Welcome to the Overnight News Digest
The OND is published each night around midnight, Eastern Time.
The originator of OND was Magnifico.
Current Contributers are ScottyUrb, Bentliberal, wader, Interceptor7, rfall, JML9999 and NeonVincent.
Stories and Headlines
- GOP takeover of House to shift immigration debate
In a matter of weeks, Congress will go from trying to help young, illegal immigrants become legal citizens to debating whether children born to parents who are in the country illegally should continue to enjoy automatic U.S. citizenship.
Such a hardened approach - and the rhetoric certain to accompany it - should resonate with the GOP faithful who helped swing the House in Republicans' favor. But it also could further hurt the GOP in its effort to win a large enough share of the growing Latino vote to win the White House and the Senate majority in 2012. |
- Early births pose new health risks for newborns
The number of women giving birth early - often for no medical reason - has increased dramatically during the past two decades, altering the way we bear children and posing new health risks, experts say.
The average time a fetus spends in the womb has decreased by seven days in the United States since 1992, according to researchers and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Researchers say shorter pregnancies coincide with a large number of women and doctors now scheduling childbirth for convenience. One study of nearly 18,000 deliveries in 2007 showed that 9.6 percent were early births - through scheduled inductions or C-sections - for nonmedical reasons.
Shortening a pregnancy could affect a baby's lung development, vision, weight and some fine-tuning of the brain, experts say. Babies born too early often sleep longer than normal and have trouble learning how to breast-feed, causing dehydration and jaundice. |
- Khodorkovsky found guilty in test for Russia
(Reuters) (Reuters) - Jailed Russian ex-tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was found guilty of money laundering and theft of billions of dollars on Monday at a trial that has renewed doubts about the Kremlin's commitment to the rule of law.
Khodorkovsky's lead defense lawyer told Reuters he would appeal against the verdict, which government critics say suggests long-standing Kremlin promises to reform a court system marred by corruption and political influence are insincere ...
Now prime minister but the dominant figure in Russia's ruling tandem with President Dmitry Medvedev, Putin this month said Khodorkovsky had blood on his hands and that "a thief must be in jail."
Khodorkovsky's lawyers said the comments in a December 16 television appearance were designed to exert influence in the case, which has accentuated a sense of personal rivalry between Putin and a business mogul who was once Russia's richest man.
"What we are hearing leaves us no doubt that pressure was put on the court -- that the court was not free when adopting this decision," lead defense lawyer Vadim Klyuvgant said during a brief break in Danilkin's rushed verdict reading. |
- Assange memoir to give full details of WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's new memoir will give a full account of his life and the secretive group that has leaked large amounts of documents, U.S. publisher Alfred A. Knopf said on Monday.
Knopf spokesman Paul Bogaards said Assange and the publishing house reached a deal for his autobiography "just before the holiday" and that a manuscript was expected to be delivered in 2011. |
- 14 Killed in Second Bombing at Iraqi Site
BAGHDAD — For the second time this month, suicide bombers on Monday struck a government compound in Anbar Province, after recent large-scale arrests of suspected members of Al Qaeda. At least 14 people were killed and 53 wounded in the attack, a police official said, making it one of the most deadly in nearly two months.
At War
The blasts came on a day when Iraq’s oil minister announced that the country’s oil production, a linchpin of Iraq’s future stability, had reached its highest level in 20 years, helped by foreign companies now able to move into Iraq because of improved security.
Though no one claimed responsibility for the bombing, officials in Anbar said it was likely a response to raids in the last week and a half that rounded up 93 suspected militants. Officials speculated that the bombers also intended to scare off foreign investors and developers. The oil ministry recently completed the auction of a gas field in Anbar to a consortium of Kazakh and Korean developers. |
- Car Bomb Kills 1, Hurts 26 Near Afghan Police Station
KABUL, Afghanistan — A car bomb exploded Monday near a police compound in the center of Kandahar city, killing a man and wounding 26 other people.
At War
The man and more than a dozen of the wounded were members of the Afghan National Civil Order Police. The others were civilians, police and hospital officials said. |
- Pakistan drone attack 'kills 18 militants'
Missiles fired by a suspected US drone have struck a vehicle in north-west Pakistan killing at least 18 militants, officials say.
The strike took place in Mir Ali village, 25km (16 miles) from Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan district.
US drone attacks are fairly regular in North and South Waziristan which are Taliban and al-Qaeda strongholds.
More than 100 such attacks occurred in 2010, most of them in North Waziristan. |
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- Tunisian jobs protests reach capital Tunis
(BBC) Scuffles have broken out in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, between police and protesters angry at high unemployment levels.
Some 1,000 protesters, mainly unemployed graduates, rallied outside the offices of the main workers' union ...
Public protests in Tunisia - where the government is often criticised for its human rights record - are rare and political dissent is repressed, correspondents say. But recent economic discontent has provoked the most violent unrest in more than a decade. |
- New York Airports Open After Heaviest Snows in Six Decades
(Bloomberg) New York City’s major airports resumed operations after the heaviest December snowfall in six decades left travelers in the Northeast struggling amid waist- high drifts and blizzard winds.
The city’s Central Park had 20 inches (51 centimeters) of snow by 8 a.m., the most for the month since 1948, the National Weather Service said. Skies cleared over New York by daybreak as the agency issued blizzard warnings for Boston and into Maine.
The storm forced airlines to cancel more than 6,000 flights since yesterday, when airports began to close. |
- States Get Bonuses for Boosting Enrollment for Uninsured Children in Medicaid
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today awarded $206 million to 15 states for making significant progress in enrolling uninsured children in Medicaid. This year’s bonuses are more than double the $75 million awarded to ten states last year.
"Today’s announcement highlights the ongoing and committed efforts by states to improve access to health coverage programs and take the aggressive steps necessary to enroll eligible children," said Secretary Sebelius. "Their actions reflect President Obama’s serious commitment to assuring that our country’s children get the health care they need. These performance bonuses demonstrate our support for the effective strategies these states have undertaken."
Funding for the "performance bonuses" was included in the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization (CHIPRA) legislation signed into law by President Obama in February 2009. |
- Flooding prompts evacuations in Australian towns
SYDNEY -- Drenching rains pounded communities across northeastern Australia on Tuesday, flooding major highways and prompting hundreds of evacuations.
Days of torrential downpours have left many communities inundated, with up to 11 inches (27 centimeters) falling in a 24-hour period in some areas.
Flooding has shut down about 300 roads across Queensland, including two major highways to the state capital Brisbane. |
- AU names Kenya's Raila Odinga as Ivory Coast mediator
The African Union has asked Kenyan PM Raila Odinga to lead its efforts to resolve Ivory Coast's political crisis.
The AU said Mr Odinga had been asked to "follow through the crisis", a month after the country's disputed polls.
The Union and other international bodies say incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo is not the legitimate winner.
A delegation of heads of state - from Benin, Sierra Leone and Cape Verde - from the West African body Ecowas is heading to the country for talks.
The regional group has warned Mr Gbagbo of possible military intervention if he does not hand over to Alassane Ouattara, who has been recognised internationally as the victor. |
- Internet satellite launch success
The second European satellite dedicated to delivering broadband internet connections has launched successfully.
The six-tonne Ka-Sat lifted off atop a Proton rocket from Baikonur in Kazakhstan at 0351 local time on Monday (2151 GMT on Sunday).
The flight lasted nine hours and 12 minutes.
The Eutelsat-operated spacecraft will concentrate its services on the estimated tens of millions of European homes in so-called "not-spots".
These are places where consumers cannot get a decent terrestrial connection. |
- New solar fuel machine unveiled
A prototype solar device has been unveiled which mimics plant life, turning the Sun's energy into fuel.
The machine uses the Sun's rays and a metal oxide called ceria to break down carbon dioxide or water into fuels which can be stored and transported.
Conventional photovoltaic panels must use the electricity they generate in situ, and cannot deliver power at night ...
The prototype, which was devised by researchers in the US and Switzerland, uses a quartz window and cavity to concentrate sunlight into a cylinder lined with cerium oxide, also known as ceria. |
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