Somali pirates are demanding at least $1 million for the immediate release of kidnapped German couple, their young son and a French boat captain, a Somali government official privy to the negotiations said Thursday. Somalia's minister of state for security Jama HIrsi Farah said the gunmen was asking for a $1 million ransom for the release of their hostages.

Twins born on Tuesday may be the heaviest set of twins ever born in North Carolina. Sean William, 10 pounds, 14 ounces, and Abigail Rose, 12 pounds, 3 ounces were born at Forsyth Medical Center's Sara Lee Center for Women's Health here. The twins, with a combined weight of 23 pounds, 1 ounce, may claim the title of the heaviest set of twins ever born in North Carolina.

rin Maynard gave birth to twins Sean William, 10 pounds, 14 ounces, and Abigail Rose, 12 pounds, 3 ounces at Forsyth Medical Center's Sara Lee Center for Women's Health Tuesday. The twins, with a combined weight of 23 pounds, 1 ounce, may claim the title of the heaviest set of twins ever born in North Carolina. The twins, delivered by Cesarean section two minutes apart, were born to Joey and Erin Maynard and are both in excellent health. The scale-topping twins may also turn out to be the second heaviest set of twins born in the entire U. S. in the last century.

The home and auto industries are two of the hardest hit sectors in the U. S. Rising foreclosures mark the housing sector, while closing car manufacturing plants are common in the auto plant. Given the parallel routes these two industries pass through, it is not surprising to hear American couples throwing in a used car as a freebie, just to unload on the market a debt-ridden home.

The British government continues to be embarassed by the loss of private electronic data. The latest incident involves the medical records of more than 38,000 National Health Service patients sent to a software company for back up in the event the information got lost. According to the Telegraph, the lost CD had data dating back a decade, believed to have been mislaid while enroute from London to the Sandown Health Center on the Isle of Wight.