“Dead” bill buried

An extradition bill that sparked the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong was formally withdrawn yesterday. In response to widespread demonstrations opposing the legislation, Chief Executive Carrie Lam suspended the bill in June, declared it dead in July, and agreed to withdraw it in September.

Bolivia’s state of emergency

Following a Sunday presidential election and amid allegations of vote-rigging, Bolivian President Evo Morales declared a state of emergency yesterday after protesters set fire to electoral offices in three cities. The country’s election authorities announced Monday night that the sitting president had narrowly won a fourth term, but opposition leaders and international observers have raised questions about the validity of the count.

Syria, Turkey, and Russia

After a deal between Russia and Turkey was signed on Tuesday, Russia deployed troops to Syria’s border region. The United States said yesterday it would lift sanctions on Turkey after the country announced it was ending its military offensive in northern Syria.

Dirty Laundry

According to a WSJ investigative report, Amazon currently offers a selection of clothing from dozens of Bangladeshi factories that most other leading retailers have deemed too dangerous to use. After a 2013 factory collapse in the country resulted in more than 1,100 deaths, most of the biggest U.S. apparel retailers, including Walmart and Target, pledged to stop selling clothing from factories that violated certain safety standards.

Surprise Surplus

Tesla released its Q3 update after the bell Wednesday, revealing it is ahead of schedule on a new factory in Shanghai and reporting earnings of $1.86 per share on revenue of $6.3 billion - analysts had predicted a loss of around 40 cents per share. Shares rose around 20% in after-hours trading on the news.

Quantum Quarrel

Google said yesterday it has solved a complex problem using a quantum computer that would take today’s most powerful supercomputer thousands of years to solve. While this is a supposed breakthrough in computing research, rival IBM claimed a supercomputer with a different setup could solve the same problem in around two-and-a-half days.

Lunar America

Spacebit, a U.K.-based lunar rover startup, has announced a partnership with two Latin American companies - the Ecuadorian Civilian Space Agency and Mexico’s Dereum - to develop robotic exploration hardware for use on the Moon. This marks the first time there has been Latin American involvement in a lunar surface mission.

Happily ever (a long time) after

Bob Harvey and Annette Adkins were high school sweethearts, prom dates, and first loves in Virginia in the 1950s. But after graduation, the two lost touch – and there wasn’t exactly a social media network to search when phone numbers stopped working.

Bob and Annette both moved on, got married, and had families. But, according to Bob, he never forgot about Annette. After Bob’s wife passed away in 2017, Annette was on his mind again. After a quick internet search, he found her phone number. As it turned out, Annette had also been recently widowed. They reconnected immediately.

Annette invited Bob to visit, and Bob said his heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he saw her. Earlier this month, the high school sweethearts got married – 60 years after they went to prom together. After the ceremony, they celebrated at a 50s-style diner, and danced to music from the jukebox. “It was 1956 all over again,” said Bob.

Game Changer

While video games often get a bad rap, 14-year-old Reilly Howard proved that life-saving connections can happen anywhere. Reilly often joins video games with strangers over the internet, and he’d recently started playing with a 13-year-old in Florida. They communicated regularly over the game, and before long, Reilly noticed something was a little off.

One night, Reilly logged on to find his new friend in tears, struggling to even breathe. The boy told Reilly that he was thinking of hurting himself that night. Reilly kept him talking for nearly two hours, and eventually convinced him to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

When Reilly’s parents got home, he explained what had happened. Now, he’s being recognized by his hometown, though he insists that all he was doing was helping out a friend who needed it. “I said, ‘I'll see you tomorrow, I'm going to be playing with you tomorrow. Nothing is going to happen tonight,'" said Reilly. You never know when something so simple might save a life.

If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, help can be found at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. You can also text TALK to 741741 for free and anonymous crisis support in the U.S. from the Crisis Text Line.