Welcome to Overnight News Digest for Wednesday, January 5, 2010.
OND is an ongoing series usually posting at about 12 am Eastern
Here in OND, 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 lead by our editor-in-chief, the very bright Neon Vincent.
As always, a enthusiastic hat-tip is extended to our founder, Magnifico.
Hey night owls! Meteor Blades' Open Thread for Night Owls is up!
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World food prices enter 'danger territory' to reach record high
Jill Treanor
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 January 2011 15.04 GMT
Soaring prices of sugar, grain and oilseed drove world food prices to a record in December, surpassing the levels of 2008 when the cost of food sparked riots around the world, and prompting warnings of prices being in "danger territory".
An index compiled monthly by the United Nations surpassed its previous monthly high – June 2008 – in December to reach the highest level since records began in 1990.
Opposition takes up seats in new Venezuelan parliament
BBC
5 January 2011 Last updated at 14:52 ET
A new parliament has convened in Venezuela, the first in five years to have substantial opposition representation.
But opposition politicians say their influence has been curtailed by the powers of decree given to President Hugo Chavez by the outgoing parliament.
Under the decree, Mr Chavez can pass some laws without parliament's support.
North Korea calls for 'unconditional' talks with South
BBC
5 January 2011 Last updated at 17:29 ET
North Korea wants "unconditional" talks with the South to put an end to months of extreme tension, the North's official news agency reports.
In a rare conciliatory gesture, KCNA said Pyongyang was ready to meet "anyone, anytime, anywhere", and proposed a mutual end to provocation.
The US, an ally of South Korea, responded by saying North Korea had to show "seriousness of purpose".
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Lead story headline here
Republicans take over US House
Aljazeera English
Last Modified: 05 Jan 2011 20:20 GMT
The Republican party has taken charge of the US House of Representatives, with Republican John Boehner, an Ohio congressman, replacing Democrat Nancy Pelosi as house speaker.
"We gather here today at a time of great challenges," he said in his inaugural address, citing high unemployment, high health care costs and a growing national debt now at $14 trillion.
"Hard work and tough decisions will be required of the 112th Congress. No longer can we fall short. No longer can we kick the can down the road.
Ted Williams, homeless former radio announcer, handed NBA role
Ohio man, whose YouTube video has been a huge viral hit, offered announcing job by basketball's Cleveland Cavaliers
Posted by Tim Hill Thursday 6 January 2011 01.22 GMT guardian.co.uk
It sounds like something from a Hollywood movie script, with more than a hint of the Susan Boyle about it. Ted Williams, the homeless Ohio man who enraptured the people of Cleveland with his mellifluous radio announcements from the side of the motorway, has shot to fame after it was revealed the city's NBA team have offered him an announcing role.
Williams, a former radio personality who was left living on the streets after becoming addicted to drink and drugs, made the news in the US this week after a video of him performing radio links with an unusual panache appeared on YouTube.
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US oil spill: Cost-cutting decisions led to BP disaster
5 January 2011 Last updated at 19:24 ET
The companies involved in the BP oil spill had made decisions to cut costs and save time that contributed to the disaster, a US panel has found.
In a 48-page report, the presidential commission wrote that the failures were "systemic" and likely to recur without industry and government reform.
But it said BP did not have adequate controls in place to ensure safety.
Battery factory poisons 24 children in China
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 January 2011 04.13 GMT
Twenty-four children, aged between nine months and 16 years old, have been hospitalised for lead poisoning caused by battery factories in their east China village, state media said, marking the latest in a string of battery-related poisonings in recent years.
The official Xinhua News Agency said that local authorities had shut two battery factories in Anhui province's Huaining county after tests found that at least 200 local children had elevated lead levels, with 24 of them requiring hospitalisation.
Xinhua said the factories lie just across the street from homes despite regulations that say battery plants cannot be within a 1,600 foot radius of residential communities. It did not say when the factories started operating, or what kind of batteries the factories produced.
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For my last regular OND, I thought I would wind it up with one of the coolest videos I've seen in quite a while.
The artist is JD Mcpherson. The song is "North Side Gal" from JD's new album "Signs and Signifiers" on HiStyle Records.
My wife and I saw JD and his band perform this New Year's Eve at Fitzgerald's Night Club in Berwyn. He sounds even better live.
Now for what is really cool about this video. The vintage analog recording equipment you see in the video is the real thing.
I'm talking tube amps, ribbon mikes, and real 1/4" tape they are recording onto. Yea, that stuff. The studio is in located in Chicago, so you know I had to go with this one. Rock on and enjoy!
Best wishes to all in 2011! Be safe and well.