Overnight News Digest, aka OND, is a community feature here at Daily Kos. Each editor selects news stories on a wide range of topics.
The OND community was founded by Magnifico.
Letter from the First Lady
By Michelle Obama
Dear ELLE Readers,
When I fell in love with Barack more than 20 years ago, I knew he'd be a loving husband and a devoted father. I knew he shared my determination to make a difference in other people's lives. But I never dreamed that heâÂÂd one day be president, and I know that he didn't either.
But four years ago against all odds I joined millions of Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life to vote for Barack. I didn't do it just because we were married. I voted for him because I knew he was going to stand up for women like me and our daughters, sisters, and mothers. When I look at all he's done since that freezing day he was inaugurated on the Capitol steps from health-care reform, to saving jobs, to fighting for women's rights I'm proud of how far we have come. And I am determined to help him keep moving forward. (Visit Gottavote.org to find out how to register and where to cast your ballot.)
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Iron dump in Pacific wasn't news to government, project says
CBS News
Government bodies knew about a controversial experimental project in which 100 tonnes of a dust-like material was dumped into the ocean off B.C.'s north coast, the project's leader said.
John Disney, the president of the Haida Salmon Restoration Corp, which initiated the $2-million ocean fertilization project, told CBC News that various federal government departments were aware of his controversial plan.
In an interview with CBC Radio's As It Happens, Disney said he had been in touch with several federal departments and agencies, including Indian and Northern Affairs.
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Japan protests alleged rape by U.S. sailors
By Chico Harlan
Japan lodged a protest with the United States on Wednesday over the alleged rape of a Japanese woman by two U.S. sailors on Okinawa, an island that long has bristled about the heavy American military presence there.
The sailors, identified as Seaman Christopher Browning and Petty Officer 3rd Class Skyler Dozierwalker, of the Fort Worth Naval Air Station in Texas, were arrested Tuesday. Both are described as 23 years old.
The woman, in her 20s, was allegedly attacked while walking home early Tuesday. The men had been drinking beforehand, Japanese media reported
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Ahead of gay marriage votes, advocates skeptical of polling
By Edith Honan
In Maryland, Maine and Washington, voters appear to be warming to the idea of legal marriage of same sex couples, raising the likelihood that come Election Day at least one of those states will join six others that have approved gay marriage.
That is, if the polls are to be believed.
Gay marriage activists suspect voters - especially those who believe marriage should be only between a man and a woman - might be unwilling to voice their true feelings in polls.
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Rabbi Writes Patronizing Letter To Sarah Silverman, Has His Ass Handed To Him By Her Dad
Huffington Post
Rabbi Yaakov Rosenblatt is apparently not a fan of Sarah Silverman. In fact, if his open letter to her can be taken on its face, he's not a fan in general of uppity women who haven't made marriage and baby-making a priority.
The letter, published on JewishPress.com, initially takes issue with Silverman's Let My People Vote campaign for its use of "biblical language," but his argument quickly shifts focus to the comedian's real crimes: focusing on her career rather than marrying and mothering her own "brood." Rosenblatt suggests that the reason for Silverman's political interests -- which he seems to think are new -- is the result of a hole in her life that can only be filled by traditional marriage and familyâ¦
â¦But most importantly, Silverman's dad took to the comments section on Rosenblatt's post and fired off a couple of warning shots...
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Mass. prosecutor quits over drug lab communication
By DENISE LAVOIE
A Massachusetts state prosecutor resigned Wednesday amid revelations that he corresponded with the chemist at the center of the scandal at the now-closed state drug lab, broadening the case's already significant fallout.
Norfolk Assistant District Attorney George Papachristos offered his resignation, and District Attorney Michael Morrissey accepted it. Morrissey said in a statement that Papachristos did not want to distract from the criminal investigation of chemist Annie Dookhan and the probe of what went wrong at the lab.
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World TB cases fall, but drug-resistance a worry : WHO
By Julie Steenhuysen
New tuberculosis infections dropped 2.2 percent worldwide last year, but with nearly 9 million new infections, the World Health Organization said TB remains a massive problem that could worsen if countries shortchange funding to fight it.
In its annual assessment released Wednesday, WHO also said only one in five people with drug-resistant strains of TB is being diagnosed each year, leaving hundreds of thousands of people who are potentially infecting others with this particularly deadly form of the disease.
Overall, the report found that 8.7 million people fell ill with tuberculosis in 2011 and 1.4 million died, including nearly 430,000 people who were also infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
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Antidepressants linked to risk of brain bleeds: study
Reuters
People using a common class of antidepressants may have slightly increased odds of suffering bleeding in the brain - though the risk is still very small, according to a Canadian study looking at more than 500,000 people.
The antidepressants are known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and include widely used drugs like fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), citalopram (Celexa) and paroxetine (Paxil.)
The SSRIs have been linked to a risk of stomach bleeding, but studies have come to conflicting findings on whether SSRI users have any higher risk of hemorrhagic strokes, which happen when there is bleeding in or around the brain. |
Earth-like planet -- sorta -- spotted in Alpha Centauri
By Christopher MacManus
Roughly 25 trillion miles (or 4.3 light years) from home, astronomers have found that the Alpha Centauri star system hosts a planet with a mass similar to that of Earth. Galactic geeks may recall references to this star system in "Star Trek," "Avatar," "Transformers," and countless other fictional entertainment.
The planet, officially named Alpha Centauri Bb, orbits Alpha Centauri B and took more than four years of observing to fully classify.
"This result represents a major step towards the detection of a twin Earth in the immediate vicinity of the sun," said Xavier Dumusque, who served as lead author of the planet-discovering study, in a release.
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Syria envoy says bloodshed could engulf Middle East
By Dominic Evans
The international mediator on Syria said on Wednesday its civil war risks spilling across borders to engulf the Middle East and appealed for a temporary truce he said could mark a small step towards defusing 19 months of conflict.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.-Arab League envoy, has proposed that both President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebel fighters seeking his overthrow hold fire during the Islamic feast holiday of Eid al-Adha that starts next week.
Syrian authorities, who blame rebels for the failure of an April ceasefire plan, guardedly welcomed Brahimi's proposal but said any initiative must be respected by both sides. Turkey, one of Assad's harshest critics, and Iran, one of his strongest allies, both backed the plan, in rare agreement. |
Libyan officials name Ansar al Sharia leader as commander of Benghazi attack: Reports
Lizzy Tomel
Libyan authorities said that an investigation into last month's assault on the US consulate in Benghazi has identified the leader of a militant group as the commander of the attack, The New York Times reported.
Witnesses of the Sept. 11 attack reported having seen Ahmed Abu Khattala, the founder of the Islamist group Ansar al Shaira, or "Partisans of Islamic Law," on the premises directing the attack, the Times reported. The group operates independently of al Qaeda, the Times wrote, though it espouses the sam "puritanism and militancy."
The Wall Street Journal reported that Khattala remains at large, while Ansar al Sharia denies any role in the attack.
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