September 11, 2020 News Summary
US Politics and Economics
Today marks the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States on the morning of September 11, 2001. It remains the single deadliest terrorist attack in US history, killing nearly 3,000 Americans. The White House staff, President Donald Trump, and Democratic Nominee Joe Biden observed a moment of silence on the South Lawn at 8:46 am ET, the same time American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower. CNN reports that an additional large crowd in New York City gathered around the 9/11 Memorial and had their moment of silence. Biden has cancelled all campaigning, press conferences, and advertisements, and both candidates visited Shanksville, Pennsylvania where the fourth hijacked plane, United Flight 93, crashed into a field after passengers took control of the plane. Since the attacks, Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump have remembered the victims with a moment of silence and with visits to New York, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, PA.
Though COVID-19 has damaged a large portion of the US economy, there are still multiple markets on the rise thanks to increased safety precautions and procedures. Since the pandemic pushes many from public transportation, people have been buying used cars, causing prices in that retail sector to rise 5.6 percent, reports the NY Times. Also, health related products such as gloves, hand sanitizer, and masks continue to rise, with hand sanitizer companies predicting a “1.9X expansion in revenues over 2020 – 2030” (The Cloud Tribune). Additionally, with an increase in online shopping due to safety concerns of going out in person, online shopping site quarterly revenues have skyrocketed. ABC News reports Amazon has seen a 40 percent increase in net sales.
Texas Politics
Politician Candace Valenzuela has experienced homelessness and worked multiple jobs to receive basic necessities, and a car accident leaving her with a chronic health condition has been one of many negative things that have happened in her life. “My story does resonate. As soon as my constituents hear my story, it’s incredibly easy for them to relate,” Valenzuela said in an interview with Texas Tribune. “We need to make our Texas delegation look more like the Texans they’re meant to serve… We’re seeing record participation and engagement, and people looking at what they want to see out of their representatives… it’ll be the people stepping up and saying we want someone from our community who’s going to work for the community.”
Health
According to CDC’s COVID Data Tracker as of Sep 10, 2020, 12:16PM, there are 6.34 million cases and 190k deaths nationwide. California holds the most infections at almost 740k, Florida at 645k, and Texas follows closely with 644.7k cases.
(CNBC) According to White House Coronavirus advisor Dr. Fauci, the current data on the COVID-19 outbreak is “disturbing.” He has disputed President Trump’s claim that the U.S is “rounding the corner” by declaring, “We’re plateauing at around 40,000 cases a day and the deaths are around 1,000.” This data, contributed to the Labor Day holiday, reports a decreasing daily number of cases, but is still high enough to be worrisome.
World Politics and Economics
BBC reports, Israel and the state of Bahrain have reached a milestone deal to fully recognize their relations, and U.S. President Trump tweets, "The second Arab country to make peace with Israel in 30 days.” For years, multiple Arab states have sanctioned off Israel, insisting that they would only establish ties after the Palestinian dispute was settled, yet last month, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed to normalise its association with Israel. Bahrain is the fourth Arab state in the Middle East to acknowledge Israel since its founding in 1948. Trump, who presented his Middle East peace plan in January, aims at settling the Israel-Palestinian conflict and helped oversee both accords.
Science and Technology
As quantum computers occasionally have errors, an international research group implemented a protocol that allows for the protection and the correction of the fragile quantum information. The results published the results of their study in Nature. Davide Vodola, an author of the study and researcher at the University of Bologna states, “Developing a fully functioning quantum processor still represents a great challenge for scientists across the world, This research allowed us, for the first time, to implement a protocol that can detect and, at the same time, correct errors due to qubit loss. This ability could prove to be essential for the future development of large-scale quantum computers.”
Southeast US Weather
(The Atlantic) Tropical storm Paulette is doing well with high wind shear and is even expected to remain a strong hurricane near major hurricane strength with winds well above the 74 mph mark. It is currently in the tropical Atlantic, ready to turn North just a few hundred miles from the US caused by the Gulf Stream. Tropical storm Rene, however, is expected to stay alive but has no convection and weakened to 40 mph. Rene will likely move westward towards the U.S. east coast
The Atlantic gets even busier with 3 disturbances, 1 of which has a high chance of forming. Tropical Depression 19, newly formed off the coast of Florida, is expected to intensify into a tropical storm over the Florida Panhandle, likely the source of the heavy amount of rain anticipated next week. Invest 95L over the Cabo Verde Islands is expected to form overnight or tonight if possible moving due west towards the Lesser Antilles.
(The Pacific) One of the two disturbances in the tropical Pacific has an 80 percent chance of forming into a cyclone forming. It may absorb a nearby disturbance which has a 20 percent chance.
(Local: Houston, Texas) There are a few scattered showers across the Houston area, which will reach a high of 88 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of 76 degrees Fahrenheit. In the following 10-day forecast, it will rain throughout the weekend and possibly into next week due to a stationary front above Houston. The rain should clear out by next Sunday with a return sunny skies.
Quick Survey: Which statement is true? Hurricanes rotate….
Clockwise in the northern hemisphere
Counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere
Counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere
Counterclockwise everywhere
Yesterday’s answer: [For a tropical system to form, necessities include: warm water, moisture, high humidity, low wind shear, etc.]
To get live coverage of the latest hurricane updates on the tropics, visit the National Hurricane Center, Tropical Tidbits, CyclonicWx, or watch Force Thirteen. Please stay safe, and for more on local weather, visit the NOAA Graphical Forecast.
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Writers:
US Politics and Economics: Dylan, Yijia, Caleb, and Annabelle
Texas Politics: Stephanie, Vicki, and Megan
Health: Matthew and David
World Politics and Economics: Joseph, William, Jake, and Alexander
Science and Technology: Bryan, Andrew, and Joe
Southeast US Weather: Jade, Aiden, and Simon
Editor: VIA
(All writers and editors are in middle to high school)
HYNC-September-11-2020
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