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USA TODAY
Overseas voters have always mattered. With the race tight, do they matter more this time?
Don Jr., Nancy Pelosi, Vogue's Anna Wintour, and other celebrities have been looking for American voters overseas. These votes could prove crucial to the election.
NBC News
Alabama man sentenced to more than 1 year for threats over Trump mug shot
An Alabama man was sentenced Tuesday to one year and nine months in prison for threatening a sheriff and a district attorney in Georgia over the jail mug shot of former President Donald Trump, prosecutors said.
Associated Press
A powerful typhoon nears the Philippines, with many shelters still crammed after a recent storm
Villagers in northern Philippine provinces were forced to evacuate on Wednesday as a powerful typhoon approached the nation still reeling from a recent storm that left at least 182 dead and missing and emergency shelters crammed with displaced people. Typhoon Kong-rey was last tracked 350 kilometers (217 miles) east of northern Cagayan province, with sustained winds of up to 185 kph (115 mph) and gusting up to 230 kph (143 mph). "We are still recovering from the two previous typhoon and storm and here we go again,” Batanes Governor Marilou Cayco told The Associated Press.
Associated Press
A second high court rules that Japan's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional
A second Japanese high court ruled Wednesday that the government's policy against same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, the latest in a series of decisions upholding plaintiffs' demands for marriage equality. The Tokyo High Court called the ongoing ban “a groundless legal discrimination based on sexual orientation,” saying it violates the constitutional guarantee of right to equality, as well as individuals' dignity and equality between sexes. The Sapporo High Court ruling in March said not allowing same-sex couples to marry and enjoy the same benefits as straight couples violates their fundamental right to equality and freedom of marriage.
Reuters
Capgemini trims 2024 revenue target again as soft markets hit Q3 sales
The group, which offers services ranging from cloud and AI to enterprise management across a wide array of industries, had in July forecast a surprise fall in its annual revenue due to a downturn in the automotive and aerospace sectors. Capgemini's revenue fell 1.6% at constant exchange rates to 5.38 billion euros ($5.82 billion) in the third quarter. "Client demand continues to be driven by operational efficiencies and cost reduction and we seize their growing appetite for AI and Gen AI services," Ezzat said.
Reuters
Factbox-Moldova's presidential run-off: who are the two candidates?
Moldova holds the second round of its presidential election on Sunday, pitting the incumbent, pro-Western President Maia Sandu, against former prosecutor general Alexandr Stoianoglo. Sandu won 42.49% in the first round, while Stoianoglo received 25.9%. Sandu was born in 1972 in the village of Risipeni near the Romanian border.
CNN
Biden may have handed Trump a big assist with his ‘garbage’ gaffe
Joe Biden had largely been an afterthought one week before the election in which he’d once hoped to win a second term.
CNN
Small number of North Korean troops are already inside Ukraine, officials say
A small number of North Korean troops are already inside Ukraine, according to two western intelligence officials, and officials expect that number to grow as the North Koreans complete training in eastern Russia and move toward the frontlines of the war.
CNN
Super Typhoon Kong-rey edges towards Taiwan, could sweep ‘almost the whole’ island
Authorities in Taiwan are warning residents along its eastern coast to brace for the impacts Super Typhoon Kong-rey, which has rapidly intensified as it barrels towards the island after bashing the Philippines.
CNN
Bodies found as severe flash flooding hits southern and eastern Spain
Several bodies have been found after parts of southern and eastern Spain were hit by severe flash flooding on Tuesday, with some locations receiving up to 12 inches of rain in just a few hours.
Reuters
Analysis-Tentative green energy shoots at risk from US vote uncertainty
Renewable energy shares, reeling from an investor retreat, face extended uncertainty as the U.S. election has added to wariness, leaving only selected stocks poised to benefit from any boost lower interest rates could provide to funding. Since then, the gains have been reversed by factors including renewable competition from China, a resurgence in the returns on conventional energy, and structural issues for renewable sources linked to supply chain disruption, a shortage of grid connections and planning issues. For the United States, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has proved a spur to renewable investment, including in some Republican states, which leads some analysts to say its benefits will continue.
AFP
Industrial slump leaves Germany on brink of recession
German output likely contracted again in the third quarter as an industrial slump drags on, official data is expected to show Wednesday, tipping Europe's largest economy into recession.Other major European economies were also set to publish third-quarter GDP data Wednesday.
Associated Press
In Lebanon, a family's memories are detonated along with their village
Ayman Jaber’s memories are rooted in every corner of Mhaibib, the village in southern Lebanon he refers to as his “habibti,” the Arabic word for “beloved.” "Half of the village knew about us.” The Israeli army released a video showing blasts ripping through the village in the Marjayoun province, razing dozens of homes to dust.
AFP
New Indonesia defence chief harks back to dictator's rule
When riots broke out in Indonesia's capital in 1998 leading to dictator Suharto's downfall, activists were detained, women raped, and stores owned by ethnic Chinese ransacked in unrest many say was stoked by the army.Both made the rank of general, but both have also been implicated in the disappearance of student activists from 1997 to 1998.
Associated Press
Germany's economy isn't growing. But its quarrelsome government can't agree on a way forward
Germany's economy isn't growing and the governing coalition has a lot of ideas on how to fix it. The latest outbreak of infighting in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government has raised questions about whether it will get anything done in the 11 months before Germany's next election is due — and whether it will survive until then. Lindner himself has been a central player in the cacophony, adding to a long list of publicly aired disagreements that have helped make the nearly three-year-old government very unpopular.
AFP
In Tennessee, the despair of gun control advocates
After a deadly school shooting in the southern US state of Tennessee last year, Democratic voters, lawmakers, and even some Republican mothers called for stricter gun control laws.A third white Democrat, who also advocated for stricter gun laws, was spared.
AFP
US economy's solid growth unlikely to register at ballot box
The US economy is set to report another quarter of solid growth Wednesday, less than a week before the presidential election, but analysts say it remains unclear if positive data can sway inflation-weary voters.An October New York Times/Siena College poll of likely voters released last week showed that economic issues remained top-of-mind around two weeks before the election.
CNN
Police say ‘no nuclear risk’ after huge fire breaks out in vicinity of UK submarine shipyard
A large fire has broken out at the site of one of Britain’s biggest defense companies.
CNN
The world’s best bars for 2024 announced
A two-level speakeasy in Mexico City’s hip Colonia Juarez neighborhood has been proclaimed the world’s best bar.
AFP
Botswana votes with ruling party seeking to extend six decades of power
Southern Africa's diamond-rich nation of Botswana voted in general elections Wednesday with the ruling party seeking to extend its nearly six-decade rule and hand a second term to President Mokgweetsi Masisi.- Fractured opposition - Masisi was elected in 2019 with around 52 percent of the vote.

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