Welcome to the Overnight News Digest
The OND is published each night around midnight, Eastern Time.
The originator of OND was Magnifico.
Current Contributors are ScottyUrb, Bentliberal, wader, rfall, JML9999 and NeonVincent.
Stories and Headlines
- Brazil rescuers find flood victims trapped for days
(Reuters) - Brazilian army helicopters stepped up rescue and supply operations on Monday in areas hit by floods and landslides that have killed at least 665 people, reaching residents who had been cut off from help for five days. |
- FCC, DOJ near approval for Comcast-NBC deal: source
(Reuters) - Federal regulator could approve Comcast Corp's purchase of NBC Universal as early as Tuesday, a person familiar with matter said on Monday.
The Federal Communications Commission is expected to approve the deal by a four to one vote, with the Justice Department giving its approval shortly thereafter |
- Steve Jobs' medical leave raises questions again about Apple's future
SFGATE.COM (01-17) 12:37 PST San Francisco -- Apple Inc. leader Steve Jobs is going on medical leave for the third time in the last eight years, once again raising the uncertain prospect of the Cupertino technology giant's future without its iconic co-founder.
Few consumer brands are as tightly intertwined with their leader as Apple, in large part due to the remarkable turnaround he staged after his 1997 return to the company he'd been ousted from more than a decade earlier.
Jobs, plagued by health issues since recovering from a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004, disclosed that the board had granted his leave in an e-mail to employees that was also shared with the media. |
- Doctors 'very pleased' as Giffords continues to improve
by Megan Neighbor - Jan. 17, 2011 02:00 PM
The Arizona Republic
After undergoing a tracheotomy and removing her ventilator Saturday, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has entered her second phase of recovery: restoring and improving her medical condition, University Medical Center doctors said Monday.
Giffords is now breathing independently through her mouth and nose, which led doctors at University Medical Center to upgrade her condition from critical to serious on Sunday.
"We are very pleased with the outcome one week after this tragic event," said Rainer Gruessner, Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and one of Giffords' surgeons. |
- Tunisia forms national unity government amid unrest
BBC - Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi said the new government would work "towards democracy"
Tunisia has formed a national unity government, the country's prime minister has announced, days after a popular revolt ousted the president.
The prime minister, foreign, interior and defence ministers are to retain their jobs, with several opposition figures joining the government. |
BBC - Tunisia turmoil: Diary from Tunis
BBC - EU accused of lack of action on Tunisia
New York Times - Tunisia Unrest Stirs Passions Across North African Region
- DC Public Affairs Firm Dumped Tunisia Last Week
Mother Jones magazine -
A week before the Tunisian government collapsed on Friday, with its longtime dictator fleeing the country in the face of massive popular protests, a Washington, DC public relations firm that had been hired by the government abruptly severed its relationship the North African nation.
Last May, the Tunisian regime retained the Washington Media Group, which also represents private equity funds, aerospace companies, unions, and medical research companies, and banking giant Citigroup, to help promote its image abroad. In a press release announcing the contract, WMG referred to Tunisia as an "international business success story." At the time, John Leary, a partner at WMG, described Tunisia as a "peaceful, Islamic country" and a "stable democracy" with a "terrific story to share with the world." |
- Haiti urged to arrest visiting 'Baby Doc' Duvalier
BBC - 17 January 2011 - Human rights groups have urged the Haitian government to arrest and prosecute former President Jean-Claude Duvalier for abuses committed during his 1971-86 leadership.
Mr Duvalier, 59, also known as "Baby Doc", has just returned to Haiti.
He said he had "come to help" after last year's earthquake, but Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said he should face justice.
It is not clear whether any warrants exist for his arrest. |
- Genes may play role in friends we choose, says study
By Neil Bowdler Science reporter, BBC News
Researchers in the United States say they have uncovered tentative evidence of a genetic component to friendship.
Using data from two independent studies, they found carriers of one gene associated with alcoholism tended to stick together.
However, people with another gene linked with metabolism and openness, stayed apart.
Details are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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Facebook News
Facebook Apps Allowing Access to Numbers, Addresses
By: Chloe Albanesius, pcmag.com
Facebook recently announced that it is making user phone numbers and addresses available to developers, a move that a security expert said "could herald a new level of danger" for Facebook members. |
Goldman to exclude U.S. from Facebook placement
(Reuters)
By Ilaina Jonas
NEW YORK
Goldman Sachs will limit its private placement of shares of social networking site Facebook to investors outside the United States, citing "intense media coverage," the investment bank said. |
And cnet.com offers: How to delete address, cell number from Facebook
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More News
- Climate secrets of Marianas Trench probed
By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC News
The climate secrets of the deepest part of the ocean, the Marianas Trench in the western Pacific Ocean, have been probed by scientists.
The international team used a submersible, designed to withstand immense pressures, to study the bottom of the 10.9km-deep underwater canyon.
Their early results reveal that ocean trenches are acting as carbon sinks.
This suggests that they play a larger role in regulating the Earth's chemistry and climate than was thought. |
- Former Peace Corps Director Shriver Jr. hospitalized in Bethesda
Gazette.net
- Sudan: Secession Likely, Monitors Say
- Under Pay Model, Little Effect Seen on Papers’ Web Traffic
By JEREMY W. PETERS, New York Times
Initial findings showed that newspapers found success with a pay model by setting a conservative limit for the number of articles readers could read free each month. |
- (RAWSTORY) - Maine’s GOP governor backtracks after telling NAACP to ‘kiss my butt’
The newly sworn-in Republican governor of Maine, Paul LePage, hastily added an appearance at a Martin Luther King, Jr., memorial breakfast on Monday after taking political flak for refusing to attend events honoring the civil rights leader. |
- Cheney Considering Heart Transplant
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR, New York Times
Former Vice President Dick Cheney said he has not decided whether to seek a heart transplant for what he called his "end-stage heart failure" but said he will make that decision "at some point."
In his first interview since major surgery to implant an artificial pump to assist his heart, Mr. Cheney also said President Obama is likely to be a one-term president because his policies are unpopular with the public. |
- Robert Ford is first US ambassador to Syria since 2005
BBC - Robert Ford takes up his post at a time of renewed tensions in neighbouring Lebanon, where the government collapsed last week. He has long diplomatic experience in the Arab world.
Mr Ford's predecessor was withdrawn days after Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri was assassinated in February 2005. |
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