The Overnight News Digest is an ongoing evening series dedicated to chronicling the day's news that the editor de la nuit finds of import or interest. Everyone is welcome to add their own news items in the comments. Tonight, I am featuring news from around the world.
Top Story
- NYT - Mutated Trout Raise New Concerns Near Mine Sites
Photographs of variously mutated brown trout were relegated to an appendix of a scientific study commissioned by the J. R. Simplot Company, whose mining operations have polluted nearby creeks in southern Idaho. The trout were the offspring of local fish caught in the wild that had been spawned in the laboratory. Some had two heads; others had facial, fin and egg deformities.
Yet the company’s report concluded that it would be safe to allow selenium — a metal byproduct of mining that is toxic to fish and birds — to remain in area creeks at higher levels than are now permitted under regulatory guidelines. The company is seeking a judgment to that effect from the Environmental Protection Agency. After receiving a draft report that ran hundreds of pages, an E.P.A. review described the research as “comprehensive” and seemed open to its findings, which supported the selenium variance for Simplot’s Smoky Canyon mine.
But when other federal scientists and some environmentalists learned of the two-headed brown trout, they raised a ruckus, which resulted in further scientific review that found the company’s research wanting. |
USA
- Bloomberg - Marriott Dodged Tax With Shelter as Romney Oversaw Audits
During Romney’s tenure as a Marriott director, the company repeatedly utilized complex tax-avoidance maneuvers, prompting at least two tangles with the Internal Revenue Service, records show. In 1994, while he headed the audit committee, Marriott used a tax shelter known to attorneys by its nickname: “Son of BOSS.”
A federal appeals court invalidated the maneuver in a 2009 ruling, siding with the U.S. Department of Justice, which called Marriott’s transaction and attempted tax benefits “fictitious,” “artificial,” “spectral,” an “illusion” and a “scheme.” Marriott had argued the plan predated government efforts to close such shelters.
Employing another strategy, Marriott legally avoided hundreds of millions of dollars in income taxes thanks to a federal tax-credit program criticized and allowed to expire by Congress. Marriott has also shifted profits to a Luxembourg shell company. During Romney’s years on the board, Marriott’s effective tax rate dipped as low as 6.8 percent, compared with the federal corporate statutory rate of 35 percent. |
- BuzzFeed - Exclusive: Marco Rubio's Mormon Roots
In the compelling personal narrative that has helped propel Florida Senator Marco Rubio to national political stardom, one chapter has gone completely untold: Rubio spent his childhood as a faithful Mormon.
Rubio was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with his family at around the age of eight, and remained active in the faith for a number of years during his early youth, family members told BuzzFeed.
Rubio spokesman Alex Conant confirmed the story to BuzzFeed, and said Rubio returned to the Catholic church a few years later with his family, receiving his first communion on Christmas day in 1984 at the age of 13. |
- McClatchy - Once again, speculators behind sharply rising oil and gasoline prices
U.S. demand for oil and refined products — including gasoline — is down sharply from last year, so much that United States has actually become a net exporter of gasoline, unable to consume all that it makes. Yet oil and gasoline prices are surging…
The ostensible reason for the climb of crude prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where contracts for future delivery of oil are traded, is growing fear of a military confrontation with Iran in the Persian Gulf's Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world's oil passes…
"Speculation is now part of the DNA of oil prices. You cannot separate the two anymore. There is no demarcation," said Fadel Gheit, a 30-year veteran of energy markets and an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. "I still remain convinced oil prices are inflated." |
Europe
- Telegraph - Scientists did not break speed of light - it was a faulty wire
Researchers at the CERN lab near Geneva claimed they had recorded neutrinos, a type of tiny particle, travelling faster than the barrier of 186,282 miles (299,792 kilometers) per second.
Now it seems Einstein's reputation has been restored after a source close to the experiment told the US journal Science Insider that "A bad connection between a GPS unit and a computer may be to blame."
The report in Science Insider said the "60 nanoseconds discrepancy appears to come from a bad connection between a fiber optic cable that connects to the GPS receiver used to correct the timing of the neutrinos' flight and an electronic card in a computer."
"After tightening the connection and then measuring the time it takes data to travel the length of the fiber, researchers found that the data arrive 60 nanoseconds earlier than assumed," it added. |
- DW - Germany pays tribute to neo-Nazi victims
Three months after investigators uncovered a neo-Nazi cell that murdered 10 people, Germany is commemorating the victims of far-right extremists with a memorial service in Berlin and a nationwide moment of silence.
Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed the Berlin memorial service attended by around 1,200 people, including relatives of the 10 thought to have been killed by a neo-Nazi cell that targeted immigrants.
Merkel said the murders were a scandal for Germany. "We will do everything to solve the murders and to bring the perpetrators to justice," she promised. She also asked for forgiveness from the families of the victims. |
- Guardian - EU tar sands pollution vote ends in deadlock
The European Union failed to label oil produced from tar sands as highly polluting on Thursday, with a key vote by member states ending in deadlock.
The issue is seen as a key test of the EU's ability to implement its climate change policies while under heavy pressure from the Canadian government and oil companies who want to prevent billions of barrels of tar sands oil from being designated as especially harmful to the environment. The lobbying has been intense, with Canada secretly threatening a trade war with Europe if the proposal is passed, while the Nasa climate scientist James Hansen has said full development of the tar sands would mean it was "game over" for the climate.
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- RIA Novosti - Putin Supporters Pack Stadium in Mass Election Rally
Tens of thousands of people packed into a Moscow sports stadium Thursday in a massive and well-organized display of support for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin 10 days ahead of a contentious presidential election widely expected to usher the Russian prime minister back to the Kremlin.
We are the defenders of the fatherland!” Putin told a crowd of an estimated 130,000 supporters at the Luzhniki rally on Thursday, which is Defender of the Fatherland Day in Russia.
The pro-Putin gathering was the latest in a series of public demonstrations, unprecedented since the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. |
Africa
- LAT - Rise in crime intensifies unease in once-safe Egypt
The revolution that inspired this country one year ago has set loose a menacing air that Egyptians find unfamiliar. Bristling beneath the political battle for power against the ruling generals is an insecurity over crime and a bitterness that has darkened Egypt's congenial nature.
Soldiers guard streets but few people feel safe. Police have largely returned to duty after months of work slowdowns, but their presence is sporadic; they appear and disappear at whim. Many Egyptians wonder whether security forces are complacent about or complicit in the mayhem around them, a sense of unease felt by fruit vendors and bankers alike.
"This is an Egypt I do not know," said Tarek Fouad, a sales manager at an international corporation. |
- Amsterdam News - Elections May Not quiet unrest in Senegal
Senegal's aging president, Abdoulaye Wade, claimed the right to a third term in office despite a constitutional reform that limits presidents to only two. Wade is expected to sweep the poll scheduled for Feb. 26…
The failure of the Wade administration to bring economic development to this West African nation after 12 years has left many of his former supporters disenchanted, especially the youth. Many suspect that the 85-year-old leader is only holding the post for his son Karim—a minister in his father’s cabinet in charge of powerful portfolios such as energy.
What began with peaceful protests and a movement known as “We Are Fed Up” turned into a running battle, with police shooting rubber bullets and tear gas. |
- Guardian - Ethiopia dam project rides roughshod over heritage of local tribespeople
Thousands of semi-nomadic tribespeople are being forcibly moved from their traditional lands in southern Ethiopia to make way for European and Indian sugar cane and biofuel plantations, according to testimonies collected by Survival International researchers.
Agricultural developments along the Omo river valley have accompanied the building of the 243-metre-high Gibe III dam, expected to be Ethiopia's largest investment project and Africa's largest hydropower plant. But allegations of human rights abuses have marred both the dam's construction and the creation of a 140-mile-long reservoir intended to provide water for irrigation of industrial-scale plantations.
"Clearance of people and bush has started in earnest in the Omo Valley and violence against tribal people by the military, and tribal resistance, is increasing", says a Survival researcher who has just returned to London from the region. |
Middle East
- AP - UN has list of top Syrian leaders for crimes probe
The United Nations has a secret list of top Syrian officials who could face investigation for crimes against humanity carried out by Syria's security forces against government opponents, a panel of U.N. human rights experts said Thursday.
The U.N. experts indicated the list goes as high as President Bashar Assad but declined to say exactly which or how many names are on it…
"A reliable body of evidence exists that, consistent with other verified circumstances, provides reasonable grounds to believe that particular individuals, including commanding officers and officials at the highest levels of government, bear responsibility for crimes against humanity and other gross human rights violations," said the report by the U.N.-appointed Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria. |
- LAT - New pressure expected for Syria cease-fire and humanitarian aid
The United States and allied governments seeking the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad were expected to exert new pressure Friday on Syrian authorities to agree to a cease-fire and allow humanitarian aid into besieged areas such as the battered central city of Homs…
Meanwhile, two wounded journalists in Homs appeared in Internet videos seeking help to be evacuated. The city is under siege from government troops.
"I need a cease-fire quickly and a medical vehicle, or a vehicle in good condition, to be taken to Lebanon to be treated as quickly as possible," pleaded Edith Bouvier, a freelance reporter working for the French daily Le Figaro, who said she suffered a badly broken leg. "The surgeons here have done what they can, as best as they can, but they cannot perform an operation." …
Paul Conroy, an Irish photographer in Homs working for the Sunday Times of London, said he had wounds to his leg and that "any assistance that can be given by government agencies would be welcomed." |
- Reuters - Iraq attacks kill 60, raise sectarian fears
Simultaneous early morning attacks on mostly Shi'ite targets across Iraq killed at least 60 people and wounded dozens on Thursday in one of the bloodiest days of violence since U.S. troops pulled out in mid-December.
The attacks that appeared to pitch al Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim insurgents against Shi'ites raised fears of a return to the widespread sectarian carnage that tore Iraq apart and cost thousands of lives in 2006 and 2007.
The violence breaks weeks of relative calm as Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Sunni leaders have sought to resolve a political crisis that threatened to unravel their power-sharing agreement following the U.S. withdrawal. |
- LAT - U.S. does not believe Iran is trying to build nuclear bomb
As U.S. and Israeli officials talk publicly about the prospect of a military strike against Iran's nuclear program, one fact is often overlooked: U.S. intelligence agencies don't believe Iran is actively trying to build an atomic bomb…
The most recent report, which represents the consensus of 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, indicates that Iran is pursuing research that could put it in a position to build a weapon, but that it has not sought to do so.
Although Iran continues to enrich uranium at low levels, U.S. officials say they have not seen evidence that has caused them to significantly revise that judgment. Senior U.S. officials say Israel does not dispute the basic intelligence or analysis. |
South Asia
- CNN - Obama apologizes to Afghanistan for Quran burning
Afghan rage over the burning of Qurans by NATO troops continued Thursday even after a President Barack Obama apologized for the "error."
Afghanistan erupted in violent demonstrations after the troops burned the Islamic religious material at the beginning of the week.
Two American troops were killed Thursday by a man wearing an Afghan National Army uniform, a U.S. official said…
In a letter delivered to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Obama called the act "inadvertent," Karzai's office and National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said Thursday. "We will take the appropriate steps to avoid any recurrence, including holding accountable those responsible," Obama said in the letter delivered by Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. |
- NYT - Lethal Blast Strikes Northwest Pakistan Bus Terminal
An explosion apparently caused by a car bomb ripped through a bus terminal in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, on Thursday, killing 15 people including two children and wounding at least 35, the provincial information minister said.
It was the largest such attack for months in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, although there have been sporadic strikes against security forces guarding the city perimeter.
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- Times of India - Average salary of Indian CEOs up 30%
The average salary of top CEOs in India has risen to Rs 2 crore, up by close to 30% in the last one year, says an executives compensation report by global consulting firm Hay Group that has just been released.
The study covered 87 top Indian and MNC CEOs (no family CEOs were eligible) operating across industry domains. It found that some 50% of them are now in the Rs 2 crore per annum category and 12% in the Rs 7 crore category. "There is a substantial jump in what professional CEOs carry home today compared to a year ago. Most of the CEOs in the Rs 2 crore category were in the Rs 1.4 crore or Rs 1.5 crore pay scale a year ago. Conglomerate CEOs who used to get Rs 5.25 crore on average a year ago now get about Rs 7 crore," said Sridhar Ganesan, rewards practice leader at Hay Group.
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Asia
- China Daily - Shanghai court postpones iPad decision
The Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court on Thursday rejected a request by Shenzhen Proview Technology to stop Apple from selling iPads in the city.
The court said it could not support Proview's application because no ruling has been made on whether Apple has violated Proview's exclusive right to use the iPad trademark.
A lawsuit over the right to use the trademark in China is still under the second instance trial at Guangzhou people's higher court, which is scheduled to hold a hearing on Wednesday. |
- Reuters - Japan's nuclear crisis goes much further than Fukushima
Critics… say Japan is running so short of nuclear-waste storage that the entire industry risks shutdown within the next two decades unless a solution is found…
Long-term storage of highly radioactive waste is a problem common to all nuclear-powered nations, including the United States, but experts say Japan's unstable geology and densely populated terrain mean that its challenges are far bigger…
As Japan approaches the anniversary of the March 11 quake, the nuclear power industry, which just over a year ago supplied a third of its power, is virtually paralysed. All but two of the country's 54 reactors are offline. The reactors have steadily been shut down for maintenance, unable to restart until they meet new stress tests that aim to determine if power stations in the future can withstand the kind of terrifying natural force unleashed on Fukushima: a magnitude 9 quake and a wall of water more than 10 metres (30 ft) high. |
- Bangkok Post - Thailand to fall behind in rice exports
Thailand might lose its leadership in rice exports to Vietnam very soon because of the government's rice mortgage scheme, Thai Rice Exporters Association president Korbsuk Iamsuree said Friday.
"Vietnam, India and Myanmar are key competitors in the rice market but Vietnam is the strongest competitor as the country is determined to become the world's leading rice exporter," Ms Korbsuk said.
She said Vietnam may surpass Thailand within five years. |
Oceana
- SMH - Rudd to run for Labor leadership
Kevin Rudd will challenge Prime Minister Julia Gillard for the Labor leadership on Monday morning.
"Rightly or wrongly, Julia has lost the trust of the Australian people," he said. "I want to finish the job the Australian people elected me to do."
Mr Rudd confirmed that if he did not win on Monday, he would give up all leadership ambitions. "I would go to the backbench and I will not challenge Julia a second time," he said. |
- AAP - Aussie woman scammed Nigerians: court
A Brisbane woman fleeced Nigerian scam artists by stealing more than $30,000 from their internet car sales racket, a court has been told.
Sarah Jane Cochrane-Ramsey, 23, was employed by the Nigerians as an "agent" in March 2010 but was unaware they were scam artists, the Brisbane District Court heard today. Her job was to provide an Australian bank account through which they could funnel any payments they received through their dodgy account on a popular car sales website.
Cochrane-Ramsey was to keep eight per cent of all money paid into her account and forward the rest to the Nigerian scammers. |
Americas
- MercoPress - Two-day mourning in Argentina over the train accident
Argentine President Cristina Fernández issued a two day mourning period over the train accident in one of Buenos Aires main stations which left 50 people dead and 676 injured.
“The Government and the people of Argentina accompany with solidarity and sorrow the grief of the families of the victims of the accident,” decree 245 reads.
Likewise in light of the accident, Carnival celebrations which were to be held on Friday along 9 de Julio Avenue in Buenos Aires City were cancelled. |
- AFP - Oldest rock carving of Americas found in Brazil
Brazilian archeologists have discovered an ancient rock carving they say is at least 10,000 years old, making it the oldest human carving in the Americas.
The claim, detailed in an article in the online scientific journal PLoS ONE, opens the controversial debate over when and how humans populated the Americas. The 30 centimeter (12 inches) carving is of a man with a "C" shaped head, three fingers per hand and an oversized phallus.
Walter Neves, an archeologist with the Universidad de Sao Paulo and a member of the team that made the discovery, said the rock carving, or petroglyph, could be part of a "cult of fertility." |
- LAHT - Organizations Denounce Mexican Rights Activist’s Arrest
Various civic organizations have denounced the arrest of a human rights activist in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.
The groups said in a statement that agents from the federal Attorney General’s Office arrested Lucila Bettina Cruz Velazquez at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and that her whereabouts and the charges she faces are still unknown.
Cruz Velazquez is the co-founder of the Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Defense of Land and Territory, which “has taken part in a series of campaigns to defend the collective rights of the indigenous peoples,” the statement said. |
- Reuters - Mexican scientists successfully test vaccine that could cut heroin addiction
A group of Mexican scientists is working on a vaccine that could reduce addiction to one of the world's most notorious narcotics: heroin.
Researchers at the country's National Institute of Psychiatry say they have successfully tested the vaccine on mice and are preparing to test it on humans.
The vaccine, which has been patented in the US, makes the body resistant to the effects of heroin, so users would no longer get a rush of pleasure when they smoked or injected it. |
- Montreal Gazette - Tarsands oil pipeline through Quebec stalled
The environmental group Équiterre and a citizen from Dunham have won a Quebec Court ruling that will temporarily stall the attempt by oil companies Enbridge and Suncor to ship tarsands oil from Alberta through Montreal to Portland, Maine.
The $17-million Trailbreaker Pipeline project proposes to reverse the flow of oil in two existing pipelines that now ship oil from Portland to Montreal and onto Sarnia, Ont.
The two companies want to pipe about 200,000 barrels a day of tarsands heavy oil east to Portland and then ship it by tanker to Gulf Coast refineries. |