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:Clashes as police evict squatters in Rio de Janeiro
Clashes as police evict squatters in Rio de Janeiro
A huge police operation to evict hundreds of families from abandoned buildings in Rio de Janeiro has ended with violent clashes and some injuries.
More than 1,500 police officers had arrived at dawn to evict nearly 5,000 people from the site, belonging to a telecommunication company.
Some families left peacefully, but clashes began when others resisted.
Groups of squatters threw rocks at police who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
BBC:US refuses visa for Iran's UN envoy choice Hamid Aboutalebi
US refuses visa for Iran's UN envoy choice Hamid Aboutalebi
The White House has refused to issue a US visa to Iran's nomination for UN ambassador, who was involved in seizure of the US embassy in 1979.
The decision in effect bars Hamid Aboutalebi from taking up the role at the UN, which is based in New York.
Mr Aboutalebi was linked to the student group that took dozens of people hostage at the embassy in Tehran.
President Barack Obama has come under intense pressure from the US Congress not to allow him to enter the country.
BBC:US urges countries to help Ukraine's economic rescue
US urges countries to help Ukraine's economic rescue
US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has urged other countries to contribute more to the economic rescue of Ukraine.
He told the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that Ukraine's "sizeable financing needs" meant other nations must add to its $1bn (£597m, 720m euros) loan guarantee.
The appeal came as Ukraine's interim prime minister offered to devolve more powers to eastern regions.
Pro-Russian separatists there are defying the government.
BBC:Cyclone Ita: Queensland wakes up to storm damage
Cyclone Ita: Queensland wakes up to storm damage
Residents in northern Queensland are waking up to survey the damage after Cyclone Ita brought winds of up to 230km/h (140mph) to parts of Australia.
Tens of thousands of people hunkered down overnight amid warnings of severe gales, flash flooding and storm tides.
The cyclone made landfall at Cape Flattery but weakened as it travelled inland, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said.
It is the strongest storm to hit since Cyclone Yasi, which struck in 2011.
BBC:Missing plane MH370: Abbott 'confident' over signals
Missing plane MH370: Abbott 'confident' over signals
Australian leader Tony Abbott says authorities are confident that signals heard in the Indian Ocean are coming from the "black box" flight recorders of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
Speaking in China, he said teams had "very much narrowed" the search area.
An Australian vessel has on four occasions picked up signals consistent with flight recorders, officials say.
Meanwhile, China has postponed delivery of two pandas to Malaysia out of respect for relatives of the missing.
BBC:Iraqi deputy PM al-Mutlaq convoy in clash with soldiers
Iraqi deputy PM al-Mutlaq convoy in clash with soldiers
Guards protecting the convoy of the Iraqi deputy prime minister have reportedly been involved in a fire fight with soldiers.
The shoot-out came as Saleh al-Mutlaq was travelling to the Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad.
The details of the clash are unclear. Earlier reports suggested the attackers were militants posing as soldiers.
His office also told the BBC that, contrary to earlier reports, nobody was killed in the fighting.
Reuters:
U.S. government says hackers trying to exploit 'Heartbleed' bug
U.S. government says hackers trying to exploit 'Heartbleed' bug
(Reuters) - The U.S. government warned banks and other businesses on Friday to be on alert for hackers seeking to steal data exposed by the "Heartbleed" bug, as a German programmer took responsibility for the widespread security crisis.
On a website for advising critical infrastructure operators about emerging cyber threats, the Department of Homeland Security asked organizations to report any Heartbleed-related attacks, adding that hackers were attempting to exploit the bug in widely used OpenSSL code by scanning targeted networks.
Federal regulators also advised financial institutions to patch and test their systems to make sure they are safe.
OpenSSL is technology used to encrypt communications, including access to email, as well as websites of big Internet companies like Facebook Inc, Google Inc and Yahoo Inc.
Reuters:FBI conducting a probe into Herbalife: sources
FBI conducting a probe into Herbalife: sources
(Reuters) - The FBI is probing Herbalife Ltd, the nutrition and weight loss company that hedge fund manager William Ackman has called a pyramid scheme, sources familiar with the investigation said on Friday.
The news, first reported by the Financial Times, sparked a sharp sell-off that sent the stock price down nearly 14 percent.
One source briefed on the matter said that the investigation has been going on for some time, but declined to give further details. A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Boston declined to confirm or deny the investigation. So far no charges have been filed in the matter.
Former Herbalife distributors reached by Reuters said they had been contacted by agents who were interested in finding out more about the multilevel marketing company's business practices, including how it recruits new members into its distribution scheme.
Reuters:Japan approves energy plan reinstating nuclear power
Japan approves energy plan reinstating nuclear power
(Reuters) - Japan's cabinet on Friday approved an energy policy reversing the previous government's plans to gradually mothball nuclear power plants, a move likely to be unpopular with a wary public following the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
But the plan may be too little too late for Japan's moribund atomic industry, which is floundering under the weight of estimated losses of almost $50 billion, forcing two utilities to ask the government for capital last week.
Plant operators have had to pay out almost $90 billion on replacement fossil fuels, with domestic media saying they have also spent an estimated 1.6 trillion yen ($16 billion) on nuclear plant upgrades to meet new safety guidelines.
A recent Reuters analysis shows as many as two-thirds of the country's 48 idled nuclear reactors may have to be left closed because of the high cost of further upgrades, local opposition or seismic risks.
Reuters:U.S. may give up demand for zero Japan beef tariffs in trade deal: Nikkei
U.S. may give up demand for zero Japan beef tariffs in trade deal: Nikkei
(Reuters) - The United States appears willing to accept a big cut in Japanese tariffs on beef imports rather than insist on scrapping the levy, the Nikkei business daily said on Friday, as the two countries seek a trade deal seen as vital to a broader regional pact.
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Japanese Economics Minister Akira Amari wrapped up two days of intense talks on Thursday on the bilateral deal, a cornerstone of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), with both saying progress had been made but that big gaps remained.
"There was a bit of progress but big differences remain," Agriculture Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi reiterated at a news conference on Friday.
Trade Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters that an April 24 summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would be an important juncture for the trade talks, but repeated Japan's stance that the meeting was not a deadline for a deal, Kyodo news agency reported.
Reuters:Japan says arranging for economy minister trip to U.S. for trade talks
Japan says arranging for economy minister trip to U.S. for trade talks
(Reuters) - Japan's government is arranging for Economy Minister Akira Amari to travel to the United States for trade talks next week in a bid to reach agreement in a two-way deal that is seen as critical for a broader regional pact, the top government spokesman said on Friday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga was speaking to reporters at a regular news conference.
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Amari wrapped up two days of intense talks on Thursday on the bilateral deal, a cornerstone of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), with both saying progress had been made but that big gaps remained.
Reuters:Amid 'gas war' talk, Russia reassures Europe on supply
Amid 'gas war' talk, Russia reassures Europe on supply
(Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to ease European fears of gas supply cuts on Friday after Brussels said it would stand with the new authorities in Kiev if the Kremlin carries out a threat to turn off the tap to Ukraine.
Russia, which last month angered Western powers by annexing Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, has raised the price it charges Kiev for gas and said it owes Moscow $2.2 billion in unpaid bills.
That has raised the specter of previous "gas wars", when rows between the two former Soviet states led to problems with onward supplies to western Europe. A repeat of that scenario could hurt Russia as well as EU customers for its gas because Moscow depends for its public revenues on selling gas in Europe.
"I want to say again: We do not intend and do not plan to shut off the gas for Ukraine," Putin said in televised comments at a meeting of his advisory Security Council. "We guarantee fulfillment of all our obligations to our European consumers."
CompterWorld:IRS misses XP deadline, pays Microsoft millions for patches
IRS misses XP deadline, pays Microsoft millions for patches
Computerworld - The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) acknowledged this week that it missed the April 8 cut-off for Windows XP support, and will be paying Microsoft millions for an extra year of security patches.
Microsoft terminated Windows XP support on Tuesday when it shipped the final public patches for the nearly-13-year-old operating system. Without patches for vulnerabilities discovered in the future, XP systems will be at risk from cyber criminals who hijack the machines and plant malware on them.
During an IRS budget hearing Monday before the House Financial Services and General Government subcommittee, the chairman, Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.) wondered why the agency had not wrapped up its Windows XP-to-Windows 7 move.
"Now we find out that you've been struggling to come up with $30 million to finish migrating to Windows 7, even though Microsoft announced in 2008 that it would stop supporting Windows XP past 2014," Crenshaw said at the hearing. "I know you probably wish you'd already done that."