Day-To-Day Operations

Belarus Protests Continue After Election

Belarus authorities on Wednesday said over 6,000 citizens have been arrested during ongoing protests stemming from Sunday’s disputed election results. Incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko has been accused of rigging the ballot after results showed him winning a sixth term with 80% of the vote. Two protesters have died in the demonstrations, which have involved confirmed reports of police using live ammunition.

More: Belarus’ leading opposition candidate fled the country for Lithuania on Tuesday after reportedly meeting with government officials.

Midwest Derecho’s Impact Continues

More than 107,000 Iowa residents reportedly remain without power in the wake of Monday’s derecho - a series of fast moving wind/thunderstorms - that left a trail of destruction across NE, IA, & IL. More than 10 million acres of soybean and corn crops in Iowa were reportedly damaged, representing ~43% of the cropland in the U.S.’ top corn-producing state.

COVID Roundup: New Jersey’s governor said he will allow schools to reopen for in-person learning next month. | Scientists from UC San Francisco have created a nasal spray that reportedly helps prevent COVID-19. | Check your state’s ICU capacity.

Driving Off Into The Sunset

On Wednesday, rideshare giants Uber and Lyft separately announced they may temporarily suspend service in California if the state does not overturn a recent ruling requiring the companies to classify their drivers as employees. Both CEOs stressed the importance of an upcoming ballot measure, Proposition 22, which would exempt certain drivers from being considered employees.

More: Lyft reported second-quarter earnings after market close yesterday, disclosing a more than 50% decrease in riders and revenue but pointing to more encouraging trends in recent months.

TikTok’s Track Record

A WSJ analysis found that TikTok collected and tracked unique identifiers from millions of mobile devices on Google’s Android operating system without user consent. TikTok reportedly collected user data for at least 15 months (ending with an update last November) using a workaround to bypass Google’s restrictions.

Profession Of Recession

The UK’s Office of National Statistics announced the country’s GDP shrank 20.4% in Q2 2020 compared to the previous quarter, officially signaling the country’s worst economic recession on record. The most recent month (June) showed promising signs of recovery, but GDP remained well below pre-pandemic levels.

Worth Noting: Media mogul Sumner Redstone (principal owner of ViacomCBS) died Tuesday at the age of 97.

New Product Launch: Microsoft unveiled the Surface Duo on Wednesday. The $1,399 device features two 5.6-inch screens that come together to form a larger display.

Correction: Yesterday, we linked to the wrong story when covering Bodyarmour's plans to dethrone Gatorade by 2025. View the real link here.

Taking A Page From Booker

According to the nonprofit Get Georgia Reading, two-thirds of the third-grade students in Georgia read below their grade level. Thus, to promote literacy among young learners, librarian Meghen Bassel of Newton County, GA, decided to introduce the students at South Salem Elementary School to an essential resource for learning to read – a well-trained listener.

When school is in session, Meghen brings her dog Booker T. Pug – named after notable American educator Booker T. Washington – into the school’s media center, where the certified therapy dog patiently sits and listens as students read books aloud to him. Booker, a show dog who placed sixth out of 27 pugs in the 2019 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, helps the children gain confidence in their reading skills by serving as a nonjudgmental audience member.

Cards FOR Humanity

In June, after three months in quarantine, 14-year-old Jessica Ong of Poway, CA, began to feel helpless. As she witnessed reports of rising COVID-19 cases, an economic downturn, and protests, the high schooler struggled to find a way that people her age could create meaningful change in their communities.

Noting the powerful impacts of small acts of kindness, Jessica founded the nonprofit Cards 4 Kindness, an organization that enlists young people to write positive messages to those who may feel overlooked, such as hospital workers, senior citizens, and those experiencing illness. The compassionate campaign quickly grew into a global phenomenon, which now includes 380 ambassadors who, to date, have written a combined 1,200 cards.

Branching Out

The theory behind mass tree planting was first formulated in the early 2000s when scientists developed the hypothesis that the surplus of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere could be balanced by the restoration of the world’s deforested areas. Since then, several forest rehabilitation initiatives have arisen worldwide, mobilizing task forces to complete ambitious environmental projects.

Last month, the employees of Ecosia – a search engine that uses advertising revenue to fund environmental restoration – planted their one-hundred-millionth tree. The staggering supply of saplings has the potential to remove 1,771 tons of carbon dioxide from the air each day and provides habitats to endangered animals whose homes were previously destroyed by logging and wildfires.

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From the CEO’s Desk…
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