Inflation comes through the mail slot

Laura L. Davis, USA TODAY
·4 min read
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Nothing lasts forever, not even the price of “Forever” stamps. And passengers on a Delta flight had a scary arrival in Charlotte.

👋 Hello! I’m Laura Davis and it’s time for Wednesday’s news.

📆 But first: Millions of South Koreans woke up at least a year younger on Wednesday. On paper, anyway. Here's why.

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📬 Get ready to pay more to mail a letter

Have you heard the joke about the letter with no postage? You wouldn't get it. 😎 And you also soon might not get a letter if you don't add enough postage: Prices are going up. No joke! Starting July 9, the U.S. Postal Service will raise the price of first-class mail Forever stamps to 66 cents from 63 cents. The Postal Service cited rising operating costs "fueled by inflation" for the increase. In addition, the cost to send a domestic postcard will increase to 51 cents, and a 1-ounce letter mailed to another country will jump to $1.50. The price for a single-piece letter and flat additional-ounce price remains at 24 cents.

The USPS is raising the price of a first-class stamp from 63 cents to 66 cents, up 32 percent since 2019 when the price of a stamp was 50 cents.
The USPS is raising the price of a first-class stamp from 63 cents to 66 cents, up 32 percent since 2019 when the price of a stamp was 50 cents.

More than 10 deaths reported as brutal heat wave hits millions

It's hot outside in many places – dangerously hot. Along with the dismal air quality across the upper Midwest, the main weather story across the nation Wednesday was the deadly, record-breaking heat wave scorching the south-central U.S., killing nearly a dozen in Texas alone. Temperatures Wednesday were forecast to approach or surpass 100 degrees from New Mexico to Mississippi. As of midday, more than 87 million Americans were under some level of heat alert from the National Weather Service. Here's a look at the forecast.

🗺 Air quality map: Detroit, Chicago among Midwest cities struggling with Canadian wildfire smoke.

Construction worker Joseph Miller takes a break in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday. Temperatures in Austin were expected to surpass 100 degrees.
Construction worker Joseph Miller takes a break in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday. Temperatures in Austin were expected to surpass 100 degrees.

What everyone's talking about

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Biden calls Putin a 'pariah'

Things aren't going well for Vladimir Putin. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the Russian president is losing the war in Ukraine and has become "a bit of a pariah around the world." It is "hard to tell" how much Putin has been weakened by Yevgeny Prigozhin's ambitious but ill-fated coup attempt, Biden said. Some experts, however, say last week's insurgency was the single greatest challenge to almost a quarter-century of Putin's authoritarian rule. "We’ve all seen gangster movies when the don shows weakness, and we all know what happens next," said Zev Faintuch, senior intelligence analyst at international security firm Global Guardian. "That said, it is still far too soon to predict Putin's imminent fall."

👉 Arrest made in deadly Russian missile attack on restaurant; Ukraine expects guarantee to join NATO. Live updates.

Rescuers and volunteers carry a rescued woman from the rubble after Russian missile strike hit a restaurant and several houses in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on Wednesday.
Rescuers and volunteers carry a rescued woman from the rubble after Russian missile strike hit a restaurant and several houses in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on Wednesday.

Delta plane lands without nose gear

What goes up must come down – even without nose landing gear! Passengers on a Delta Air Lines jet had a bit of a scary arrival in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday when the plane landed with its nose gear still retracted. Passenger photos on Twitter show the Boeing 717, which operated as Delta Flight 1092, on the runway with slides deployed. “The crew was amazing and the pilots landed it smoothly!” one tweet said. Delta said all 96 customers, two pilots and three flight attendants got off the aircraft safely.

A break from the news

Laura L. Davis is an Audience Editor at USA TODAY. Send her an email at laura@usatoday.com or follow along with her adventures – and misadventures – on Twitter. Support quality journalism like this? Subscribe to USA TODAY here.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Postage price increase, Delta landing, heat wave: Wednesday’s news