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 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 consist of founder Magnifico, regular editors jlms qkw, maggiejean, wader, Oke, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir, BentLiberal and ScottyUrb, guest editor annetteboardman, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent. We invited our readers to comment & share other news.
OND, Overnight News Digest
BBC:Cyprus MPs pass banking reforms
Cyprus MPs pass banking reforms
MPs in Cyprus have voted to restructure the island's banks - one of several measures to ease a financial crisis, which has hit eurozone confidence.
They have also approved a "national solidarity fund" and capital controls to prevent a bank run.
Cyprus needs to raise 5.8bn euros (£4.9bn; $7.5bn) to qualify for a 10bn-euro bailout.
MPs did not vote on key measures - involving levies on bank deposits. They rejected similar moves on Tuesday.
BBC:Fitch says UK downgrade more likely
Fitch says UK downgrade more likely
The rating agency Fitch has warned that it may downgrade the UK's credit rating in April.
It has put the UK's long-term rating on Credit Watch Negative, which it said showed "a heightened probability of a downgrade".
The agency said it was due to higher-than-expected debt levels and downward revisions to UK growth forecasts.
The review follows the Budget this week in which UK growth forecasts for 2013 were halved.
BBC:FAA to close 149 air traffic towers as budget cuts bite
FAA to close 149 air traffic towers as budget cuts bite
The US aviation authority plans to close 149 air traffic control towers in response to steep budget cuts that took effect this month.
Towers will close at small airports but the facilities will remain open, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Pilots will have to co-ordinate takeoff and landing by themselves after 7 April using a shared radio channel.
The towers marked for closure are all staffed by private contractors. Critics say the move will compromise safety.
BBC:Israel PM apologies for Gaza flotilla deaths
Israel PM apologies for Gaza flotilla deaths
Israel's prime minister has apologised to Turkey for "any errors that could have led to loss of life" during the 2010 commando raid on an aid flotilla that tried to breach the Gaza blockade.
Benjamin Netanyahu also agreed with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to compensate the families of the nine activists who were killed.
Mr Netanyahu had previously only expressed regret for the deaths.
The deal was brokered by US President Barack Obama during a visit to Israel.
BBC:Burma refugees die in Thailand camp fire
Burma refugees die in Thailand camp fire
About 30 people have died in a fire at a camp housing Burmese refugees in northern Thailand, local officials say.
A number of people at the Ban Mae Surin camp were injured in the blaze, which destroyed about 100 makeshift houses.
Officials say the fire may have been started by a cooking accident, but an investigation is still under way.
More than 3,000 refugees from Burma - mostly from the Karen minority - live at the camp. Those who lost their homes are being temporarily housed in tents.
BBC:Brazil police evicts Rio indigenous museum protesters
Brazil police evicts Rio indigenous museum protesters
A group of indigenous Brazilians has been evicted from the building they had been occupying in Rio de Janeiro for more than six years.
Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to dislodge the indigenous people from the former museum.
The building is next to the famous Maracana football stadium.
The Maracana will stage the final match of next year's Football World Cup, and the authorities want to turn it into an Olympic Museum.
Reuters:Italy president asks Bersani to see if can form government
Italy president asks Bersani to see if can form government
(Reuters) - President Giorgio Napolitano asked center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani on Friday to assess whether he can win enough support in Italy's divided parliament to form a government and end the political deadlock left by elections last month.
After two days of consultations with political leaders, Napolitano said he had given Bersani a mandate to talk to other parties and see if he can get the guaranteed support needed for a vote of confidence in both houses of parliament, where no single group has a workable majority.
The stalemate has left Italy, the euro zone's third-largest economy, facing the prospect of weeks of uncertainty as the bank crisis in Cyprus has reawakened fears of a renewed bout of financial market turmoil in the currency bloc.
Bersani, whose center-left alliance won control of the lower house but not of the Senate, must report back to Napolitano as soon as possible on whether he can get enough support from rival political forces to form a governing majority.
Reuters:China to attend major U.S.-hosted naval exercises, but role limited
China to attend major U.S.-hosted naval exercises, but role limited
(Reuters) - China's People's Liberation Army has accepted an invitation to participate for the first time in a major U.S.-hosted naval drill, but legal restrictions will limit its role to less sensitive exercises, like disaster relief, U.S. officials say.
Beijing's agreement to join the drills being held next year comes at a moment of heightened tensions between China and U.S. ally Japan over disputed East China Sea islets, and unease in the United States about China's rapid military buildup and its cyber capabilities.
The Rim of the Pacific exercise, known as RIMPAC, is billed as the world's largest international maritime exercise, with 22 nations and more than 40 ships and submarines participating the last time it was held off Hawaii in 2012.
Not all the participants are treaty allies with the United States. Last year's participants included Russia and India.
Reuters:Chinese leader bolsters Russian ties on first foreign trip
Chinese leader bolsters Russian ties on first foreign trip
(Reuters) - Chinese leader Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of relations with Russia as a counterweight to U.S. influence by visiting Moscow on his first foreign trip as president, and secured more oil to fuel China's growing economy.
Although relations between Moscow and Beijing have rarely been smooth, they have improved in the past decade and Xi highlighted this by signing energy, trade and political deals on Friday to strengthen ties between them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has long sought to blunt U.S. influence overseas, while China is grappling with the expanded military and economic interest the United States has displayed in Asia since 2011.
Xi became the first foreign guest to be met in the Kremlin by an honorary cavalry escort created by Putin in 2002, officials said, and looked at ease with the Russian leader in its glittering halls despite the formality of the occasion.
Reuters:Japan agency: prep for 787 test flight not yet complete
Japan agency: prep for 787 test flight not yet complete
(Reuters) - Japan's Civil Aviation Bureau said on Friday that preparations are not yet complete for any test flight of Boeing Co's (BA.N) grounded 787 Dreamliner this week.
"It's Thursday (in the United States) and nothing has been set," said Shigeru Takano, a senior safety official at the Civil Aviation Bureau (CAB). "There are a number of steps it needs to take before a test flight," he said at a news briefing.
Boeing Co (BA.N) plans to conduct two flight tests of its revamped 787 battery system, as soon as the end of the week, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. The aircraft maker has predicted the Dreamliner could return to operation within weeks.
Test flights would mark a step toward Boeing's goal of returning the jet to service in weeks, after it was grounded worldwide in January because batteries overheated on jets owned by All Nippon Airways Co Ltd (9202.T) and Japan Airlines Co Ltd (9201.T).
Reuters:Cyprus exposure fears drive bearish bets on Russian ETF
Cyprus exposure fears drive bearish bets on Russian ETF
(Reuters) - Option investors worried about Russia's exposure to the banking crisis in Cyprus have been stepping up their bearish bets in one of the largest exchange-traded funds focused on Russian stocks.
There has been a surge in bearish activity in options of the Market Vectors Russia fund on expectations that shares in that country could lose ground if Russian depositors are forced to pay taxes in Cyprus to help bail out the small Mediterranean island nation.
Russians have billions of euros at stake in Cyprus' crippled banking sector, which needs about 10 billion euros ($13 billion) in aid to stay afloat. In order to get aid, the European Union is demanding that bigger depositors, which include many Russians, take a hit.
Activity in bearish put options exceeded bullish call options by a ratio of 40 to 1 on Friday, according to options research firm Trade Alert, as put activity has surged and the ETF's price has dropped.
Reuters:Congolese warlord arrives at war crimes court jail
Congolese warlord arrives at war crimes court jail
(Reuters) - A Congolese warlord known as "the Terminator" who is accused of murder, rape and other atrocities arrived at the International Criminal Court's jail in the Netherlands early on Saturday, the court said.
Bosco Ntaganda, who walked off the street and gave himself up at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali in a surprise move on Monday, was flown in a private jet from the Rwandan capital to The Hague after being handed over to the court's custody.
After a 15-year career that spanned a series of Rwandan-backed rebellions in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, he will appear in court on Tuesday for the first hearing in a process that could lead to him being put on trial for war crimes.
Ntaganda was most recently a commander in the M23 rebel movement, but his position weakened after the group split in two.
Network World:FCC chairman announces his resignation
FCC chairman announces his resignation
IDG News Service - U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced Friday he will soon step down, following months of rumors that he would resign early this year.
Genachowski will leave his post in the coming weeks, he said during an FCC staff meeting. He praised the FCC's staff for advancing an aggressive agenda during his nearly four years as chairman.
"Thanks to you, the commission's employees, we've taken big steps to build a future where broadband is ubiquitous and bandwidth is abundant, where innovation and investment are flourishing," he said. "Thanks to your outstanding work, America's broadband economy is thriving."
During a 22-minute speech, Genachowski read a laundry list of accomplishments by the FCC during his years as chairman. Less than a year after he took office, the FCC published a 360-page national broadband plan, which laid out a vision for faster and more available broadband across the country.