【推荐1】The cost of living in countries like the United States, Britain, Australia or France has skyrocketed in recent years, But, if you’re willing to leave your country and explore life in other areas, there are many countries boasting an extremely cheap and low cost of living. So, if you have the flexibility of living wherever you please, and want to live in a country the cost of living is the cheapest in the world, check out these 3 countries when planning your next move.

1. Cambodia

Cambodia may not be the first country that comes to mind when you think of a tropical paradise, but it’s pretty close. The added bonus is that living here is insanely cheap, unlike some other tropical getaways. A luxury home with four bedrooms and a pool would only cost about $600 a month. A decent three bedroom vacation home can be purchased here for just $20,000. And, for only about $2,000 a year, you can also hire a gardener and housekeeper to take care of your property.

2. Ecuador

Ecuador is similar to the United States in many ways, and as a result, it has become a popular American getaway. They even use the US Dollar for their currency. In this country, it’s cheaper to eat out everyday than cook for yourself on a budget in the U.S. You can even buy a property for around 50,000 and hire someone to tend to it while you’re away.

3. Mexico

Although the country is known for its poverty ridden streets, there are many wealthier areas that provide every amenity (便利设施) you might need. You can live off a mere $700 a month in Mexico, and this includes rent for a nice place, amenities, food, and any sightseeing.

【推荐3】French children are saying “Hello” to the new academic year and “Bye” to their cell phones during school hours. That’s because a new law has come into effect which bans phone use by students up to the age of 15. The rule, which follows a campaign promise by French President Emmanuel Macron, also bans tablets and smart watches.

The ban is also in place at break times, with exceptions in cases of emergency and for disabled children, the French Education Ministry said in a statement. In emergencies, students can ask their teachers for permission to use their phones. Meanwhile, high schools can voluntarily carry out the measure.

Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said the new rules aim to help children focus on lessons, better socialize and reduce social media use. The ban is also designed to fight online bullying and prevent thefts and violence in school. Blanquer has claimed the rule would improve discipline among France’s 12 million school students, nearly 90% of whom have mobile phones. “Being open to technologies of the future doesn’t mean we have to accept all their uses,” Blanquer said in June as the bill was going through in Parliament.

As for carrying out the ban, it’s up to individual school administrations to decide how to put through the ban. School principals can decide to store students’ phones in lockers or allow them to keep them, switched off, in their backpacks. The law allows teachers to take away the phones until the end of the day in case of someone disobeying the bans.

Jacqueline Kay-Cessou, whose 14-year-old son, David, is entering eighth grade at the Camille See International School told the reporter she was happy to hear of the ban. “It’s fantastic news. It’s something I’ve wanted for years,” Kay-Cessou said. “I think phones are socially harmful. Kids can’t think and sit still anymore and it’s highly addictive.”

A young man whose good looks and innocent smile have turned him into an internet celebrity has brought a surge in interest in his hometown among tourists.

Ctrip, an online travel agency, said that after a video of Tamdrin, a 20-year-old ethnic Tibetan man from Litang county in Sichuan province's Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture, became popular online recently, the number of searches for Litang increased quickly.

Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, featured Tamdrin in three tweets in a row on her Twitter account on Monday. “The channel of Sicfiuan TV has a new ‘anchor’, Tamdrin, who broadcasts news in his native Tibetan language as a guest,” she wrote. “Tamdrin recently became a social media star after a photo of his bright, sunny and innocent smile had become popular.” She also posted a short clip of Tamdrin riding a horse and introducing himself in subtitling: “They call me ‘prince on a horse’. The happiest thing for me is to race horses with my brothers. Tm really good at horse racing and often rank first in our village. ”

Tamdrin has now been hired by Litang Culture Tourism and Sport Investment Development Co. to promote tourism for the county. Du Dongdong, the company’s general manager, told China Central Television he hoped the young man could grow and develop alongside local tourism, which has just started to take off.

Tamdrin said in a CCTV interview that he didn’t know why he had become so well-known, but he was happy that so many people knew of him, and he was excited to help people learn more about his hometown. He added that he planned to learn many things and hoped he would do well in his work for the company. "At the same time, I still want to race horses and continue to be a champion,” he said in Tibetan.

【推荐3】It’s easy for consumers to buy food and drinks like a bowl of hot rice and coke online or from neighborhood shops, but for astronauts such things were impossible in the past.

Members of China’s Shenzhou manned space flight last year, however, were able to enjoy such food, thanks to Joyoung, a Chinese firm. Joyoung created a mobile space kitchen for the astronauts. A drinking water machine, an air heater and a soybean milk maker were all accessible (可得到的；可进入的) in the kitchen through a smart app. Tang Hongbo, who was a member of the Shenzhou manned spacecraft, said in the news that during his three-month trip, he could eat hot food with just half-hour efforts, a contrast (对比) to the past when similar attempts required several hours. “If we had time, we would also use equipment to eat homemade yogurt. We could also control the equipment in the space kitchen through mobile phone apps,” he said.

In the past, most foods couldn’t be directly heated in a microwave oven in the space. Conduction equipment often caused uneven (不均匀的) heating. An astronaut had to spend as long as four hours to heat some vegetables in the space kitchen. To solve the problem, Joyoung has developed equipment that gives out hot air to heat vegetables in a 360-degree way. That enables astronauts to eat steaming-hot fish-flavored pork and Gongbao chicken, a spicy, stir-fried Chinese dish.

Besides Joyoung, a group of companies, including Xiaomi Corp and Huawei Technologies, have contributed their technologies to the development of the space station. A vacuum (真空) cleaner enabled haircuts on the spacecraft possible. NOLO VR, a Chinese virtual (虚拟的) reality manufacturer (制造商), has helped astronauts develop an experimental equipment through which laboratory technicians on the ground can see and experience what astronauts are doing in the space.

【推荐1】Max, a 15-year-old boy, produced the Vybpro, a wearable wristband which warns users whenever they are about to touch their faces. The gesture has been recognized as one of the key ways that COVID-19 can be spread, making it a potentially life-saving invention.

He first hit on the excellent idea two years ago for the purpose of reducing the spread of the cold and flu. After both of Max’s parents were infected with COVID-19 four months ago, however, he put in all his effort to develop a working prototype (模型).

Worn on both wrists, the intelligent device is expected to sell for £89. It uses position-sending technology algorithms (算法) to tell between predicted face touching and other hand motions. Then the device warns users of hand gestures that are dangerously near the face.

“We came up with the concept a few years ago when my family was repeatedly catching cold and flu viruses from traveling in and out of London and I could see how easy it was to pick up germs especially from using public transport,” said Max. “It was only when the World Health Organization (WHO) began suggesting people avoid touching their eyes, noses and faces to stop the spread of viruses from contaminated surfaces did I realize that it could play a part in slowing the spread of COVID-19.”

Max, who is from Bristol, launched a £60, 000 crowdfunding campaign (众筹活动) on Kickstarter earlier this week to further his project and turn the prototype into a public reality. “The main task of this project is not to make money, but to get it onto the wrists of those it can help keep safe. Any profits made from early sales through the crowdfunding site will be reinvested into providing free devices for organizations that help people such as National Health Service(NHS) staff and nursing homes.”

【推荐2】The Walt Disney Company wasn’t about to let COVID-19 stop the company from developing. In the past year, some Disney theme park innovation (革新) have been designed.

For example, Disney had always encouraged face-to-face interactions between cast members and customers. It made perfect sense since Disney spends so much time training its workers in providing good customer service. In fact, Disney is known for pleasing its guests, which explains why it scores so high in customer satisfaction surveys. Well, COVID-19 turned personal interactions into problematic exchanges, as they increased the risk of spreading COVID-19. So, quickly, Disney added cast member virtual chat to its app My Disney Experience. Now, you can rely on a cast member’s knowledge whenever you have a question about Disney visit. It's like having a tour guide on your phone!

There is also the Walk-Up Waitlist. Before 2020, Disney had made strict rules for its Table Service restaurants. Once something sold out, would-be diners had no means of booking a table. COVID-19 has affected park guests, though. Some of them booked tables but then decided not to eat there. This cost Disney money, and it prevented you from dining at your favorite places. So, restaurant managers felt unhappy about the poor business practice, and Disney’s IT department reached a solution. The Walk-Up Waitlist in My Disney Experience allows you to add your name at a restaurant. A previously booked restaurant will find a table for you to dine there. My Disney Experience shows the waiting time. You’ll know whether the wait will fit with your tour. For Disney, the Walk-Up Waitlist improves services and can make it earn more money while increasing customer satisfaction.

In the face of COVID-19, Disney somehow made its parks better and more modern. The company is really worth praising for such great innovations.

【推荐3】The vaccine (疫苗) news continues to seem very encouraging. Britain started its mass vaccination effort and the U. S. isn't far behind. But there is still one dark cloud hanging over the vaccines that many people don't yet understand. The vaccines will be much less effective at preventing death and illness if they are introduced into a population where the coronavirus is still severe 一   as is now the case in the U. S.

A vaccine is like a fire hose (消防龙头). A vaccine that is 95 percent effective, as Moderna's and Pfizer's versions appear to be, is a powerful fire hose. But the size of a fire is still a bigger determinant of how much destruction occurs.

At the current level of infection in the U. S. (about 160, 000 confirmed new infections per day), a vaccine that is 95 percent effective 一 distributed at the expected pace 一 would still leave a terrible toll (伤亡人数) after it was introduced. Almost 36 million or so Americans have caught the virus, and more than 60, 0000 have died. This is far worse than the toll in a different situation where the vaccine was only 50 percent effective. However, it's worth pausing for a moment on this comparison. If the U. S. maintained its current infection rate and Moderna and Pfizer announced that their vaccines were only 50 percent effective. a lot of people would panic.

But the reality we have is actually worse. How could this be? No vaccine can get rid of a pandemic immediately, just as no fire hose can put out a forest fire. While the vaccine is being distributed, the virus continues to do damage.

There is one positive way to look at this: Measures that reduce the virus's spread 一 like mask - wearing, social distancing and rapid - result testing 一 can still have great consequences. They will save many lives in coming months.