OND Editors OND is a community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00AM Eastern Time.
OND Editors Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, rfall, and JML9999. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Interceptor7, BentLiberal, Oke and jlms qkw. The guest editors are Doctor RJ and annetteboardman.
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BBC:No Ukraine accord in US-Russia talks
No Ukraine accord in US-Russia talks
Russia and the US have "no common vision" on the crisis in Ukraine, Russia's foreign minister has said, after talks with his US counterpart.
However Sergei Lavrov called his London meeting with John Kerry "constructive".
Mr Kerry said the US was "deeply concerned" about Russia sending troops to the Ukraine border and in Crimea.
Mr Lavrov said Moscow would respect the result of Sunday's referendum in Crimea on whether to join Russia but Mr Kerry said the US would not recognise it.
BBC:US nuclear site fire 'was preventable
US nuclear site fire 'was preventable
Maintenance and safety lapses were at the root of a lorry fire that shut down the only US underground nuclear waste repository, a report has found.
The report also cited problems with emergency response and oversight at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), outside Carlsbad, New Mexico.
The state's two senators called the findings "deeply concerning".
WIPP, which holds specific kinds of defence nuclear waste, remains closed after a radiation leak last month.
BBC:US Navy veteran in iconic WW2 kissing photo dies
US Navy veteran in iconic WW2 kissing photo dies
A Texas man thought to be the US Navy sailor kissing a nurse in an iconic end of World War Two photo has died.
Glenn McDuffie died aged 86 at a nursing home in Dallas on Sunday, his daughter said.
McDuffie's claim to be the man in the famed VJ day photo was supported by a police forensic artist's analysis.
Photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt took the image as the news of Japan's surrender filtered through New York's Times Square on 14 August 1945.
BBC:Rwanda ex-spy chief Pascal Simbikangwa jailed in France
Rwanda ex-spy chief Pascal Simbikangwa jailed in France
A French court has jailed former Rwandan spy chief Pascal Simbikangwa for 25 years over the 1994 genocide.
In a landmark trial, Simbikangwa was found guilty of complicity in genocide and complicity in crimes against humanity.
It was not immediately clear whether his lawyers would appeal.
Simbikangwa, 54, who is paraplegic after a car crash, was arrested in 2008 while living under an alias on the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte.
BBC:Sina Weibo: 'China's Twitter' to list in the US
Sina Weibo: 'China's Twitter' to list in the US
China's largest Twitter-like service Weibo has unveiled plans to sell shares on the US stock market.
Weibo, owned by Chinese internet giant Sina, is looking to raise $500m (£300m) via the share sale.
However, the firm did not give details of the number of shares it plans to sell or the price range.
According to papers filed with the US regulators, it had 129.1 million monthly active users in December and generated revenues of $188m in 2013.
BBC:Devyani Khobragade: Indian diplomat re-indicted in US
Devyani Khobragade: Indian diplomat re-indicted in US
A US grand jury has re-indicted an Indian diplomat whose arrest strained US-India relations.
Devyani Khobragade is accused of visa fraud and underpaying her housekeeper, lawyers in New York said.
It comes two days after a US judge threw out virtually identical charges on the grounds that Ms Khobragade had diplomatic immunity.
However, that ruling left open the possibility that prosecutors could bring a new indictment.
Reuters:U.S. regulator sues 16 banks for rigging Libor rate
U.S. regulator sues 16 banks for rigging Libor rate
(Reuters) - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp sued 16 of the world's largest banks on Friday, accusing them of cheating dozens of other now defunct banks by manipulating the Libor interest rate.
The global financial institutions broke certain swaps contracts they had entered into with the now-closed banks, by separately colluding to rig the Libor rate to which the contracts were tied, the FDIC said.
Some of the banks accused in the lawsuit, including Barclays Plc and UBS, have already paid some $6 billion to resolve charges from U.S. and European authorities that they worked to manipulate benchmark interest rates.
They have also been sued by investors and others who claim they lost money due to the manipulation. A federal judge last March dismissed many of those claims that were based on antitrust law, but has yet to rule on cases that rely on the "breach of contract" theory used by the FDIC.
Reuters:Japan February exports seen accelerating; trade gap to narrow
Japan February exports seen accelerating; trade gap to narrow
(Reuters) - Japan's export growth is forecast to have accelerated in February as shipments recovered from a Lunar New Year slowdown, which along with slower import growth is expected see the trade deficit narrow from record levels, a Reuters poll shows.
Lackluster exports have been a concern for policymakers, who are counting on shipments to help cushion an expected dent in domestic activity from next month when the sales tax rate rises to 8 percent from the current 5 percent.
Despite the sharp fall in the yen since late 2012, which has pushed up the cost of imports, there has not been a significant boost in export volumes, in part because of exporters' reluctance to cut prices.
The Reuters poll found exports are expected to have risen 12.4 percent in February from a year earlier, led by brisk car shipments to the United States. If realized, it would be the first time since October that export growth has accelerated from the previous month.
Reuters:Nobel laureate calls handing of stem cell research data 'sloppy'
Nobel laureate calls handing of stem cell research data 'sloppy'
(Reuters) - The Nobel Prize-winning head of a Japanese institute whose scientists' work on stem cells was hailed as a game-changer in the field of medical biology called the lead researcher's handling of the data "extremely sloppy" and "irresponsible".
Two papers published in the journal Nature in January detailed a simple way to reprogram mature animal cells back into an embryonic-like state that allows them to generate many types of tissue, offering hope for a simpler way to replace damaged cells or grow new organs in humans.
But other scientists have been unable to replicate the research's results since then and there have been indications of problems with its data and images.
"The problem here is one immature researcher collected a huge amount of research data, and her handling of data was extremely sloppy and irresponsible," president of Japanese research institute RIKEN Ryoji Noyori told a news conference.
Reuters:Slim's Inbursa targets Brazil with Standard Bank unit deal
Slim's Inbursa targets Brazil with Standard Bank unit deal
(Reuters) - Billionaire Carlos Slim's Grupo Financiero Inbursa SAB (GFINBURO.MX) on Friday took a key step to expand outside Mexico after agreeing to pay $45 million for the Brazilian unit of South Africa's Standard Bank Group (SBKJ.J).
The purchase of Banco Standard de Investimento Ltda gives Inbursa a services platform akin to the one it has at home, the lender said in a securities filing. The move comes as rival Brazilian banks such as Grupo BTG Pactual SA (BBTG11.SA) and Itaú Unibanco Holding SA (ITUB4.SA) opened broker-dealer units in Mexico, the region's No. 2 economy after Brazil.
The Inbursa-Standard deal underpins an overseas expansion push among Latin American banks, which have gained expertise and beefed up capital in the wake of years of robust growth. Part of that expansion, analysts said, will be made possible as global banks pull back amid an economic recovery in the United States and other developed economies.
Inbursa is Mexico's sixth-largest bank with 482 billion pesos ($36.4 billion) in assets, equivalent to 7 percent of the country's banking assets. In contrast, Banco Standard cut assets by over 90 percent to 244 million reais ($102 million) over the past year, with its capital base down by more than 60 percent..
Reuters:U.S. rests its case against bin Laden son-in-law
U.S. rests its case against bin Laden son-in-law
(Reuters) - Prosecutors in New York on Friday rested their case in the trial of Suleiman Abu Ghaith, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden who is accused of conspiring to kill Americans when he acted as a spokesman for al Qaeda after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
Abu Ghaith's lawyers are expected to present their case next week. But they will ask presiding U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan over the weekend for an order permitting them to introduce evidence from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, which would require a slight delay, according to Stanley Cohen, one of the lawyers.
The judge previously said he was "deeply skeptical" the lawyers have a right to access Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, who is being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Cohen said Mohammad has responded to written questions that could help his client.
"I think the case has proven exactly what we predicted it would be at the opening," Cohen said. "There's some ugly words and bad associations and no evidence of a knowing conspiracy to murder Americans."
Reuters:Crimea vote to keep markets on edge
Crimea vote to keep markets on edge
(Reuters) - Investors will start the week early as the Sunday referendum to decide if Crimea becomes part of Russia or remains Ukrainian will likely reverberate in markets worldwide.
U.S. stocks closed Friday with their largest weekly drop in the last seven weeks as the strongest confrontation between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War unfolds. Markets were also haunted by concerns over a slowdown in China's economy.
Dozens of Russians involved in Moscow's gradual takeover of Crimea face U.S. and EU travel bans and asset freezes on Monday as pro-Moscow authorities who have taken power in Crimea hold a Sunday vote to join Russia.
"There's an open question as to who suffers most," said Sam Wardwell, investment strategist at Pioneer Investments in Boston, about the planned economic sanctions.
Akron Beacon Journal Online:New Goodyear airship looks familiar but high tech, visitors say
New Goodyear airship looks familiar but high tech, visitors say
SUFFIELD TWP.: Laura Casenhiser got her first close look at Goodyear’s brand-spanking-new airship Friday morning and liked what she saw.
“It’s really, really different looking,” she said. “I think when people see it in the sky over Akron ... people will really be shocked. It will really be fun. It’s just innovative and high tech.”
Casenhiser was among a group of 50 or so Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. employees and tire dealers who walked around the new Goodyear NT airship at its Wingfoot Lake hangar on Friday. The Akron tire maker unveiled its new semi-rigid airship to the public that morning and announced a contest to name the aircraft.
Judging by the smiles and other initial impressions inside the hangar, Goodyear has a hit blimp on its hands.