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Today's topic is "Balloon to Fly Tourists to Edge of Space"

Two companies, Space Perspective and PriestmanGoode, are working together to make a balloon that will fly passengers to the edge of space.

The balloon, known as Spaceship Neptune, will use hydrogen to float up over 30 kilometers, more than twice as high as a passenger plane. Below the balloon, there’s a capsule with seats for eight passengers and one pilot.

Nigel Goode, Designer and Co-Founder of PriestmanGoode, said that the companies want to make the journey as comfortable as possible for passengers. There’s a bar and a bathroom, plus large windows so passengers can see space and the Earth below. They’ll even be able to share the experience on social media while on board.

The journey will take six hours in total. It will take two hours for the balloon to float to the edge of space, where it will stay for two hours. It will then return to Earth and land in the ocean, where a boat will collect it.

Space Perspective says that it hopes the experience will be as easy as boarding a plane.

The first flights will leave from Space Perspective’s control center in Florida, but there are plans to have more flights from Hawaii, Alaska and possibly other places outside of the US.

The companies hope that the balloon will be used for experiments by scientists and for events like weddings, concerts and business meetings.

The first test flight is planned for early 2021, but won’t include any passengers. The companies hope to eventually offer up to 100 flights per year.

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Today's topic is "Japan's Fugaku Supercomputer is Helping Fight COVID-19"

Scientists around the world are trying to find effective treatments for COVID-19, and they're getting extra support from Fugaku, a Japanese supercomputer.

Fugaku — also another name for Mount Fuji — is kept in Kobe, Japan. Its installation began in December 2019, and even though it is not scheduled for full operation until 2021, it has been helping with coronavirus research since April 2020.

The supercomputer has identified dozens of possible treatments for COVID-19. Researchers from Kyoto University used it to run molecular-level simulations on 2,128 existing drugs. Over ten days, it looked for those that can bond with proteins associated with the novel coronavirus and inactivate them.

The dozens of drugs it identified include 12 that are already being tested around the world to treat the virus, but also a number that have not yet been looked at by scientists.

Research company Riken, which developed the supercomputer with Fujitsu, have also used it to model how the virus could travel through the air in different places. Findings from that study suggest that keeping the windows on commuter trains open and limiting the number of passengers could reduce the risk of infection.

Among the other research projects that could use Fugaku are those trying to find previously unknown characteristics of the still very new virus. The supercomputer could also be used to better understand the socio-economic impact of the pandemic, and contribute to countermeasures against the spread of the virus.

In June 2020, Fugaku was named the world's fastest supercomputer. It can perform 415 quadrillion computations a second, which is 2.8 times faster than the former fastest supercomputer, the Summit system from the US.

Fugaku is set to play a part in helping Japan achieve the goals in its Society 5.0 plan, which looks to use technology and data to balance economic growth with resolving social problems. Other than helping with medical science, it could be used to better predict natural disasters like earthquakes, or help with the development of clean energy.

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Today's topic is "Study: Young Children Are Using Apps Meant for Adults"

Some children as young as 3 years old use apps on mobile devices that are intended for adults, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics.

The study used an app called Chronicle for Android devices, and screenshots of the battery page for Apple devices, to see app use information for 346 children aged 3 or 4. Of the 346 kids, 121, or about 35%, had their own device. The rest were using their parents' devices.

Parents were also asked how much time they thought their kids spent using the devices.

The study found that while some apps were age appropriate, others were gambling apps, like Cashman, or violent ones like Terrorist Shooter or Fortnite.

Many children also used "general audience" apps, like Cookie Jam and Candy Crush. Players can spend real money in these games, and children's privacy could be at risk because the apps may not restrict the data they collect or sell to advertising companies.

The study also found that most parents were wrong about how much time their kids spent using mobile devices. Fewer than 30% of parents estimated the time correctly. About 36% underestimated how much time their kids spent on their devices, and about 35% overestimated, with the parents' estimates being off by an average of more than an hour.

"Another interesting finding was how much YouTube dominated the viewing habits of so many 3- to 4-year-olds," said Dr. Jenny Radesky, the study's lead author. "Finally, we found a few kids with their own devices who had them running into the middle of the night — until 3 or 4 a.m. at times, usually [on] YouTube."

Other research has found that most kids are using devices with screens from infancy. There is also evidence that kids aged between 3 and 5 who have more than an hour a day of screen time without their parents involved have less brain development in the areas that control language and thinking skills.

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Today's topic is "Museum of Underwater Art Opens in Australia"

The new Museum of Underwater Art is now open in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The museum is two hours by boat from Townsville, Queensland, and is 18 meters below the ocean’s surface.

The museum features sculptures from British artist Jason deCaires Taylor. Taylor created the world's first underwater sculpture park in Grenada in 2006, and has made other underwater museums in Mexico and Spain.

The new museum hopes to get people thinking about climate change and protecting coral reefs. It is made out of material that helps new coral grow, and also provides a home for underwater wildlife.

The largest sculpture, Coral Greenhouse, weighs more than 58 metric tons and is the first underwater building by the artist. Inside, there are places for fish and other wildlife to live and hide, as well as 20 sculptures of children. Doorways allow divers to swim into the building.

Another sculpture, Ocean Siren, is just 30 meters from the Townsville coast. It is of an indigenous girl from the local community, and is the only sculpture in the museum that can be seen above the surface. Lights on the sculpture change color depending on the water temperature, showing the rising sea temperatures in the area.

The museum will create 182 jobs for the local community, and is expected to bring 50,000 visitors to Townsville each year. Several more sculptures will be added in 2021.

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Today's topic is "Uber Taxi Service Comes to Tokyo"

Uber is now offering taxis in Tokyo after six years of being in Japan.

People in Tokyo could already use the company's food delivery service, Uber Eats, and taxis could be booked with the Uber app in some other Japanese cities, including Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima.

Until now, people looking for a ride with Uber in Tokyo could only use its "Uber Black" service, which offers rides in luxury black cars driven by professional drivers for a higher price than a taxi.

But Uber is now working with three normal taxi businesses in Tokyo: Hinomaru Limousine Co., Tokyo MK Corp. and Ecosystem. Together, they are making 600 cars available in some of the city’s busiest areas.

However, Uber's car sharing services are still banned, because only professional drivers are allowed to carry paying customers in Japan. This means that people cannot sign up to be drivers with their own cars as they do in the US and other countries.

TimeOut writes that Uber Taxi will make it easier for non-Japanese speakers to get taxis in Tokyo. It will also let people share information about their journey with friends and family so they can know when they will arrive.

Japan is the second-largest taxi market in the world, according to Bloomberg. But most people still get a taxi by flagging one down on the street, and apps are used for less than 5% of the rides.

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Today's topic is "Foreign Students Must Leave US if Classes Go Online"

International students will be forced to leave the US or find a different college if their schools offer classes entirely online this fall.

The new guidelines from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) put more pressure on universities to reopen despite concerns about the spread of COVID-19 among young adults.

Colleges were told the new rules on the day that many, including Harvard University, announced that all classes will be offered remotely.

Under the new rules, international students must take at least some of their classes in person. And new visas will not be given to students who want to study at schools that are entirely online.

The American Council on Education said the guidelines are "horrifying" and will result in confusion as schools look for ways to reopen safely.

One big concern is that students won’t be exempt from the rules even if an outbreak forces their school to go entirely online. It’s not clear what would happen to a student in that situation if they couldn’t travel to their home country either, said Terry Hartle, the council's senior vice president.

The international education group NAFSA criticized the rules and said schools should be given the authority to make decisions that are right for their own students. It said the guidelines are "harmful to international students" and that they "put the health and well-being ... of the entire higher education community at risk.”

President Donald Trump wants schools and colleges to return to in-person classes as soon as possible. Soon after the guidelines were released, Trump repeated on Twitter that schools must reopen, adding that Democrats want to keep schools closed "for political reasons, not for health reasons."

"They think it will help them in November. Wrong, the people get it!" Trump wrote, referring to the upcoming US presidential elections.

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Today's topic is "Japanese City Bans Phone Use While Walking"

The city of Yamato in Kanagawa prefecture has become the first city in Japan to ban the use of phones while walking.

Starting July 1, people in Yamato are no longer allowed to look at their smartphones while walking outside in public places, such as streets and parks. If they need to use their smartphones, pedestrians must move to the side and stop, making sure they are not in the way of vehicles or other pedestrians.

Although those who break the law will not be punished, city officials hope that the ban will make people think more about the dangers of walking while looking at their phones. Posters about the new rule will also be placed around the city.

"The number of people using smartphones has rapidly increased and so have the number of accidents," city official Masaaki Yasumi told AFP.

The new law was proposed after a January study which watched around 6,000 pedestrians in two different parts of the city. Researchers found that about 12% of pedestrians used smartphones while walking.

In 2014, researchers from Japanese cell phone company NTT Docomo used a computer to see what would happen if 1,500 people used Tokyo's Shibuya pedestrian crossing while looking at their phones. They found that only about one third of people would get to the other side of the street without hitting someone else, falling or dropping their phone.

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Today's topic is "Manta5 Unveils First E-Bike for the Water"

A company in New Zealand has developed an electric bicycle that can be used on water — the Manta5 Hydrofoil e-bike.

Manta5 describes its invention as half-bike and half-plane. The company says riding one feels like normal cycling, but on the water. It uses a battery, motor and underwater wings — which are called "foils" — to move across water at speeds of up to 20 kilometers an hour. The bikes are made to be strong, but still light enough to carry.

Manta5 was started in early 2011 by Guy Howard-Willis and Roland Alonzo, both passionate cyclists. Howard-Willis had wanted there to be more options for would-be water cyclists, and when he met Alonzo, decided to try and make that happen.

It took the company eight years to develop the bike, but it was able to show a prototype in 2017. The company says that a short video of that first bike got 350 million views on Facebook.

The first bikes that Manta5 produced sold out in six months. It says that riders in New Zealand are already fans, and are using them to ride across lakes, rivers and ocean waves.

Manta5 now hopes the bikes will become popular in the US as well. At $8,990, however, they certainly aren't cheap.

CEO Greg Johnston says that learning to ride the water bike is like cycling for the first time: you might have to try a few times, but it's a lot of fun once you get the hang of it. The company even believes that in the near future, biking across the water could be a sport, and even be included in the Olympics.

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Today's topic is "Russians Vote to Allow Putin to Rule Until 2036"

According to election officials, nearly 78% of Russian voters have approved a set of constitutional amendments that clear the way for President Vladimir Putin to rule Russia until 2036. Turnout across the country was said to be almost 68% over seven days of voting that concluded July 1.

The amendment that allows Putin to run for two more six-year terms after his current one expires in 2024 was part of a package of constitutional changes that also outlaw same-sex marriage, mention "a belief in God as a core value" and emphasize Russian law over international norms. Voters could not vote on the individual amendments but only on the entire set.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the results were "a triumphant referendum on trust in President Putin."

But Putin's critics argued that the results were rigged and didn't reflect decreasing enthusiasm for the once-popular president.

Putin's approval rating was at 59% in May, according to the Levada Center, Russia's top independent pollster. The lowest in two decades, the numbers have been steadily going down in the past five years amid growing frustration over declining living standards.

Critics pointed to a number of irregularities, as well as a lack of transparency and independent monitoring of voting that they said undermined the validity of the results.

For the first time in Russia, polls were kept open for an entire week, with ballot boxes unattended at night. Voting also took place outside polling stations — in some instances on street benches, tree stumps and in the trunks of cars — as well as online in some places, including Moscow.

Golos, Russia's top independent election monitoring group, called the results "falsified."

Dmitry Gudkov, a former lawmaker and now an opposition leader, pointed to independent exit polls that reported over 54% of more than 5,000 respondents in Moscow, and 63% of nearly 3,000 respondents in St. Petersburg, voted against the amendments.

A nationwide poll by Levada showed that 68% of those who had cast their ballot by June 27 voted "yes," and 54% of those who hadn't would approve the amendments.

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Today's topic is "UK Universities Drop in Rankings for Fourth Year in a Row"

For the fourth year in a row, universities in the United Kingdom have dropped in international rankings, according to the 2021 QS World University Rankings.

Each year, QS looks at each school's academic reputation, its reputation with employers, the quality of its published research, the number of students per teacher, and the number of international students and staff. Almost 75% of British universities saw their rank drop this year.

Speaking to The Guardian, Ben Sowter of QS suggested why the UK's rankings might be getting lower.

In 2013, the British government allowed universities to accept more students without increasing the number of teachers, which Sowter believes could lead to poor teaching quality. Sowter also thinks Brexit and COVID-19 have affected the scores, since both led fewer international students to come to the UK, which hurt the rankings.

Oxford University, the top British university, dropped from fourth place to fifth, and is now behind the California Institute of Technology. Cambridge University stayed at seventh place, its lowest rank ever.

All of the top four universities are American, with the top three being Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and Harvard University, in that order.

However, Asian universities are also on the rise. Twenty-six of the world's top 100 schools are now in Asia. At 11th place, the National University of Singapore was the top Asian school, while Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, was 13th. China's Tsinghua University (15th), the University of Hong Kong (22nd), Peking University (23rd), and the University of Tokyo (24th) were also in the top 25.

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Today's topic is "Middle-Aged Americans More Stressed Today than in 1990s"

A new study has found that Americans aged between 45 and 65 may be much more stressed today than people in that same age range were in the 1990s.

A team of researchers led by Penn State University looked at data from 1,499 adults in 1995, and data from 782 adults in 2012.

Both groups were interviewed every day for eight days, and were asked about anything stressful they had experienced in the previous 24 hours. This included things like arguments with family and friends, and problems at work.

The study, published in American Psychologist, found that 2% of adults experienced more stress in the 2010s than the 1990s. However, among those aged 45 to 64, 19% experienced more stress in the 2010s.

David M. Almeida of Penn State University said the researchers were very surprised that so many middle-aged Americans were more stressed.

Middle-aged people were also 17% more likely to think that stress would affect their future plans. The same age group was also 27% more likely to believe that their finances would be affected by stress in the 2010s than people that age in the 1990s.

Healthline.com reports that Almeida and his team had expected adults to be more stressed now than in the 1990s — but he said they thought it would be people in their 20s and 30s who would be most stressed.

Almeida says the research shows that middle-aged Americans seem to have more pressure on them now. For example, they might be looking after young adult children while also taking care of older family members. And at work, they are more likely to be in management roles with responsibility for many people.

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Today's topic is "Study: Starting School Late Improves Health and Grades"

A 2017 study at an English high school found that students who started school at 10 a.m. instead of 8:50 a.m. had better health and school results.

For the first year of the study, the students started school at 8:50 a.m. For the second and third years, their start time changed to 10 a.m. Then, for the fourth year, the students went back to starting at 8:50 a.m.

The researchers looked at how often students stayed home from school due to illness, and how well they did with their school work.

For the first year, the average number of absences due to illness was 15.4 per student. In the second year, that number dropped to 11.3, and by the third year it was just 7.9. But in the fourth year, when the students went back to starting at 8:50 a.m., the number went up to 11.2.

The students' school work also improved. By the end of the first year, only 34% of the students had a grade of C or higher in five or more of their GCSEs — General Certificate of Secondary Education subjects, which need to be taken by most students in the UK.

By the end of the second year, 53% of students had a C or higher in five or more of their GCSEs. The number went down to 52% in the third year, and 51% in the fourth year.

Professor Russell Foster, of Oxford University, says that teenagers need 9 hours of sleep, but many only get 5 hours on a school night.

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Today's topic is "Web Inventor: World Must Close Internet Divide"

World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee has said the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates "the gross inequality" of a world where almost half the population is unable to connect to the internet.

Speaking at the launch of the UN's Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, Berners-Lee said that around 3.5 billion people have missed out on the "lifeline" the internet has provided by enabling work and education to continue during the pandemic.

Since the onset of the pandemic, internet usage has jumped 70%, the use of communication apps has grown by 300%, and virtual collaboration tools by 600%. Some video streaming services have grown 20-fold, said Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.

But Schwab also emphasized that only about half of the world has internet access. Of the 25 least connected countries, 21 are in Africa.

"This inequality is a barrier to wider equality, and we know it most affects those who are already marginalized — people in developing countries, those on low incomes, and of course, women and girls, Berners-Lee said.

Tackling inequality requires raising the bar from basic access to ensuring that people have "meaningful connectivity" to the internet "that must include data and devices to use the full power of it," Berners-Lee said.

By 2030, the UN Roadmap says that every person should have affordable access to the internet.

The Roadmap aims "to connect, respect, and protect people in the digital age," and was partly developed by the World Wide Web Foundation, co-founded by Berners-Lee.

Last year the foundation launched the "Contract for the Web," a global plan for governments, companies and individuals to increase connectivity, protect people's privacy, and keep knowledge freely available, among other goals.

The contract has 1,300 endorsements and the foundation is developing ways for governments and companies to show how they're living up to commitments.

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Today's topic is "Tokyo is 3rd Most Expensive City for Expats"

Tokyo is the third most expensive city for expatriates, or "expats", according to Mercer's 2020 Cost of Living Survey. That's one spot lower than in 2019, when Tokyo was in second place. Hong Kong is the most expensive city for expats, while Ashgabat in Turkmenistan is now the second most expensive. Six of the top 10 cities this year are in Asia.

Mercer figures out the cost of living for expats to help employers know what they should pay staff who are working in other countries.

To find the cost of living, Mercer looks at the price of more than 200 goods and services in over 200 cities. Mercer includes things like housing, food, utilities, transportation, entertainment, and clothing. Each city is then compared with New York City to find its rank.

The city of Tunis, Tunisia, is the least expensive city for expats in 2020. The second least expensive is Windhoek, Namibia, and third least expensive is Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Because the survey was done during the coronavirus pandemic, Mercer also found that people were buying some products more than usual, like cleaning products, entertainment products, and "comfort food" — food that's eaten because it tastes good and makes people feel better.

Cleaning products, such as soap and disinfectant, were most expensive in New York City. Mexico City had the most expensive entertainment products, like TVs and board games. And Hong Kong had the most expensive comfort food, like chocolate and frozen pizzas.

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Today's topic is "Japanese Stores to Charge for Plastic Bags from July"

From July 1, stores and supermarkets in Japan will start charging fees for single-use plastic bags, under a new national law.

The law is part of the Japanese government’s plan to reduce plastic waste and encourage people to make lifestyle changes in a country where plastic bags are often handed out even for small purchases.

Some supermarkets in Japan have already started charging customers for plastic bags, but the new law will make it mandatory. Stores are free to set their own prices, with a minimum fee of ¥1 per bag.

Three major convenience store chains — Seven-Eleven, FamilyMart and Lawson — will charge customers ¥3 for regular-sized plastic bags. All three have announced that they will also shift towards more environmentally-friendly bags in the future.

Activists in Japan have long criticized the government for moving too slowly on dealing with the issue of plastic waste. According to a 2018 report by the UN, Japan is the world’s second largest producer of plastic packaging waste per capita, after the United States.

Although no official data is available, media reports estimate that Japan uses between 30 and 50 billion plastic bags each year — that’s more than 300 bags per person. By comparison, an average resident of Denmark — the first country to introduce a tax on plastic bags in 1993 — uses only 4 single-use plastic bags per year.

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Today's topic is "Free Wi-Fi, Phone Chargers for Seoul's New Bus Stops"

South Korea's capital, Seoul, is planning to build new bus stops with free Wi-Fi, phone chargers and air cleaners. Seoul's government plans to build 10 of the new "Smart Shelters" by October 2020 in order to test them, before new features are added to bus stops around the city.

The bus stops will have heated chairs, air conditioning and information about how clean the air is inside and outside. They will also offer information on when buses will arrive, and for emergencies, there will be cameras, a bell to call for help, and a defibrillator.

There are three possible designs for the bus stops, and Seoul's government has asked people to vote online for the one they like best. People can vote until June 24th.

Bus stops with some of the features of "Smart Shelters" were already built in 2019. The city called them "Eco-Shelters" and they had plants growing in them to help clean the air, along with air cleaners and information about noise and dust levels.

In 2019, Seoul's government announced plans to offer free Wi-Fi throughout the city by 2022. Most buses in the city now offer free Wi-Fi, and the number of Wi-Fi points in places like parks, parking lots, and other public areas from will increase 7,420 to 23,750.

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Today's topic is "31% of UK Students Say University Not Good Value"

A survey has found that 31% of UK students believe that their university courses are poor or very poor value, up from 29% the year before. However, that number is not as high as the 34% who thought university was poor value in 2017.

There are about 1.8 million undergraduate students in UK universities, and the Student Academic Experience Survey was taken by about 10,000 of them.

The survey also found that 39% of students were happy with the value of their courses, down from 41% the year before. And 64% said they would not change their school or course if they had a second chance — the same as the year before.

Students in Scotland felt they got the best value for their money, with 57% agreeing that university was good value, although this was down from 63% the year before.

However, Scottish students can get their first university degree for free — and students from other parts of the UK have to pay if they go there just for university. For students in other parts of the UK, university costs up to $11,600 per year.

Only 11% of students agreed that they had "life satisfaction," and just 14% said they were happy. Eighty-four percent of students agreed that universities should be able to contact their parents if there were serious concerns about a student's mental health.

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Today's topic is "European Borders Slowly Reopening"

Many countries in Europe are opening their borders to fellow Europeans after three months of coronavirus lockdowns.

The European Union home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, has told member nations that they "should open up as soon as possible."

Many countries are doing just that, allowing travel from the EU, Britain and the rest of Europe’s usually passport-free Schengen travel area, which includes non-EU countries like Switzerland. Still, it’s a complicated patchwork of different rules.

Spain only plans to open to European travelers on June 21, but has already started allowing thousands of Germans to fly to its Balearic Islands for a trial run — removing its 14-day quarantine for the group.

"We want our country, which is already known as a world-class tourist destination, to be recognized as also a secure destination," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.

Italy opened its borders on June 3. Germany, like France and others, lifted its remaining border checks on June 15, and has scrapped a requirement that arrivals must prove they have a good reason to enter.

However, many German regions have imposed a quarantine requirement for arrivals from Sweden, whose virus strategy avoided a lockdown but produced a relatively high death rate. Norway is also keeping its border with Sweden closed.

Austria reopened on June 16 to European neighbors except Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Britain. France is asking people from Britain to self-quarantine for two weeks. Britain also recently introduced a 14-day quarantine requirement for most arrivals.

But with few flights and nervousness about new outbreaks, many Europeans are looking at domestic travel this summer. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz are both planning to vacation in their homelands this year.

Tourists from the US, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East will have to wait, however: Europe is only expected to start opening up to visitors from elsewhere in July.

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Today's topic is "13% of Museums May Not Reopen after Pandemic"

Research has found that an estimated 13% of museums that closed because of the coronavirus pandemic may never open again.

According to two studies, 90% of museums across the world — around 85,000 — have had to close because of the pandemic.

The studies were done by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO and ICOM say they will use the information to find ways to support institutions after life returns to normal.

The research found that only 5% of museums in Africa and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), like Samoa and Haiti, were able to offer online materials. But even museums with online services will see a large decrease in earnings if they can't open for visitors.

In the US, the American Alliance of Museums also says museums are losing as much as $33 million a day. A study by Americans for the Arts also found that non-profit arts and culture organizations in the US had lost about $5.5 billion by mid-May.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said that museums are important to the "resilience of societies. We must help them cope with this crisis and keep them in touch with their audiences."

UNESCO plans to begin discussions among international experts about how to help museums with their problems. The talks are part of its ResiliArt program, which was started to support artists affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

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Today's topic is "Qatar Building 16 'Floating Hotels' for 2022 World Cup"

Qatar is building 16 floating hotels with more than 1,600 rooms as it prepares for the 1.5 million soccer fans expected to visit during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Designed by the Finnish architecture firm, Sigge Architects, each floating hotel will be 72 meters long, 16 meters wide and four stories high, with 101 rooms, a restaurant and a bar. They will float off the coast of Qetaifan Island North, a 1.3-square-kilometer island with seven beaches. The island is just 15 minutes from Lusail Stadium, where the opening and final games of the World Cup will be played.

Large cruise ships, like the 2,700-room Symphony of the Seas — the world's largest cruise ship — can only stop at ports with at least 9 meters of water. But Qatar's floating hotels will need just 4 meters of water — which will allow them to be taken away and used on almost any other coast after the world cup is over.

Many of Qatar's World Cup facilities will be reusable. After the World Cup, most of the 80,000 seats at Lusail Stadium will be taken out and given to other sports projects, and the stadium will become a community space with schools, shops, cafes, sports facilities and health clinics.

The 40,000-seat Ras Abu Aboud, a proposed football stadium to be built in Doha, will be made from about 1,000 shipping containers that will become bathrooms, offices and other rooms. When the World Cup is over, the stadium can be taken apart to make several smaller facilities or moved to another country for another event.

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Today's topic is "Microsoft to Replace Journalists with AI"

Microsoft is laying off dozens of journalists from its news services. In their place, it will use artificial intelligence (AI) to find and share news stories.

The affected journalists have been told that they won't be needed after June 30. Some employees, who asked not to be named, told The Seattle Times that Microsoft plans to use AI for the work they had been doing.

The journalists did not write their own articles, but instead chose stories from other news organizations to share on Microsoft's MSN website and Edge browser news pages. They also edited some articles and headlines.

One of the journalists told The Guardian, "I spend all my time reading about how automation and AI is going to take all our jobs, and here I am — AI has taken my job."

They added that replacing humans with AI has some risks. For example, staff were careful to make sure users were not shown violent or inappropriate content when they opened their browsers. This is especially important for younger users.

The Guardian also wrote that having people choose news articles encourages the sharing of different opinions. It can also prevent the sharing of fake news, and help good articles from smaller news organizations get seen by more people.

MSN offered its own content when it started in 1995, but now only shares news from other organizations, sharing ad money with the original publishers.

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Today's topic is "Drones Deliver Medicine in Small Irish Town"

Manna Aero and Ireland's Health Service Executive are testing the use of drones to deliver medicine to people in a small town during the coronavirus pandemic.

After a video call with a patient, local doctors write a prescription and send it by email to nearby pharmacists, who prepare the medicine. The medicine is then put into a drone, which flies straight to the patient's address and uses cameras to find a safe place, like a garden or driveway, to lower the delivery.

To help stop the coronavirus, Ireland has told its citizens to only go out if they need to. It also asked people over 70 and other high-risk groups not to leave their homes at all, and get things they need from friends or family, or from delivery services.

Fidelma Gleeson, aged 70, received one of the drone deliveries, reports the BBC. "I thought I would never see the day that there would be such technology that I wouldn't have to be driving into town and back up to get my medicine — brilliant," she said.

Each drone can carry up to 4 kilograms, and Manna Aero says that one drone could make as many as 100 deliveries a day.

In March, the company had planned to test its drones for delivering ice cream and Thai food around University College Dublin. However, that plan was canceled because of the pandemic.

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Today's topic is "Facebook Announces First 20 Members of Oversight Board"

Facebook has announced the first 20 members of a new Oversight Board, which some are calling the social media giant's "Supreme Court." The board will make final decisions over what content can and cannot be posted on both Facebook and Instagram.

Later this year, the group of 20 will start hearing cases from people who feel their content was taken down unfairly, as well as cases referred to it by Facebook. In the months that follow, it will also start hearing from people who want content taken down.

The board's job will be to decide whether or not content is acceptable under Facebook and Instagram’s policies. And it will also take into account issues around freedom of speech and human rights.

"The cases we choose to hear may be contentious, and we will not please everyone with our decisions. Facebook and Instagram users come from all corners of the world, and the social or cultural context in which content is posted matters. We expect passionate discussion among members," the board wrote.

The 20 board members include a former prime minister of Denmark, a former editor-in-chief of The Guardian newspaper, and a former US federal judge.

Also on the board is Tawwakol Karman, who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her work in fighting for women’s rights in Yemen. She was the first Arab woman to be given a Nobel Peace Prize.

Board members come from all over the world, with Facebook writing that they have lived in 27 countries and speak at least 29 languages — though a quarter of them are from the US, where Facebook is based.

The Oversight Board says it will work independently of Facebook and all other social media companies. It notes that many of its members have been critical of how Facebook has handled issues around content in the past.

Facebook will not be able to remove members of the board, which is funded by a $130 million trust fund that is independent of the social media company.

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Today's topic is "1,900 Airbnb Employees Lose Jobs to Pandemic"

Airbnb is laying off 1,900 of its 7,500 workers as the coronavirus pandemic causes a huge decrease in global travel.

In a letter to its employees, CEO Brian Chesky said the company is also getting rid of parts of its business that don't directly support home-sharing. Those include its investments in hotels, air travel and movies.

Airbnb expects its revenues to fall by more than half this year. It is a private company, so it does not share its financial figures. But AirDNA, which monitors bookings with Airbnb and other similar companies, said new US bookings fell by 53% between February 3 and April 13. Some countries are also not allowing any non-essential travel or are only letting medical workers book with Airbnb.

Only a few months ago, the company was valued at $31 billion, and was planning an initial public offering. The 12-year-old company has around 7 million homes on its website.

Chesky said travel will return after the pandemic, but it will look different. For example, Airbnb expects travelers will want options that are cheaper and closer to home.

Chesky recently angered many hosts when he told guests they could cancel their bookings for free because of the pandemic.

In early April, Airbnb agreed to pay hosts $250 million to pay back some of the money they lost from cancellations. And it is now only letting people who were planning to check in by June 15 cancel for free.

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Today's topic is "World's Largest Soccer Stadium to be Built in China"

By the end of 2022, Guangzhou Evergrande, a professional Chinese soccer team, will have the world's largest soccer stadium as its new home. On April 16, work started on the 100,000 seat stadium, which will cost $1.7 billion and will be made to look like a lotus flower.

Guangzhou Evergrande are one of the best soccer teams in Asia. They were taken over by Evergrande in 2010, and have won the Chinese Super League eight times, and the Asian Champions Leagues twice.

The early idea for the lotus flower design of the stadium came from the Evergrande Group chairman Hui Ka Yan, and it was designed by American designer Hasan Syed, who lives in Shanghai. It refers to Guangzhou, Evergrande's home city, which is sometimes called the "city of flowers."

The CEO of Evergrande Group, Xia Hajun, said that the stadium would be "an important symbol of Chinese soccer going to the world," and compared it to famous buildings like Australia's Sydney Opera House and the United Arab Emirates' Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

The stadium will have a floor area of 150,000 square meters and will include 16 Very Very Important Person (VVIP) private areas, 152 Very Important Person (VIP) areas, as well as spaces for players and media.

"We hope the stadium will host the opening ceremony of the 2023 Asian Cup," Xia said. It could also be part of the FIFA Club World Cup that was going to take place in China next year, until FIFA decided to postpone it because of the coronavirus. A new date has not been set.

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Facebook will soon begin warning users when they interact with dangerous misinformation about the coronavirus.

A notice will be sent to users who have clicked on, reacted to, or commented on posts with harmful or false claims about COVID-19 after they have been removed by moderators. The notification, which will start appearing on Facebook in the next few weeks, will direct users to a site where the World Health Organization debunks misinformation about the virus.

Facebook said that in March it put more than 40 million warning labels on videos, posts or articles about the coronavirus that fact-checking organizations had determined to be false or misleading. Facebook says those warning labels have stopped 95% of users from clicking on the false information.

"It’s a big indicator that people are trusting the fact-checkers," said Baybars Orsek, director of the International Fact-Checking Network. However, Orsek also said that Facebook's data should be reviewed by outside editors or experts, and that the company should give regular updates about the impact of its fact-checking.

Facebook has recruited dozens of news organizations around the globe to check bad information. The Associated Press is part of that program.

Facebook will also begin promoting articles that debunk COVID-19 misinformation on a new information center called "Get The Facts."

Still, misinformation about the coronavirus continues to pop up on the site.

A study by Avaaz, a group that tracks and researches online misinformation, found more than 100 pieces of misinformation about the coronavirus on Facebook, and they were viewed millions of times even after the claims had been marked as false or misleading by fact-checkers. Other false claims on the site were not marked as misinformation, despite being found to be false by fact-checkers.

In its report, Avaaz said that coronavirus misinformation spreads faster than Facebook’s current system can track it. The group noted that it can take as long as 22 days for Facebook to label misinformation — giving it plenty of time to spread.

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Netflix has gotten nearly 16 million new subscribers during the first three months of the year, showing that it has become one of the world's most popular services in times of isolation or crisis.

During those three months, many governments around the world started telling people to stay home to stop the spread of the coronavirus. This appears to have made millions of people start using Netflix for entertainment.

Netflix more than doubled the growth that it had predicted for the first three months of 2020, with the company ending March with nearly 183 million subscribers worldwide. It was the biggest three-month gain in the 13-year history of Netflix's streaming service.

Netflix says it expects to get 7.5 million new subscribers between April and June 2020, nearly three times as many as the average 2.7 million it usually gets in spring.

Production has stopped on many of Netflix's films and series, but the company has promised that it will continue to release new content throughout the year.

"We don’t anticipate moving the [release] schedule around much, and certainly not in 2020," said Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos.

Many upcoming Netflix series have already been completed, including the fourth season of The Crown — the popular series about the United Kingdom's Queen Elizabeth.

One of Netflix's main competitors is Disney+. The service, which launched last November, currently has over 50 million subscribers.

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Professional cyclist Davide Martinelli is using his bike to bring medicine to elderly people and others who need help during the coronavirus pandemic.

Martinelli's service is helping his hometown of Lodetto in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, which has been hit hard by the virus.

Lodetto doesn't have a pharmacy or a supermarket, so Martinelli goes to the nearby town of Rovato every day to get supplies. The trip is 10 kilometers, which Martinelli said is easy for a professional cyclist.

"I wanted to help the people who always support me during the season. It's time to give back to them," he said.

Martinelli joined a Facebook group called "Lodetto Solidale" (Supporting Lodetto) where those who need help can ask for it online, by phone or message.

Martinelli receives his orders each night and plans a route for the next day. When he gets to the pharmacy, he puts on gloves and a face mask. He says that by going to the pharmacy for three or four people at the same time, the virus is less likely to spread.

With only 1,500 people living there, everyone in Lodetto knows who Martinelli is, or at least they know who his father is.

That's because Giuseppe Martinelli is one of the most successful team directors in cycling, having helped people like Marco Pantani and Vincenzo Nibali win at the Tour de France.

Giuseppe said that what his son is doing now is even better than when his cyclists win.

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NASA will send two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on May 27. This will be the first spaceflight with a crew launched from the US since 2011. For the last few years, NASA has been using Russian ships to send astronauts to the ISS.

"NASA will once again launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil!" tweeted NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

The two astronauts are Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley. Behnken has been an astronaut with NASA since 2000 and has completed two space flights. Before joining NASA, he was a flight test engineer with the US Air Force.

Hurley has also been with NASA since 2000, and has been to space twice. Before becoming a NASA astronaut, he was a pilot in the US Marines.

Behnken and Hurley will travel in SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft and will join 3 crew members who are already on the ISS. They are expected to stay on the ISS for several weeks or months.

Only three countries have launched people into space since 1961: Russia, the US and China, in that order. SpaceX would be the first company to do so.

NASA plans to use the Crew Dragon for research that will help with future travel to the Moon and Mars, starting with the Artemis program which aims to put the first woman on the Moon in 2024.

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According to Amnesty International, the number of executions around the world in 2019 decreased by 5% compared to the year before. However, the number in the Middle East and North Africa increased by 16%, from 501 in 2018 to 579 in 2019.

Amnesty International's 2019 Death Sentences and Executions report noted that the number of executions in the world decreased from at least 690 in 2018 to at least 657 in 2019. That's the lowest number in more than 10 years.

All of the world's executions occurred in just 20 countries.

Amnesty says that China executed the most people in 2019. While the rights group estimates that the number is in the thousands, it is a state secret, and China was not included in Amnesty's global total. The rights group also did not have enough information to estimate the number of executions in North Korea or Vietnam.

Iran likely executed at least 251 people, the second-most after China.

Saudi Arabia executed 184 people in 2019, the highest number for a single year in the country, and up from 149 in 2018. A total of 178 men and six women were executed there in 2019, most for murder or drug crimes, and more than half of them foreigners. Amnesty says there has also been an increase in political executions.

Iraq's executions almost doubled from at least 52 in 2018 to at least 100 in 2019, making it fourth in the world. The increase was largely due to the execution of former members of the Islamic State group.

Yemen and South Sudan also had more executions. But for the first time since 2010, there were none in Afghanistan.

In the Asia-Pacific region, the number of countries carrying out executions dropped to the lowest level since 2011. In Japan, the number fell from 15 in 2018 to three in 2019. The number also fell from 13 to four in Singapore.

Globally, 106 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Amnesty International wants the death penalty abolished in all countries.

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While people can't travel, the Faroe Islands are offering remote tours that let people use the internet to control a tour guide and see the archipelago's small towns and volcanic islands.

The tours were started to help sustain global interest in the North Atlantic islands, where tourism has recently become an important industry. It will also help people in lockdown see more of the world.

The idea is to make people want to come and experience the Faroe Islands in real life, said Levi Hanssen from the tourist board.

Local guides wear helmets with cameras on them and take online audiences across the archipelago while also providing information.

"If you ask them to go left, they go left. If you ask them to jump, they jump. If you ask them to run, they run," said Hanssen.

Nearly 50,000 people joined the first four-hour-long tours, which are offered for free, said Hanssen. Most people were trying to get one of the one-minute-long slots for controlling the guide, which are given to whoever signs up for them first.

The tours will continue until at least April 25 and will be shown on the tourist board's website, and on its Facebook and Instagram pages. There are also plans for a kayak tour, a horse ride and more.

The Faroe Islands are home to 50,000 people, most of whom live in Torshavn, the capital city. There have been less than 200 cases of COVID-19 on the archipelago and no deaths.

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Trump Ends US Aid to World Health Organization

President Donald Trump has said he is cutting off US funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), accusing the organization of failing to do enough to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Trump claimed the outbreak could have been contained at its source and that lives could have been saved had the UN health agency done a better job investigating early reports out of China.

"The WHO failed in its basic duty and must be held accountable," Trump said at a press conference. He said the US would be reviewing the WHO's actions to stop the virus before making any decision on providing aid in the future.

The United States paid nearly $900 million towards the WHO's budget for 2018-19, according to information on the agency's website. That represents one-fifth of its total $4.4 billion budget for those years.

There was no immediate comment from the Geneva-based organization on Trump's announcement. But UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres responded saying that now is not the time to end support for the WHO, calling the organization "absolutely critical" to the global effort to combat COVID-19.

When asked if cutting the WHO's funding was appropriate in the middle of a viral pandemic, Trump said the review would last 60 to 90 days. "This is an evaluation period, but in the meantime, we're putting a hold on all funds going to [the WHO]," Trump said.

The American Medical Association immediately called on Trump to reconsider his decision.

"During the worst public health crisis in a century, halting funding to the World Health Organization is a dangerous step in the wrong direction that will not make defeating COVID-19 easier," AMA President Patrice A. Harris said in a statement.

Harris said international cooperation is needed to fight the virus, along with science and data.

According to John Hopkins University, COVID-19 has caused more than 142,000 deaths worldwide, including more than 31,000 in the US.

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A survey has found that South Koreans spent an average of 2 hours a day searching for information on the coronavirus in March.

Yonhap News Agency reports that two professors from Seoul's Yonsei University surveyed 2,035 people living in Seoul from March 14-21, including 18 people in self-quarantine. Those in self-quarantine spent an average of 2.3 hours a day looking for information on the virus.

South Korea reported its first case of the coronavirus on January 20. There were still just 28 cases by February 14, but the number had soared to 8,086 by March 14, the day the survey began.

One of the survey professors, June Sun-jae, said that people should not spend too much time searching for information on the virus because it could increase anxiety. The survey found that almost 60% of the people had feelings of depression, compared to 7.7% in 2013.

Writing in Yonsei Medical Journal, Sun Jae Jung of Harvard and Jin Yong Jun of South Korea's National Institute of Health agree that reading too much news can increase anxiety, and they also worry about fake news being spread about the virus.

They also note that quarantine can be linked to stress, depression and other mental health problems. They say that while several government agencies in South Korea have created guidelines to help people with their mental health, there must also be a public effort to avoid stigmatizing those with the virus, since people are already feeling isolated by being unable to work or go to school.

South Korea has been working to identify people with the virus and quarantine anyone they came in contact with. The number of new cases of coronavirus in South Korea began to slow by the middle of March, and there were a total of 10,564 cases by April 14, with more than 7,500 recovered. More than 500,000 people in the country have been tested for the virus.

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For the 18th year in a row, American adults believe nurses are the most honest workers, according to a Gallup poll.

The results show that 85% of US adults believe that nurses are honest or very honest, putting them above 21 other jobs like police officers, doctors, teachers and businesspeople.

Second on the list are engineers, with 66% of people saying that engineers are honest or very honest. Also in the top five are doctors, who received a score of 65%, and pharmacists, at 64%. The fifth highest score was for dentists, at 61%.

Police officers are in the middle of the list: only 54% of Americans feel they can trust the police to be honest.

People in the government are among the least trusted by Americans. Members of the US Senate are only trusted by 13% of the adults who took the poll. Members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives together only got 12%.

The lowest on the list are people who sell cars, at 9%.

The high number for nurses hasn't changed much over the years. In 2018, the number was 84%. In 2017, it was 82%, dropping 2 points from their 2016 score of 84%.

The poll was done at the beginning of December 2019. Gallup spoke to 1,025 adults in all 50 US states and Washington, DC.

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Today's topic is "How Finland Aims to End Homelessness"

In 1987, there were over 18,000 homeless people in Finland. At the end of 2018, there were fewer than 5,500. In fact, Finland is the only European Union country where homelessness is falling, which many credit to the country's "Housing First" policy, introduced in 2008.

People can become homeless for many reasons, from suddenly losing work or family support to drug or mental health problems. And most policies for helping the homeless require them to solve their personal problems before they can get housing.

But Finland's Housing First policy is based on the idea that having a home makes it easier to solve these problems. So people are given a permanent place to live as soon as they become homeless.

They still have contracts and pay rent, but they may get rent support from the government. They also get help with things like financial planning, applying for other benefits and more.

"Housing First means ending homelessness instead of managing it," said Juha Kaakinen, CEO of Finland's largest housing nonprofit, speaking to The Guardian.

Kaakinen says that giving people permanent homes means they use regular medical services instead of more expensive emergency services. Considering all the societal costs of homelessness, from health care to police and court expenses, he says that each person given a home saves Finland at least 15,000 euros, or about $16,000, per year.

Speaking to CBC Radio, Kaakinen said that the most important change was renovating temporary shelters into permanent housing. The last big shelter in Helsinki had 250 beds, but in 2012 it was renovated into 81 separate apartments with on-site support staff.

Finland's Housing First system also works with local communities to make sure that they welcome a new building for homeless people, while new residents pick up litter and take care of green spaces.

Housing First has been attempted in various cities and towns around the world, but Finland is the first country to do it nationally. Finland aims to completely end homelessness by 2027.

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Today's topic is "Most Japanese Students Happy to Join Online Classes"

More than half of Japanese university students feel good about taking classes online, according to a new survey from Nihon University in Tokyo.

Professor Tetsuya Usui from the university used social media to ask 1,572 university students how they felt about online classes, as schools around the world try to find ways to continue teaching during the coronavirus pandemic.

He found that 59% were happy to take part in online classes, reports Kyodo News, while 21% said they did not want to do so.

Usui also found that for online classes, almost 72% of students preferred video lessons to be available on demand, and only 15% said they would prefer live, interactive online classes. Just over 13% said they would like classes to be live but not interactive.

The Japanese government says that 66% of public universities and 36% of private universities are now offering online classes. Almost 80% of Japan's universities have also delayed the start of the year – which is usually in April – because of the virus.

Japanese universities aren't the only ones moving their teaching online. The Guardian reports that British universities Oxford and Cambridge will be doing their summer exams online. And in Singapore, the government has told schools to stop using video call app Zoom for online classes after hackers interrupted a geography lesson, reports the Associated Press.

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Today's topic is "US General Election to Be Biden vs. Trump"

With Bernie Sanders' decision to end his campaign, Joe Biden will likely represent the Democratic Party against President Donald Trump this fall.

Biden won't officially win the nomination until June, but with no Democratic rivals left, a general election campaign that will be among the most expensive and nastiest in history has begun.

In Biden and Trump, voters will choose between two men with dramatically different views on healthcare, climate change, foreign policy and leadership in an era of extreme partisanship.

At 77, Biden will become the oldest major party presidential nominee in modern history. Having spent most of his life as an elected official in Washington, no nominee has had more experience in government.

In Trump, Biden is up against an opponent unlike any he's faced in his political career. The 73-year-old Republican president has a huge cash advantage and a well-established willingness to win at any cost.

But before Biden can focus entirely on Trump, the former vice president must win over Sanders' far left supporters. Even so, Biden will move into the fall with a broad voter base that includes working-class whites, older African Americans and even Republicans unhappy with their party's leadership.

Biden has already started considering potential vice presidents, but with Sanders out of the race, he can move forward more openly with selecting his running mate.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic has turned 2020 campaign logistics on their head and is likely to affect voter attitudes.

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Today's topic is "Jeff Bezos Still World's Richest Person Even After Divorce"

Jeff Bezos is the world's richest person for the third year in a row, according to Forbes magazine's 2020 list of the world's billionaires. As of March 18, when the list was made, the CEO of Amazon was worth $113 billion.

Bill Gates of Microsoft stayed in second place with $98 billion. Bernard Arnault and his family, owners of LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods company, moved into third place with $76 billion. Arnault took third place from investor Warren Buffett, who is now fourth with $67.5 billion.

Jeff Bezos, who started the Amazon company in 1994, stayed at the top of the list even though about $36 billion of his money went to his ex-wife, MacKenzie Bezos, as part of their divorce settlement. However, Amazon's stock went up 15% last year, making back some of what he lost.

MacKenzie Bezos got 25% of Jeff Bezos' Amazon stock, which is about 4% of the company. That meant she was on Forbes' list of billionaires for the first time this year, coming in at number 22.

Before she had even got the money, MacKenzie signed The Giving Pledge, which asks billionaires to give away more than half of their money. She said she will give away at least half of her money by the time she dies. Jeff Bezos has not signed the pledge.

According to Forbes, in the last year 267 people lost so much money that they are no longer billionaires, compared to 178 who are on the list for the first time. There are now 2,095 billionaires in the world.

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Today's topic is "Study: Irregular Sleep Increases Risk of Heart Disease"

A new study has found that not having a regular time to sleep and wake up can be bad for your heart. Having regular sleep was defined by the study as always going to bed and waking up within 30 minutes of the same times.

The study looked at almost 2,000 people between the ages of 45 and 84 for five years. Their health and living habits were checked, and they were asked to wear a device on their wrist for seven nights that measured when they slept.

The study's lead author, Tianyi Huang, from Harvard Medical School, said that those with the most irregular sleep times – more than a 90 minute difference on average over seven nights – were more than two times as likely to have heart disease over 5 years.

The study found that even after considering other things that can cause heart disease, like cholesterol, blood pressure and the quality of the person's sleep, having irregular sleep times still had an effect. Huang told CNN that this means irregular sleep should be considered a health risk.

About a quarter of those in the study had significantly irregular sleep times, which the researchers found surprising, since many were retired. Huang said that even more young people might have irregular sleep, since they are more likely to change their sleep times because of study and work.

If people get into the habit of irregular sleep when they are young, it could become dangerous. "The more you sleep irregularly, the higher the risk you have," Huang said.

America's National Sleep Foundation recommends sticking to your sleep schedule every day, and sleeping in for no more than one or two extra hours on weekends. You should also try to turn off bright lights late at night so you don't feel like staying awake, and let yourself see the sun in the morning so it's easier to get up. You should also avoid hitting the snooze button.

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Today's topic is "Manhattan Opens Its Highest Outdoor Observation Deck"

Opened on March 11, the Edge at 30 Hudson Yards is the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere, and the fifth highest in the world.

30 Hudson Yards is 387 meters high, making it the second tallest office building in New York City after One World Trade Center.

Located on the building's south and east sides, the Edge is 345 meters – or 100 stories – above the ground, 24 meters long, and has a glass floor in its center. The 2.7-meter walls are also made of glass, offering panoramic views of the city.

The elevator takes just 52 seconds to arrive at the 100th floor, where guests will also find a champagne bar.

"The view is really amazing," said Fransina Gutierrez, 31, from Ecuador, speaking to New York Post. "I've been waiting for this for a long time. I study architecture. I'm impressed," she said.

This is just one of several buildings at Hudson Yards, a complex built by the Hudson River on Manhattan's west side. At $25 billion, it's the most expensive real estate development in US history.

Manhattan is home to many famous observation decks. One World Trade Center has a three-story observation deck on floors 100 to 102, but it is all indoors. The highest observation deck at the Empire State Building is on the 102nd floor. And while the Rockefeller Center observation deck is outdoors, the highest level is only 70 stories high.

Tickets to the Edge cost $36 online, or $38 at the door. It is normally open from 8 a.m. to midnight, but due to coronavirus concerns, it has closed until April 13.

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Today's topic is "Tokyo Ends Smoking in Most Restaurants"

Japan has been called a "smoker's paradise," but that's starting to change. From April 1, a new law in Tokyo, which was passed in June 2018, bans smoking in most bars and restaurants around the city.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's local law is stricter than a national law that was passed a month later, and also began on April 1, 2020.

The laws were passed to help prepare for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Olympics, which have now been delayed until 2021 due to the coronavirus, have been "tobacco-free" since 1988.

The national law bans smoking in schools, hospitals, government offices, and on public transport. Bars and restaurants may only let people smoke in special rooms, where food and drinks are not served.

However, if a bar or restaurant is smaller than 100 square meters, it can put up a sign banning anyone under the age of 20 and continue to allow people to smoke inside. The national law also lets people continue to smoke in cigar bars, private homes and hotel rooms.

The Tokyo law doesn't allow smoking in any restaurants or bars that have employees, no matter how small they are, except in smoking rooms. However, bars and restaurants that are owned and run by individuals or families, with no employees, can still allow people to smoke.

According to Japan's health ministry, 17.8% of Japanese adults smoked in 2018, with about three to four times more men smoking than women. That's down from 19.5% of adults smoking in 2010.

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Today's topic is "Students in Nepal Required to Take Yoga Classes"

According to The New York Times, Nepal is about to be the first country in the world to require all students between fourth and eighth grade to take yoga classes. The change will happen at the start of the 2020 school year.

Giriraj Mani Pokhrel, head of education in Nepal, told the newspaper, "Yoga is our ancient science. We want students to learn it, and we think this is the right time." The government hopes the yoga classes will improve exercise and health across the country.

"Yoga has really helped me care for myself," said Abhiyan Bhatta, a 15-year-old student in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. He said the yoga classes at his school helped him with the knee problems he'd had for years. "I have healed my pain," he said.

Schools all around the world offer yoga classes. In India, where yoga started, some schools require students to study yoga. In the United States, some schools make time for students to practice breathing and exercises to reduce stress.

However, not everyone in Nepal thinks it's a good idea. Yoga is connected to the religion of Hinduism, and words like "Om," which is a special sound in Hinduism, are used when doing yoga. Some Muslims in Nepal think it will force students to practice Hinduism.

But Ganesh Bhattarai, head of Nepal's Curriculum Development Center, says religion isn't part of the yoga classes, and students don't have to do things they are uncomfortable with, like saying "Om."

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Today's topic is "The Best Ways to Study at Home"

If you usually like to work in cafés and libraries, having to study at home might be difficult. So here are some ways to help you focus at home.

Follow a schedule

Having a clear plan for your day will help keep you from getting distracted. Try making a list of the things you want to get done each day and when you will do them to help you focus. But make sure you also plan breaks – the longer you go without a break, the worse you get at what you're doing. Some research has found that you should take a 17 minute break for every 52 minutes of work done.

Have a study area

Don't try to study in places you normally use to have fun or rest, like the couch or bed. Choose somewhere bright, and try to make it nice, maybe by adding some plants. If you have an area that you only use for study, it'll be easier to focus and you'll be able to take better breaks by leaving the area when you're not studying.

Get out of the house and exercise

Studies show that exercise can help your brain work better. If you can, getting out in the sun and fresh air isn't just a good way to take a break, but it's been shown to be good for your health and concentration too. If you can't leave the house, there are still plenty of ways you can get some exercise at home.

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Today's topic is "Japan Declares State of Emergency"

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has declared a month-long state of emergency for Tokyo and six other prefectures to protect against the spread of the coronavirus.

However, the move is only a stay-at-home request – not an order – and those who ignore it will not be penalized.

The COVID-19 outbreak is now spreading rapidly, threatening people's health, their daily lives and the economy, Abe said. The state of emergency will last until May 6.

"The most important thing is for each one of us to change our activity," Abe said. He urged everyone to reduce contacts with others by 70-80% for one month.

Abe had been under pressure to declare a state of emergency to get people to better follow social distancing rules as concern increases over the number of cases without any known contact with other patients.

The announcement followed a sudden rise in new cases in Tokyo.

Abe's government is thought to have delayed declaring a state of emergency out of fear for how it might hurt the economy. But as fear of the pandemic has grown, the public and medical experts have increasingly supported taking more drastic action.

The state of emergency includes a stay-at-home request, guidance to schools on temporary closures, and requests to close nonessential businesses and to cancel or postpone events.

Takahide Kiuchi, an economist at Nomura Research Institute, said in a recent report that a state of emergency could cause consumer spending to fall nearly 2.5 trillion yen, or $23 billion, leading to a 0.4% drop in Japan's annual GDP.

Abe's government also announced that it will provide 108 trillion yen ($1 trillion) to help protect businesses and jobs.

Earlier, Japan had attempted to reduce infections by closely watching clusters of cases and keeping them under control, rather than doing massive testing as was done in South Korea. That strategy appears to be failing given the sharp rise in cases not linked to previous known infections.

As in many places, there are fears over shortages of hospital beds and critical care units for patients with severe symptoms.

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Today's topic is "Why Air Pollution Has Decreased Due to Coronavirus"

In an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, a third of the world's population has gone into lockdown, meaning most people must stay at home, and many aren't going to work. That means fewer people driving cars, fewer factories running and less power being generated. As a result, less pollution is being released into the air.

Air pollution caused by the emission of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in eastern and central China was 10-30% lower in January and February compared to the same months in 2019, according to NASA. A report from Carbon Brief said that China's carbon dioxide (CO2) levels have also fallen, with a 25% reduction in February 2020 compared with February 2019.

Most man-made CO2 and NO2 comes from burning fossil fuels for things like transport and power.

The Chinese government said that there were 21% more "good quality air days" in Hubei province in February compared to February 2019. Wuhan, home of the first coronavirus patient, is the capital of Hubei province, and the first Chinese city to be locked down due to the coronavirus.

Other parts of the world, including Europe, the US and India, are also seeing less pollution.

In Europe, Italy has been hit hardest by the coronavirus. Its capital city, Rome, has seen between 26% and 35% less NO2 compared to 2019.

New York City, the hardest hit city in the US, has seen less CO2 and methane (CH4), and half as much carbon monoxide (CO) in March compared to last year, according to Professor Róisín Commane from Columbia University. Other parts of the US, like California and Washington, have also seen less NO2.

At midnight on March 25, India started the world's largest lockdown, asking its population of 1.3 billion to stay home for at least 21 days. Just two days later, on March 27, India's capital city, New Delhi, had NO2 levels that were 71% lower than a week before.

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Today's topic is "10 Times More Americans Over 65 Now Use Marijuana"

A new study has found that 10 times more Americans over 65 are now using marijuana than in 2006.

In 2006, 0.4% of Americans over 65 had used marijuana in the last year. By 2015 that number was 2.9% – and it became 4.2% by 2018.

Since 1996, 31 US states have changed their laws to let people use marijuana as medicine. And since 2012, 11 states and the District of Columbia have allowed adults to use marijuana for any reason.

According to Gallup, the number of American adults using marijuana has increased from 7% in 2013 to 12% in 2019. However, the number was already 11% by 2015, and it has changed little since. In states where marijuana has been legalized, some studies have even shown that young people now use it less than before.

But older people are using marijuana more – especially those with diabetes, people with mental health problems, and those who drink alcohol. Women, married people, richer people, and those with a university degree are also using it more.

Carol Collin of California is over 70 and started using marijuana two years ago. "I'm doing this to sleep and provide pain relief and I find it works," she told CNN. "I wouldn't have done it if it was illegal."

Dr. Benjamin Han, one of the study's authors, worries that older people might fall over after using marijuana, or that it might make some health problems worse. For example, he told CNN that marijuana may be dangerous for people who recently had heart attacks. It may also be dangerous if mixed with other medicines.

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Today's topic is "Tokyo Olympics Postponed to 2021"

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that the 2020 Summer Olympics will be postponed as the coronavirus shuts down daily life around the world.

The IOC said the Tokyo Games "must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020, but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community."

IOC President Thomas Bach and Japan's Prime Minister Abe Shinzo spoke on the phone on the morning of March 24. They, along with officials from the IOC and Japan's organizing committee, agreed to make the decision.

Other Olympics – 1916, 1940 and 1944 – have been canceled because of war, but none has ever been postponed.

The decision comes as a relief to the 11,000 or so potential Olympic athletes who no longer have to train under near-impossible conditions.

One reason the IOC took longer to make the decision was because it wanted to figure out logistics. Many of the arenas, stadiums and hotels are under contract for games to be held from July 24 to August 7. It's possible to change those arrangements, but it will be expensive. Tokyo has already spent a reported $28 billion on the games.

For weeks, it was becoming increasingly clear that it would no longer be possible to start the games on July 24. Olympic committees in Canada and Australia were saying they either would not, or could not, send a team to Tokyo in July. World Athletics and the three biggest sports in the United States – swimming, track and gymnastics – were also calling for the games to be postponed.

As recently as March 22, the IOC was saying it would take up to four weeks to reach a decision. Four weeks ended up being two days.

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Today's topic is "AI Cameras Catch Drivers on Phones in Australia"

On December 1, the Australian state of New South Wales started using artificial intelligence (AI) cameras to catch people using mobile phones while driving.

For the first three months, drivers caught using their phones will only get a warning letter. After that time, they will get a fine of $235 – or $312 if they are near a school.

The cameras work day and night, and in any kind of weather. When a camera sees someone who is probably using a phone while driving, the photo is checked by a government worker. People will usually find out about their fine within a week, and they will be able to see their photo.

The cameras were tested from January to June, 2019. During that time, 8.5 million vehicles were checked, and more than 100,000 drivers were caught using their phones.

In New South Wales, it is illegal to hold and use a mobile phone while driving. Drivers can only make or receive voice calls if they don't need to use their hands or look at their phones.

Bernard Carlon of New South Wales’ Center for Road Safety said the cameras could prevent around 100 serious crashes over five years. He also said that a survey found 80% of people supported use of the cameras.

Transport for New South Wales said that since 2012, 13 people have been killed and 243 people have been injured in crashes because a driver was using a mobile phone. It also said the state is the first place in the world to use this kind of technology.

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Today's topic is "Remote Work Not Possible Without Trust, Employers Say"

Remote working is gaining momentum at small businesses in the US. It's hard to find definitive statistics on how many people work remotely, but Gallup's most recent survey in 2016 showed that 43% of employees worked remotely in at least some capacity, up 4 percentage points from 2012.

But even as remote working grows, business owners find managing offsite employees involves more than videoconferencing and messaging apps like Slack.

Owners say a remote operation can't work without trust between a boss and employee. Tyler Forte is CEO of Felix Homes, which is based in Tennessee and has employees in California. He used to check on his staff all the time, but "over time, you develop trust with the employee," he says.

"People have this idea that if you have a remote team, they won’t work," says Emma Rose Cohen, CEO of Final Straw, a maker of reusable straws. "It's the opposite – if you hire the right people, they're self-starters, and self-starters are often people who work too much."

She watches for signs that any of her 15 employees are spending too much time on the job, and when they tell her they feel stressed, Cohen says it's time to take a break.

But remote work is a bad fit for some employees because they can feel disconnected from co-workers. That can be countered to some extent through messaging channels that allow everyone to contribute to a fun discussion. Cohen, for example, has chats for specific topics like pets or podcasts.

Jazmine Valencia has seven employees: three in her Los Angeles office, three in New York and one in Chicago. Her remote staff can feel left out when the onsite team discusses issues.

"I have to over-communicate and make sure everyone is on the same page," she says.

Nicolas Vandenberghe's company has 42 employees in 15 countries. His business makes software to help companies manage meetings – but when he needs a serious brainstorming session, he flies staff to where he is so they can meet in person.

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Today's topic is "Amazon Opens Cashier-less Grocery Store"

On February 25, Amazon opened its first cashier-less supermarket in its hometown of Seattle. Shoppers scan a smartphone app to enter the store, and cameras and sensors track what's taken off shelves. Shoppers never have to wait in line or open their wallets, and items are charged to an Amazon account after leaving.

Called Amazon Go Grocery, the new store expands on the company's 2-year-old chain of 25 Amazon Go convenience stores. It's 966 square meters – more than five times the size of the convenience stores – and stocks much more beyond the drinks and sandwiches found at Amazon Go.

Cameron Janes, who helps oversee Amazon's physical stores, said the technology had to be adjusted to account for how people squeeze tomatoes to see if they're ripe, or rummage through avocados to find just the right one.

Nothing at the store is weighed. One lime goes for 39 cents; a banana is 19 cents. There are no cashiers, but workers greet customers and walk around aisles restocking shelves. One employee stands by the alcohol section to check IDs.

However, cashier-less stores have been criticized for discriminating against low-income people who may not have a credit card or bank account. Amazon has since let customers pay with cash at its convenience stores, and the company said shoppers can do the same at the grocery store.

Amazon is not new to groceries. In 2017 it bought Whole Foods and its 500 stores, and it's also been expanding its online grocery delivery service. But it's still far behind rival Walmart, America's largest seller of groceries, which has more than 4,700 stores. Walmart's online grocery service has also been popular with customers, who buy online and then drive to a store to pick up their order.

Amazon would not say if it plans to open more Amazon Go Grocery stores, but it said there are no plans to bring the technology to Whole Foods stores.

Earlier in February, 7-Eleven said it was also testing a cashier-less store for employees inside its offices in Irving, Texas.

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Today's topic is "Putin Backs Constitutional Change Allowing Him to Stay in Office"

Russian President Vladimir Putin has supported a constitutional amendment that would allow him to seek reelection in 2024. The constitutional change would pave the way for the 67-year-old Putin to stay in office until 2036.

Valentina Tereshkova, an 83-year-old lawmaker who is revered in Russia as the first woman to travel to space, proposed either scrapping Russia's two-term limit for presidents or restarting the clock when the constitution is amended.

Putin and the lower house of parliament quickly endorsed the proposal. Lawmakers also passed a set of constitutional amendments that include defining marriage as a heterosexual union and language promising to respect "belief in God."

In a speech to lawmakers, Putin opposed doing away with the presidential term limit, saying, "Society must have guarantees of regular government rotation." But he backed stopping the count and restarting it in 2024, if the Russian Constitution is revised. Putin's current term ends in 2024.

A nationwide vote on the amendments is scheduled for April 22.

Putin has been in power for more than 20 years. He is Russia's longest-serving leader since Josef Stalin.

After serving two presidential terms in 2000-2008, Putin briefly became prime minister while his ally Dmitry Medvedev served as president. After Medvedev extended the length of a presidential term to six years, Putin reclaimed the presidency in 2012 and won another term in 2018.

Observers had been speculating as to what steps Putin would take to stay in power, but it wasn't clear until Tereshkova's proposal. Political analyst Abbas Gallyamov said Putin may have been prompted to act by the sudden decline in the value of the ruble, caused by a drop in global oil prices.

Opposition activists had been planning a March 21 protest rally in Moscow that they expected up to 50,000 people to attend. However, Moscow authorities quickly banned outdoor events with more than 5,000 people until April 10, saying it was necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

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Today's topic is "University is a Bad Deal for One in Five Students"

A study in England by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found that 20% of those who went to university would have more money if they hadn't, once things like taxes and the costs of studying were considered.

The study compared those who went to university with those who had similar grades in high school but chose not to go. On average, it found that those who went to university do earn about 20% more in their life than those who didn't. That's about $165,000 more for men and about $127,000 more for women.

However, the subject they study affects how much they earn. So much so, that for some subjects, a university degree can earn a person less over their life than what it cost them to get it.

Women who study creative arts and languages were a little better off compared to those who didn't go to university. But if women study law, economics or medicine, they could make almost $320,000 more. Men who study creative arts actually lose money compared to those who don't go to university but can make more than $600,000 extra if they study medicine or economics.

However, Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union says that just looking at income doesn't consider the other benefits that students and society get from people getting a university education.

Michelle Donelan, the UK universities minister agrees and told the Guardian that universities also offer "experiences and friendships".

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Today's topic is "Chinese App TikTok Becomes Popular with US Youth"

Chinese-owned video app TikTok is becoming more and more popular with young people in the United States. In 2019, it more than doubled its users in America to 37 million.

The service lets users create and share short videos, many of which are under 15 seconds. The TikTok app offers a wide choice of sounds, parts of songs, and special effects tools to help create the videos.

TikTok is especially popular with teens and young adults and is considered a competitor to video-sharing app Snapchat, as well as Facebook’s Instagram service. Last year, TikTok was the second-most downloaded app from Apple and Google stores — only WhatsApp was downloaded more.

While TikTok has continued to grow since its US launch in 2017, it has also received a lot of media attention for being the first Chinese-owned social-media service to become popular in the US. Some lawmakers have raised concerns that the app could be sharing information about users with the Chinese government.

TikTok claims that it does not share information with the Chinese government, but nonetheless, the US Department of Defence has asked its workers not to use the app, and the military has banned its use on government devices.

In addition, some groups and parents have said they are worried that young users are seeing videos on TikTok that they shouldn’t, such as those with sexual content. A group named Common Sense Media says parents should check to see what their children are watching and suggests only those aged over 16 should use the app.

Last year, TikTok agreed to pay the US government a $5.7 million fine for collecting personal information from children under 13. TikTok users are supposed to be at least 13 years old, but it does not confirm users’ ages. However, TikTok says it removes accounts that break this rule if they are reported by other users.

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Today's topic is "Phone Users in China Must Now Scan Their Faces"

Mobile phone users in China must now have their faces scanned when they register a new SIM card. The new rule began on December 1.

The Chinese government has said that the rule will stop SIM cards from being resold and protect people from phone scams. People in China already had to register SIM cards with their ID cards or passports, and many companies had already begun scanning people's faces in 2018.

Most people in China access the internet using their phones and the government has strict control over it – removing or blocking content it does not want citizens to see.

Since 2017, people wanting to use group chats or comment boards have had to register using their real names, though they can still display a different name to other users.

Speaking to the BBC, Jeffrey Ding of Oxford University said that internet security might be one reason for China getting rid of anonymous phone numbers and internet accounts. But he said another likely reason was the government's desire to watch its citizens – or at least try to.

The New York Times has reported that cameras in the Xinjiang region use facial recognition technology to track Uighurs, a mostly Muslim minority in western China. The Chinese government has also been accused of putting more than a million Muslims in camps, which it calls "vocational training centers."

In 2017, the South China Morning Post reported that the government was building a facial recognition system that could identify any of the country's 1.3 billion citizens in three seconds. However, the system was having a number of problems, and it was not clear when it would be completed.

In August this year, protesters in Hong Kong destroyed several "smart" lampposts because they were afraid they could be used to track their faces.

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Today's topic is "Hong Kong to Give 7 Million People $1,200 in Cash"

Hong Kong is giving about $1,280 to all permanent residents who are 18 years old or over. The payment is part of $15.4 billion the government plans to spend in the next year to help the local economy.

The government said that about 7 million people will receive the payment, which it hopes will encourage people to spend more money at local businesses. It said that Hong Kong's economy has slowed because of large protests that began in June 2019, as well as coronavirus from China.

The government also plans to cut income taxes for almost 2 million taxpayers, give low-income people who live in public housing a month of free rent, help businesses pay bills for things like water and electricity, and give extra money to 200,000 poor households.

The plan is part of Hong Kong's new government budget for 2020-2021. Financial Secretary Paul Chan said that it's the first time in 15 years the government will spend more than it has made from taxes. He said this is because the Hong Kong economy has been in recession since the middle of 2019.

However, although Hong Kong's budget problems are worse than some had expected, Hong Kong has over $145 billion in reserves, so it can afford the plan. "This actually is not that big [of] a deal," said Terence Chong of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, speaking to CNN.

Did you know?

Hong Kong is one of the wealthiest cities in the world and is home to 67 billionaires.

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Today's topic is "Dutch Team Building a 'Breathing' Tower in Dubai"

The world's tallest building is getting a new neighbor, and this one can "breathe" thanks to its ceramic wall cover.

Dutch architect Ben van Berkel and his company, UNStudio, designed Wasl Tower, which will be built next to Dubai's 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa. The buildings are so close, in fact, that they will share a train station.

When the 302-meter-tall Wasl Tower is finished in August 2021, it will have one of the tallest ceramic facades in the world.

Ceramic "fins" will cover the outside walls of the $400 million building, letting light in while reducing the amount of heat that enters. This will make it easier to manage the building's temperature.

According to UNStudio, the tiles on the outside of the building will reflect sunlight in a way that makes the tower look like it is growing and getting smaller, similar to breathing. And it will continue to "breathe" at night thanks to LED lights behind the ceramic facade.

Another feature is the twisting shape of the building, which has a wide, twisting line that goes almost from its bottom to its top. Called the "Vertical Boulevard," the line is made of balconies that go all the way up to the top of the building, where there are swimming pools on the roof.

"This boulevard connects the outdoor with the indoor, which is a unique feature for this region," says UNStudio.

The building's twisting shape is based on the way some famous artworks stand, called "contrapposto," in which most of the body's weight is on one foot, making the hips and shoulders twist in opposite directions.

First used in Greek sculptures around 2,500 years ago, more recent examples of contrapposto include Michelangelo's David and The Birth of Venus by Botticelli.

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