News of the World

[kyonides]

Decades of Student Progress Wiped Out; National Math and Reading Scores at Historic Lows

National math test scores in fourth and eighth grades showed the biggest drop since a national testing program began in 1990, and the reading level for the same grades reverted to a level from three decades ago.
Eighth-grade math performance has dropped eight points since 2019, and about a third of students in both grades can’t read at the minimum required level, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report.
NAEP, also known as the “Nation’s Report Card,” is the only national and continuing assessment program administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the Department of Education. The Nation’s Report Card is the gold standard for measuring student academic achievements. The results released on Oct. 24 were based on tests administered in the spring.
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U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona called the results “appalling” and “unacceptable.”
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Virginia saw the sharpest decline in the nation in fourth-grade reading scores, 13.6 points since 2017 and three times the national average.
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He said the reason for Virginia’s decline was lowered standards and expectations and gave examples of recent events: the 2017 accreditation standard revision and the lowering of standards for math (2019) and reading (2020) in the Commonwealth’s Standard of Learning tests.

Emphasis is totally mine and it's there for a worrisome reason indeed.

But man, lowering the standards sound like a crazy measure from the very beginning.

Newsom Says He’s Not Eyeing Oval Office Despite Shots at GOP Presidential Contenders

If reelected, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is committed to finishing his four-year term as governor—a promise that reiterates his consistent denial of rumors that he is running for president.

Newsom announced his intention during the first and likely only gubernatorial debate ahead of the Nov. 8 election. He met his opponent, state Sen. Brian Dahle, in San Francisco for a debate aired by KQED Sunday afternoon.

The candidates fielded questions about issues impacting California and presented voters with a picture of how they would approach the job in the final weeks before the Nov. 8 election. Newsom is expected to win reelection over Dahle, a Republican and farmer from rural California who recent polling shows is unfamiliar among most likely voters.
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The two candidates spent a sizable period of time talking about inflation and the impact it’s having on Californians—particularly at the gas pump. Newsom agreed that inflation is a big issue impacting voters and touted the $9.5 billion in rebate checks to address the high cost of gas and food.

US Charges 10 CCP Spies in Alleged Espionage Campaigns Targeting Americans

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Oct. 24 announced charges against 10 Chinese intelligence officers and officials over their alleged involvement in espionage campaigns in the United States to further communist China’s strategic interests.

The charges, across three separate cases, accuse agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of conspiring to forcibly repatriate Chinese dissidents living in the United States, obstructing the criminal prosecution of a Chinese telecommunications company, developing pro-China spies within the United States, and illegally acting as agents of the CCP’s intelligence and security apparatus. A total of 13 individuals were charged.
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He Guochen and Wang Zheng orchestrated a scheme to steal files and other information from the U.S. attorney’s office in New York, according to court documents.

The complaint alleges that He and Wang are intelligence officers conducting foreign intelligence operations targeting the United States on behalf of the CCP and the telecommunications company. It alleges the effort had continued since at least 2019.

He and Wang sought to interfere with the prosecution of the company by bribing a U.S. government employee to steal top secret documents including witness lists, details on employees associated with the case, and prosecutors’ notes which, according to court documents, were “expected to cause serious damage to the national security of the United States.” These documents were then delivered to higher-ranking intelligence officers in China, according to prosecutors.

In exchange, He and Wang paid the government employee more than $41,000 in bitcoin, jewelry, and cash, and advised them as to a location in Las Vegas where they could convert the assets to U.S. dollars, according to the criminal complaint.

What He and Wang didn’t know was that the documents they received were fake, the DOJ said. The government employee they believed themselves to have compromised was in fact a double agent for the FBI.

Both He and Wang remain at large.

India Successfully Launches Rocket Carrying 36 Satellites Into Orbit

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said Sunday that it had successfully launched its heaviest rocket carrying 36 satellites owned by London-based satellite company OneWeb into orbit.

The LVM3 rocket was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 12:07 a.m. local time carrying 36 OneWeb satellites and weighing 5,796 kilograms in total, according to the agency.

ISRO said the satellites detached successfully from the rocket and were dispensed in nine phases over a period of 1 hour and 15 minutes.
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The liftoff from southern India was the first launch for OneWeb since breaking with the Russian Space Agency in March because of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

OneWeb now has 462 satellites flying, which is more than 70 percent of what the company said it needs to provide broadband services around the world.

Despite this year’s disruption, OneWeb said it remains on track to activate global coverage in 2023 with a planned constellation of 648 satellites. It’s already providing service in the northernmost latitudes.

 Why am I feeling quite uneasy all of a sudden after reading that last paragraph, guys?