JQJO — Your world, one story at a time · Page 1223

With a week to go, Democratic gubernatorial candidates Mikie Sherrill (New Jersey) and Abigail Spanberger (Virginia) will make a rare joint appearance Wednesday at a D.N.C.-organized Zoom rally, joined by Gov. Andy Beshear, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and D.N.C. chairman Ken Martin. The event, aimed at energizing volunteers, will stream on YouTube. The D.N.C. says it has invested more than $3.2 million in New Jersey and roughly that amount in Virginia. Polls show a tight New Jersey race, with Sherrill narrowly ahead or tied with Republican Jack Ciattarelli, running his third gubernatorial campaign.

Apple is developing solid-state buttons to replace mechanical controls on the 20th‑anniversary iPhone due in 2027, claims Weibo leaker Instant Digital. The purported “iPhone XX” would introduce haptic Side, volume, Action, and Camera Control buttons that have completed functional verification, mimicking real clicks while distinguishing light and firm presses. The design reportedly integrates the buttons into the frame and could use vibration-based audio with AI sound compensation. The rumor aligns with reports of a borderless, wraparound display, though the revived “Project Bongo” remains unconfirmed.

Elon Musk launched Grokipedia, an AI encyclopedia he says aligns more with his rightwing views than Wikipedia, even as many entries cite Wikipedia. With no human authors, pages are “fact-checked” by Grok, his chatbot; Musk credits the idea to David Sacks. A critic of “mainstream media,” he urges reliance on X. Early entries echo conservative talking points: the January 6 Capitol article cites “widespread claims of voting irregularities” — a lie pushed by Donald Trump and his allies — and downplays Donald Trump’s role. Journalists have accused Grokipedia of inaccuracies, including a claim that pornography worsened the Aids epidemic.

Bill Gates urged a "strategic pivot" in climate policy, saying the world should prioritize reducing suffering in poor countries, fighting poverty and disease, over near-term emissions targets. In a memo ahead of next month's U.N. climate summit in Brazil, he said innovation will curb warming and called for rigorous, impact-driven spending. The stance drew pushback: scientists said every fraction of a degree matters, and Columbia University's Jeffrey Sachs called the memo "pointless" and warned against pitting development against climate. Gates, citing shrinking aid and a 25% funding drop for Gavi, also touted advances in clean energy and AI.

At their first lunch Tuesday, President Trump and new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi served American rice and beef—an unusual choice in Japan, where rice is a cultural staple and a current political flash point amid shortages and soaring prices. Analysts said the menu was a goodwill signal and a nod to July’s U.S.-Japan deal to boost American rice imports by 75 percent; the U.S. ambassador said it showed the partnership had "deeply permeated all fields." Some online commenters lamented the swap. The meal also featured eggplant from Takaichi’s Nara, and a retailer said the switch is a culinary nonissue.

A backyard discovery has revived the hunt for Amelia Earhart. In 2020, US Navy veteran Mike Ashmore spotted an odd, elongated shape in Nikumaroro’s lagoon on Apple Maps, later dubbed the Taraia Object. Archaeologist Rick Pettigrew says it appears in images back to 1938 and will lead a Purdue-backed expedition, departing Majuro on November 4, to investigate the site for five days. TIGHAR’s Ric Gillespie argues the image shows a tree and that the plane was destroyed. Meanwhile, ocean explorers at Nauticos plan a separate deep-sea search near Howland Island next year.

Three years after Shinzo Abe's daylight assassination, Tetsuya Yamagami pleaded guilty in a Nara courtroom, saying, "Everything is true." Led in handcuffed with a rope at his waist, the 45-year-old spoke in a barely audible voice as his lawyers signaled they will contest some arms-control charges tied to his alleged handmade gun. Prosecutors said Yamagami targeted Abe to draw attention to the Unification Church, which he blamed for upending his life; hundreds queued for limited gallery seats. The case has fueled scrutiny of the sect and spurred tighter gun-control laws in 2024.

As the shutdown nears a month, low-income families face cascading losses: WIC funds that cover infant formula and groceries may run out within days; SNAP cannot tap contingency dollars; and 140 Head Start centers could close, forcing parents to find child care. Nearly six million households risk winter utility shut-offs as states curb heating aid, with Utah and Wyoming stopping new applications. Seniors struggle to verify benefits, threatening housing subsidies. Some programs scrape by with temporary donations, but uncertainty deepens stress. Food banks brace for a surge.

PayPal will let shoppers pay inside ChatGPT starting in 2026, adopting OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol and tapping the app’s Instant Checkout to confirm orders without leaving the chat. Customers can use PayPal wallets—with buyer and seller protections—or card payments via a separate API. Beginning next year, PayPal merchants’ products will be discoverable on ChatGPT in categories like apparel, fashion, beauty, home improvement, and electronics, with no new integrations required. PayPal is also launching an agentic commerce suite for catalogs and insights, after recent tie-ups with Perplexity and Google, and giving employees enterprise access to ChatGPT.

UPS topped Wall Street expectations ahead of the holidays, sending shares up 10% premarket. The company posted adjusted EPS of $1.74 on $21.4 billion in revenue, and net income of $1.31 billion, down from $1.99 billion a year ago. UPS detailed a sweeping turnaround: 34,000 job cuts, reduced Amazon work, a five‑property sale‑leaseback yielding a $330 million gain, and closure of 93 sites, driving $2.2 billion in savings so far and targeting $3.5 billion in 2025. It guided Q4 revenue to $24 billion with an 11%–11.5% operating margin, calling the shift its most significant yet.