Not every county will count mail-in ballots before Election Day

Reuters
Israel sends tanks into Rafah on raids amid Gaza-wide offensive
Israeli tanks conducted a second day of probing attacks across Rafah on Wednesday, after Washington said the assault did not amount to a major ground incursion of the southern Gazan city that U.S. officials had told Israel to avoid. Israeli tanks advanced to the heart of Rafah for the first time on Tuesday after a night of heavy bombardment, defying an appeal from the International Court of Justice to end its attack on the city, one of the last places of refuge in Gaza. The United States, Israel's closest ally, reiterated its opposition to a major Israeli ground offensive in Rafah but said on Tuesday it did not believe such an operation was under way.
USA TODAY
You're not imagining it: There's been a lot of tornadoes this spring. Here's why.
The data is still rolling in, but experts already know spring 2024 has been an active and deadly season for tornadoes.
USA TODAY
Alaska trawler bill garners industry reaction, most Alaskans support banning them: poll
Alaska Congresswoman speaks on bycatch, sustainability and fishery management's impacts on subsistence communities.
Reuters
US gives school districts $900 million for electric school buses
The funding is the third tranche of $5 billion that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hand out over five years through a clean school bus program created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021. The EPA rebates will support the purchase of 3,400 school buses, 92% of them electric, the White House said.
Time
Why Deadly Bus Accidents Are So Common in Developing Countries
While buses are among the safest modes of travel in the U.S. and Europe, researchers have found the “opposite” is true in the developing world.
Reuters
Kosovo prepares to house 300 inmates from Denmark, raising human rights concerns
In a jail in eastern Kosovo, plans are underway to remove all domestic inmates and open the space for foreign prisoners who will be airlifted from Denmark, more than 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) away. Denmark is expected to send 300 inmates to the Balkan country, a first for Kosovo and a move highly criticized by Danish human rights experts. Kosovo's prison service will rebuild the Gjilan jail during the next two years to Danish standards before receiving the convicts from non-European Union countries, who were due to be deported from Denmark after their sentences.
Reuters
China to invest more than $830 million in solid-state battery research -source
China plans to invest more than 6 billion yuan ($830 million) in a government-led project to develop solid-state batteries with six firms eligible for state funding to work on the next-generation technology, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. Solid-state batteries hold the promise of improved safety, a longer lifespan and faster charging compared with conventional lithium-ion batteries that use flammable liquid electrolytes. China is seeking to cement its lead in the global EV market after early and heavy investment in domestic supply chains helped it become the most cost-competitive battery and EV producer in the world.
AFP
Inside a semiconductor 'clean room' at Japan's top university
To study semiconductors at Japan's top university, first you need the right clothes -- protective overalls, shoe covers, plastic gloves and a lightweight balaclava to keep your hair out of the way.Chip expert and University of Tokyo professor Tadahiro Kuroda said Japan's push into a sector where it was once dominant feels like "spring has returned".
Associated Press
Biden, Harris to launch Black voter outreach effort amid signs of diminished support
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are stepping up their reelection pitch to Black voters, a key part of their 2020 winning coalition that has shown signs of fraying. The two will stop at Girard College, an independent boarding school in Philadelphia with a predominantly Black student body, and visit a small business to speak to members of the Black Chamber of Commerce. The Philadelphia stops are the start of what the campaign is describing as an eight-figure, summerlong effort to engage Black student organizations, community groups and faith centers.
Associated Press
Key Republican calls for 'generational' increase in defense spending to counter US adversaries
The top-ranking Republican on a Senate committee that oversees the military is calling for a “generational investment” in America's defense, saying aggressive and significant spending increases are necessary to deter coordinated threats from U.S. adversaries like Russia, Iran and China. Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told The Associated Press that he will seek an additional $55 billion in defense spending over the limits that were forged in the deal to suspend the nation’s debt limit a year ago. Wicker explained his position in global terms, saying there has “never been such a level of cooperation and coordination among an axis of aggressors" that aims to challenge U.S. dominance.
Reuters
PWC to become OpenAI' largest enterprise customer, WSJ reports
PWC will roll out a version of Microsoft-backed OpenAI's flagship chatbot catered towards large companies- ChatGPT Enterprise, according to the report. The accounting firm will provide ChatGPT enterprise to its 75,000 U.S. employees and 26,000 U.K. employees, totaling over 100,000 licenses for OpenAI's AI product, the report added.
CNN
Evidence of surgical tumor removal in ancient Egyptian skull is ‘milestone in the history of medicine’
In a skull marred with bone damage from multiple tumors, archaeologists have found never-before-seen evidence from ancient Egypt of surgical intervention for cancer.
Associated Press
A record-holding Sherpa guide concerned about garbage on higher camps on Mount Everest
One of the greatest Mount Everest guides on Wednesday expressed concerns about the peak's growing piles of garbage, as he was honored by his government to mark Everest Day. Sherpa guide Kami Rita, who has scaled Mount Everest a record 30 times, was honored by Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal in Kathmandu on the anniversary of the first successful summit by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953.
AFP
US, China defence chiefs to hold rare talks in Singapore
The US and Chinese defence chiefs are set to hold rare direct talks in Singapore this weekend, offering hopes of further military dialogue aimed at preventing flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control."The hope here is for the (Dong-Austin) meeting to be the beginnings of cautious rapprochement to re-establish military-to-military open lines of communication," Mustafa Izzuddin, senior international affairs analyst with consultancy Solaris Strategies Singapore, told AFP. Biden and Xi agree
AFP
Asian markets fall on US rate concerns, oil rises after attack
Equities fell Wednesday on lingering worries about the outlook for US interest rates, while oil prices extended their gains after an attack on a ship in the Red Sea stoked fresh worries about supplies from the Middle East.Oil prices rose again on geopolitical concerns after a bulk carrier was attacked in the Red Sea, a key waterway for shipping and particularly crude.
CNN
Thailand indicts former leader Thaksin Shinawatra on royal insult charges
Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been indicted on lese majeste charges, authorities said Wednesday, the latest twist in a decades-long political saga in the Southeast Asian kingdom.
CNN
American Tyler Wenrich sentenced to time served and $9K fine after arrest on illegal ammunition charge in Turks and Caicos
American Tyler Wenrich was sentenced to three weeks in jail and fined Tuesday after he had pleaded guilty earlier this month to possession of ammunition while traveling to Turks and Caicos.
AFP
Ex-Thai PM Thaksin to face trial for royal insult
Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be prosecuted for insulting the monarchy, the attorney general's office said Wednesday, over comments he made almost a decade ago."The attorney general has decided to indict Thaksin for insulting the monarchy," Prayuth told reporters.
Associated Press
Owner of UK's Royal Mail says it has accepted a takeover offer from a Czech billionaire
The owner of Britain’s Royal Mail said Wednesday it has accepted a 3.6 billion pound ($4.6 billion) takeover offer from Czech investor Daniel Křetínský. Under the deal, Křetínský’s EP Group would buy International Distribution Services, which owns Royal Mail, for 370 pence ($4.72) per share. It said EP Group would offer a series of “contractual commitments and intentions” to protect public service aspects of the 500-year-old postal service.
Yahoo Finance
A 'robust' earnings outlook is driving further optimism for stocks in 2024
Earnings estimates for the S&P 500 holding up better than normal is one of the key reasons Wall Street strategists are optimistic about the path for stocks in the second half of 2024.

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