1.

Universities Fight COVID-19 With Stronger Measures

Many colleges and universities across the United States have opened again after the summer
vacation. But the school year looks different than it ever has before. Schools are taking new actions
to fight COVID-19 infections on campus. Such actions include moving suddenly between in-
person and online learning, punishing students for attending parties and testing local wastewater for
the virus.
High infection rates force move to online classes
The state of Arkansas’ Department of Health reports that the number of COVID-19 cases in the
state among 18-to 24-year-olds rose by nearly 17 percent in the first week of September.
Dr. Jose Romero is the state’s health secretary. He said, “We’re clearly seeing what we believe to
be a reflection of those cases in colleges and universities.”
The number of active infections at the University of Arkansas’ main campus is close to 1,000. Most
of those with the virus are students.
The rise came days after the school moved to restrict on-campus events and off-campus parties. The
school told students it would consider organizing or attending large gatherings without face
coverings or social distancing to be a violation of student rules.
In Tallahassee, Florida, officials at Florida State University tested more than 3,000 students and
employees over a one-week period. Twenty-one percent of those tested were confirmed to have
COVID-19.
Shortly before the test period, pictures and videos of students attending parties had appeared on
social media. In the images, the students do not appear to be following social distancing rules. Few
are wearing face coverings.
In a statement, university officials asked local businesses to help slow the spread of disease by
restricting students from gathering in large groups.
Another university in Florida, the University of Florida in Gainesville, is experiencing a similar
infection rate. More than 21 percent of those who came to the student health center have
tested positive for COVID-19.
Some schools seeing rises in case numbers have temporarily moved classes online. On September 8,
West Virginia University canceled in-person classes for undergraduates at the university’s main
campus in Morgantown. The classes will be online through Sept. 25.
Dr. Jeffrey Coben is the school’s Associate Vice President of Health Affairs and dean of the School
of Public Health. He said in a statement that the temporary stop of face-to-face teaching would give
the school time to watch the increasing number of cases. He noted that recent parties were a likely
cause for the rise in infections. He said, “There is increasing evidence that crowded indoor
gatherings, such as those that occurred over the weekend, can serve as super-spreader events.”
One small college in the state of Illinois, Bradley University, is requiring all of its students
to quarantine for two weeks. Officials said that classes would also return to online learning for a
short time.
Testing wastewater from student housing
In order to test a lot of students at once, many schools are studying the wastewater from student
living spaces. The tests can show whether there is any sign of the virus among the people living in a
given building. The school can then ask those students to quarantine for a period of time.
Ryan Schmutz is a student at Utah State University. He recently received a text message from his
school saying that COVID-19 had been found in his building’s wastewater. University workers
quickly took him and other students to a COVID-19 testing center.
Schmutz was then among 300 students who had to stay in their rooms for many days earlier this
month.
“We didn’t even know they were testing,” the 18-year-old student said. “It all really happened fast.”
Students sent home
Back at West Virginia University, or WVU, 29 students were recently forced to leave school
because of COVID-19 related charges. School officials say the students took actions that could have
put other students’ health at risk. The university is considering taking other actions against the
students, the WVU Today student newspaper reported.
The 29 students received the order to leave the school after their organization held a party. The
organization was not connected to the university. Members of the organization had been ordered to
quarantine because of existing positive cases.
The students received letters about not following school rules. They are no longer permitted to be
on campus and they cannot take in-person or online classes, WVU Today reported.
One of the strongest punishments against students happened earlier this month at Northeastern
University in Boston, Massachusetts. Eleven first-year students were sent home for gathering in a
hotel room used for student housing. They were told they cannot return to school during the autumn
term. The students and their parents are now fighting the severe penalty the students faced.
University officials have said the students will not get their money back for the autumn term
program they were taking part in, which costs $36,500.

2.Distance Learning in the United States

Across America, many public spaces are taking on an unlikely new responsibility this fall. They are
welcoming children for distance learning while their parents go to work. Among such places are
martial arts centers, dance schools, community centers and libraries.
With many schools still closed because of the coronavirus crisis, a lot of Americans are looking for
places to provide supervised learning to children during the workday.
These places can help families that had difficulties with distance learning last spring. But organizers
admit they are a poor replacement for schools with professional educators.
One example is in Broward County, Florida. When schools in the area announced plans to begin the
new year with distance learning, dance studio owner Katie Goughan thought immediately about the
difficulties facing working parents.
Her dance school, Dance Explosion Company in Hollywood, Florida, hired a temporary teacher.
The teacher is there from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. to make sure the students are studying. The dance school
program costs $150 a week, or $35 a day.
“I thought to myself, ‘What would my parents have done with me?’” Goughan said. She added that
she wanted to reduce “any stress that parents might be under right now trying to find somewhere
for their kids to do their schoolwork.”
The dance school currently accepts 10 children during the day. All of them wear face coverings.
Goughan says temperature checks are carried out and the children are urged to use
hand sanitizer often.
Some experts note, however, that inviting students to gather in new spaces could increase the risk of
caregivers catching the virus.
Dr. Aileen Marty is a disease specialist at Florida International University. She told The Associated
Press that the only way groups outside of school will work is ”if you know everybody in that group,
a very small group, and everyone is tested and tested negative.”
Jennifer Quisenberry, a 37-year-old nurse practitioner, is sending her 6-year-old daughter, Audra, to
a “distance learning camp.” The program is held at Premier Martial Arts in Wildwood, Missouri.
Her daughter’s school district is beginning the year online. But Jennifer and her husband have to go
to work.
“We can’t not come to work,” Quisenberry said. “My partners said I could bring Audra to work.
But a hospital is not an ideal setting for a 6-year-old in the middle of a pandemic.”
While many wealthy American parents are turning to so-called “learning pods” and private
teachers, nonprofits and local governments are trying to help low income families.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, city officials announced recently that they would open 31 drop-off
sites at community centers, libraries, and other places. The program will pay attention to families
with the greatest need, including those who cannot afford childcare and those who do not have
internet at home.
San Francisco is creating “community learning hubs” at 40 places across the city to help with
distance learning for children who are poor, homeless, in foster care or learning English as a second
language.
In Kansas City, Missouri, the parks department is working with nonprofit groups to offer distance
learning to hundreds of students. For students from Kansas City Public Schools, the city’s poorest
district, the program is free.
“It is tough for parents with school-aged children who are too old to go to preschool, and hiring a
babysitter or nanny is not an option for their finances,” said Roosevelt Lyons, deputy director of
operations for the parks department.
Carrie Hutchcraft is the chief administrator with the Magic House, a children’s museum in
Kirkwood, Missouri. The museum offers a distance learning program for about 80 students each
day. Hutchcraft’s own 9- and 7-year-olds will be among them.
“I feel like they already have got behind in learning new things last year, but we can’t do that
again,” she said.
I'm John Russell

3.Distance Learning in the United States

Across America, many public spaces are taking on an unlikely new responsibility this fall. They are
welcoming children for distance learning while their parents go to work. Among such places are
martial arts centers, dance schools, community centers and libraries.
With many schools still closed because of the coronavirus crisis, a lot of Americans are looking for
places to provide supervised learning to children during the workday.
These places can help families that had difficulties with distance learning last spring. But organizers
admit they are a poor replacement for schools with professional educators.
One example is in Broward County, Florida. When schools in the area announced plans to begin the
new year with distance learning, dance studio owner Katie Goughan thought immediately about the
difficulties facing working parents.
Her dance school, Dance Explosion Company in Hollywood, Florida, hired a temporary teacher.
The teacher is there from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. to make sure the students are studying. The dance school
program costs $150 a week, or $35 a day.
“I thought to myself, ‘What would my parents have done with me?’” Goughan said. She added that
she wanted to reduce “any stress that parents might be under right now trying to find somewhere
for their kids to do their schoolwork.”
The dance school currently accepts 10 children during the day. All of them wear face coverings.
Goughan says temperature checks are carried out and the children are urged to use
hand sanitizer often.
Some experts note, however, that inviting students to gather in new spaces could increase the risk of
caregivers catching the virus.
Dr. Aileen Marty is a disease specialist at Florida International University. She told The Associated
Press that the only way groups outside of school will work is ”if you know everybody in that group,
a very small group, and everyone is tested and tested negative.”
Jennifer Quisenberry, a 37-year-old nurse practitioner, is sending her 6-year-old daughter, Audra, to
a “distance learning camp.” The program is held at Premier Martial Arts in Wildwood, Missouri.
Her daughter’s school district is beginning the year online. But Jennifer and her husband have to go
to work.
“We can’t not come to work,” Quisenberry said. “My partners said I could bring Audra to work.
But a hospital is not an ideal setting for a 6-year-old in the middle of a pandemic.”
While many wealthy American parents are turning to so-called “learning pods” and private
teachers, nonprofits and local governments are trying to help low income families.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, city officials announced recently that they would open 31 drop-off
sites at community centers, libraries, and other places. The program will pay attention to families
with the greatest need, including those who cannot afford childcare and those who do not have
internet at home.
San Francisco is creating “community learning hubs” at 40 places across the city to help with
distance learning for children who are poor, homeless, in foster care or learning English as a second
language.
In Kansas City, Missouri, the parks department is working with nonprofit groups to offer distance
learning to hundreds of students. For students from Kansas City Public Schools, the city’s poorest
district, the program is free.
“It is tough for parents with school-aged children who are too old to go to preschool, and hiring a
babysitter or nanny is not an option for their finances,” said Roosevelt Lyons, deputy director of
operations for the parks department.
Carrie Hutchcraft is the chief administrator with the Magic House, a children’s museum in
Kirkwood, Missouri. The museum offers a distance learning program for about 80 students each
day. Hutchcraft’s own 9- and 7-year-olds will be among them.
“I feel like they already have got behind in learning new things last year, but we can’t do that
again,” she said.
I'm John Russell
4.Europe Reopens Schools
In Paris, a mother and her three children recently went to a supermarket to look for school supplies.
They bought writing instruments, notebooks and plenty of face masks.
Parents and children across Europe have been making similar purchases at the start of a new school
year.
European officials have decided to put children back into school classrooms for the new term.
Facing an increase in coronavirus cases, officials in France, Britain, Spain and other countries are
making rules about masks, building new classrooms and adding teachers.
European leaders from the political left, right and center are sending a similar message to students
and their parents: Even in a pandemic, children are better off in class.
France’s prime minister promised last week to “do everything” to get people back to school and
work. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called reopening schools a “moral duty.” His
government even threatened to fine parents who keep children at home. And Italy’s health minister
forced discos to close this month with one goal in mind: “to reopen schools in September in
complete safety.”
As both a parent and a teacher, Mathieu Maillard has a lot to worry about when French schools
reopen. Over the past month, the number of virus infections has increased in France.
Maillard thinks it is time for students to go back. School “has to start up again at some point,” he
said. “The health risk exists, but the risk of not putting children in school is even bigger.”
When governments ordered people to stay at home, he said, some students never joined his online
literature classes. Some had no place to work or did not have computers.
“Our students really, really need school,” he said. For those growing up in an
environment plagued with violence and drugs, school “is a place where they can breathe.”
In southeast London, father of three Mark Davis is looking forward to schools reopening in
September. But he worries about what will happen if there is a rise in coronavirus infections.
“Everyone is gunning for this (return to school), but it’s no good just hoping for the best,” he said.
“Plans need to be put in place.”
The British government says schools will only close if conditions become very bad. But parents say
the government’s message has been unclear.
Most of the country’s 11 million students have not seen a classroom since March. Britain has
41,515 virus-related deaths, the highest confirmed number in Europe. Johnson’s government has
been strongly criticized for the way it has reacted to the pandemic.
Some European schools are considering a mixed school year, with some in-person classes and
others online. But most want to do in-person classes.
UNICEF, the United Nations’ Childrens Fund, recently announced guidance for government
officials. It said that at least a third of the world’s schoolchildren were unable to do distance
learning during virus lockdowns. UNICEF officials warned that the effects “could be felt in
economies and societies for decades.”
Medical experts say the risk of opening schools depends on how widespread COVID-19 infections
are in the community and what safety measures are taken.
Evidence suggests young children do not spread the disease very easily. But children aged 10 years
and up may spread it as easily as adults. While children appear less likely than adults to get
infected, severe cases and deaths have been documented.
Health experts say more evidence is needed.
Parents and teachers are not the only people demanding a voice in school reopenings. Denmark’s
second-largest city, Aarhus, sent all its high school students home after an increase in virus cases.
But the students pushed back, saying they do not learn as much online.
In protests last week, they held signs reading: “I just want to go to school.”
I'm John Russell.
5.Teachers Want to Improve Online Learning Skills, but Training Uneven
The COVID-19 crisis caused public schools in the United States to shut their doors in March. But
that did not mean the school year ended early. Instead, educators quickly developed, trained for and
established emergency distance-teaching operations, many employing e-learning elements. Most
school systems restarted operations within a few weeks and completed the year by late June.
But the change to virtual learning settings was difficult for many teachers and produced mixed
results for students across the country.
Aimee Rodriguez Webb, a teacher in the state of Georgia, was among those who had a
rough transition to online education. So, like many other teachers, she is working now to improve
her e-teaching before the new school year opens in the fall.
Rodriguez Webb bought camera equipment and a large new writing board. She set up a room in her
house for broadcasting lessons.
And, she recently started three weeks of training in online teaching along with other educators in
the Cobb County School District.
As COVID-19 continues to spread in the U.S., distance learning efforts are being included in a
growing number of plans for the coming school year. Many school systems are facing pressure to
improve after the educational losses of last school year. But investment in training is uneven across
school systems. Some have offered new guidance on distance teaching. But many educators feel
unsupported.
Richard Ferdig is an education technology researcher at Kent State University in Ohio. He told the
AP that wealthier areas have used the summer to train teachers both on technology and on how to
get the best performance from students who are learning at least partly online. Teachers in those
areas will do well, he said.
But, he worries about teachers in poorer areas.
“They’ve either been given nothing or they’ve been told, ‘Here’s the tools we bought for you, with
very little support,” on how to use them, he said.
Linda Mullen is Communications Director for the Washington Education Association, a union of
teachers in the northwestern state. It recently carried out an opinion study involving 1,500 of its
members. Mullen said 79 percent of them said additional training is necessary if distance learning
operations are required in the new school year. Another 23 percent reported they would need major
career development or training.
In New York, recent public opinion studies show that parents grew increasingly dissatisfied with
distance learning as the school year progressed last spring.
Dia Bryant is deputy director for The Education Trust-New York, which did the studies. “We kind
of just threw them out there and gave them a Zoom link or gave them a Google Hangout or a
Google Classroom,” she said of the state’s teachers.
She added: “We need better professional learning for them.”
Some school systems are ending summer break for teachers earlier than usual so they can get more
training in distance learning. Cobb County, Georgia, is among them.
Teacher Rodriguez Webb said the school system ordered teachers back to work two weeks earlier
than in past years.
A statement from Cobb County Schools says the administration will make sure “teachers have the
tools, resources, and training to help students succeed, no matter the classroom setting.”
Keisha Redd-Hannans is head of Instructional Leadership for New Haven Public Schools in
Connecticut. She said officials know that teachers were not prepared for the sudden changes in
education this spring. Early on, she said, no one knew how much work to give students or how long
they should spend on computers.
Redd-Hannans said the school system has agreed to pay a private company almost $270,000 for
online training and support services.
Some parents have asked for schools to reopen fully. They argue that distance learning cannot equal
the quality of an in-school experience.
Christina Higley, a mother of three in Webster, New York says education will suffer if teachers do
their jobs online.
She added, “They can train them all that they want. They could give them the millions of dollars
and tools ... for online learning. They could do six weeks of intense training. There is still going to
be children who can’t learn that way, and the teachers aren’t going to be able to change that — no
matter what they do from afar.”
I’m Jonathan Evans. And I’m Caty Weaver.
Teachers Want to Improve Online Learning Skills, but Training Uneven
The COVID-19 crisis caused public schools in the United States to shut their doors in March. But
that did not mean the school year ended early. Instead, educators quickly developed, trained for and
established emergency distance-teaching operations, many employing e-learning elements. Most
school systems restarted operations within a few weeks and completed the year by late June.
But the change to virtual learning settings was difficult for many teachers and produced mixed
results for students across the country.
Aimee Rodriguez Webb, a teacher in the state of Georgia, was among those who had a
rough transition to online education. So, like many other teachers, she is working now to improve
her e-teaching before the new school year opens in the fall.
Rodriguez Webb bought camera equipment and a large new writing board. She set up a room in her
house for broadcasting lessons.
And, she recently started three weeks of training in online teaching along with other educators in
the Cobb County School District.
As COVID-19 continues to spread in the U.S., distance learning efforts are being included in a
growing number of plans for the coming school year. Many school systems are facing pressure to
improve after the educational losses of last school year. But investment in training is uneven across
school systems. Some have offered new guidance on distance teaching. But many educators feel
unsupported.
Richard Ferdig is an education technology researcher at Kent State University in Ohio. He told the
AP that wealthier areas have used the summer to train teachers both on technology and on how to
get the best performance from students who are learning at least partly online. Teachers in those
areas will do well, he said.
But, he worries about teachers in poorer areas.
“They’ve either been given nothing or they’ve been told, ‘Here’s the tools we bought for you, with
very little support,” on how to use them, he said.
Linda Mullen is Communications Director for the Washington Education Association, a union of
teachers in the northwestern state. It recently carried out an opinion study involving 1,500 of its
members. Mullen said 79 percent of them said additional training is necessary if distance learning
operations are required in the new school year. Another 23 percent reported they would need major
career development or training.
In New York, recent public opinion studies show that parents grew increasingly dissatisfied with
distance learning as the school year progressed last spring.
Dia Bryant is deputy director for The Education Trust-New York, which did the studies. “We kind
of just threw them out there and gave them a Zoom link or gave them a Google Hangout or a
Google Classroom,” she said of the state’s teachers.
She added: “We need better professional learning for them.”
Some school systems are ending summer break for teachers earlier than usual so they can get more
training in distance learning. Cobb County, Georgia, is among them.
Teacher Rodriguez Webb said the school system ordered teachers back to work two weeks earlier
than in past years.
A statement from Cobb County Schools says the administration will make sure “teachers have the
tools, resources, and training to help students succeed, no matter the classroom setting.”
Keisha Redd-Hannans is head of Instructional Leadership for New Haven Public Schools in
Connecticut. She said officials know that teachers were not prepared for the sudden changes in
education this spring. Early on, she said, no one knew how much work to give students or how long
they should spend on computers.
Redd-Hannans said the school system has agreed to pay a private company almost $270,000 for
online training and support services.
Some parents have asked for schools to reopen fully. They argue that distance learning cannot equal
the quality of an in-school experience.
Christina Higley, a mother of three in Webster, New York says education will suffer if teachers do
their jobs online.
She added, “They can train them all that they want. They could give them the millions of dollars
and tools ... for online learning. They could do six weeks of intense training. There is still going to
be children who can’t learn that way, and the teachers aren’t going to be able to change that — no
matter what they do from afar.”
I’m Jonathan Evans. And I’m Caty Weaver.
6.Bering Sea's Ice at Lowest Levels in Thousands of Years
Scientists are reporting that ice cover in the Bering Sea decreased during the winters of 2018 and
2019 to levels not seen in thousands of years. Reuters news agency says the new report adds to
concerns about the effect of climate change in the Arctic.
The Bering Sea is in the northern Pacific Ocean, between Russia and the American state of Alaska.
The scientists said satellite images and records provide a clear picture of how the sea ice has
changed over the past 40 years. Before that, the only ice records available were from those found in
ship records and other observations.
So, scientists turned to peat land on Saint Matthew Island, off the coast of Alaska. Peat is plant
tissue that breaks down in wet conditions. It can hold organic substances from plants that lived
thousands of years ago.
The researchers studied different forms of oxygen molecules trapped in the peat land. With this
information, they were able to estimate atmospheric and ocean conditions that would have affected
rainfall and sea ice over a period of 5,500 years.
The researchers reported their findings in Science Advances, a publication of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
St. Matthew “island in itself has acted as its own weather station,” said Matthew Wooller, one of the
researchers. He likened the levels of soil in the peat to a “book going back in time.”
Wooler is director of the Alaska Stable Isotope Facility at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Many studies have shown that the Arctic has warmed in recent years. Sea ice levels in the area
around the North Pole have decreased. This year, the summertime Arctic sea ice reached its lowest
level for the month of July in 40 years of record keeping.
Sea ice builds up again each year during the winter. But the new study suggests that, in the Bering
Sea, sea ice may also be decreasing during cold weather.
The loss of sea ice is already hurting Arctic wildlife, such as walruses, polar bears, and seals. The
loss of sea ice also affects indigenous communities that depend on hunting for food and clothing.
Shrinking sea ice intensifies warming in the Arctic. That is because areas of dark water take the
place of the sea ice. The dark water absorbs, or takes in, solar radiation instead of reflecting it back
into the atmosphere.
“If we lose the sea ice you are completely changing the temperatures of the Arctic,” noted Julienne
Stroeve, who was not involved in the study. She is a climatologist with the National Snow and Ice
Data Center at the University of Boulder Colorado.
The study suggests that changes in the flow of ocean waters and atmospheric conditions linked to
climate change have had a big effect. So says Miriam Jones, the lead writer of the study. She is a
geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
“There’s a lot more going on than simply warming temperatures,” Jones said. “We’re seeing a shift
in circulation patterns both in the ocean and the atmosphere,” she added.
In addition, the study suggests that changes in sea ice take place at least 20 or more years after
changes in carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases.
Stroeve suggested that the study could have been strengthened with more comparisons to
information gathered by ships and whaling expeditions dating back to the 1800s.
I’m Mario Ritter Jr.
7.Study Predicts Extreme Heat Rise in US Population Centers
A new study predicts that major U.S. population centers will experience the most extreme increases
in heat over the next 20 or more years.
Some parts of the United States could experience up to 30 times more extreme heat than scientists
had predicted, the study found.
The study was a project of researchers at Arizona State University. Their findings
were reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The researchers made predictions for extreme heat and cold exposure in 47 major U.S. cities.
To break down the local effects of rising temperatures worldwide, the research team measured the
effects of heat in "person-hours." This was defined as a human being exposed to extreme heat for
one hour.
The researchers considered three areas. The first was local definitions of what an "extreme"
temperature is. Another was how city environments change the effects of extreme heat. The
researchers also studied the effects of population migration and growth.
They also considered local standards for extreme heat. This is important because an intensely hot
day in places like Phoenix, Arizona, or Austin, Texas, may not feel extreme to locals in those cities.
However, the same heat in New York City could result in deaths - especially among higher risk
groups, like older adults or the homeless.
With that in mind, the researchers came up with two areas of study: absolute increases and relative
increases in extreme heat.
The top three cities for absolute increases in people affected by extreme heat were New York, Los
Angeles, and Washington D.C.
Relative increases were predicted by combining temperature factors with information on
population growth.
The researchers predicted that the most intense relative increases would be in the Florida cities of
Orlando and Miami, as well as Austin, Texas. They added that because these cities are growing
quickly, more people there will be exposed to extreme heat.
The southern city of Atlanta, Georgia, made both lists.
The researchers said the study shows that cities should prepare at the local level to avoid serious
disorders and death resulting from extreme heat. They expressed support for safety measures such
as having cooling centers and water available. They also noted the importance of having
dependable sources of energy, since extreme heat can lead to power outages.
I’m Bryan Lynn.
China Says New Huawei Restrictions Will Hurt World Trade
China says a new set of U.S. trade restrictions on Chinese technology company Huawei will hurt
world trade.
The new U.S. rules block suppliers from using American technology to produce
processor chips and other electronic parts for Huawei.
The Chinese company is a major supplier of equipment to telecommunications companies around
the world and is also a major producer of smartphones.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman accused the U.S. of “violating international trade rules” and
harming the international supply chain.
China will “take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese
companies,” the spokesman added. While such language is commonly used during trade disputes, it
is often not followed up with official action.
Huawei had already removed U.S.-supplied parts from its main products following earlier
restrictions. The new rules expand those controls to Asian and European parts if the manufacturing
process uses U.S. technology. Such U.S. manufacturing methods are widely used in the industry.
Huawei had no comment on the latest U.S. restrictions.
The president of the company’s consumer division, Richard Yu, said this month that Huawei was
running out of processor chips for its smartphones. Huawei designs its own chips, but Yu said
production of a more complex kind, the Kirin series, would stop on September 15 because the
company depends on outside manufacturers that use U.S. technology.
Officials at the U.S. Commerce Department said the new action should prevent Huawei’s attempts
to get around U.S. export controls. It “makes clear that we’re covering off-the-shelf designs that
Huawei may be seeking to purchase from a third-party design house,” an official told Reuters news
agency.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a message on Twitter the new restrictions “dealt a direct
blow to Huawei and the repressive Chinese Communist Party.” The measures were meant to further
limit Huawei’s ability to get U.S. technology. In addition, they aim to prevent the company from
“compromising” the world’s networks and Americans’ private information, Pompeo added.
U.S. officials have pushed governments around to world to cut ties with Huawei. They say that the
company could provide data to the Chinese government for spying. Huawei denies it spies for
China.
I’m Bryan Lynn.
8.Smart’ Face Mask Aims to Improve Communication in New Normal
A Japanese company has created a “smart” mask that aims to improve communication for people
wearing face coverings to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The use of face masks has become the new normal in parts of the world still struggling to reduce
spread of the coronavirus. However, masks and other kinds of coverings can affect the quality of
communication between wearers.
It can be more difficult to hear voices through the coverings. Many business and public spaces also
have social distancing barriers in place, which also make it harder for people to be heard and
understood.
The wearable electronic device is designed to help improve speech interactions in such conditions.
The Japanese startup company Donut Robotics calls its invention the “c-mask.” The device is meant
to fit over other kinds of face masks commonly worn by the public.
The c-mask is made of soft plastic material. It contains a built-in microphone and has holes in the
front to let air in. When it is turned on, the mask uses Bluetooth technology to connect to a mobile
device.
An app then helps users perform several actions, including turning speech into text, completing
telephone calls and making the user’s voice louder. The device can also translate a person’s voice
from Japanese into eight other languages.
The engineers who developed the smart mask had already built robots for use in Japanese airports to
provide guidance and translation services to travelers.
But with the travel industry currently suffering big losses, the future of the robots became unclear.
So, engineers sought to come up with a new product to fill a need.
Taisuke Ono is the head of Donut Robotics. He told the Reuters news agency, “We worked hard for
years to develop a robot and we have used that technology to create a product that responds to how
the coronavirus has reshaped society.”
Ono told international broadcaster CNN that the company was able to raise money to develop the
smart mask through a campaign on the Japanese crowdfunding service Fundinno.
He noted that the effort raised $265,000 in just the first 37 minutes. "It was very surprising, because
it would usually take three or four months to get that kind of money," Ono said.
The company produced a working model of the mask within a month by using software developed
for its other robot products. The mask design was similar to one created years ago by one of the
company’s engineers that mapped facial muscles to interpret speech.
Ono said the company plans to ship its first 5,000 c-masks to buyers in Japan starting in September.
He is also looking to sell the devices in China, the United States and Europe and says he has
received strong interest in the product.
Donut Robotics plans to sell the devices for about $40 per mask, in an effort to capture a mass
market that did not exist until a few months ago.
“We hope that our device will be useful in a society where people naturally practice social
distancing,” the company states on its website.
I’m Bryan Lynn.
9.Life in Death Valley National Park
May 06, 2016
Today, we visit a place of strange and silent beauty. As beautiful as this place is, its name provides
evidence of very real danger. We are exploring Death Valley National Park.
Death Valley is a land of beautiful yet dangerous extremes. It has nearly 1.4 million hectares of
desert and mountains.
There are mountains that reach more than 3,000 meters into the sky. The valley’s Badwater Basin
area is the lowest land in the Western Hemisphere. It lies 86 meters below sea level.
Death Valley can be dangerously cold during the winter months. Storms in the mountains can cause
sudden floods on the floor of the valley. But, during summer months, the air temperature has been
as high as 57 degrees Celsius.
The extreme heat of Death Valley has killed people in the past. Death Valley does not forgive those
who are not careful.
Within Death Valley National Park is evidence of several ancient volcanoes that caused huge
explosions. Evidence of one of these explosions is called Ubehebe Crater. The explosion left a huge
hole in the ground almost a kilometer and a half wide.
In many areas of Death Valley, it is easy to see where the ground has been pushed up violently by
movement deep in the Earth. This has created unusual and beautiful rock formations, with colors of
red, brown, gray, yellow and black.
In other parts of Death Valley, there are lines in the rock. The lines are evidence of the past
presence of water. The area was deep under an ocean for many thousands of years.
Much of Death Valley is flat and extremely dry. In fact, scientists believe it is the driest place in the
United States. In some areas the ground is nothing but salt. Nothing is able to grow in this salty
ground.
However, it would be wrong to think that nothing lives in Death Valley. The valley is full of life.
Wildflowers grow very quickly after even a small amount of rain. Some desert plants can send their
roots down more than 18 meters to reach water deep in the ground.
Several kinds of birds live in Death Valley, as do mammals and reptiles. Visitors might see the dog-
like animal called the coyote, or wild bighorn sheep, or other animals like the desert jackrabbit, the
desert tortoise, and a large reptile called a chuckwalla. Many different snakes live there too. Some
are dangerous, like the one sidewinder rattlesnake. It is an extremely poisonous snake with long
sharp teeth, or fangs.
Throughout history, Native Americans found ways to survive in Death Valley. Rock art and other
remains show that humans lived in the valley as far back as 9,000 years ago.
Death Valley is a huge place. It extends more than 225 kilometers across the southern part of
California into the neighboring state of Nevada. The valley is part of the Mojave Desert.
The area got its name in 1849. That was the year after gold was discovered in California. Thousands
of people from around the country traveled to the gold mining areas of the state. They were in a
hurry to get there before other people did.
Many people were not careful during their travels. One group trying to reach California decided to
take a path called the Old Spanish Trail. By December they had reached Death Valley. They did not
have to survive the terrible heat of summer, but there was still an extreme lack of water. There were
too few plants for their work animals to eat. The people could not find a pass through the tall
mountains to the west of the valley. Slowly, they began to suffer from a lack of food.
To survive, they killed their work animals for food and began to walk out of the valley. As they left,
a woman in the group looked back and said, “Goodbye, death valley.” The name has never been
changed.
Death Valley officially became a national park in 1994. It is the largest national park in the lower
48 states.
More than one million people visit the park each year.
Titus Canyon is one of the most popular places to visit in the park. It has huge mountains, colorful
rocks, ancient rock art and rare plants. There is even a “ghost town,” a town that has abandoned by
all its residents. Death Valley is full of ghost towns.
Many people visit Death Valley in late winter and early spring, when wildflowers come to life
there. The harsh desert floor becomes very colorful.
This year, some people called the wildflower display a “super bloom.” The National Park Service
called this year’s bloom “the best the park has experienced in a decade.” Many rare storms in
October brought a lot more rain to the valley than normal. During one storm, almost 8 centimeters
of rain fell in the park in just five hours. Death Valley usually gets only five centimeters of rain per
year.
Some visitors come to Death Valley for just a day. Tour buses bring travelers from Las Vegas,
Nevada. They ride around the park in their bus, visit several places and are back in their Las Vegas
hotel by night.
However, many other visitors stay in the park. The most popular area to stay in is Furnace Creek.
Furnace Creek is the largest area of human activity within Death Valley National Park. There is a
hotel, as well as places to camp.
The historic Inn at Furnace Creek is a beautiful hotel that was built of stone nearly 90 years ago.
The inn is built on a low hill. The main public room in the hotel has large windows that look far out
over Death Valley. Hotel guests gather near these large windows in the evening to watch the sun
make long shadows on the floor of the valley and on the far mountains.
This beautiful image seems to change each minute. The sun slowly turns the valley a gold color that
deepens to a soft brown, then changes to a dark red. As night comes, the mountains turn a dark
purple color, then black.
10.Australian Youngsters Take Legal Action to Stop Coal Mine Expansion
A group of young people in Australia has launched a lawsuit in the name of all children to block
the expansion of a coal mine.
Worry over climate change is pushing the youngsters’ campaign. The class-action case argues that
Australia’s Environment Minister, Sussan Ley, has a legal duty to protect young people and should
reject the expansion proposal.
Whitehaven Coal owns the mine. It sits near the town of Gunnedah, 430 kilometers northwest of
Sydney, in the state of New South Wales.
The plaintiffs are between the ages of 13 and 17. They argue that burning coal will worsen climate
change and harm their future.
The case is not based on Australian environmental laws. Instead, it states that the government has a
common law duty of care.
The high school students sought an injunction on September 8 in Australia’s Federal Court. An
injunction is a court order to begin or stop an action. The case launched in the name of young
people all over the world is the first of its kind in Australia.
The mine expansion was approved by an independent planning commission. It ruled the project was
in the public interest. But the final decision must come from federal officials. The federal
government has not commented on the lawsuit because the matter is currently before the courts.
Sixteen-year-old Laura Kirwan is one of the teenage plaintiffs. She told the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation that she was afraid about the future.
Kirwan said it is very troubling “to think about the future and not know whether we will have a safe
time. I am involved in this case because climate change is really important and is only getting
worse.” Kirwan wants the federal environment minister to know that “she should be protecting the
younger generations.”
Whitehaven Coal has said the mine would bring social and economic value to the area, including up
to 450 jobs and millions of dollars in direct financial investment. The company has not yet
commented on the lawsuit.
Legal experts believe that, because of its complexity, the case will be hard for the students to win. If
they do, it could affect other new coal mines in Australia. The country is one of the world’s major
coal producers, selling mostly to India, China and Japan.
In 2019, Australian coal exports were worth about $50 billion. However, the Reserve Bank of
Australia noted some unknowns about future coal exports. It pointed to a move toward clean energy
worldwide and a slowdown in economic growth.
Australia depends on cheap supplies of coal within the country to produce much of its electricity.
And, for the size of its population, the country puts out some of the world’s highest levels
of greenhouse gases.
I’m Alice Bryant.
11.Pandemic Pushes Colombians to Get to Work by Bicycle
Luis Fernando Muete used to go to work on a crowded bus. But since the start of the coronavirus
pandemic, he has been using his bicycle instead.
The change saves him long waits at a bus station in a poor neighborhood in Bogotá, Colombia. It is
also less of a health risk for Muete.
“It’s better to avoid crowded places,” Muete said as he stopped at a traffic light on his way to the
city center. “Using a bike is fast and cheaper,” he added.
Cycling, or using a bicycle, has long been a popular sport in Colombia. The country is the home of
Tour de France winner Egan Bernal. But the pandemic has pushed more Colombians to go to work
by bicycle.
Only one city in the country has a subway system. Before the pandemic, most people got to work by
bus or by car.
The capital, Bogotá, is a city of eight million people. More than 210,000 coronavirus infections
have been reported there. People in the city are quickly turning to bicycles as a way of
transportation. In fact, many stores there have run out of bikes. The stores are struggling to import
more bicycles.
Bike House is Colombia’s second largest bicycle importer. It said that its sales increased by 150
percent in July. The company imported 16,400 bikes in the first six months of 2020. That is 4,000
more than all of last year. It has already run out of some kinds of bikes and is waiting for new
shipments from China.
Most bicycles in the world are made in China. But Chinese factories have struggled to keep up with
growing demand from Europe and the United States.
“We are probably one of the last places on their list,” said Martha Cecilia Sanchez. She is the
general manager of Distrito Bike, a Bogota shop that mostly sells the Cannondale brand of bikes.
“It used to take four months...to arrive. Now it takes eight months,” she said.
The small store has been selling around 30 bikes each weekend during the pandemic. Before, it sold
about 15 to 20 each weekend. Sanchez said that recent sales have been “better than the Christmas
season.”
Across the street, the Nissi bike store said it had experienced a similar increase. It sells road bikes,
mountain bikes, hybrids and even some very costly bikes for racing. Before the pandemic, the store
was selling about 15 bikes a day. Now it sells about 25 a day.
“People are buying them to go to work, but also for pleasure,” said sales manager Juan Pablo
Garces. He added that it “will help us get cars off the streets.”
Local governments in Colombia are pushing for more bicycle use. Bogotá Mayor Claudia Lopez
turned car lanes over to bicycles at the start of the pandemic. The government added 85 kilometers
to the city’s bike paths.
Bogotá was already a Latin American leader in bicycle use before the pandemic began. Last month,
13 percent of all trips in the city were taken on bicycles. That information comes from the
municipal government. In February, it was only 10 percent.
It is a small increase, but officials expect bicycle use to increase as restrictions are lifted and more
people return to work in offices.
But rising crime rates may make people fearful of buying or using a bike. Police say 1,022 bicycles
were stolen in Bogotá in July, almost two times as many as during the same month last year.
Sometimes thieves push riders off their bicycles. The thieves then attack riders with knives and
guns.
To make biking safer, the city has asked for everyone to register their bicycles. They have also
improved lighting in dangerous areas and increased police presence at places where bicycle stealing
has taken place.
Cristian Gutierrez is a salesman at Class Bikes. He said buyers know about the security situation.
Most people, he said, are seeking bicycles that sell for $150 to $250. “People don’t want to buy
an expensive bike and have it stolen,” Gutierrez said. “This city is still a bit dangerous.”

Usually, visitors are very quiet as they watch the setting sun. A few try to photograph it. But the
valley is too huge to capture in a photo. Most visitors leave only with the memory of the fiery
sunset in the extraordinary Death Valley National Park.