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:Mysterious US spaceplane returns to Earth
Mysterious US spaceplane returns to Earth
A US plane on a top-secret, two-year mission to space has returned to Earth and landed in California.
The aircraft, resembling a miniature space shuttle and known as the Orbital Test Vehicle or X-37B, spent 674 days in orbit around the planet.
It touched down at Vandenberg Air Force Base on Friday morning.
The purpose of the plane remains unclear - a theory that it was taking a look at China's space lab has recently been downplayed by experts.
BBC:Ebola crisis: WHO accused of 'failure' in early response
Ebola crisis: WHO accused of 'failure' in early response
Poor communication and incompetent staff meant the World Health Organization failed to react swiftly Ebola outbreak in Africa, reports say.
An internal document said those involved "failed to see some fairly plain writing on the wall", according to the Associated Press.
Separately, sources close to the WHO told Bloomberg of multiple failures in the outbreak's early stages.
In response, a senior official told the BBC time would come for an inquiry.
BBC:Hurricane Gonzalo pounds Bermuda with strong storms
Hurricane Gonzalo pounds Bermuda with strong storms
Hurricane Gonzalo has hit Bermuda with winds of about 185km/h (115mph).
Eighty per cent of the British territory had lost power because of the hurricane, Reuters quoted Bermuda Electric Light Company as saying.
Bermuda, an island chain and affluent insurance hub in the Atlantic Ocean, frequently sees strong tropical storms.
"I wish everyone all the best for the next 24 hours. Good luck and look after each other," Governor George Ferguson said in an earlier emergency broadcast.
BBC:Rousseff 'dizziness': Brazil president 'in good health'
Rousseff 'dizziness': Brazil president 'in good health'
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff says she is in good health after a bout of dizziness at the end of a TV debate.
She was debating policy with her opponent in the presidential run-off vote on 26 October, Aecio Neves.
Latest polls say the two candidates are running neck and neck in what has become an increasingly bitter campaign.
After the debate, Ms Rousseff issued a video on social media looking upbeat and saying she had experience a bout of low blood pressure but had recovered.
BBC:Hong Kong protests: Police use pepper spray in new clashes
Hong Kong protests: Police use pepper spray in new clashes
Fresh clashes have broken out between Hong Kong police and pro-democracy protesters, with officers using pepper spray and batons against the crowd.
Thousands of protesters gathered at Mong Kok district, reclaiming part of a protest site cleared by police earlier on Friday.
Police said they arrested 26 people for charges including assault.
A police operation earlier this week sparked outrage after a video emerged of officers beating a protester.
BBC:Nigeria and Boko Haram 'agree ceasefire and girls' release'
Nigeria and Boko Haram 'agree ceasefire and girls' release'
Nigeria's military says it has agreed a ceasefire with Islamist militants Boko Haram - and that the schoolgirls the group has abducted will be released.
Nigeria's chief of defence staff, Alex Badeh, announced the truce. Boko Haram has not made a public statement.
The group has been fighting an insurgency since 2009, with some 2,000 civilians reportedly killed this year.
Boko Haram sparked global outrage six months ago by abducting more than 200 schoolgirls.
Reuters:Islamic State flying three jets in Syria: monitor
Islamic State flying three jets in Syria: monitor
(Reuters) - Iraqi pilots who have joined Islamic State in Syria are training members of the group to fly in three captured fighter jets, a group monitoring the war said on Friday, saying it was the first time the militant group had taken to the air.
The group, which has seized swathes of land in Syria and Iraq, has been flying the planes over the captured al-Jarrah military airport east of Aleppo, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report and U.S. Central Command said it was not aware of Islamic State flying jets in Syria.
U.S-led forces are bombing Islamic State bases in Syria and Iraq. The group has regularly used weaponry captured from the Syrian and Iraqi armies and has overrun several military bases but, if the report is confirmed, this would be the first time it has been able to pilot warplanes.
Reuters:NSA reviewing deal between official, ex-spy agency head
NSA reviewing deal between official, ex-spy agency head
(Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency has launched an internal review of a senior official’s part-time work for a private venture started by former NSA director Keith Alexander that raises questions over the blurring of lines between government and business.
Under the arrangement, which was confirmed by Alexander and current intelligence officials, NSA's Chief Technical Officer, Patrick Dowd, is allowed to work up to 20 hours a week at IronNet Cybersecurity Inc, the private firm led by Alexander, a retired Army general and his former boss.
The arrangement was approved by top NSA managers, current and former officials said. It does not appear to break any laws and it could not be determined whether Dowd has actually begun working for Alexander, who retired from the NSA in March.
In a statement in response to inquiries by Reuters, NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said, "This matter is under internal review. While NSA does not comment on specific employees, NSA takes seriously ethics laws and regulations at all levels of the organization."
Reuters:Russia and Ukraine reach tentative gas deal in tough Milan talks
Russia and Ukraine reach tentative gas deal in tough Milan talks
(Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine made progress on Friday towards resolving a dispute over gas supplies in time for winter, but European leaders said Moscow still had to do much more to prop up a fragile ceasefire and end fighting in eastern Ukraine.
The mooted deal could re-open Russian gas to Ukraine cut off since June, and ensure supply to European buyers further west before demand surges in the cold months and stocks run down. It came as something of a surprise after talks in Milan that the Kremlin said were "full of misunderstandings and disagreements".
Russia's Vladimir Putin told reporters that a deal ensuring gas supplies "at least for the winter" had been reached after a final one-on-one meeting with Ukraine's Petro Poroshenko, which followed talks attended by European leaders.
"We agreed on all the parameters of this deal," Putin said, but he urged European countries to help Ukraine meet a debt for gas, which he said stood at $4.5 billion.
Reuters:Hong Kong activists regroup to force police retreat in protest hotspot
Hong Kong activists regroup to force police retreat in protest hotspot
(Reuters) - Hong Kong pro-democracy activists recaptured parts of a core protest zone early on Saturday, defying riot police who had tried to disperse them with pepper spray and baton charges.
About a thousand protesters, some wearing protective goggles and helmets, helped to build fresh barricades from wooden fencing and other materials in the gritty, densely populated Mong Kok district. Some chanted "black police" after the police struck demonstrators' umbrellas with their small metal batons.
The area has become a flashpoint for ugly street brawls between students and mobs, including triads, or local gangsters, intent on breaking up the prolonged protests that pose one of the biggest political challenges for China since the crushing of pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing in 1989.
Demonstrators chanting "open the road" tried late on Friday to break through multiple police lines, using umbrellas as a shield from pepper spray at a major traffic intersection.
Reuters:Japan and Russia leaders meet in Milan, say will continue dialogue
Japan and Russia leaders meet in Milan, say will continue dialogue
(Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose countries are locked in a long-standing dispute over Russian-held islands off Hokkaido, met on Friday and agreed to maintain dialogue, Japanese officials said.
"The two leaders...confirmed their will to continue dialogue and to discuss bilateral and global issues at the APEC meeting," a Japanese Foreign Ministry media official said.
In a 10-minute meeting on the sidelines of the EU-Asia (ASEM) summit in Milan, the two leaders also exchanged views on the Ukrainian crisis.
Abe urged Putin to play a positive role for the peace process to make progress, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for public affairs Kenko Sone said.
Reuters:In blow to Abe, Japan trade minister to resign over funds scandal: media
In blow to Abe, Japan trade minister to resign over funds scandal: media
(Reuters) - In a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan's newly appointed trade and industry minister plans to resign following reports that some of her support groups misused political funds, Japanese media said on Saturday.
Yuko Obuchi, a 40-year-old mother of two and the daughter of a former prime minister, has told people close to Abe that she plans to quit and will discuss the matter when Abe returns on Saturday from an Asia-Europe summit in Italy, the Nikkei newspaper said.
Regarded as a possible future contender to become Japan's first woman premier, Obuchi apologized at a parliamentary panel on Thursday in the wake of the reports of the misuse of funds, which could violate electoral and political funding laws.
A Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry spokesman said he was unaware of any plans by Obuchi to quit. No one answered the phone at her political office.
BBC:Barack Obama's credit card 'declined'
Barack Obama's credit card 'declined'
President Barack Obama's credit card was declined at a restaurant in New York City last month, he said.
"It turned out I guess I don't use it enough," Mr Obama said. "They thought there was some fraud going on."
Fortunately, he said, First Lady Michelle Obama had a credit card on hand and paid for the meal.
Mr Obama told the story at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as he announced new protections for debit cards used to deliver federal benefits.