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:Cybersecurity: Tech firms urged to share data with US
Cybersecurity: Tech firms urged to share data with US
Private tech firms should share more information with government and with each other to tackle cybercrime, according to US President Barack Obama.
"We have to work together like never before" Mr Obama said during a speech at a White House cybersecurity summit hosted in Silicon Valley.
The issue has become a White House priority since a widely publicised hack of Sony Pictures at the end of 2014.
But some key tech firms are concerned about government surveillance.
BBC:Venezuela accuses 11 of plotting anti-Maduro coup
Venezuela accuses 11 of plotting anti-Maduro coup
An ex-air force general has been arrested and more than 10 other people implicated in a plot to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, officials say.
The group planned to attack the presidential palace and other buildings, Mr Maduro said.
Congress head Diosdado Cabello said soldiers, opposition politicians and a businessman were involved.
The alleged coup attempt came a year after major street protests.
BBC:Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner may face Argentina bomb probe
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner may face Argentina bomb probe
An Argentine prosecutor has asked a federal judge to investigate President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner over allegations she helped cover up Iranian links to a deadly 1994 bombing.
Prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita inherited the case from Alberto Nisman, who was found dead in mysterious circumstances.
The president denies the allegations, with the government calling the probe an "anti-democratic attack".
The attack on a Jewish centre killed 85 people. Iran denies being involved.
BBC:Argentina oil company leaves Peru town after protests
Argentina oil company leaves Peru town after protests
An Argentine oil company says it will withdraw from an area of the Peruvian Amazon where it has been prospecting for gas deposits.
The company, Pluspetrol, was asked to leave by the government after the death of a demonstrator in Junin province, during four days of violent protests.
The demonstrators, mostly indigenous people, accused the company of contaminating local rivers and soil.
Pluspetrol denied causing any environmental damage.
BBC:Nigeria's Boko Haram militants attack Chad for first time
Nigeria's Boko Haram militants attack Chad for first time
Nigerian Boko Haram militants have carried out an attack on Chad overnight, the first such assault on Chadian soil, officials say.
Fighters crossed Lake Chad in four motorboats and attacked a village, an army spokesman told the BBC.
The Islamist militants were pushed back by Chadian troops after killing several people, residents said.
Chad recently joined Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon in a military coalition against Boko Haram.
BBC:Ukraine crisis: Fierce fighting after Minsk peace deal
Ukraine crisis: Fierce fighting after Minsk peace deal
Intense fighting has been reported in eastern Ukraine, a day after a peace deal was reached in Minsk.
The fiercest battles were over control of the town of Debaltseve, a strategic town in between rebel-held areas.
The group responsible for monitoring the ceasefire, due to start at midnight on Saturday, says there is still "quite serious live fire" in several areas.
European leaders have warned Russia that it faces additional sanctions if the Minsk agreement is not respected.
Reuters:Boeing wins $403 million upgrade deal for Japan government
Boeing wins $403 million upgrade deal for Japan government
(Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) has won a contract valued at $403 million to upgrade four 767-based airborne warning and control aircraft for the government of Japan, the Pentagon said in its daily list of major contract awards on Friday.
The contract is a modification of an earlier award, and includes upgrades of four E-767 Japan Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, and three ground support facilities, according to the Pentagon announcement.
The work will be done in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and will run through June 30, 2020.
Reuters:Barclays fails to win dismissal of NY 'dark pool' lawsuit
Barclays fails to win dismissal of NY 'dark pool' lawsuit
(Reuters) - A New York judge on Friday rejected Barclays Plc's (BARC.L) effort to dismiss state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's lawsuit accusing it of defrauding clients about high-speed trading in its private "dark pool" trading platform.
Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan said it was premature to dismiss Schneiderman's claim under the state's Martin Act, a powerful anti-fraud law.
"Traders are entitled to rely on material representations banks make about their dark pools," the judge wrote. "If such representations are untrue, the integrity of dark pools will be compromised and investor confidence in them will be shaken."
But the judge said Schneiderman still must show enough specifics about Barclays' dark pool to demonstrate the bank lied to clients and investors.
Reuters:U.S. eases restrictions on imports from private Cubans
U.S. eases restrictions on imports from private Cubans
(Reuters) - The United States on Friday eased restrictions on imports of goods and services from private Cuban entrepreneurs as part of Washington's rapprochement with Havana after more than half a century of enmity.
However, the State Department said many goods were excluded from the liberalization, including tobacco, vegetable products and some textiles, and it was unclear whether Cuba would relax its own rules to permit Cubans to export to the United States.
The U.S. State Department said the import of all goods was now allowed except in certain broad categories, including live animals, vehicles, mineral products, machinery and some base metals. Exports of all services are permitted.
A full list of the excluded goods can be found on the State Department website. (1.usa.gov/1zdl0Ct)
Reuters:Mexico must probe thousands of 'disappearances': UN
Mexico must probe thousands of 'disappearances': UN
(Reuters) - A United Nations watchdog called on Mexico on Friday to probe and prosecute alleged complicity of state forces in thousands of "disappearances", including a notorious case of 43 students believed murdered last year.
Mexico's delegation told the U.N. Committee on Enforced Disappearances at a review last week that 11,300 people were unaccounted for. Amnesty International said in a statement that more than 22,600 had gone missing in the past eight years amid "a huge problem of impunity".
In their findings, the committee's 10 independent experts said they had received information that "illustrates a context of generalised disappearances in a great part of the territory (of Mexico), many of which could be qualified as enforced disappearances".
"Enforced disappearances" are those linked to detention or abduction by state agents such as police or security forces, or their allies, who conceal the victim's fate.
Reuters:South Africa questions its democracy after parliament brawl
South Africa questions its democracy after parliament brawl
(Reuters) - "State of Chaos", was how one South African newspaper described the images of police and politicians trading blows at the opening of parliament, a damning assessment of the country's democracy twenty years after apartheid.
President Jacob Zuma walked down the red carpet outside parliament in Cape Town on Thursday evening as a brass band blasted out South Africa's national freedom anthem, Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, and cannons fired off a 21-gun salute.
But the pomp and ceremony was short-lived.
Zuma had barely started his State of the Nation address inside parliament when lawmakers from the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) interrupted him to ask about longstanding allegations of corruption in a $23 million state-funded security upgrade to his rural home in Nkandla.
Reuters:U.N. envoy says expects Nigeria to do more in Boko Haram fight
U.N. envoy says expects Nigeria to do more in Boko Haram fight
(Reuters) - The United Nations expects the Nigerian military to do more to combat Boko Haram and urged Nigeria and its neighbors Chad, Niger and Cameroon to allow hot pursuit of the militants across borders as this was key to a regional offensive.
Boko Haram is the main security threat facing Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy and top oil producer, and increasingly threatens neighboring states. Nigeria has postponed a Feb. 14 presidential election until March 28 due to security concerns.
Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Benin agreed on Saturday to create an 8,700-strong force to tackle Boko Haram. Once they have agreed how the force will operate, the African Union plans to seek United Nations Security Council support.
Mohamed Ibn Chambas, U.N. Special Representative for West Africa, said on Friday that Nigeria needed "to demonstrate greater resolve than has been the case so far in this fight against a serious enemy, Boko Haram."
LA Times:Apple working on electric car project to rival GM, Nissan, Tesla: WSJ
Apple working on electric car project to rival GM, Nissan, Tesla: WSJ
(Reuters) - Apple (AAPL.O) has hundreds of employees working on an electric car project to rival GM (GM.N), Nissan (7201.T) and Tesla (TSLA.O), the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The paper, quoting people familiar with the matter, said the project was code-named "Titan" and had an initial design of a vehicle resembling a minivan.
It said an Apple spokesman declined to comment.
The Financial Times first reported the story.