July 29, 2020 News Summary
US Politics and Economics
As the Democratic National Convention approaches, the 2020 presidential race has become increasingly heated. Both candidates have a great shot, but National polling data from FiveThirtyEight shows that Biden edges out Trump in the polls by an average of 8 points.
Biden is also more favored in swing states such as Florida (+7), North Carolina (+3), Michigan (+7.5), and Pennsylvania (+6.7), all of which were states Trump won in 2016. At this point, no other Republican/Democratic nominee in the last four elections have come as far ahead as Biden is against Trump. (On the eve of the 2016 election, FiveThirtyEight gave Hillary Clinton a 71% chance of winning and Donald Trump a 29% chance - cited by Wikipedia as of July 29, 2020).
Texas Politics
As the 2020-2021 school year draws nearer and nearer, many parents are growing concerned about sending their children back to school amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a survey created by Houston ISD, 51 percent of the parents agreed with continuing virtual learning only. Thus, in much of the Houston area, in-person learning will only become an option for students after Monday, October 19th -- and that is “dependent on improved local conditions and guidance from public health officials.” In addition, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) has not required a specific way of reopening to be followed, leaving schools to be responsible for deciding on the best route for students to continue their education while ensuring the safety and health of everyone.
Health
As of Jul 29, 2020, 12:15 PM, COVID-19 has taken 148,866 lives and the death toll continues to surge. The Trump administration has issued a new rule that requires hospitals to send reports on COVID-19 directly to the Trump administration. On a domestic scope, California is currently the state with the most cases at 466,550. In an effort to control these numbers, antibodies are currently being tested as a prevention tool against coronavirus.
In addition, President Trump has been putting more funding toward airport safety enhancements to decrease the amount infected by air travel, tweeting, “I am designating $18.77M from @USDOT for 7 airports across Pennsylvania”.
Science and Technology
A new technological advance has been made by a company, Cameo, concerning image-detection software, with the aim for existing security cameras to enforce social distancing rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Carter Maslan, the CEO of Cameo, the robot “understands where people are in a three-dimensional space,” and can consequently detect the parameters of different employees to ensure adherence to social distancing rules.
World Politics and Economics
Per CNBC’s report, in the 2020 Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) annual meeting, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, expressed his unwavering support for multilateral cooperation. “Let us stay open and inclusive and make the AIIB a new paradigm of multilateral cooperation”, stated President Xi during the opening ceremony. In response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, AIIB has set up a recovery facility, with 5 to 10 billion dollars in financing, to help its members cope with such an unprecedented crisis, regarding the corona outbreak. President Xi's words came as the United States, under the Trump administration, retreated from the World Health Organization (WHO) and unilaterally escalated the tensions between China and the U.S.
Southeast US Weather
After the first Atlantic hurricane of the season, Hanna, things will seemingly continue to go downhill from here. According to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Hurricane Center (NHC), an unnamed tropical system is forming off the coast of the Windward Islands. This system called 92L is traveling West-Northwest. The National Hurricane Center expects this system to cross over the Lesser Antilles and make landfall in Florida as a Tropical Storm. An NHC recon plane has already analyzed the wind speed and rotation. As of now, the system has not developed a Lower Level Circulation (LLC). It will probably gain more rotation as it goes over the Greater Antilles.
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Writers:
US Politics and Economics: Dylan, Miranda, and Katherine
Texas Politics: Stephanie and Vicki
Health: Matthew, Megan, and Allison
Science and Technology: Bryan, Andrew, and Yiqi
World Politics and Economics: Joseph, William, and Jake
Southeast US Weather: Jade and Aiden
Editors: VIA and Isabel
(All writers and editors are in middle to high school)