CNN Town Hall

According to the Flipside, on October 21, there was a CNN Town Hall. President Joe Biden was asked if the U.S. would protect Taiwan when under attack by China. The president answered ¨Yes, we have a commitment to do that.¨

Pakistan Helping The Environment

According to an article in Upfront Magazine, ¨Planting 10 Billion Trees¨ (October 11) Pakistan is known for not doing a lot to prevent climate change. The Pakistanis want to get rid of that, though. In 2019 they started the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami initiative. Their plan is to plant 10 billion trees by 2028. The program has already planted one billion trees and gets everyone a part of helping the community. The government is working on switching to renewable energy and using electric taxis.

Trees cut down on carbon dioxide, which helps decrease climate change. Trees also give us oxygen, which of course we need to breathe. They make our water clean, keep soil from erosion, and give us shade. (Arbor Day Foundation)

Digital Dollar

According to Upfront Magazine, ¨Will The Dollar Go Digital”, Annabelle Huang won a lottery from the Chinese government. Instead of winning regular money, she got to try out China’s new digital money. On her phone, she received 200 Chinese yuan, which is worth 30 dollars in American money. When she went to a store to buy nuts and yogurt, she pulled up a QR code on her phone for the money. The store scanned it and it counted as a payment.

In the United States, many people use money digitally, through Apple Pay/Google Pay, Venmo, and digital cards.

Marking ¨X¨ On A Passport

In the past when people had to select their genders for their passport there were only two options: male and female. Starting next year anyone who is a citizen of the U.S. that doesn’t classify as either can mark ¨X¨ on their passport. Activists who fight for social and gender rights support this idea. The LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group said that this makes people feel more comfortable. Other countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Nepal, and New Zealand let people choose a gender that is not female or male for their passports. (The Juice)

Halloween Candy

It is predicted that America will buy 3 billion dollars of candy this Halloween. It’s predicted that Americans will spend over 10 billion dollars just on Halloween in general. The top ten Halloween candies for America are Reese´s Cups, Skittles, M&M´s, Starburst, Hot Tamales, Sour Patch Kids, Hershey Kisses, Snickers, Tootsie Pops, and Candy Corn. The top ten Halloween candies overall are Reese´s Cups, M&M´s, Skittles, Snickers, Sour Patch Kids, Kit Kats, Twix, Hershey Bars, Butterfingers, and Nerds. However, the worst Halloween candies are Candy Corn, Circus Peanuts, Peanut Butter Kisses, Smarties, Necco Wafers, Wax Coke bottles, Mary Janes, Tootsie Rolls, Good & Plenty, and black licorice. (Newsela)