Stuarts Draft's new girls basketball coach brings high school and college experience

AFP
Japanese carmakers Honda, Nissan in preliminary merger talks: reports
Japanese auto giants Honda and Nissan are in preliminary merger talks to help them compete against Tesla and Chinese electric vehicle makers, media reports said Wednesday."If Japanese carmakers compete with each other more, that will be good for them in competing with foreign competitors including Chinese carmakers and Tesla that are emerging in EVs," Sugiura told AFP. burs-stu/sco
Associated Press
Filipina who won a last-minute reprieve from an Indonesian firing squad seeks clemency
A Filipino woman who spent years on death row in Indonesia for drug trafficking, and who was nearly executed by firing squad in 2015, said Wednesday she's happy to be back in the Philippines but is asking its president to set her free. Mary Jane Veloso spent almost 15 years in prison but won a last-minute reprieve that allows her to serve the rest of her sentence in the Philippines and will lead to her testimony exposing how a criminal syndicate duped her into being an unwitting accomplice and drug courier. “What’s important is I be given clemency so that I can be with my family,” she told reporters at a prison facility where she was brought to after arriving in Manila, and where she had a tearful reunion with her family.
TODAY
McDonald’s is selling 10 Chicken McNuggets for $1 until the end of the year
How to get 10 Chicken McNuggets for $1 until the end of the year at McDonald’s, plus other deals the fast-food chain is offering customers through its app.
TODAY
Ozempic before and after: 5 women get real about weight loss, side effects and cost
Ozempic before and after photos show weight loss. Women share what it's like to lose weight with Ozempic and Wegovy, the side effects and cost.
AFP
Mayotte reels from cyclone devastation, France's Macron to arrive Thursday
Rescuers searched desperately for survivors as they sought to assess the full scale of devastation wrought by Cyclone Chido on the French overseas territory of Mayotte, which emerged on Wednesday from a first night spent under curfew. - French military support - Mayotte is one of several French overseas territories.
AFP
Economic woes mount for Russia's war machine
Stubborn inflation, exorbitant borrowing costs, bankruptcy risks and a growth slowdown: the Russian economy is facing a slew of negative headlines, as the costs of the Ukraine war and Western sanctions mount.- Growth slowdown - Faced with such an onslaught, the central bank predicts a sharp slowdown in growth next year -- to below 1.5 percent, from over 3.5 percent this year.
AFP
Anger as Amsterdam allows 'ugly' solar panels on historic canal houses
Amsterdam's world-famous canalside houses will soon be allowed to have visible solar panels on their roofs, much to the dismay of local heritage groups, who say they will be an eyesore."But these solar panels are really ugly and they should not be allowed on roofs visible from the canal," the 55-year-old said.
Associated Press
As wars rage around them, Armenian Christians in Jerusalem's Old City feel the walls closing in
As the war in Gaza rages, Syria's government transforms, and the Israeli-occupied West Bank seethes, Armenian residents of the Old City of Jerusalem fight a different battle — one that is quieter, they say, but no less existential. One of the oldest communities in Jerusalem, the Armenians have lived in the Old City for decades without significant friction with their neighbors, centered around a convent that acts as a welfare state. Now, the small Christian community has begun to fracture under pressure from forces they say threaten them and the multifaith character of the Old City.
Reuters
Iran's Revolutionary Guards extend control over Tehran's oil exports, sources say
Iran's Revolutionary Guards have tightened their grip on the country's oil industry and control up to half the exports that generate most of Tehran's revenue and fund its proxies across the Middle East, according to Western officials, security sources and Iranian insiders. All aspects of the oil business have come under the growing influence of the Guards, from the shadow fleet of tankers that secretively ship sanctioned crude, to logistics and the front companies selling the oil, mostly to China, according to more than a dozen people interviewed by Reuters. The extent of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) control over oil exports has not previously been reported.
NBC News
Biden says there's 'nothing nefarious' about recent drone sightings
President Joe Biden sought to reassure the public on drones in East Coast states, saying there was nothing alarming about the increased reports of unmanned aircraft sightings.
Associated Press
Community members wrestle with grief in aftermath of Wisconsin school shooting
Community members in Wisconsin continued to wrestle with grief and called for change in the aftermath of a school shooting that killed a teacher and a student and wounded six others. Several hundred people gathered outside the Wisconsin State Capitol for a vigil Tuesday night to honor those slain at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison the day before, with some passing candles to each other and standing close against the winter chill. Among those in attendance was Naomi Allen, 16, who was in a nearby classroom Monday when a 15-year-old girl attacked people in a study hall before fatally shooting herself.
CNN
Powerful quake strikes Vanuatu, reportedly killing 14; US embassy suffers ‘significant damage’
A powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit Vanuatu on Tuesday, sparking a network outage, crushing vehicles and damaging multiple buildings, with reports of 14 people killed.
NBC News
Trump picks former Senate candidate Herschel Walker for ambassador to the Bahamas
Walker, a college football star who went on to play in the NFL, unsuccessfully ran for a Senate seat in Georgia two years ago.
TODAY
The Wanted's Max George reveals he needs urgent surgery after being hospitalized for heart issues
Max George, a member of U.K. band The Wanted, announced on Dec. 16 he needs to have surgery "way quicker than the doctors thought" after discovering a block in his heart.
AFP
US Fed expected to cut again, despite uncertain path ahead
The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates by a quarter point on Wednesday and signal a slower pace of cuts ahead, brushing off uncertainty about inflation's downward path and the possible impact of some of President-elect Donald Trump's economic proposals. - The Trump transition - This is the final planned interest rate decision before Democratic President Joe Biden makes way for Republican Donald Trump, whose economic proposals include tariff hikes, and the mass deportatio
CNN
Senate Armed Services Democrats argue allegations against Hegseth should disqualify him from leading Pentagon
A group of Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee has argued in a new letter that allegations against Pete Hegseth should disqualify him from serving as the next defense secretary.
Politico
Netanyahu says Israeli troops will occupy buffer zone inside Syria for foreseeable future
He made the comments from inside Syria.
CNN
Trump is going after Canada now – but everyone else is next
Donald Trump is stoking political mayhem in Canada by intensifying a crisis that threatens to oust Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
CNN
China says astronauts completed nine-hour spacewalk, breaking US record
China says two of its astronauts completed a nine-hour spacewalk Tuesday, a figure that beats the US-held record for the world’s longest spacewalk set in 2001, in the latest milestone in the country’s ambitious space program.
Associated Press
Israel's borders have shifted throughout its history. Action in Syria may reshape them again
Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, entered Syrian territory Tuesday and said Israeli troops would remain in the area indefinitely, blurring the border with its northern neighbor. Since its establishment in 1948, Israel has never had fully recognized borders. Now, the downfall of Syrian President Bashar Assad has created a situation that could once again reshape Israel’s borders.

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