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Monday, September 20, 2021
The US military is apologizing for what it has called a "tragic mistake". On August 26th, a terrorist group called ISIS-K launched a bombing near Kabul airport as the US military completed its rushed withdrawal from Afghanistan. Three days later, they launched a drone strike on a car that was believed to be carrying a terrorist and weapons. However, people nearby said that civilians had been killed, and on Friday, the Pentagon admitted to the mistake, saying an aid worker and 9 children had been killed in the strike due to a fatal miscommunication. We learned that in the minutes before the attack, the CIA warned military officials that children could be in danger. Military officials have said that effective anti-terrorist attacks in Afghanistan are still possible, but infinitely harder without boots on the ground. On the US-Mexico border, a new crisis is unfolding. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians are flooding the border after President Biden granted them temporary protected status in the US in light of the recent natural disasters in the country. That order has since been rescinded, and border control agents are now in the process of trying to process all the immigrants for deportation. In the meantime, camps are already going up in Del Rio, Texas, as thousands of migrants await.
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
A volcano on the Canary Island of La Palma had a major eruption on Sunday. This was expected - geologists had seen dozens of small earthquakes around the area beforehand - and several hundred residents and tourists have been evacuated from the area around the volcano. The lava has damaged several homes, but no casualties or injuries have been reported thus far. Eruptions occur because magma, or molten rock, deep within the Earth's core rises and comes to the surface, turning into lava. If the magma is thin and runny, gases can escape easily, leading to slowly flowing lava, like what we have seen in Hawaii and the current eruption. But if it is thick and sticky, that traps gases, leading to bigger explosions. Seahorses are a majestic seawater creature, that, like so many others, is becoming endangered. One of the biggest threats in bottom trawling, where fishers drag nets along the sea bottom, which is an extremely effective way to harvest many popular kinds of seafood but also devastates ecosystems. Project Seahorse is one of the organizations trying to change that through collecting data and spreading awareness about the creatures.
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
In New York City, the 193 member nations of the United Nations are kicking off the 76th UN General Assembly. On Tuesday, the General Debate, where representatives from each country can voice their concerns, began. In his first speech as US President, President Biden talked about the issues of COVID-19, climate change, and human rights. Consumer spending is still down from pre-pandemic levels, and spending wasn't as high as expected over the summer because of the Delta variant, leaving stores and restaurants with even more challenges. Employment did not go up in areas such as leisure and hospitality last month, leaving employers to try new solutions. One of them is robot workers, who assist the human ones. Owners say they aren't taking away anyone's jobs because no one is coming out to work, possibly because of the unemployment benefits from the most recent stimulus bill.
Thursday, September 23, 2021
There are new travel restrictions in place for the United States. The list of banned countries suffering from high levels of COVID-19 was expanded. However, fully vaccinated individuals who provide additional tracing information can now travel to the US as tourists. The new rules are expected to go into effect in early November. Yesterday was the second equinox of the year, the autumnal equinox for those in the Northern Hemisphere and the vernal equinox for those in the south. This means that the lengths of day and night were almost the same at the equator. For those far south and north, this means that they will start seeing daylight extremes soon, such as long daylight or night hours. Up at the North Pole, people will also start to see the northern lights more often. In areas with lots of trees, you may also start seeing the red leaves. This phenomenon occurs because the chlorophyll normally in the leaves that photosynthesize light and produce green colors go away in the winter, allowing red and yellow pigments in the leaves to show.
Friday, September 24, 2021
Congress is in turmoil over the debt ceiling. It was first established in 1939 to set a limit on how much the US Federal Government is allowed to borrow. It has been raised time and again in the past regardless of which party is in power because the government operates on debt. Right now, the debt is at 28.5 trillion dollars, right up near the limit, and if it is not raised, the government could be unable to pay its bills, leading to a shutdown. The Democrats say that Republicans should be "responsible" and support their increases; the Republicans say that the Democrats should do it themselves since they have control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. Neither side wants to look like it is acting unilaterally, but if a resolution is not reached soon, it could have disastrous consequences for the economy. Nigeria is the biggest country in Africa, but many of its inhabitants live in poverty. Around 80 million of its inhabitants live with food insecurity, but at the same time, a lot of the food sold in open-air markets is going to waste because of the Nigerian heat. Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu is trying to solve this problem with coldhubs. These solar-powered, low cost refrigeration units can keep food fresh for several weeks - enabling farmers to maximize profit and making sure people can get food.
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