President Trump demoted campaign manager Brad Parscale and replaced him with his deputy, hours after a brutal new round of polls showed Trump losing five of six swing states — and sinking into a double-digit hole nationally.

Why it matters: Trump's announcement — on Facebook, in the midst of a Twitter outage — shows that he knows he's losing.

The debate over whether and how much to re-open schools in the fall has put teachers in the precarious position of choosing between their own safety and the pressures from some parents and local officials.

Why it matters: Teachers are the core of K-12 education. The people we depend on to educate our society's children may end up bearing the brunt of both the risk and the workload.

The coronavirus continues to spread nearly unchecked across almost the entire country: 37 states saw their caseloads increase over the past week, and only two states experienced a meaningful improvement.

Why it matters: These rapidly escalating outbreaks will translate into thousands of deaths and make it all the harder to safely reopen schools or otherwise reclaim some sense of normalcy.

242 collegiate athletic programs have been cut amid the pandemic, altering the careers and lives of thousands of student-athletes.

Yes, but: Some passionate alumni groups have opted to fight, banding together in hopes of saving the programs they helped build and continue to love.

Lost amid headlines about the coronavirus pandemic and the seemingly unstoppable stock market rally, has been the monthslong escalation of tensions in the U.S.-China trade war —  and it's likely here to stay.

Why it matters: The tariffs continue to impress a sizable tax on U.S. companies and consumers, adding additional costs and red tape for small businesses, farmers, manufacturers and households trying to stay afloat amid the pandemic.

Facebook announced Thursday that it will add labels to all posts from presidential candidates and federally-elected officials that mention voting or ballots, regardless of whether they contain misinformation.

Why it matters: It's the tech giant's response to scrutiny that it doesn't do enough to tackle voter suppression on its platform. Earlier this year, Facebook — unlike Twitter — did not take action against posts from President Trump that included false information about mail-in voting.

Spotify announced Thursday that "The Michelle Obama Podcast," the first podcast as part of its partnership with the Obamas' production company Higher Ground, will debut on July 29 for both free and paid subscribers.

Why it matters: It's the latest big media project from the former first lady. Her stated goal, alongside former President Obama, is to use media platforms like podcasts, film and social media to help Americans achieve a greater understanding of the world and to inspire young people.

Twitter's major security incident Wednesday — in which hackers took over the accounts of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Bill Gates and other notable figures to push a cryptocurrency scam — stunned the worlds of politics and tech.

Why it matters: As bad as Wednesday's rampage was — and it was bad — the real fallout came as business leaders, politicians and everyday users realized that their chosen network for real-time information is even more vulnerable to being hijacked than they thought.

A pandemic would normally be a time when public health expertise and data are in urgent demand — yet President Trump and his administration have been going all out to undermine them.

Why it matters: There's a new example almost every day of this administration trying to marginalize the experts and data that most administrations lean on and defer to in the middle of a global crisis.

1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 5 a.m. ET: 13,565,868 — Total deaths: 584,385 — Total recoveries — 7,570,721 — Map.
2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 5 a.m. ET: 3,499,398 — Total deaths: 137,419 — Total recoveries: 1,075,882 — Total tested: 42,521,027 — Map.
3. States: Alabama's GOP governor issues statewide mask mandate — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt tests positive.
4. Politics: Fauci says White House effort to discredit him is "bizarre" — Trump says trade adviser Peter Navarro shouldn't have written op-ed attacking Fauci.
5. Schools: Houston and San Francisco public school districts to be online-only this fall

A number of prominent Twitter accounts, including those of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Gates and Elon Musk, appear to have been compromised Wednesday, posting messages tied to a cryptocurrency scam.

The latest: Twitter temporarily disabled all verified accounts from tweeting for several accounts. At about 8:45 pm ET, Twitter said in a statement: "Most accounts should be able to Tweet again. As we continue working on a fix, this functionality may come and go. We're working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible."

President Trump announced on Wednesday that Bill Stepien will take over as his new 2020 campaign manager.

Why it matters: The elevation of Stepien is a demotion for Brad Parscale, Trump's existing campaign manager. Parscale was hand-picked by Jared Kushner, the president's adviser and son-in-law. He had been in the role longer than any of Trump's previous campaign managers.