With Korea’s monsoon season having officially ended last Friday, the summer heat will now go into full swing across the nation, bringing extreme temperatures to all corners. For today, the national weather authority said the highest temperature will fall within the range of 26 to 35 degrees Celsius (78.8 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit), while the sky will be cloudy nationwide. The coastal areas of Gangwon and South Gyeongsang might meet sporadic rain in the afternoon due to atmospheric instability. 

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, there will be no rainfall in Korea until Aug. 10, although many areas will see cloudy skies. Temperatures will mostly surpass 30 degrees during the day and slightly fall to around 25 degrees at night. Sporadic showers might affect some regions in the second half of this month due to atmospheric instability, but it will not be long enough to cool things off, and will instead create more humidity. The weather authority has warned vacationers to stay at high alert for “short, heavy summer rainfalls,” saying they can flood valleys in no time, threatening the safety of nearby campers. This year’s summer will be roughly as hot as last year, or slightly hotter. The heat will continue through September and past the Chuseok [Korean Thanksgiving] holidays, which will take place from Sept. 14 to 16. A heat wave warning was issued Sunday in Seoul and Gyeonggi, as the country fell between 29 to 35 degrees. A heat wave warning is issued when the daytime temperature hits 33 degrees for two consecutive days or more. Seoul reached 33 degrees, while Daegu hit 35 degrees. 

On Saturday, the Korea Meteorological Administration issued heat wave warnings for 40 different areas including Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan, Jeju Island and several places in the Gyeongsang and Jeolla provinces. Last Wednesday in Busan, a 53-year-old drunken man died of a heatstroke after falling asleep in his car. He was suspected to have spent hours in his vehicle that day, which police assume heated up to 60 or 70 degrees at peak time. In Gwangju, a 4-year-old boy was found unconscious in a school bus last Friday. A teacher and bus driver were arrested on professional negligence charges, as police suspect they missed roll-call and left the young student in the hot vehicle for eight hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. When the boy was transported to a nearby hospital, his body temperature was 42 degrees. He has yet to gain consciousness.

Any pet owner who’s imbued their furry or feathered friends with deep thoughts and mysterious intentions will relate to the imagination behind “The Secret Life of Pets.” It may not have the emotional resonance of a Pixar movie, but with its playful premise, endearing performances and outstanding score by Alexandre Desplat, “Pets” is fun, family (and animal)-friendly fare. 

People’s favorite non-speaking companions are brought to life here by Illumination Entertainment (the studio behind “Despicable Me”) and given voice by an all-star cast that includes Louis C.K., Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate and Albert Brooks. Plot-wise, “Pets” follows the path Pixar set with talking toys 20 years ago in “Toy Story”: Two would-be rivals fighting for the love of their owner are forced to unite for a common cause. Little terrier Max (C.K.) is the top dog in the life of his owner, Katie (Ellie Kemper), and a leader among the other house pets in their New York City apartment building, including neighbor Pomeranian Gidget (Slate), and the fat cat next door, Chloe (Lake Bell). But his exalted position is threatened when Katie brings home a giant, fluffy mutt named Duke (Eric Stonestreet). Like Woody and Buzz, Max and Duke are instantly at odds. The rival pups are trying to sabotage each other when they become separated from their dog walker and captured by animal control. This sends them on an adventure into the animal underworld: literally, the underground headquarters of a bitter bunny named Snowball (Hart) and his team of Flushed Pets. Abandoned by their former owners, their motto is “liberated forever, domesticated never.” Max and Duke try to fit in, but Snowball soon observes, “You’ve got the scent of domestication all over you,” and sends his army of rogue animals after them. At one point, the little rabbit steals a bus. 

Meanwhile, the other pets from Max and Duke’s apartment building notice the two are missing and set out to find them. Gidget, who has a not-so-secret crush on Max, leads a menagerie that includes Chloe the cat, Mel the pug, Buddy the dachshund and a guinea pig named Norman. They enlist the help of Tiberius the hawk (Brooks) and Pops (Dana Carvey), the wheelchair-bound basset hound who knows every animal in New York. Desplat’s jazzy, energetic score amplifies the urgency and excitement as the chase continues through the city, and clever animation highlights the quirkiness of animal behavior. Though the characters in “Pets” are entirely anthropomorphized - they speak English and can operate electronics - they retain some recognizable animalism. 

When Pops wants to shut down one of his famous parties, for example, he turns on the vacuum cleaner. Dogs in hot pursuit of their friends are suddenly distracted by butterflies. And Buddy’s movements are especially amusing, as he navigates his elongated dachshund body around corners and down stairs. It’s fun to imagine what pets get into when no one is home, and “Pets” does a great job of taking that idea to an extreme. And you thought Fluffy and Fido just spent the day napping.

The lab also predicted an aging society, where people 65 and older will account for more than 20 percent of the world’s population. “New means of mobility for the old, such as robots and wearables will be introduced,” the company said in a statement. The sharing society, represented by ride-hailing services like Uber, will rise, while artificial intelligence may play a bigger role in transportation.

Korea’s sweltering heat is set to continue until early August at the least, according to the state weather forecaster. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) issued heat wave warnings Monday across most of the country, including Seoul, Gyeonggi, Ulsan, Busan, Daegu, North and South Gyeongsang, Jeolla and Chungcheong, as well as Jeju Island. A heat wave warning is issued when the daytime temperature hits 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) for two consecutive days or more. 

Seoul recorded its fourth tropical night in a row early Monday, with the lowest temperature in the morning at 26.5 degrees Celsius. A night is dubbed tropical if the temperature remains above 25 degrees Celsius throughout the night. The daytime temperature hit 31 degrees Celsius in Seoul on Monday, 33 degrees Celsius in Gwangju and Jeonju, and 34 degrees in Daegu before rain hit the city in the afternoon. Rain cooled some parts of Gangwon, North Chungcheong and North Gyeongsang on Monday afternoon. “The heat wave will likely continue through this week and into early August,” said Han Sang-eun, a KMA official. “While the monsoon rains will likely descend from the North into South Korea on Wednesday and Thursday, this is expected to be the last monsoon shower of the year.” The official said early August will see some temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius. 

Korea is not alone in enduring an extended heat wave this summer. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted that a heat wave in the central United States, with some areas reaching 115 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday, will continue through this week. The weather and climate agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce said nearly 124 million people in 26 states were issued excessive heat wave warnings, excessive heat watches or heat advisories last Friday. An excessive heat wave warning is issued when the maximum heat index temperature is higher than 105 degrees Fahrenheit during the day for at least two days. The rest of Asia, as well as the Middle East and Europe, are issuing alerts and taking measures to cope with the stifling heat. Heat wave alerts were issued in southern and western regions of China on Sunday, with some areas’ temperatures rising higher than 40 degrees Celsius. The temperature in Baghdad hit 120 degrees Fahrenheit last Wednesday, reportedly the highest in the world that day. Iraqis working in the city were allowed to take off work that day and the next due to the harsh conditions. And according to the BBC last Tuesday, some rail companies in the U.K. announced new speed restrictions during the hot weather after a rail buckled in North Yorkshire under the heat. 

Climate experts point to global warming as the cause of the excessive heat throughout the Earth. According to NOAA, the 17 warmest years on record all took place in the last 18 years.

Religion is one of the oldest and most controversial topics for debate anywhere in the world. There are many types of religion. Despite the distinct characteristics that each religion has, all religions have one thing in common which is the belief in, worship of, and submission to a supernatural power in the form of a god or gods. 

Mankind’s continuous quest for knowledge and its scientific discoveries and triumphs have changed many people’s attitudes towards religion. For instance, a lot of people have considered turning their backs on it. Some people simply do not believe in a higher power. There are, of course, other people who still put religion in the center of their lives.

Believers of religion say that it is the foundation of people’s belief systems. It serves as a guide to every action and decision they make in life. It also enables people to live harmoniously with human beings and other forms of life. 

Second, with the help of religion, people have a more elevated treatment and understanding of the world they live in. Moreover, religion is what distinguishes people from other forms of living things. It keeps people from submitting to their instincts and desires of the flesh. 

Third, religion gives meaning to people’s lives. It helps people understand that events in their lives happen for a reason. Knowing that there is a supreme being gives people a sense of purpose and direction in life in preparation for the afterlife. Also, with the help of faith in a supreme being, people go through trials and adversities with strength and determination.

On the other hand, non-believers do not follow any religion because science and modernity are often viewed by many religions as evils of society. Religion can be the very thing that stops a person from aspiring to change the conditions that he or she was born into, believing that a bigger reward awaits in the afterlife. As a result, people who are restricted by their religion become stagnant and sometimes a burden to society.

Second, religion can get in the way of the creation of different laws and policies that aim to alleviate societies from different kinds of suffering. Religion can be something that holds societies back from succeeding and developing with modern times, creating great social divides.

Third, religion is often the source of discrimination, prejudice, andintolerance. It can divide societies which often creates conflicts and wars between people from different religions because of their conflicting or differing philosophies. In worst cases, religion can result in extremism.

New York-based burger franchise Shake Shack will make its long-awaited Korea debut in bustling Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Friday with five locally exclusive menu items, including a red bean milkshake, while maintaining the chain’s signature service and classic offerings. Shake Shack began in 2001 as a burger and hot dog joint in New York’s Madison Square Park. It was the brainchild of Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group which operates several restaurants in New York. Unlike other fast-food chains, Shake Shack is known to pursue what’s called “fine casual” dining, providing high-quality food and service at a reasonable price. “When I encountered a Shake Shack burger five years ago, I was mesmerized by not only its amazing taste but also the staff’s warm hospitality and vibrant mood,” Hur Hee-soo, SPC Group executive managing director, said at a media event on Tuesday at the soon-to-open Gangnam branch. 

SPC, a leading food and bakery chain in Korea that operates Paris Baguette, Baskin Robbins and Dunkin’ Donuts, is an official local partner. “The brand mission of Shake Shack, ‘stand for something good,’ and our own, ‘the best way to happiness,’ have something in common,” Hur said. “And by collaborating, we believe we can make a bigger synergy.” Hur began building a partnership with Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti five years ago. With SPC taking over local management of the franchise, the Gangnam branch will be Shake Shack’s 98th location in the world. “This is a dream come true for me as well as Shake Shack,” Garutti said. “We never opened a restaurant here.” “In 2011, where there were less than 10 branches of us, he [Hur] saw the vision.” 

Shake Shack currently has over 90 branches in 13 countries. In East Asia, the franchise has two branches in Japan, and the one in Korea will be its third. Shake Shack said it is planning to open a second branch in Seoul within this year, but a specific neighborhood has not yet been decided. By 2025, it plans to open 25 branches in Korea. Ever since SPC officially inked an exclusive license deal with the international burger franchise in December 2015, even the smallest progress has made headlines, drumming up anticipation among local foodies. SPC and Shake Shack will provide the entire classic menu including the flagship Shack Burger, which is equivalent to a cheeseburger, as well as the Smoke Shack with smoked bacon and the vegetarian ‘Shroom Burger with a mushroom patty. Hot dogs and crinkle-cut fries are also on the menu. At 6,900 won ($6) for a single-patty Shack Burger, the price is comparable to that in New York, where the same item goes for $5.29 without taxes. 

Shake Shack has been introducing localized menus whenever it enters a new overseas market. For Korea, it has added a milkshake made from red beans and four types of frozen custards made from local ingredients. The burgers’ core ingredients, such as Angus beef, cheese and sauce, will be directly delivered from the United States, while fresh ingredients such as lettuce and tomatoes will be locally supplied. The franchise has also developed a partnership with local breweries Magpie Brewing Company and the Hand and Malt to provide craft beer to Korean customers. The Shake Shack branch in Gangnam District will serve its first burgers on Friday starting from 11 a.m. and will be open until 11 p.m.

Many of the films released recently are sequels of movies that became blockbuster hits in the past. They are called film franchises. Good examples are the latest Mission Impossible, Fast and Furious, and Avengers films. The international viewing public seemed to respond very positively to these movies as they also became top grossers, some even surpassing the earnings of those that came before them. However, some say they film producers are making too many sequels. They call this “film franchise fatigue.”

Movie producers these days are into maintaining film franchises.Standalone films or those that have definite endings have become very rare. It has been observed that if a movie earns humongous amounts of profit, there would be a big possibility that producers would create a spin-off or a continuation of the film. The process goes on and on until producers hit a dead end or until the film franchise no longer has the same impact on people as it did with the earlier releases. At some point, film sequels become bland and boring.

Because of film franchises, it can be said that producers just recycle movie material that has proven itself to be profitable. The creativity and artistry behind film production are gone because all film producers can think about is the guarantee of a big profit. Maintaining film franchises is just a way of showing how the film industry has become too episodic. Films are like prolonged versions of TV shows that are shown in big screens. Storylines are too stretched and manipulated because producers need to have something to work on for their next films. 

Many compare film sequels with old products that are placed in new packaging or stale cake that does not taste as good as when it was served fresh from the oven. For some, film sequels will never be at par with the first and original releases. So, the film industry should just move away from maintaining film franchises. Instead, they should go back to creating new stories that will coincide with realities of life. Producers should go against the profit-centered motives of producing films and once again give people fresh and new standalone movies that will create big impacts in society.

Seoul police announced Thursday that they have rounded up 73 people involved in racing their luxury cars on public roads during the wee hours of the night. From May 2015 to May of this year, police found 73 people who participated in 22-kilometer (13.6-mile) races from the Jangam Station in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi, to the Songchu three-way intersection and back. 

The racers were grouped into twos and threes by the horsepower of their cars, and as many as 10 to 15 such groups participated in the midnight race from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m., according to police. The participants drove at about 60 kilometers-per-hour until they hit the Sapaesan Tunnel, a 4-kilometer-long four-lane tunnel, where they reached speeds of 200 to 324 kilometers per hour. The speed limit in the tunnel is 100 kilometers per hour. Some motor service center owners helped racers tweak the electronic control unit of their cars in order to allow extreme speeding. Police said some of them received roughly 3 million won ($2,649) per car. Among the 73 drivers booked by police, only one was a woman. All 73 face the charge of violating the Road Traffic Act and five have been arrested for being chief organizers of the races. Six men were found to have raced at least 100 times since May of last year. “We always knew there were these reckless drivers on the road,” said Jeon Seon-seon, a police officer in charge of the investigation at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. “But it has always been hard to catch them in the act. We began our investigation in February and have been working since then.” The officer added that they caught one of the group’s leaders when about 100 people gathered in a parking lot on Some Sevit Island on April 15 to show off their Porsches, Mercedes-Benzes, BMWs, Ferraris, Lamborghinis and more. 

They also gathered to encourage more people to participate in the races. But Jeon said that the police lacked the evidence needed to arrest them at the time. Since then, authorities have caught groups of cars leaving Jangam Station and passing through the Songchu three-way intersection repeatedly. “We rounded up suspects by looking into the blog sites and online communities of race participants and leaders,” Jeon said. The five chief organizers were all engaged in an online community of foreign or luxury car owners, whose membership count ranges from 3,000 to 77,000. The driver’s licenses of the five arrested individuals have been revoked, and 66 others have been suspended for 40 days. Among the five arrested for organizing the races, a 38-year-old driver surnamed Park participated in 312 races since May of last year. Park got into an accident on May 17 during a race in the Sapaesan Tunnel. The BMW that he was driving hit a Mercedes-Benz, then grazed the wall of the tunnel before flipping over. 

According to police, some 70 percent of the 73 participants are white-collar workers, including doctors, accountants and businessmen. They said about 71 percent of them were in their 30s. They also said that 60 percent of the participants’ cars are priced at over 100 million won. Seoul authorities seized 10 cars from chief organizers and race participants.

The value of Line Corporation, a Tokyo-based messaging app subsidiary of Korean portal site Naver, has amounted to an estimated 10 trillion won ($8.8 billion) after a successful debut Thursday and Friday on the New York and Tokyo stock exchanges that took even market experts by surprise. Not only is this the first Korean company to make a dual listing, it is also the largest tech initial public offering (IPO) of the year. Line shares closed at 4,245 yen ($40), 32 percent higher than the IPO price of 3,300 yen per share, on the Tokyo market Friday. 

Line is the seventh-most popular chat app in the world, with 215 million monthly users. It is available in 230 countries in 19 languages, with two-thirds of its users concentrated in four Asian markets: Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia. There was great interest in Line’s IPO even before the Tokyo market opened on Friday. In fact, because of the surge in orders for the company’s stocks, trading was held in Japan for almost an hour and a half before resuming at around 10:35 a.m. As soon as the stocks went public, the price surged 48 percent to 4,900 yen, and in less than 10 minutes, it jumped as high as 51.5 percent to 5,000 yen. The situation was similar in New York on Thursday, local time, where Line stocks closed 26.6 percent higher than the IPO price of $32.84 per share, ending the day at $41.58. During the trading day, it rose as much as 35 percent to $44.49. “The market capitalization is near 10 trillion won, which is about the amount that was expected,” Oh Dong-hwan, an analyst at Samsung Securities, said. 

Other analysts, though, were surprised by the amount of hype. “I didn’t expect it to be this successful, since the internet-related market is very hard to predict due to its volatility,” said Kim Chang-kwan, an analyst at Mirae Asset. Kim said the market valuation will likely amount to around 12.6 trillion won when adding the currency difference between the yen and won. It is likely that Line will continue to enjoy hefty revenue. The company currently leads major markets in several Asian countries, including in Japan, where there are 68 million users. In Korea, though, the app has only 16 million users, since rival Kakao still dominates with its messaging app. In 2013, Line’s revenue amounted to 39.6 billion yen. The following year, it doubled to 86.7 billion yen, and last year, revenue once again rose nearly 39 percent to 120.4 billion yen. 

“It appears that global investors thought highly of Line’s potential for further growth. Line and Naver will continue to be good choices for investment,” said Oh of Samsung Securities. “In addition to Line’s IPO, a strong Japanese yen against the Korean won will help the company’s profit and value. The company’s profit is growing rapidly, and investors are really interested in the mobile-related market.” Meanwhile, shares of Naver, Line’s parent company, fell 2.45 percent on the Kospi on Friday.

The 43-year relationship of Great Britain and the European Union is about to end because of the result of the recent referendum held in the country. The electoral process revealed that Britons want their country to be out of the politico-economic union that is composed of 28 European countries. Because of this, Great Britain may become the first nation to ever leave the European Union.

Experts predict that a lot of changes, and possibly, new problems may arise in the future because the British Exit, also known as Brexit, is only the beginning. Two years of negotiation regarding the political, economic, constitutional, and diplomatic changes between Britain and the European Union is expected. 

They add that the anticipated positive results of the Brexit such as economic stability, a better control of borders, and more employment opportunities for locals may come later than expected. This is because Great Britain still needs to follow the rules and laws imposed by the European Union while the separation is being processed. Major changes that Britons want to be implemented once they are out of the union can only be done after the separation has been finalized.

Right now, Great Britain, the members of the European Union, and many other countries around the world have Brexit-related issues that they have to deal with. For example, hours after the announcement of the voting results, David Cameron resigned from his position as the country’s prime minister. A lot of other politicians followed him while those who stayed continue to have misunderstandings.

In terms of the economy, the Brexit also had immediate grave effects. The euro plunged more than 10 percent against the dollar which is its lowest since 1985. The status of the euro continues tofluctuate as days pass. This causes major economic instability in countries that have the euro as their currency.

Moreover, investors seemed to have had an exodus from the European Union as they pulled out plenty of their investments or assets and fled to other countries like Japan. They say that taking business-related risks in European countries is not a very wise thing to do during this time of uncertainty in the area.

There are a lot of other major effects that can be expected from the Brexit. However, for now, the rest of the world can only wait for the next step that will be done by Great Britain and the European Union. Some say there might be a second referendum while others say the process of separation should start as soon as possible.