📌 Postal Ballots, Trump, More

Over 35 state and local officials have raised concerns about the US Postal Service's ability to deliver millions of ballots for the election.

In a letter to the US postmaster general, they voiced questions about processing facility operations, lost or delayed election mail, and front-line training deficiencies impacting the USPS’s ability to deliver election mail in a timely and accurate manner.

Despite repeated meetings with USPS election staff, "we have not seen improvement or concerted efforts to remediate our concerns.”

The letter added that, over the past two years, in nearly every state, local election officials are receiving postmarked ballots “well outside the three to five business days USPS claims as the First-Class delivery standard.”

USPS said, on average, it delivers mail in 2.7 days but continues “to recommend as a common-sense measure that voters should mail their completed ballot before Election Day, and at least one week prior to their state’s deadline.”

The USPS inspector general's office has said 46% of votes were cast by mail in the November 2020 presidential election, compared with 21% in the 2016 election.

Donald Trump emerged Wednesday from a rocky debate against Kamala Harris looking to regain his footing.

Not even three months ago, Trump stepped off the debate stage in Atlanta having watched President Joe Biden deliver a disjointed, whispery performance that led the 81-year-old Democrat to end his reelection bid and endorse Harris.

By the end of Tuesday night, the 78-year-old Trump was on the defensive after the 59-year-old Harris controlled much of the debate, repeatedly baiting the Republican former president into agitated answers.

The performance left many Republicans scrambling to pick apart Harris’ performance and insisting that Trump still has time to refocus on the economy, immigration, and other issues that could sway a closely divided electorate.

Harris’ campaign pitched for a second debate. Fox News has proposed an October matchup with moderators that Trump has indicated he does not prefer. He said via his Truth Social account Wednesday there is no need for a second round. “She was beaten badly last night ... so why would I do a Rematch?”

Trump and Harris were together briefly Wednesday in New York, where they joined President Biden and other dignitaries to mark the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Apple and Google suffered defeats against the European Union's efforts to rein in the dominance of major tech firms.

The EU's top court, the European Court of Justice, sided with the bloc's executive arm, the European Commission (EC), in a case that requires Apple to pay $14 billion in back taxes to Ireland. The high court also upheld a $2.7 billion fine against Google for alleged antitrust violations.

In 2016, the EC ordered Apple to pay 13 billion euros ($14.4 billion) in back taxes to Ireland, claiming it benefited from two Irish tax rulings for over two decades that artificially reduced its tax burden.

Apple and Ireland appealed the ruling, which was annulled in 2020, but the EC appealed and won the final verdict on Tuesday. Apple said in a statement it was disappointed by the ruling.

The case against Google stems from 2017, when the EC issued a fine for using its price comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals. Europe's high court judges determined that EU law does not sanction the existence of a dominant position but its abusive exploitation.

EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager called the Apple ruling “a huge win for European citizens and tax justice” and the Google decision “a big win for digital fairness.”

Taylor Swift won seven categories at the MTV Video Music Awards, becoming the most decorated solo artist of the VMAs.

Swift, who was already the most nominated artist at the start of the evening, ended it by surpassing Beyoncé’s record set as a solo artist, winning her 30th VMA. She won the night’s top award, Video of the Year.

Though Eminem opened the show with an army of Slim Shady doppelgängers, evoking his 2000 VMA performance, the 2024 awards belonged to women, with an international cast of female artists dominating the airtime.

Ascendant star Sabrina Carpenter sang Please Please Please from a swing, kissed an alien for Taste, and teased astronauts as she performed Espresso, which won song of the year.

Lenny Kravitz’s three-song medley provided a masterclass in rock star charisma, while fellow veterans LL Cool J and Public Enemy joined forces for a medley of old-school hits to honor the groundbreaking hip-hop label Def Jam.

This year’s lifetime achievement prize, the Video Vanguard Award, went to Katy Perry. She performed a medley of her biggest hits, including Dark Horse, ET, California Gurls, Teenage Dream, I Kissed a Girl and Firework.

The first US troops deployed after the 9/11 attacks are suffering from radiation exposure that the government has yet to recognize.

“K2 veterans were the first group deployed in the war on terror, and they are still on a lazy Susan of bureaucratic nonsense, keeping them from getting the benefits and health care that they earned,” said comedian Jon Stewart, an advocate for K2 veterans' recognition and benefits.

Special operations forces were first sent to Karshi-Khanabad, known as K2, in October 2001 to launch missions against the Taliban. Veterans later reported cancers and kidney problems linked to radiation exposure at their base.

Troops found clumps of yellow powder scattered near bunkers where Soviet troops had stored missiles after invading Afghanistan in 1979. Testing showed it was radioactive uranium, according to a declassified Defense Department assessment.

Thousands of K2 veterans have reported severe health issues, but agreements do not cover their radiation exposure claims. Grassroots organizations and bipartisan congressional efforts are pushing for recognition and support.

The White House and Pentagon stress their commitment to reviewing K2 radiation data, but studies are ongoing. A pivotal John Hopkins study isn't due until 2031, prolonging relief and benefit decisions for affected veterans.

OpenAI plans to release “Strawberry," its reasoning-focused artificial intelligence, as part of its ChatGPT service in two weeks.

“The Information” report, which cited two testers, said Strawberry differs from other conversational AI because it "thinks" before responding rather than immediately answering a query.

According to “The Information,” while Strawberry is a part of ChatGPT, it is a standalone offering. But it is unclear exactly how it will be offered.

The report said the initial version can only take in and produce text and not images, which means it is not yet multimodal. OpenAi said last week that it has over one million paying users across its business products.

Hotels.com revealed some of the most unusual items left behind at its partner hotels worldwide.

The website's annual Hotel Room Innsights Report, based on data from more than 400 hotels, revealed the most common items left behind by guests include phone chargers, dirty laundry, power adapters, makeup and toiletries.

Some of the most unusual items left behind in rooms include a Rolex watch, another watch worth $6 million, a Hermes Birkin bag, keys and documents for a luxury car, a car tire, an engagement ring, a tooth, two full-leg casts, stacks of cash, a pet lizard and a chick.

Hotels.com said the lizard and chick were safely reunited with their owners.

The report also detailed some of the most unusual room service requests, including an Evian-filled tub for a child's bath, a customized allergen menu for a pet, burnt toast, a caviar hot dog, fresh goat milk, and a high five from a team member "to ensure their room service request was read.”