By Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times

Time is running out for you to ensure your shipped gifts arrive on time for such end-of-the-year celebrations as Christmas, Hannukah and Kwanzaa.

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Mail carriers say they’re more than prepared to handle the increased volume in deliveries — but only if you get postage on your packages and ship them quickly.

With automation and AI-driven planning and upgrades, UPS said it’s able to predict demand and prevent disruptions for the holidays and beyond.

At the United States Postal Service, planning to handle the influx of holiday packages takes place throughout the year, “and we are well prepared and ready to deliver for the American public,” Postmaster General David Steiner said in a statement.

In anticipation of the peak delivery season, the Postal Service increased daily processing from 60 million to 88 million packages by deploying more than 600 package sorters, hiring 14,000 seasonal workers, debuting new facilities and deploying 24,000 delivery vehicles.

All mail carriers have expanded their operations in some ways in anticipation of the holiday rush. Despite these investments, there are still deadlines they recommend you abide by so your gift arrives on time.

USPS

The Postal Service recommends the following send-by dates for expected delivery before Dec. 25 within the United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii.

—Dec. 17 for packages sent as Ground Advantage service

—Dec. 17 for packages sent as First-Class Mail service

—Dec. 18 for packages sent as Priority Mail service

—Dec. 20 for packages sent as Priority Mail Express service

The deadlines for packages sent to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and U.S. territories:

—Dec. 16 for packages sent as Ground Advantage service

—Dec. 17 for packages sent as First-Class Mail service

—Dec. 18 for packages sent as Priority Mail service

—Dec. 20 for packages sent as Priority Mail Express service

International destinations vary. Parcels sent to Canada and Mexico have the following deadlines:

—Dec. 9 for packages sent as First-Class Package International service

—Dec. 9 for packages sent as Priority Mail International service

—Dec. 16 for packages sent as Priority Mail Express International service

FedEx

FedEx recommends the following shipping dates for its Ground (for businesses) and Home Delivery (for residential) services for packages within the United States. Packages sent by the deadlines are expected to arrive on or before Dec. 24.

The last day to ship for FedEx Home Delivery:

—Dec. 17 for 5-day shipping.

—Dec. 18 for 4-day shipping.

—Dec. 19 for 3-day shipping.

—Dec. 22 for 2-day shipping.

—Dec. 23 for 1-day shipping.

The last day to ship for FedEx Ground:

—Dec. 15 for 5-day shipping.

—Dec. 18 for 4-day shipping.

—Dec. 19 for 3-day shipping.

—Dec. 22 for 2-day shipping.

—Dec. 23 for 1-day shipping.

To send packages estimated to arrive before Dec. 24, you must ship them through the FedEx Overnight, Priority Overnight and Standard Overnight services by Dec. 23.

The last day to ship packages to Canada:

—Dec. 18 for FedEx International Connect Plus.

—Dec. 19 for FedEx International Economy.

—Dec. 22 for FedEx International Priority Distribution.

—Dec. 22 for FedEx International Priority.

—Dec. 23 for FedEx International First.

—Dec. 23 for FedEx International Next Flight.

The last day to ship packages to Mexico:

—Dec. 18 for FedEx International Connect Plus.

—Dec. 19 for FedEx International Economy.

—Dec. 22 for FedEx International Priority.

—Dec. 22 for FedEx International First.

—Dec. 23 for FedEx International Next Flight.

UPS

These are UPS’ recommended last days to ship for a Dec. 24 expected delivery.

To send a package through the UPS Ground service, the company recommends checking the UPS website for details. However, the last day to send a package within the United States is:

—Dec. 19 for the 3-day select service.

—Dec. 22 for the 2nd Day Air service.

—Dec. 23 for the Next Day Air service.

Last day to send a package to Canada:

—Dec. 22 for the Worldwide Expedited service.

—Dec. 23 for the Worldwide Express.

Last day to send a package to Mexico:

—Dec. 19 for the Worldwide Expedited service.

—Dec. 22 for the Worldwide Express.

©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By MATTHEW LEE, AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered diplomatic correspondence to stop using the Calibri font and return to the more traditional Times New Roman effective Wednesday, reversing a Biden administration shift to the less formal typeface that he called wasteful, confusing and unbefitting the dignity of U.S. government documents.

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“Typography shapes how official documents are perceived in terms of cohesion, professionalism and formality,” Rubio said in a cable sent to all U.S. embassies and consulates abroad Tuesday.

In it, he said the 2023 shift to the sans serif Calibri font emerged from misguided diversity, equity and inclusion policies pursued by his predecessor, Antony Blinken. Rubio ordered an immediate return to Times New Roman, which had been among the standard fonts mandated by previous administrations.

“The switch was promised to mitigate accessibility issues for individuals with disabilities,” the cable said, asserting that it did not achieve that goal and had cost the department $145,000 but did not offer any evidence.

Since taking over the State Department in January, Rubio has systematically dismantled DEI programs in line with President Donald Trump’s broader instructions to all federal agencies. The Trump administration says the goal is to return to purely merit-based standards.

Rubio has abolished offices and initiatives that had been created to promote and foster diversity and inclusion, including in Washington and at overseas embassies and consulates, and also ended foreign assistance funding for DEI projects abroad.

“Although switching to Calibri was not among the department’s most illegal, immoral, radical or wasteful instances of DEI it was nonetheless cosmetic,” according to Rubio’s cable obtained by The Associated Press and first reported by The New York Times.

“Switching to Calibri achieved nothing except the degradation of the department’s correspondence,” he said, adding that it also clashed with the typeface in the State Department letterhead.

According to a separate memo sent to department employees, the return to Times New Roman takes effect Wednesday and all templates for official documents are to be updated to remove the offending Calibri font.

The only exceptions are documents prepared for international treaties and for presidential appointments, which are required to use Courier New 12-point font, the memo said.

By MUSTAKIM HASNATH, Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Scientists in Britain say ancient humans may have learned to make fire far earlier than previously believed, after uncovering evidence that deliberate fire-setting took place in what is now eastern England around 400,000 years ago.

The findings, described in the journal Nature, push back the earliest known date for controlled fire-making by roughly 350,000 years. Until now, the oldest confirmed evidence had come from Neanderthal sites in what is now northern France dating to about 50,000 years ago.

The discovery was made at Barnham, a Paleolithic site in Suffolk that has been excavated for decades. A team led by the British Museum identified a patch of baked clay, flint hand axes fractured by intense heat and two fragments of iron pyrite, a mineral that produces sparks when struck against flint.

Researchers spent four years analyzing to rule out natural wildfires. Geochemical tests showed temperatures had exceeded 700 degrees Celsius (1,292 Fahrenheit), with evidence of repeated burning in the same location.

Excavation site of 400,000 year old pond sediments at Barnham, Suffofk, England. (Credit Jordan Mansfield/Pathways to Ancient Britain Project via AP)

That pattern, they say, is consistent with a constructed hearth rather than a lightning strike.

Rob Davis, a Paleolithic archaeologist at the British Museum, said the combination of high temperatures, controlled burning and pyrite fragments shows “how they were actually making the fire and the fact they were making it.”

Iron pyrite does not occur naturally at Barnham. Its presence suggests the people who lived there deliberately collected it because they understood its properties and could use it to ignite tinder.

Deliberate fire-making is rarely preserved in the archaeological record. Ash is easily dispersed, charcoal decays and heat-altered sediments can be eroded.

At Barnham, however, the burned deposits were sealed within ancient pond sediments, allowing scientists to reconstruct how early people used the site.

Researchers say the implications for human evolution are substantial.

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Fire allowed early populations to survive colder environments, deter predators and cook food. Cooking breaks down toxins in roots and tubers and kills pathogens in meat, improving digestion and releasing more energy to support larger brains.

Chris Stringer, a human evolution specialist at the Natural History Museum, said fossils from Britain and Spain suggest the inhabitants of Barnham were early Neanderthals whose cranial features and DNA point to growing cognitive and technological sophistication.

Fire also enabled new forms of social life. Evening gatherings around a hearth would have provided time for planning, storytelling and strengthening group relationships, which are behaviors often associated with the development of language and more organized societies.

Archaeologists say the Barnham site fits a wider pattern across Britain and continental Europe between 500,000 and 400,000 years ago, when brain size in early humans began to approach modern levels and when evidence for increasingly complex behavior becomes more visible.

Nick Ashton, curator of Paleolithic collections at the British Museum, described it as “the most exciting discovery of my long 40-year career.”

For archaeologists, the find helps address a long-standing question: When humans stopped relying on lightning strikes and wildfires and instead learned to create flame wherever and whenever they needed it.

By ELAINE KURTENBACH, AP Business Writer

BANGKOK (AP) — Paramount Skydance says the Chinese gaming and social media giant Tencent Holdings withdrew from its bid to buy Warner Bros Discovery to avert a possible national security review.

Paramount’s revised filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of its takeover bid said the Chinese company had dropped its $1 billion financing commitment out of concern, since it would be a “non-U.S. equity financing source,” that its bid might be subject to a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, known as CFIUS. That was even though approval by CFIUS or by the Federal Communications Commission was not a condition of the bid.

The SEC filing, dated Monday, said that foreign sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, which are providing $24 billion for Paramount’s bid, had agreed to give up a right to participate in Warner Bros’ management to avoid the additional scrutiny.

On Monday, Paramount launched a hostile $77.9 billion takeover offer for Warner Bros. Discovery, competing with rival bidder Netflix to buy the company behind HBO, CNN and a famed movie studio.

Big deals that involve foreign companies are sometimes subject to national security reviews by CFIUS, a U.S. government group chaired by the Treasury Secretary that studies mergers for national-security reasons. It has the power to force companies to change ownership structures or divest completely from the U.S.

Under former President Joe Biden as well as President Donald Trump, the Treasury Department has sought to strengthen its powers as national security concerns related to foreign investment have increased.

Tencent is among dozens of Chinese companies that the U.S. Defense Department has included in a list of companies it said have ties to China’s military. Tencent, whose shares are listed in Hong Kong, denies that.

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Based in the southern technology and financial hub of Shenzhen, Tencent owns the League of Legends developer Riot Games and has ties with other big U.S. entertainment brands. It also has a streaming deal with the National Basketball Association.

It is the world’s largest equity investor in online games and a major entertainment and social media company, operating the WeChat messaging and payments service in popular China and with Chinese emigrants abroad. Tencent has a market capitalization of over $700 billion, according to Hong Kong’s stock exchange.

There was no immediate comment from Tencent.