Weekly News Quiz for Students

More than 97 million people have cast ballots either through in-person early voting and by mail, despite an array of challenges: a pandemic, postal delays, long lines, and court rulings that have tested faith in the country’s electoral system.

In Texas and Hawaii, turnout has already exceeded the total vote from 2016, with days left for absentee ballots to be returned. Ten other states, including major battlegrounds like Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada, have surpassed 80 percent of the turnout from the last presidential election. Over all, the early turnout has set the country on course to surpass 150 million votes for the first time in history.

The impact of this huge surge in turnout is one of the most unpredictable facets of the election, as strategists in both parties parse early returns for signs of any advantage. Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, is counting on a strong early vote to help him flip states like Florida and Arizona that President Trump carried in 2016. But Republicans are banking on their voters to turn out in bigger numbers on Election Day and deliver battleground wins, as they did in key states in 2016.

On their eighth consecutive trip to the postseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers finally became champions again. They beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-1, in Game 6 of the World Series on Oct. 27 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, as Mookie Betts hit a double and a home run and scored twice. It was the team’s first World Series win since 1988.

Hurricane Zeta lashed the Louisiana coast on Oct. 28 with heavy rainfall and powerful winds that officials feared could pulverize parts of New Orleans as the storm made landfall with Category 2 strength.

Zeta, which was responsible for at least one death, is the fifth major storm to hit Louisiana this year, coming as yet another blow late in a long and punishing hurricane season that has wrought billions of dollars in devastation in the state and left many residents worn out.

After making landfall near the fishing village of Cocodrie, Louisiana, the storm quickly moved northeast through New Orleans and along the Mississippi coast, knocking out power to more than 500,000 people in Louisiana alone.

The 2020 election has blown past previous records with the final tally for the battle for the White House and control of the Senate and the House expected to hit nearly $14 billion. That is double the previous high for federal races set just four years ago.

The biggest driver of political spending this year has been—no surprise—the presidential race, as enormous sums have poured into the match-up between former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. Their contest alone is projected to cost $6.6 billion—more than was spent on the White House race and every congressional campaign combined in 2016.

The surge of spending is powered by donations at both ends of the giving spectrum as small donors, particularly online, are playing an increasingly central role in funding campaigns. At the same time, billionaires and multimillionaires are writing enormous checks to super PACs.

A knife-wielding assailant left two people dead in Nice’s towering basilica, and a third victim died after taking refuge in a nearby bar.

Jean-François Ricard, France’s top antiterrorism prosecutor, said the suspected killer was a Tunisian man. He was arrested after lunging at police officers while yelling “Allahu akbar” (a phrase used in Muslim prayers), and was hospitalized with serious wounds.

The deaths in Nice came less than two weeks after the beheading of a teacher by a Islamic extremist. 

French officials have decried what they say is a growing threat of terrorism and President Emmanuel Macron has pointed a finger at Islam, arousing the anger of Muslims in France and abroad. Because of its long history of colonialism in Africa and the Middle East, France now has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, with more than 5 million in the country. But Muslims there often face discrimination for looking, dressing, or praying differently than the Christian majority. 

A team of scientists used SOFIA, an infrared telescope mounted inside a 747 jumbo jet, to make observations that showed unambiguous evidence of water on parts of the moon where the sun shines.

Although that water could be difficult to collect by astronauts, another group of researchers also reported on Oct. 26 that smaller and shallower depressions in the same areas may also be cold enough to hold onto water ice for millions, if not billions, of years.

These small water ice deposits could be a “real game changer,” says Paul O. Hayne, a professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences at the University of Colorado, who led that research. “It could make it much more accessible to future astronauts and rover missions.”

Sean Connery was remembered on Oct. 31 by other James Bond actors and franchise producers as “one of the true greats of cinema” who most embodied the fictional spy character James Bond. 

“Bond, James Bond” was the character’s familiar self-introduction, and to legions of fans who have watched a parade of actors play the role—otherwise known as Agent 007—none uttered the words or acted the part as magnetically or as unforgettably as Connery. He played the spy in seven films, beginning with “Dr. No” in 1962.