Welcome to Overnight News Digest, where the usual crew, consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, side pocket, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir, Bentliberal, Oke, Interceptor7, jlms qkw, and ScottyUrb, guest editors annetteboardman and Doctor RJ, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains you with tonight's news.
The featured story comes from Reuters.
Indian envoy leaves U.S. in deal to calm diplomatic row
By Nate Raymond and David Brunnstrom
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON Fri Jan 10, 2014 12:20am EST
An Indian diplomat whose arrest and strip-search caused a major rift in U.S.-Indian ties was effectively expelled from the United States on Thursday as part of a deal in which she was granted diplomatic immunity from charges of visa fraud and lying about underpaying her nanny.
Devyani Khobragade, who was deputy consul-general in New York, was arrested on December 12 and indicted on Thursday by a grand jury for visa fraud and making false statements about how much she paid her housekeeper.
Her arrest set off protests in India amid disclosures that she was handcuffed and strip-searched. The dispute soured the broader U.S.-India bilateral relationship, leading to sanctions against American diplomats in New Delhi and the postponement of visits to India by senior U.S. officials and another by a U.S. business delegation.
This is an update to
India diplomat indicted, asked to leave U.S.
Follow over the jump for the rest of tonight's news.
International News
All Norwegians become crown millionaires, in oil saving landmark
By Alister Doyle
OSLO Wed Jan 8, 2014 12:25pm EST
Everyone in Norway became a theoretical crown millionaire on Wednesday in a milestone for the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund that has ballooned thanks to high oil and gas prices.
Set up in 1990, the fund owns around 1 percent of the world's stocks, as well as bonds and real estate from London to Boston, making the Nordic nation an exception when others are struggling under a mountain of debts.
A preliminary counter on the website of the central bank, which manages the fund, rose to 5.11 trillion crowns ($828.66 billion), fractionally more than a million times Norway's most recent official population estimate of 5,096,300.
Singapore supermarket tycoon's mother abducted in rare kidnap case
By Brian Leonal
SINGAPORE Thu Jan 9, 2014 11:11pm EST
Two men were charged with kidnapping on Friday in Singapore after the elderly mother of a supermarket tycoon was abducted and held for ransom, a rare instance in a country that prides itself on its low crime rate.
Lim Hock Chee, founder and chief executive of Sheng Siong Group Ltd, said his mother, 79, was lured into a car on Wednesday morning by a man who said he had seen her son injured in a bad fall.
The kidnappers then called Lim and demanded a S$20 million ($16 million) ransom. After almost 12 hours of negotiations, Lim left S$2 million in a bag under a tree in a park, and his mother was then released in the early hours of Thursday morning.
U.S. News
Oklahoma man charged with 'atomic wedgie' murder of stepfather
By Heide Brandes
OKLAHOMA CITY Wed Jan 8, 2014 5:46pm EST
A 33-year-old Oklahoma man has been charged with killing his stepfather by giving him an "atomic wedgie," that caused the victim to suffocate on his own underwear.
Brad Lee Davis was charged with murder in the death of 58-year-old Denver St. Clair in a drunken family fight at a residence just east of Oklahoma City, the Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office said in an arrest affidavit obtained on Wednesday.
Police arrested Davis on Tuesday. The affidavit said he "grabbed St. Clair's underwear and gave him an 'atomic wedgie.' Davis allegedly pulled the elastic waistband of St. Clair's underwear over his head and around his neck."
Business and the Economy
Wall St. finishes flat on caution before U.S. jobs data
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK Thu Jan 9, 2014 6:37pm EST
U.S. stocks ended little changed on Thursday in a choppy session ahead of Friday's payrolls report, which may provide insights into whether the Federal Reserve will announce another cut in quantitative easing at its meeting this month.
Retail and telecom stocks ranked among the day's biggest losers. The S&P retail sector index .SPXRT slipped 0.2 percent after a number of retailers, including Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY.O) and Family Dollar (FDO.N), slashed their earnings forecasts. The S&P telecom services sector index .SPLRCL fell 1.9 percent, pulled lower by AT&T and Verizon Communications, which were the top decliners in the Dow Jones industrial average.
Nonfarm payrolls are expected to have added 196,000 jobs last month, according to a Reuters survey of economists, slightly below November's count of 203,000. Hiring would, however, be above the monthly average of 188,545 jobs over the first 11 months of 2013.
Entertainment and Sports
Playwright, poet and activist Amiri Baraka dies at 79
By David Jones
NEWARK, New Jersey Thu Jan 9, 2014 10:33pm EST
Amiri Baraka, a controversial playwright, poet and activist who set a new path for fellow African-American artists by bringing militancy and verve to works about race in America, died on Thursday at age 79 at a hospital in his native New Jersey, a representative said.
Baraka had been in failing health and passed away at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, surrounded by family, said his booking agent Celeste Bateman.
Baraka had associated with Beat Generation poets in the 1950s and he published his first collection of poems in 1961. In 1964, he won fame in some circles, notoriety in others and an Obie award for his explosive play "Dutchman."
'Big Hurt' gets last laugh over drug cheats
By Larry Fine
NEW YORK Thu Jan 9, 2014 6:07pm EST
Frank "Big Hurt" Thomas may have suffered from comparisons to doping cheaters during his major league career but is enjoying the last laugh as a newly elected member of Baseball's Hall of Fame.
Thomas, elected to baseball's shrine along with former Atlanta Braves pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine in results announced on Wednesday, called himself "the happiest man in the world" on Thursday for honestly slugging his way to Cooperstown.
An outspoken critic against performance enhancing drugs, the former college football tight end belted 521 home runs with a .301 batting average and .419 on-base percentage over a 19-year career spent mainly with the Chicago White Sox.