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:West warns Russia against 'aid' mission in Ukraine
West warns Russia against 'aid' mission in Ukraine
The UK and US governments have warned Russia not to use humanitarian assistance as a pretext for sending troops into eastern Ukraine.
Any such intervention would be "completely unacceptable and "viewed as an invasion of Ukraine", said the US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power.
The UK Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, said: "I strongly urge Russia to avoid any provocative actions".
His office cited reports that Russian military vehicles had entered Ukraine.
BBC:Ebola outbreak: Nigeria declares national emergency
Ebola outbreak: Nigeria declares national emergency
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has declared the outbreak of Ebola "a national emergency" and approved more than $11m (£6.5m) to help contain it.
The move comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) said the spread of the virus in West Africa was an international health emergency.
WHO says 961 people have died from Ebola in West Africa this year, two of them in Nigeria.
The total number of cases stands at 1,779, the UN health agency said.
BBC:US police to investigate James Brady death as homicide
US police to investigate James Brady death as homicide
The death of President Ronald Reagan's aide James Brady has been ruled a homicide, 33 years after he was wounded in an assassination attempt, police in Washington have said.
The former press secretary was shot in the 1981 attempt on Reagan's life by John Hinckley Jr.
He suffered brain damage and partial paralysis and died this week at 73.
Hinckley has been confined to a psychiatric hospital since he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
BBC:Iraq conflict: US steps up air strikes on IS militants
Iraq conflict: US steps up air strikes on IS militants
The US has launched two additional air strikes against militants from the Islamic State (IS) group in northern Iraq, the Pentagon has said.
US drones and Navy fighter jets attacked targets near the Kurdish city of Irbil - a similar location to the first strike earlier on Friday.
The Sunni Muslim group IS has taken control of swathes of Iraq and Syria.
Tens of thousands of people from minority groups have fled their homes due to the militants' advance.
BBC:Councils issue health warning on 'laughing gas' use
Councils issue health warning on 'laughing gas' use
A health warning has been issued by councils across England and Wales about the dangers of inhaling "laughing gas".
Formally known as nitrous oxide, the gas - mostly used in medicine - has become a popular recreational drug, known for its relaxing effects.
The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents about 400 councils, issued the health warning and said that councils are seizing large hauls of the drug.
Taking the gas is not illegal.
BBC:Royal Mail cuts half its later collection times
Royal Mail cuts half its later collection times
Collection times at almost half the Royal Mail's collection boxes will be brought forward to between 9am and 3pm.
Between 45,000 and 50,000 of the company's post boxes will move to the earlier collections.
Royal Mail says there will still be a late posting box within half a mile of areas affected and will add 2,000 post boxes to its 115,000 network.
The earlier collections will be picked up by delivery staff as part of their existing rounds.
Reuters:Ukraine troops break out of encirclement, 15 troops killed
Ukraine troops break out of encirclement, 15 troops killed
(Reuters) - Ukrainian army units which had been trapped by separatists on the border with Russia broke out of the blockade on Friday and rejoined government forces, but 15 soldiers and border guards were killed in the operation, the Ukrainian military said.
Military sources quoted by Ukrainian media said Ukrainian units had been effectively encircled by the rebels on a section of the border with Russia south of the town of Luhansk and east of the main regional city of Donetsk.
After government forces opened up an escape corridor, the trapped units were able to force their way out, military sources quoted by the media said.
"Seven service staff and eight border guards were killed and 79 injured," military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told journalists.
Reuters:Telecom Italia in talks to snap up Vivendi's GVT: sources
Telecom Italia in talks to snap up Vivendi's GVT: sources
(Reuters) - Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) is in talks with Vivendi (VIV.PA) to acquire the French media group's Brazilian broadband unit, and trump a recent bid from Spanish rival Telefonica (TEF.MC), sources familiar with the situation said.
The plan, which could be finalised over the next three weeks, envisages a counter-bid by Telecom Italia for the Brazilian unit, GVT, followed by an equity swap that would allow Vivendi to acquire a stake in Italy's biggest phone operator, said the sources.
Telecom Italia's executives are working on the transaction with Citigroup (C.N), Mediobanca (MDBI.MI) and Banco Bradesco (BBDC4.SA), several sources told Reuters.
The news came soon after Telefonica, Telecom Italia's biggest individual shareholder for the past six years, made an unsolicited 6.7 billion euros bid for GVT earlier this week.
Reuters:Toronto-area hospital treating Nigeria traveler with flu-like symptoms : TV
Toronto-area hospital treating Nigeria traveler with flu-like symptoms : TV
(Reuters) - A Toronto-area hospital is treating a patient with fever and flu-like symptoms who recently visited Nigeria, where a state of emergency has been declared over the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
CBC News said on Friday that the patient has been isolated at the Brampton, Ontario hospital, as a precautionary measure.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that West Africa's Ebola epidemic constituted an international health emergency and the virus, which has killed nearly 1,000 people, could continue spreading for months.
Reuters:Wall Street rebounds, erases week's losses with Russia news
Wall Street rebounds, erases week's losses with Russia news
(Reuters) - The S&P and Dow both posted their best day since March on Friday, with the market buoyed by news that Russia was ending military drills near the Ukrainian border, while investors overlooked U.S. air strikes in Iraq.
The gains helped major averages erase the week's losses as buying intensified as the day came to a close. The CBOE market volatility index .VIX fell 5.7 percent to 15.71 in a sign of reduced investor uncertainty.
Stocks have been under pressure of late as investors, worried about high valuations and uncertainty around the world, pulled back from riskier assets. Before Friday's rally, the S&P 500 had given up more than 4 percent while the small-cap Russell was down 7 percent over the past four weeks.
Markets rallied after Russia's Defense Ministry said Friday it had finished military exercises in southern Russia, which the United States had criticized as a provocative step amid the Ukraine crisis.
Reuters:BOJ offers bleaker exports view, but Kuroda stays upbeat
BOJ offers bleaker exports view, but Kuroda stays upbeat
(Reuters) - The Bank of Japan offered a bleaker view on exports and output a week before data is expected show the biggest contraction in economic activity since the global financial crisis, heightening concerns a rebound may be delayed and increase pressure for further monetary easing.
But BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda remained upbeat about the outlook for the world's third-biggest economy, underscoring the central bank's conviction that no fresh near-term stimulus is required to shake off the effects of a sales tax hike in April.
"Japan's economy is likely to continue recovering moderately with the effect (of an April sales tax increase) seen gradually subsiding," Kuroda told a news conference on Friday.
"Exports and output have been weakening," he said. "But a positive economic cycle remains in place as job and income conditions steadily improve."
Reuters:McDonald's casts doubt on sales outlook after China food scare
McDonald's casts doubt on sales outlook after China food scare
(Reuters) - McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) said on Friday that its global sales forecast for 2014 was at risk after a China food scandal drove away diners and forced the chain to scramble to find new suppliers of ingredients for Chicken McNuggets and Big Macs.
The warning could portend the company's first full year of global sales declines at established restaurants since 2002, Janney Capital Markets analyst Mark Kalinowski said in a client note.
McDonald's global same-restaurant sales dropped a steeper-than-expected 2.5 percent in July, which Kalinowski said was the company's worst monthly performance in a decade.
The trouble in China hit as the world's biggest hamburger chain was already scrambling to bolster its U.S. business, where monthly sales at established restaurants have been down or flat since November.
AlJ azerra:FICO to discount medical debt from credit scores
http://america.aljazeera.com/...
A move by personal credit score provider FICO to leave out or discount medical debt from its scores will boost the credit ratings of many borrowers, while helping lenders to better assess risk.
Moreover, FICO won’t consider past overdue bills borrowers have already paid, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The new score will be available to lenders through U.S. credit reporting agencies starting this fall, FICO said.
Lenders have become extremely wary of any blemishes on borrowers’ credit scores, following the economy-crippling sub-prime mortgage crisis of the late 2000s, where banks wrote predatory adjustable rate mortgages for years to people who were not creditworthy. As the house of cards collapsed, their interest rates shot up to levels they couldn’t pay.
With FICO’s new rules, negotiated between lending groups and the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), that era of tight lending practices could be coming to an end — increasing the chances that borrowers will get their loan applications approved or pay lower interest rates.