The Daily Populous

Saturday August 15th, 2020 day edition

image for Exclusive: UPS, FedEx warn they cannot carry ballots like U.S. Postal Service

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - United Parcel Service and FedEx on Friday shot down social media calls that they step in to deliver mail-in ballots from the U.S.

Postal Service, which is warning states of potentially “significant” delays.

FILE PHOTO: A FedEx truck is parked next to a UPS truck as both drivers make deliveries in downtown San Diego, California March 5, 2013.

“State ballots must be postmarked to be considered valid and only the USPS has lawful postmarking status.

Therefore UPS, FedEx and other private parties cannot technically be involved in shipping ballots,” UPS told Reuters in a statement.

“FedEx does accept individual ballots, and we advise that customers planning to return their ballots via FedEx should closely review their state’s guidelines on absentee voting and deadlines for ballots or related election documents,” FedEx said.

Representatives from Amazon and the Postal Service did not immediately respond to requests for comment. »

'Canary in the coal mine': Greenland ice has shrunk beyond return, study finds

Authored by reuters.com

(Reuters) - Greenland’s ice sheet may have shrunk past the point of return, with the ice likely to melt away no matter how quickly the world reduces climate-warming emissions, new research suggests.

That melting is already causing global seas to rise about a millimeter on average per year.

“We’re talking about how quickly rapid sea-level rise comes to our communities, our infrastructure, our homes, our military bases. »

Mississippi blames 'typo' for including huge mosquito among new state flag designs

Authored by thehill.com

Mississippi resident Thomas Rosete told the Clarion Ledger that he designed and submitted the mosquito flag as a joke on a coworker who didn't want the flag changed.

“The mosquito flag advanced to Round Two due to a typo in a list of flag numbers submitted by one commissioner,” the agency said in a statement.

One Mississippi journalist tweeted, "Fly high, mosquito flag," while another resident wrote on Twitter that "the mosquito flag is destined to be in that round!”. »

Greece has secretly sent away more than 1,000 migrants, taking them to the edge of the country's territorial waters and then abandoning them at sea

Authored by insider.com
image for

More than 1,000 refugees were abandoned at the edge of Greece's water territory by Greek officials in the past few months, The New York Times reported.

The EU border agency said that Erdogan's threats prompted additional defense along Greece's land and sea borders, the Guardian reported.

However, The Times reports that the move to abandon migrants at sea is illegal under international law. »