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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Al Jazeera America
Relatives pray as weather hampers AirAsia search
Relatives of those who died in the AirAsia crash sought strength in prayer Sunday, one week after the disaster killed all 162 on board, as rough weather again prevented searchers from reaching a large object on the ocean floor believed to be the plane's fuselage.
Emotionally exhausted family members sang and cried at a tiny chapel in Surabaya, the city where Flight 8501 departed from Dec. 28. The Rev. Philip Mantofa, who heads the congregation at Mawar Sharon Church - where more than a quarter of the victims were members - urged those gathered to find comfort in their faith.
"If God has called your child, allow me to say this: Your child is not to be pitied," Mantofa said, locking eyes with a grieving father seated in the front row. "Your child is already in God's arms. One day, your family will be reunited in heaven."
It is not known what caused the Singapore-bound plane to crash into the Java Sea 42 minutes after taking off on what was supposed to be a two-hour flight. Just before losing contact, the pilot told air traffic control that he was approaching threatening clouds, but was denied permission to climb to a higher altitude because of heavy air traffic.
BBC
AirAsia QZ8501: 41 people are missing from one church
Even in the worst of times, the Mawar Sharon evangelical church in Surabaya puts on a show for its Sunday service.
Six singers swayed on stage as they belted hymns. Cameras stationed around the church caught their every move at every angle.
Behind the choir a massive screen showed close-ups of the singers.
It felt more like a rock concert than a church service. But despite appearances this was a congregation in mourning.
Missing from the pews, 41 people who were on board the AirAsia flight.
Most were families with young children travelling to Singapore for a new year's holiday.
They apparently made a block booking on the budget airline, as it made their tickets cheaper.
A week after the crash, the church offered prayers for those who will not sit among them again.
Al Jazeera America
Australian firefighters battle worst bushfire in decades
Dozens of homes were feared lost as an intense bushfire affecting thousands of acres raged out of control in South Australia Saturday, forcing residents to flee their homes and leaving 2,000 firefighters struggling to contain the worst blaze the region has seen in decades.
The fires at Sampson Flat, located northeast of the state capital Adelaide in the country's south, was spreading rapidly in all directions, sweeping from a 380-acre area on Friday afternoon to nearly 12,000 acres on Saturday. Officials urged people to evacuate 19 towns in the Adelaide Hills, an area with a population of about 40,000 known for its farms and wineries.
"Your life is at risk," South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill told residents of the Mount Lofty Ranges east of Adelaide, urging them to leave as fire raged through the rugged scrub. "If you've decided to stay, you need to be aware that the fire will become incredibly scary and could lead you to change your mind at some point. It could be a catastrophic decision for you to leave late," he said.
BBC
EU migration: Traffickers 'made $3m' on ship to Italy
Police in Italy believe traffickers made some $3m (£1.9m; €2.5m) from 359 illegal migrants found abandoned on a cargo ship in the Mediterranean.
The Ezadeen was towed into the Italian port of Corigliano Calabro after being found by coast guards on Friday.
Most of those aboard appear to be Syrians, in the second such case involving a freighter this week.
Both ships reportedly started in Turkey, in a change from the Libyan route usually favoured by gangs.
The police chief of Cosenza province, Luigi Liguori, said each migrant had paid between $4,000 and $8,000 to board the ship.
Officers say that the smugglers wore hoods and locked the migrants in the ship's hold before apparently abandoning ship on a lifeboat.
BBC
Mexico missing students: 10 more police officers held
Mexican authorities investigating the disappearance of 43 student teachers in Guerrero state have arrested a further 10 municipal police officers.
Around 90 people in total, including 58 police officer, have been detained so far.
The students disappeared in September after clashes with police in the city of Iguala.
National prosecutors say police handed them to criminal gangs who murdered them and burnt their bodies.
Parents of the students dispute this, arguing the authorities are hiding what happened to them.
The remains of only one student, Alexander Mora, have been identified so far.
They were found near a rubbish dump where criminal gang members say the students were taken to be shot and their bodies burnt.
Members of the gang said they killed the 43 and burned their bodies after they were told the students belonged to a rival gang.
USA Today
Job outlook for 2015: Work aplenty (like it's 1999)
A strengthening labor market will not let up this year, economists say, with job growth approaching or exceeding the estimated 15-year high reached in 2014.
The stronger U.S. economy and increased employer confidence should continue to bolster job gains, and economists expect sluggish wage growth to finally accelerate, though they're divided on how quickly that will happen.
Employers added 321,000 jobs in November, the most in nearly two years, and 2014 is on track to be the strongest for job growth since 1999. Economists expect a Labor Department report Friday to show that 230,000 jobs were added in December, according to median estimates, slightly below the 241,000 average for the first 11 months of the year.
This year, many economists expect low gasoline prices and rising household wealth to drive consumer spending, offsetting weakness overseas and helping the economy to grow at least 3%, vs. an estimated 2.4% in 2014.
USA Today
Cold rush: 'Dangerous' arctic air roaring into U.S.
* Link has autoplay.
The coldest weather of the season is barreling into the U.S. this week with a series of "dangerously cold" arctic air masses.
The blasts of cold air will send temperatures 10-35 degrees below average for early January, Weather Channel meteorologist Roy Lucksinger said. High temperatures will range from near zero to the teens and 20s across a wide swath of the country.
The pattern is classic for winter, bringing frigid arctic air to nearly everyone east of the Rockies, National Weather Service meteorologist Paul Kocin said. The chilly weather will rival last year's January arctic outbreak that introduced the phrase "polar vortex" to America, he said.
"This is going to be a big cold outbreak, pretty windy as well," Kocin said. "It's going to drive all the way down south."
Reuters
Hundreds of police turn backs on NYC mayor at slain
officer's funeral
(Reuters) - New York City police turned out in their thousands on Sunday for the funeral of the second of two officers murdered last month, but in a sign of persistent tensions with Mayor Bill de Blasio, hundreds turned their backs when he delivered his eulogy.
Politicians, police leaders and other mourners joined family members inside a Brooklyn funeral home to honor Wenjian Liu, who was killed in an ambush that led to accusations the mayor had contributed to an anti-police climate.
Outside, the throng of officers gathered to pay their respects to Liu stretched for nearly a mile along an avenue in the borough's Bensonhurst neighborhood. When de Blasio began his speech, hundreds of them turned their backs to screens showing his image, despite earlier entreaties by City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton to mourners to show restraint.
The back-turning gesture has become symbolic of the anger many officers feel for de Blasio over what they see as his failure to support them during a wave of anti-police protests.
N Y Times
Myanmar Returns to What Sells: Heroin
BANG LAEM, Myanmar — A decade ago, Myanmar seemed on course to wipe out the opium fields and heroin jungle labs along its eastern border, the notorious Golden Triangle.
Today, valley after valley in these mist-shrouded mountains is covered with resplendent opium poppies, tended by farmers who perch on steep hillsides to harvest the plant’s sticky, intoxicating sap.
Poppy cultivation in Myanmar has nearly tripled since 2006, reaching close to 150,000 acres, according to surveys carried out by the United Nations. Yet even that steep rise fails to capture the full extent of Myanmar’s resurgence as a major player in the global heroin business. Over the last few years, an increasing number of farmers here have produced two opium crops a year, experts say; the second crop is not included in the United Nations surveys.
Growing opium poppies is illegal in Myanmar, but farmers in this remote and desperately poor region say they have few viable options.
“We don’t want to grow poppy our whole lives,” said Sang Phae, 36, a farmer who spent nearly a decade in Thailand and returned with knowledge of modern cultivation techniques. “We know this is not good for society, and other countries don’t like it. But there’s no other way for us now."
L A Times
After two-year delay, construction on California's bullet train is set to start
California's bullet-train agency will officially start construction in Fresno this week on the first 29-mile segment of the system, a symbol of the significant progress the $68-billion project has made against persistent political and legal opposition.
Over the last two years, the California High-Speed Rail Authority has prevailed in a series of court challenges to the project, won a federal exemption from state environmental rules, secured several key legislative victories that improved its future funding and made a politically savvy bet to move up by several years the inauguration of service in Southern California.
But the milestone marked by Tuesday's groundbreaking ceremony also will serve as a reminder of the enormous financial, technical and political risks still faced by the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco project.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) says Republican electoral success in November means that it's "less likely they are going to get federal money" for the bullet train.
Rail officials haven't yet lined up funds needed to complete the initial system over the next 14 years. Construction is starting two years later than the state had promised. Acquisition of private property is going slower than expected. And they have yet to finalize legal agreements with two of the nation's most powerful private freight railroads that are concerned about how a bullet train network will affect their operations
.
C/Net
4 things to expect from Google in 2015
Google is a powerhouse, but it's a powerhouse in transition.
In 2014, Google's search engine -- the largest in the world -- continued to dominate the market. In the US, the company has 67 percent of the search market on desktop computers. Globally, it's a $50 billion business in revenue annually.
But as Google looks to where future revenue streams will come from, CEO Larry Page hasn't been shy about saying the company has needed to expand its vision. When Google was founded in 1998, it gave itself the mandate of "organizing the world's information." Now that means a lot more than just search.
"I think the mission statement is probably a little bit too narrow and we're thinking about how to do that a little more broadly," Page said in December.
So, not surprisingly, much of what's expected from Google over the coming year has little to do with its juggernaut search business and more to do with its ever-growing enterprises outside of search -- from YouTube to its secretive lab Google X to its dominant Android platform. Here are four things to consider when looking at Google in 2015.
(snip)
1) The consumer launch of Google Glass
2) A push to get TV ad budgets to YouTube
3) Android everywhere
4) Ongoing scrutiny in Europe
I grow onions, so……
Three cheers for the onion.
Onions are eaten and grown in more countries than any other vegetable but rarely seem to receive much acclaim. It's time to stop taking the tangy, tear-inducing bulb for granted and give it a round of applause, writes the BBC's Marek Pruszewicz.
Deep in the archives of Yale University's Babylonian Collection lie three small clay tablets with a particular claim to fame - they are the oldest known cookery books.
Covered in minute cuneiform writing, they did not give-up their secrets until 1985, nearly 4,000 years after they were written.
The French Assyriologist and gourmet cook Jean Bottero - a combination only possible in France, some might say - was the man who cracked them. He discovered "a cuisine of striking richness, refinement, sophistication and artistry" with many flavours we would recognise today. Especially one flavour.
"They seem obsessed with every member of the onion family!" says Bottero.
Mesopotamians knew not just their onions, but also their leeks, garlic and shallots.