At the bottom of the the Settings --> Admin Panels page for this plugin, there is a message that says "HACKED by XUGURX." My guess is that the plugin author is trying to pull in a live news feed from his own website. Unfortunately, that website was hacked and displays that same message on the front page, along with a photo of a woman exhaling smoke.
A bit too risky for my installation. Uninstalling for now.