These Unique Twin Girl Names Are a Match Made in Heaven

TODAY
Magnesium is going viral as a natural sleep aid. But is it safe?
Magnesium is a mineral the body needs to be healthy. Can it help with sleep? How much magnesium supplement is safe to take? Experts discuss benefits and risks.
AFP
End of the Dubai dream for Europe's drug lords?
Sean McGovern, a top lieutenant of the Kinahan cartel, and Faissal Taghi -- son of the infamous head of the Dutch-Moroccan Mocro Maffia -- used to hang out and party in Dubai's glitzy hotels and restaurants without a care in the world.The US Treasury calls the Kinahan cartel a "threat to the entire licit economy", with Washington slapping a $15-million bounty on the heads of its three leading members.
AFP
Japan 'regrets' release of anti-whaling activist Watson
Japan's government voiced dismay on Wednesday over the release of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson after Danish authorities refused Tokyo's extradition request.Authorities in Greenland -- a Danish autonomous territory -- released the 74-year-old Canadian-American activist on Tuesday after Copenhagen turned down Tokyo's request to bring him to Japan.
AFP
'End of the world': tsunami body collector's torment 20 years on
Djafaruddin says he has recovered from the trauma of collecting bodies when the world's deadliest tsunami devastated Indonesia's western coast two decades ago, but he still breaks down when thinking about the orphaned children.Whenever he passes the spot where he collected those lifeless bodies decades ago, he says it reminds him of his efforts that day.
Associated Press
Trump chooses Herschel Walker as US ambassador to Bahamas
Herschel Walker, the football legend who unsuccessfully ran for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia, has been chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to be ambassador to the Bahamas. Trump made the announcement Tuesday in a post on Truth Social, his social media website. Walker, a Republican, tried to unseat Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock two years ago with Trump's endorsement.
Reuters
Vietnam seeks to boost domestic defence industry as it hosts arms fair
Vietnam will showcase locally made weapons at an international arms fair in Hanoi on Thursday, as it seeks to boost its domestic industry and possibly export military equipment. Among the nearly 250 exhibitors will be top defence companies, including from the United States, Europe, Turkey and countries at war with each other, such as Israel, Iran, Russia and Ukraine. The Southeast Asian nation is a major importer of weapons, especially from Russia, having invested for years in its defence capabilities in an unstable region where it has clashed with China over boundaries in the South China Sea.
TODAY
I'm ready to prioritize dating again. So I hired a matchmaker — here's how it went
TODAY's Donna Farizan writes about how, after five years of being single, she's ready to prioritize romantic love — with help from a matchmaker.
AFP
UN envoy warns Syria conflict not over yet
A UN envoy has warned that Syria's protracted conflict "has not ended yet", even as victorious Islamist-led rebels stepped up contacts with governments that deemed ousted president Bashar al-Assad a pariah.Rooted in Syria's branch of Al-Qaeda, HTS is proscribed by several Western governments as a terrorist organisation, although it has sought to moderate its rhetoric and pledged to protect the country's religious minorities.
AFP
Macau's civil society 'falls silent' after 25 years of Chinese rule
A decade ago, the elegant cobblestone streets of Macau's Tap Seac Square were jam-packed with people clamouring for change and government accountability -- the high-water mark for the former Portuguese colony's political awakening."In terms of the political system we didn't bring about any change...
AFP
Indian Ocean nations to mark 20 years since devastating tsunami
Tsunami-hit nations will next week commemorate the more than 220,000 people who died in the Boxing Day disaster two decades ago, when huge waves tore into coastal communities around the Indian Ocean.An undersea 9.1-magnitude quake caused the biggest faultline fracture ever recorded, sending giant waves hurtling towards coastal communities around the Indian Ocean basin.
USA TODAY
Wisconsin community struggles to process shooting tragedy: 'Lives have been torn apart'
"For something to happen like this ... it's surprising," said Kamila Reynolds, a school bus driver who set up candles outside the shooting site.
AFP
Asian markets diverge ahead of Fed news, Nissan soars on merger reports
Asian markets swung Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's much-anticipated policy announcement, while shares in Japanese car titan Nissan soared more than 20 percent after reports said it was in merger talks with rival Honda.Tokyo edged down, though Nissan scorched 24 percent higher soon after opening in response to reports it was in preliminary merger talks with Honda, adding the move would help them better compete against Tesla and other electric vehicle makers.
AFP
Japan's Honda and Nissan in preliminary merger talks: reports
Japanese auto giants Honda and Nissan are in preliminary merger talks, according to media reports Wednesday, adding that a tie-up would aim to help them better compete against Tesla and Chinese electric vehicle makers.The world's auto giants are increasingly prioritising electric and hybrid vehicles, with demand growing for less polluting models as concern about climate change grows.
AFP
Syrian conflict 'has not ended': UN
Syria's conflict has not ended even after the departure of Bashar al-Assad, the UN's envoy to the country warned Tuesday, as the Security Council called for an "inclusive" political transition.Meanwhile, the UN Security Council called for an "inclusive and Syrian-led" political process to be implemented after al-Assad's ouster.
AFP
Hungarian Lego artist wows with his very grand designs
To build his giant Lego structures which usually take hundreds of thousands of bricks, Hungarian artist Balazs Doczy first must solve major "engineering challenges".- 'Megastructures' - A professional Lego artist for more than 10 years, Doczy works more like an architect than a builder, relying on specialist software to draw up plans and only assembling bricks when he needs to test out a particular design.
Reuters
South Korea says martial law attempt undercut political momentum with Trump
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said on Wednesday that President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived bid to impose martial law had created some limitations communicating with the team of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and undercut both sides' political momentum. At a rare joint news conference for foreign media, Cho and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok sought to reassure Seoul's allies and calm market jitters since the martial law attempt that shocked the nation and triggered the biggest political crisis in decades. Cho said Seoul had built a network and communication channels with Trump's campaign that were "stronger than those of any other country", but the martial law order undermined "the political momentum" between the two sides.
AFP
Filipina on Indonesia death row arrives home to 'new life'
A Filipina who spent nearly 15 years on Indonesia's death row tearfully reunited with family members Wednesday after arriving in Manila, where she now awaits a hoped-for pardon in a women's prison.According to Indonesia's Ministry of Immigration and Corrections, 96 foreigners were on death row, all on drug charges, as of early November.
Reuters
Trump nominates ex-US Senate candidate Herschel Walker as ambassador to Bahamas
President-elect Donald Trump nominated Herschel Walker, the former football star who he had previously backed for the 2022 Senate race in Georgia, as the U.S. ambassador to The Bahamas, Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday. Republican Walker lost the 2022 race to Democratic U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock in Georgia. Walker was one of Trump's earliest 2022 endorsements.
Associated Press
Japanese space startup aborts 2nd satellite launch attempt minutes after liftoff
A Japanese space startup said its second attempt to launch a rocket carrying satellites into orbit had been aborted minutes after liftoff Wednesday, nine months after the company's first launch attempt ended in an explosion. Space One's Kairos No. 2 rocket lifted off from a site in the mountainous prefecture of Wakayama in central Japan. Space One aims to be Japan’s first company to put a satellite into orbit, hoping to boost to Japan’s lagging space industry with a small rocket for an affordable space transport business.
CNN
Indoctrinated, loyal and well trained: Don’t underestimate North Korean soldiers in Russia, some experts say
Far from their homes in one of the world’s most isolated and secretive states, about 11,000 North Korean soldiers find themselves at the center of Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.

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