vol.5028-1/29/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Here’s how AI data centers affect the electrical grid

A data center is a facility that houses IT infrastructure, such as servers, storage, and networking gear, to store, process, and distribute data and applications. Data centers are essential for cloud computing, AI, and the internet. They require massive amounts of both electricity to power servers and cool them. IT giants are now rushing to build more and larger data centers to meet the increasing need for immense computational power to train and run AI models. Accordingly, the demand for electricity is skyrocketing, which has set severe strains on the electricity market in the USA. In some areas around or near data centers, the electricity costs have doubled in recent years. To meet the increasing need for electricity, more fossil fuels are burned, and nuclear power is activated. In addition, data centers use a substantial amount of water for their cooling systems to absorb heat from equipment. This is going to add another strain on already scarce water resources in the USA. It seems that AI is an energy guzzler that places immense demands on power grids. And this problem isn’t limited to the USA.

Read the article and learn about the inconvenient truth of AI.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/18/business/ai-data-centers-electricity-prices