Welcome to Overnight News Digest for Tuesday, November 2.
Overnight News Digest posts nightly at around 12am Eastern.
OND is a group diary in which each editor strives to create a unique news presentation through format, story selection, and the addition of anything he or she thinks will be interesting or enlightening to the community.
Reader participation is invited and encouraged, so feel free to post your own stories, photos, etc.
This series is led by our editor-in-chief, the very bright Neon Vincent.
As always, a enthusiastic hat-tip is extended to our founder, Magnifico.
Thank you to I-7 for such a nice intro ;-), and thanks to wader for such nice table code ;-).
^me.
Senator met with feds about Shurtleff fundraising
A Republican state senator met with federal agents last year to express concerns that Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff might be declining to prosecute companies in exchange for big campaign contributions.
Sen. Stephen Urquhart, R-St. George, told representatives of the IRS, FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office that he suspected Shurtleff was "selling fire insurance" by not prosecuting his big donors.
"Urquhart believes that is the same as buying off a judge," a federal IRS agent wrote in a memo about the Aug. 11, 2009, meeting in St. George. The document surfaced after being filed Friday in federal court by Rick Koerber, a Utah County businessman under federal indictment for allegedly running a multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme.
Urquhart, who had previously spoken with then-U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman on the subject, downplayed the meeting Monday.
Summary: Republican state senator doesn't trust republican state attorney general.
In honor of all the GOTV folks.
Beer tax could be brewing in Utah
There's a buzz brewing in Utah about a possible hike in the beer tax.
There's no bill on the table yet, and there's been no formal backing, but an early discussion is on tap.
Most tax hikes are unpopular and rarely mentioned during election season. But Tooele County Sheriff Frank Park said counties need more money to house state prisoners in their jails and such a tax is one option.
The money the state provides is not enough to keep county jail beds open, he said.
"We have a shortfall every year because we don't have a dedicated funding source, and that's kind of what we are looking for right now," the sheriff said.
Park, who currently serves as president of the Utah Sheriff's Association, said more revenue from the beer tax is one possible solution his colleagues will discuss with the Utah Association of Counties next week.
He said last year the state dedicated $2 million for state prisoners in county jails, but $15 million is needed to do the job.
"I hate taxing a specific group of people or habits, but we've got to do something," Park said.
Summary: Utah Republicans hate taxes, unless they're on tobacco or alcohol.
^me to the sage tea brush party.
Surf legend Andy Irons' death investigated as possible overdose
Three-time world surfing champion Andy Irons of Kauai died today in a hotel room in Texas, family and friends confirmed.
His death is being investigated as a possible overdose of methadone, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office. An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow but the exact cause of death may require a toxicology test, which could take 60 to 90 days to complete.
Irons, 32, was on his way home after withdrawing from a surf contest in Puerto Rico. He was found in bed by staff at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport when he failed to respond to a wake-up call, the medical examiner's office said. Emergency personnel pronounced him dead at 9:46 a.m.
There were no signs of trauma. But methadone was found inside a container of a prescription drug called zolpidem, the medical examiner said. Zolpidem is commonly used for insomnia, while methadone is a powerful controlled substance used for pain. The container, as well as numerous other medications, was found on a nightstand, the medical examiner said.
^more than evah, ceiling cat!
Banks open to 'appropriate' reforms, as Swan prepares measures to boost competition
BANKS are prepared to accept "appropriate" reforms to increase competition in the sector, the sector's peak body has declared.
However Australian Bankers Association chief executive Steven Munchenberg also defended the decision of the Commonwealth bank to increase its key lending rates by almost double yesterday's official 25 basis point rise by the Reserve Bank Australia.
"We know these are unpopular decisions," he told The Australian Online, arguing that funding costs were up on the deposit and wholesale fronts.
Mr Munchenberg said just because banks had refused to "bow to bullying by government" did not mean they were not justified in making the decisions they had made.
He also expressed hope people would "come to appreciate" the need of banks to factor in other considerations when deciding to raise loan rates.
Wayne Swan has accused the Commonwealth Bank of a "cynical cash grab" after it yesterday lifted mortgage rates by 45 basis points, and said he would next month detail a package to improve improve competition in the banking sector.
Summary: We're afraid enough of legislation to volunteer for a few reforms.
^political pootie, as opposed to a polydactyl pootie. (see hemingway, cats)
Raid, arrests break elephant smuggling ring
Indian police have uncovered what they say is a transnational elephant-smuggling ring - highlighting a new threat to one of the country's most revered animals.
Officers in the northeastern state of Assam said they arrested five people and recovered three elephants - two of them calves - that were destined to be illegally trucked across the country and even abroad.
Police said that documents gathered during the raid suggested the ring had been responsible for smuggling almost 100 elephants over the past five years.
The elephants can sell for up to $100,000.
Elephants are protected under a 1972 law and the sale of the animals is illegal. Even transporting one across state boundaries requires documents and the permission of the chief wildlife officer.
^for everyone who didn't vote. i mean it.
Obama to stay on job hunt in India regardless of election results
President Barack Obama will stay focused on expanding American export opportunities and creating jobs at home during his four-nation trip starting with India this weekend regardless of the outcome of Tuesday's mid-term elections, US officials said on Monday ahead of a widely predicted defeat for the Democratic Party.
As agitated American voters streamed into vote on Tuesday in an election that threatens to undermine the President's domestic and foreign policy agenda, his aides put on a brave face, insisting that the exercise "is a testament to the great American experience that we conduct elections in the way we do and we bring about electoral change in a peaceful way."
"Regardless of the outcome of this election, of the previous elections, or elections in the future, it demonstrates once again the most powerful example for the world to see the American people exercising their constitutional responsibilities and living up to the framework of government by the people," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on the eve of the polls.
^me to everyone who voted for a republicant.
Series of blasts in Baghdad kills 76
Rapid-fire bombings and mortar strikes in mostly Shia neighborhoods of Baghdad killed 76 people and wounded nearly 200 on Tuesday, calling into question the ability of Iraqi security forces to protect the capital.
The blasts at least 13 separate attacks came just two days after gunmen in Baghdad held a Christian congregation hostage in a siege that ended with 58 people dead. Tuesday morning, hundreds of Christians gathered at a downtown church to mourn their lost brethren.
"They murdered us today and on Sunday, they killed our brother, the Christians," said Hussein al-Saiedi, a 26-year-old resident of the Shia slum of Sadr City where 21 people were killed in the most deadly incident of the day. He said he was talking to friends on a busy street, when the blast occurred.
"We were just standing on the street when we heard a loud noise, and then saw smoke and pieces of cars, falling from the sky," he said. People were fleeing the site in panic, frantically calling the names of their relatives and friends. "They (the government) say the situation is under control. Where is their control?"
Summary: Yes, there is a war.
Shanghai revels in its coming-out party
On midnight, October 31, Expo 2010 Shanghai China, the first event of its type to be held in China and the largest in history in terms of attendance, site area, and cost, drew to a close after six months and around 73 million visitors.
Staff had cheered at the entrance on October 24 as the Expo officially met its 70 million visitor goal, albeit with a week to go. A surge triggered by cooler autumn weather was a key factor in meeting the target after many visitors were put off from visits during Shanghai's oppressive summer, which was even hotter than usual.
Indeed, Shanghai Expo was "the most magnificent event in World Expo history", according to Jean-Pierre Lafon, president of the International Exhibitions Bureau (BIE), the governing body for World Expos, who added that the event had witnessed unprecedented visitor volume (breaking the previous attendance record of 64 million, set by the 1970 Osaka World Expo in Japan), and raised the profile of World Expos generally.
The event was also the most expensive Expo in history, which inspired a certain amount of grudging in China, especially from other regions of China jealous of the government spending to help Shanghai prepare for the event.
Officials could reasonably argue, however, that the Expo spending was mostly an investment in Shanghai's future. The site chosen for the Expo was a rundown waterfront area with shipyards and decaying warehouses, and probably would have been redeveloped at some stage anyway. The streets and metro lines built for the event will continue to be used for decades, as will the airport and rail terminals built in advance of the fair.
In addition, government tourism officials said that as of late October, the event had generated more than 80 billion yuan (US$12 billion) in tourism revenues
for Shanghai and nearby Yangtze delta cities, and a 20% year-on-year increase in the aviation, foreign trade, wholesale, retail, accommodation, and catering sectors in the region.
YouTube Reposts Videos That Led to 30-Month Ban in Turkey
YouTube reposted videos that led to a 30-month ban on accessing the site from Turkey, saying they did not violate its copyright rules, a spokeswoman for the company said.
The offending videos were removed in the past week when a company set up in Germany by Turkey’s internet board used YouTube’s automatic copyright complaint mechanism to have them taken down, setting in place a series of decisions in Turkey that allowed users here to access the site for the first time since May 2008.
^for "i am not a witch" (exchange for microphone?)
Iran changes Ashtiani stoning sentence for adultery to hanging
In a move apparently designed to deflect growing international criticism, Iran’s government appears to be quietly moving away from death by stoning.
This week, Iran quickly commuted the sentence of a 25-year-old woman convicted of adultery, saying she will be hung instead of stoned to death, reports the Guardian. The change comes after Iran also recently commuted a death by stoning sentence in the high-profile case of a 43-year-old mother of two convicted of adultery.
The commuted sentences are unlikely to dampen a continuing uproar by human rights groups that accuse Iran of expanding its use of capital punishment. But they do suggest that an international campaign to oppose Iran’s practice of stoning may be making gains.
So I guess there's a reason there's still a firing squad in Utah?
^better logic than death penalties.
Haiti's Cholera Disaster: Epidemic Underscores Lack of Progress after Earthquake
Haiti, the battered Caribbean island, is fighting a new enemy: Thousands have fallen ill with cholera and hundreds have already died. The government and international aid organizations are desperately trying to prevent the epidemic from reaching the capital.
Once a day, a stench descends upon the Champ de Mars when David Larose arrives in his small truck to empty the portable toilets.
Even the people who have been living here for months, in tents or huts made of refuse -- the people who, since the earthquake on Jan. 12, have stoically endured their fate while surrounded by the constant odor of squalor -- turn away in disgust at this overpowering stench.
Larose is the head of the hygiene team responsible for the Champ de Mars, a park in the center of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. He has a driver and an assistant who starts the pump when he tells him to, who repairs it when it gets clogged and who fetches the bucket containing the toxic blue liquid that is used to disinfect the sidewalk whenever there's a spill. But the real work, the work of pumping out the toilets, is Larose's job. He does it without a mask or gloves. He isn't worried about catching anything, because he's convinced that he is immune.
dere ceiling cat: pleez to bless peepul of haytee. kthxbai.
Tens of thousands left homeless in Benin floods
Worsening floods in the West African nation of Benin have destroyed 55 000 homes, killed tens of thousands of livestock and created a new cholera risk, the United Nations said on Monday.
Rainfall has poured down in the West African nation since mid-September. More than 300 people have been killed this rainy season in western and central Africa and at least 680 000 people in Benin alone have been affected by the floods.
A UN statement said the Niger River was rising "worsening the situation".
About 200 000 people are in need of shelter, with over 55 000 homes totally destroyed, 128 000 hectares of crops ruined, and 81 000 livestock dead, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Summary: It's 2010: we know the causes, treatments, and prevention for cholera, and thousands are still dying. Every year.
^dear ngo's and go's, get this one right. once and for all.
Berlusconi rejects calls to resign over teenage girl
Silvio Berlusconi today dismissed opposition calls to resign over reports he helped a 17-year-old bellydancer known as Ruby who attended parties at his villa at Arcore, near Milan.
The Italian prime minister refused to apologise for his fondness for young women and denied doing anything improper, and said at a motorcyle show in Milan: "As always, I work without interruption and if occasionally I happen to look a beautiful girl in the face, it's better to like beautiful girls than to be gay.
"You should be completely reassured about the government and about the fact that it's a government that still has a majority that intends to govern until the end of its term," he said.
The Corriere della Sera reported a phone call Berlusconi made to a Milan police chief on Ruby's behalf when she was detained over a theft in May, raising questions of whether he improperly intervened.
Summary: Sir Mick * Vitter.
^France & Britain? Brown & Boxer?
UK, France to form joint force
British Prime Minister David Cameron was to last night unveil the creation of a combined joint expeditionary force of about 6500 troops from the two countries.
The force is the centrepiece of a new Anglo-French military co-operation treaty.
Mr Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were to sign an agreement in London last night to co-ordinate work on nuclear weapons, raising the prospect of ultimately developing a joint deterrent.
France and Britain will test the safety of their nuclear arsenals in a joint facility in France, the French presidency announced yesterday.
China offers to finance US infrastructure and help create jobs
Zhou Yuan, head of asset allocation at China Investment Corporation (CIC), said Beijing would be willing to invest in such projects. CIC manages part of China's massive foreign exchange reserves, an estimated 300 billion in both domestic and overseas investments.
"We are advocating that the US government start a program to invest a massive amount of equity, in the form of public and private equity partnership, in US infrastructure," he said at a conference of the Chinese Financial Association in New York over the weekend.
"Infrastructure projects of this kind will serve to create a lot more jobs than simply QE2, or QE3," Mr Zhou added. He was referring to quantitative easing; the monetary policy that aims to reduce long-term interest rates and boost economic growth. The US unemployment rate is currently 9.6%.
Summary: Who owns my country?
Sweet dreams all! Tomorrow we fight on!