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The Spill: Amazon Fires, Japan Trade, and What is the Electoral College?

All the hot news this week.

By:  |  September 2, 2019  |    483 Words
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(Photo by Gustavo Basso/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Welcome to LNGenZ’s roundup of the trending topics in the news this week.

Amazon Fires: New Crisis or Old News?

According to recent reports, 9,000 fires are raging in the Amazon rainforest. Many people have described the situation as a crisis and believe the area may soon be destroyed. While the fires are a problem, this is not the first time the rainforest has faced these conditions. Despite headlines declaring a record number of blazes, the number of fires is not actually much higher than the average. Beyond that, according to recent research, the rainforest is not as ancient as people believe.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has responded to this crisis by announcing the deployment of military forces to combat the fires. Despite the recent claims that there 2019 has seen the greatest number of fires in the Amazon, the current amount is not much higher than the average. In 2005 there were a similar amount of fires in the Brazilian rainforest.

To read more, click here.

US and Japan Agree on Trade Deal

President Trump recently traveled to France for the G7 summit, which took place on August 24 and 25. The G7 is an international meeting of seven countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and the Unites States.

During the final day of the G7, President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced to reporters that they had reached a trade agreement. The deal will concentrate on agriculture (farming), industry, and digital trade. Under the deal, Japan is expected to buy $7 billion of US agricultural products – this is “very good news” for American farmers and ranchers.

Japan will import more corn, wheat, pork, dairy, beef, and wine; corn is important for Japan right now because of a pest problem that impacts its domestic products. In exchange, the US will cut tariffs (import taxes) on most Japanese industrial products. For now, Tokyo and Washington have agreed to “core principles,” but the next step is putting it on paper.

To read more, click here.

How Does the Electoral College Work?

The electoral college has been the subject of debate since it was first created. With elections coming in 2020, people are arguing about it once again. So what is the electoral college, and why do we need it?

Every four years, the United States has an election to pick a new president. While people do vote in a general election, the president is picked by a group called the electoral college. There are 538 people – called electors – in the electoral college. That’s one for every Representative and Senator in each state. A presidential candidate needs at least 270 of those electoral votes to win.

Each party has its own set of electors. States have different rules on how the electors are appointed. When you vote for president, you are picking electors who will vote for your candidate later.

To read more, click here.

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