Data Vis Dispatch, October 20: Work friendships, heat storms, and expensive stamps

We start this week off looking at a current hot topic: the U.S. midterm elections. Debates between Senate candidates are polarising social media feeds, while research into instances of non-citizen voting reveals their rarity. As the latest election polls reveal potential outcomes, redistricting is expected to strongly affect residents.

Turning to U.S. foreign affairs, Americans hold varied views of other G20 countries. In terms of immigration policies, the Trump administration has cut visas for immigrants from nearly half of the globe.

Shifting to international politics, middle powers are facing a new threat due to collusion between major countries. Meanwhile, the EU's trade deficit with China is harming the EU economy.

On the topic of extreme wealth, an interactive archive reveals Germany's richest people, while detailed records show the major donors who contributed to Trump’s White House ballroom project. As most billionaires' wealth is taxed differently from income, they are able to accumulate significant wealth.

The effects of AI can be seen in both students' academic performance and the U.S. stock market. While data centres are increasing the capabilities of AI models, some facilities have failed to comply with legal requirements to report their water usage.

Moving on to rising prices, residential electricity prices vary between providers, while Amazon is increasingly charging high seller fees. In the real estate market, a generational shift could lead to lower house prices in certain areas.

The effects of climate change are more apparent than ever, with heat storms, precipitation anomalies, and rising sea levels being observed. Continued deforestation of the Amazon could further worsen the situation.

We present a selection of maps consisting of a 3D map of Japan, a collection of maps illustrating the shrinking population in East Germany, and a global internet infrastructure map.

We end this Dispatch with some other topics: the current Ebola outbreak, protests in India, marathon finishing times, frog species, work friendships, expensive stamps, extreme poverty, and the profitability of movies.