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:Air Algerie AH5017: 'No survivors' from crash in Mali
Air Algerie AH5017: 'No survivors' from crash in Mali
There are no survivors from the Air Algerie AH5017 passenger jet that crashed in Mali, says the French President, Francois Hollande.
Mr Hollande said one flight data recorder had been recovered, after French troops reached the crash site near Mali's border with Burkina Faso.
Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane early on Thursday after pilots reported severe storms.
Almost half of the 116 people on board were French, including a family of 10.
BBC:UK economy back at pre-crisis level
UK economy back at pre-crisis level
The UK economy has returned to pre-crisis levels by expanding 0.8% in the second quarter of this year.
On an annual basis gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 3.1%.
The figures show the economy is now worth 0.2% more than it was at its peak in 2008, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
The service sector is the only part of the economy that has passed its previous 2008 peak, although that accounts for almost 80% of UK output.
BBC:Sierra Leone hunts Ebola patient kidnapped in Freetown
Sierra Leone hunts Ebola patient kidnapped in Freetown
A hunt has been launched in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, for a woman with Ebola who was forcibly removed from hospital by her relatives.
Radio stations around the country are appealing for help to find the 32-year-old who is being described as a "risk to all".
She is the first Freetown resident to have tested positive for the virus.
Meanwhile, Nigeria's health minister has confirmed that a Liberian man has died of Ebola in Lagos.
BBC:Brazilian central bank frees up $13bn to boost economy
Brazilian central bank frees up $13bn to boost economy
Brazil's central bank has announced plans to reduce the amount of money commercial banks keep in reserve, in a bid to boost economic growth.
The bank says the measure will free up some $13bn (£7.6bn), which banks could lend to businesses and individuals.
The Brazilian economy is expected to expand by 1% this year - the fourth consecutive year of sluggish growth.
The central bank announcement comes less than three months before presidential elections.
BBC:Ukraine conflict: Russia accuses US of 'smear campaign'
Ukraine conflict: Russia accuses US of 'smear campaign'
Russia has accused the US of launching a "smear campaign" over its alleged involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
The foreign ministry in Moscow said on Friday it rejects "unfounded public insinuations" from the US government.
But the Pentagon says it believes the movement of Russian heavy-calibre artillery systems across the border into Ukraine is "imminent."
The row comes as more bodies of victims from flight MH17, which crashed in Ukraine, arrived in the Netherlands.
BBC:Wikipedia blocks 'disruptive' page edits from US Congress
Wikipedia blocks 'disruptive' page edits from US Congress
Wikipedia administrators have imposed a ban on page edits from computers at the US House of Representatives, following "persistent disruptive editing".
The 10-day block comes after anonymous changes were made to entries on politicians and businesses, as well as events like the Kennedy assassination.
The biography of former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld was edited to say that he was an "alien lizard".
One staffer said they were being banned for the "actions of two or three".
Reuters:U.S. fighter jets escort Canadian plane home over passenger threat
U.S. fighter jets escort Canadian plane home over passenger threat
(Reuters) - Two U.S. F16 fighter jets were scrambled to escort a Panama City-bound flight from Canada back to Toronto on Friday after a man on the plane apparently threatened to blow up the aircraft, authorities said.
Major Julie Roberge of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said the jets flew up to join Sunwing Airlines flight 772 as a "precaution" less than an hour after it took off from Toronto's Pearson International Airport.
Video shot by a passenger showed armed Canadian law enforcement officers shouting "heads down, hands up" as they stormed aboard the aircraft in helmets and tactical gear after it was escorted back to Toronto.
Local media said a 25-year-old Canadian man was arrested on suspicion of threatening the aircraft. Toronto's City News quoted one passenger as saying the suspect became angry after learning that the duty-free items he wanted were not for sale.
Reuters:EU edges to economic sanctions on Russia but narrows scope
EU edges to economic sanctions on Russia but narrows scope
(Reuters) - The European Union reached outline agreement on Friday to impose the first economic sanctions on Russia over its behaviour in Ukraine but scaled back their scope to exclude technology for the crucial gas sector.
The sanctions on access to capital markets, arms and hi-tech goods are also likely to apply only to future contracts, leaving France free to go ahead with the controversial delivery of Mistral helicopter carriers being built for Russia.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy wrote to EU leaders asking them to authorise their ambassadors to complete an agreement by Tuesday. That would avoid the need for leaders to hold a special summit to approve the sanctions.
Van Rompuy said the proposed sanctions package "strikes the right balance" in terms of costs and benefits to the EU and in its flexibility to ramp up sanctions or reverse them over time.
Reuters:Apple iPhones allow extraction of deep personal data, researcher finds
Apple iPhones allow extraction of deep personal data, researcher finds
(Reuters) - Personal data including text messages, contact lists and photos can be extracted from iPhones through previously unpublicized techniques by Apple Inc employees, the company acknowledged this week.
The same techniques to circumvent backup encryption could be used by law enforcement or others with access to the "trusted" computers to which the devices have been connected, according to the security expert who prompted Apple's admission.
In a conference presentation this week, researcher Jonathan Zdziarski showed how the services take a surprising amount of data for what Apple now says are diagnostic services meant to help engineers.
Users are not notified that the services are running and cannot disable them, Zdziarski said. There is no way for iPhone users to know what computers have previously been granted trusted status via the backup process or block future connections.
Reuters:Bad weather seen as probable cause of Air Algerie crash
Bad weather seen as probable cause of Air Algerie crash
(Reuters) - Poor weather was the most likely cause of the crash of an Air Algerie flight in the West African country of Mali that killed all 118 people on board, French officials said on Friday.
Investigators at the scene of the crash in northern Mali concluded the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft broke apart when it smashed into the ground early on Thursday morning, the officials said, suggesting this meant it was unlikely to have been the victim of an attack.
"French soldiers who are on the ground have started the first investigations," French President Francois Hollande told reporters. "Sadly, there are no survivors."
The death toll, initially announced as 116, was revised up to 118 after a final passenger manifest was issued. An earlier count of 51 French nationals among the dead was also raised to 54 by the French Foreign Ministry to include those with dual nationality.
Reuters:McDonald's Japan stops sourcing all chicken from China
McDonald's Japan stops sourcing all chicken from China
(Reuters) - McDonald's Holdings Co (Japan) said it halted sales of all products that use chicken meat that originates in China on Friday, switching its sourcing completely to Thailand.
McDonald's Japan had already stopped selling items that used meat sourced from Shanghai Husi Food Co, a China-based supplier that had been shut down over food safety concerns. Shanghai Husi had supplied about 20 percent of its Chicken McNuggets.
"We made this decision in view of the growing concern over McDonald's chicken products made in China," McDonald's Japan Chief Executive Sarah Casanova said in a statement.
McDonald's Japan said some stores could sell out of chicken-based items depending on the level of available inventory.
Reuters:U.S. tells Pakistan: Do not let Haqqani fighters resettle
U.S. tells Pakistan: Do not let Haqqani fighters resettle
(Reuters) - The U.S. government urged Pakistan on Friday to prevent displaced Haqqani militants from returning to their traditional sanctuary after a Pakistani military offensive near the Afghanistan border.
The Haqqani network, which mainly operates out of Pakistan's border areas, has been blamed for some of the deadliest and most sophisticated attacks on NATO and Afghan troops in Afghanistan.
"What we've asked for is that the Haqqanis, yes they’ve been displaced, yes they've been disrupted, but that they not be allowed to regroup and resettle back into those historical areas," said Jeffrey Eggers from the White House's National Security Council, speaking at a security forum in Colorado.
That would break a long tradition of tolerating those who did not target the Pakistani state. No one from the Haqqani network has been reported killed, however, since the offensive began in June in the remote region of North Waziristan.
LA Times:Cellphone unlocking bill passes Congress, heads for Obama's desk
Cellphone unlocking bill passes Congress, heads for Obama's desk
The U.S. House unanimously passed bipartisan legislation that would allow consumers to unlock their cellphones when switching providers, at least for two more years.
The chamber's approval Friday, a week after the Senate backed the same measure, sends the bill to the president's desk with just a few working days left before Congress' August break.
President Obama, who is expected to sign the bill into law, applauded Congress for passing the pro-consumer legislation.