Early voting in Texas began on February 17, kicking off a period leading up to the March 3 primary elections, according to Fox News. The state's Republican and Democratic U.S. Senate primaries are drawing national attention, as the GOP aims to maintain its majority in the chamber. Meanwhile, the Royal Mail has been given two weeks to respond to claims it is prioritizing parcel deliveries over letters, resulting in delays across the postal network, as reported by the BBC.
The Texas primary contests include incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who faces primary challengers, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, according to Fox News. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is urging Senate Republicans to revive the old-fashioned talking filibuster as he pushes for a vote on his Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, daring Democrats to physically hold the floor if they want to block legislation requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to vote, according to Fox News. "Over the last few decades, we've made it way too easy to where people can filibuster in their sleep or while on vacation, while at recess, at a bar, whatever. They don't have to show up and speak," Lee stated, according to Fox News.
In other news, the third round of Russia-Ukraine talks started in Geneva, as strikes continue, according to BBC World. The talks, brokered by the U.S., come a week before the fourth anniversary of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Expectations for a breakthrough remain low, as Moscow has not wavered from its demands for Ukrainian territory. Russia's strikes on Ukraine are continuing on a nightly basis, further damaging the country's already battered power grid as subzero temperatures continue, BBC World reported.
Additionally, Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to respond more quickly to close loopholes in laws designed to protect children online, according to BBC Technology. The prime minister said while the government had "won" the "battle" with X - after threatening the platform with action over its AI assistant Grok creating non-consensual sexual deepfakes - it was now time to do the same with "all AI bots." Government proposals also included a measure requiring tech giants to preserve all of the data on a child's phone if they die, BBC Technology reported.
The Business and Trade Committee of MPs has asked Royal Mail for commitments to improve what it described as "chaos" in a letter to the company, according to BBC Business. The letter comes after hundreds of people contacted the BBC to claim parcels were being prioritized while letters were being stored up so that they could be delivered in batches. Royal Mail said it would respond to MPs in detail and understood the frustration of post not arriving as expected, BBC Business reported.
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