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 consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors jlms qkw, maggiejean, wader, Oke, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir and ScottyUrb, guest editor and annetteboardman, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains
BBC:Nepal's Colonel Kumar Lama charged in UK with torture
Nepal's Colonel Kumar Lama charged in UK with torture
A Nepalese man has been charged in the UK with two counts of torture during his country's civil war in 2005.
Colonel Kumar Lama faces a British trial under a law that allows prosecution of alleged war criminals.
The 46-year-old officer, currently seconded to the UN, was held at his East Sussex home by Metropolitan Police officers on Thursday.
His arrest led to the Nepalese government summoning the UK ambassador in Kathmandu to protest.
BBC:Gaza: Fatah holds biggest rally since Hamas came to power
Gaza: Fatah holds biggest rally since Hamas came to power
Hundreds of thousands of supporters of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction have held rallies in Gaza to mark the group's 48th anniversary.
Hamas, which governs Gaza, allowed rival Fatah to hold celebrations there for the first time since Hamas ousted Fatah forces five years ago.
Last month, supporters of Hamas celebrated their movement's founding with a rare rally in the West Bank.
The moves were aimed at easing tensions between the two sides.
BBC:Canada PM meets chiefs amid Teresa Spence hunger strike
Canada PM meets chiefs amid Teresa Spence hunger strike
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has agreed to meet a delegation of First Nation leaders, following a 25-day hunger strike by one chief.
Attawapiskat chief Teresa Spence says she will join the 11 January meeting, but continue her fast until then.
She began her protest against a budget bill critics say weakens native land rights and environmental safeguards.
Three other chiefs have joined Ms Spence in her hunger strike.
BBC:Hugo Chavez battles lung infection in Cuba hospital
Hugo Chavez battles lung infection in Cuba hospital
Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, is suffering from "complications" brought on by a "severe lung infection" which developed after surgery, officials say.
Mr Chavez, 58, had his fourth operation for cancer in Cuba on 11 December and then developed a respiratory infection.
In a statement from Caracas, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said the infection had "led to a respiratory insufficiency".
Mr Chavez is due to be sworn in for another term in office on 10 January.
BBC:Sudanese leaders Bashir and Kiir to meet in Ethiopia
Sudanese leaders Bashir and Kiir to meet in Ethiopia
The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan are to meet to address disputes that brought them close to war following the South's independence in 2011.
Presidents Omar al-Bashir of Sudan and Salva Kiir of South Sudan are set to discuss speeding up the implementation of a deal reached last September.
The talks in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, follow reports of renewed clashes on the disputed border.
Tensions over oil and security brought them to the brink of war last April.
BBC:Nato deploying Patriot missiles to Turkey-Syria border
Nato deploying Patriot missiles to Turkey-Syria border
Nato has begun to deploy Patriot missiles to Turkey to help Turkish troops repel attacks by missiles or aircraft from neighbouring Syria.
The US European Command said its troops and equipment had started arriving in southern Turkey, and more would arrive in the coming days.
Germany and the Netherlands are preparing to ship their Patriot batteries early next week.
The six battery units are scheduled to be operational by the end of January.
Reuters:S&P 500 finishes at 5-year high on economic data
S&P 500 finishes at 5-year high on economic data
(Reuters) - The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index ended at a five-year high on Friday, lifted by reports showing employers kept up a steady pace of hiring workers and the vast services sector expanded at a brisk rate.
The gains on the S&P 500 pushed the index to its highest close since December 2007 and its biggest weekly gain since December 2011.
Most of the gains came early in the holiday-shortened week, including the largest one-day rise for the index in more than a year on Wednesday after politicians struck a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff."
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 43.85 points, or 0.33 percent, to 13,435.21. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 7.10 points, or 0.49 percent, to 1,466.47. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC edged up 1.09 points, or 0.04 percent, to 3,101.66.
Reuters:EU says Iran not responded to nuclear talks proposal
EU says Iran not responded to nuclear talks proposal
(Reuters) - The European Union has proposed a time and place for further talks on Iran's nuclear program, but Iran has yet to respond, an EU spokesman said on Friday.
Iran said earlier on Friday it had agreed to resume talks in January with six major powers - represented by the EU - but the EU spokesman said Tehran had not yet replied to proposals made on December 31.
"We offered dates and a venue, but we are still waiting to hear back from Iran," said Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, who leads negotiations on behalf of the United States, Russia, France, Britain, Germany and China.
Mann declined to say which dates and venue the EU had proposed.
Reuters:Worst drought in decades hits Brazil's Northeast
Worst drought in decades hits Brazil's Northeast
(Reuters) - Brazil's Northeast is suffering its worst drought in decades, threatening hydro-power supplies in an area prone to blackouts and potentially slowing economic growth in one of the country's emerging agricultural frontiers.
Lack of rain has hurt corn and cotton crops, left cattle and goats to starve to death in dry pastures and wiped some 30 percent off sugar cane production in the region responsible for 10 percent of Brazil's cane output.
Thousands of subsistence farmers have seen their livelihoods wither away in recent months as animal carcasses lie abandoned in some areas that have seen almost no rain in two years.
"We are experiencing the worst drought in 50 years, with consequences that could be compared to a violent earthquake," Eduardo Salles, agriculture secretary in the northeastern state of Bahia, said in an emailed statement.
Reuters:Syria blames "terrorists" for deadly petrol station blast
Syria blames "terrorists" for deadly petrol station blast
(Reuters) - Syria said on Friday a car bomb at a crowded petrol station in Damascus was set off by "terrorists", a term it uses for rebels seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
The blast on Thursday night killed 11 people and wounded 40 at a station packed with Syrians queuing for fuel, which has become scarce in the 21-month insurgency against Assad, in the second petrol station attack in the capital this week, opposition activists said.
"Terrorists ... blew up an explosive device at Qassioun Petrol Station near Hamish Hospital in Barzeh, Damascus, martyring several civilians," state news agency SANA said.
The United Nations says more than 60,000 people have been killed in the civil war, the longest, bloodiest conflict born from uprisings across the Arab world in the past two years.
Reuters:Automakers in China brace for year of tepid growth as Japanese struggle
Automakers in China brace for year of tepid growth as Japanese struggle
(Reuters) - Automakers in China are bracing for another year of tepid single-digit growth in 2013, weighed down by sluggish demand for Japanese cars amid a diplomatic row between the two regional neighbors and government measures intended to restrict traffic in bigger cities.
Executives at local and foreign carmakers in China predict the overall vehicle market will grow 5 to 10 percent this year, roughly in line with 2012, when demand was hit by a slowing economy and rising fuel costs.
Japanese carmakers will likely continue to struggle in 2013 after they saw their China sales plunge by about half in 2012 after anti-Japanese protests and boycotts of Japanese goods broke out in mid-September over a territorial dispute between the two governments.
"Japanese brands have been handicapped by the turmoil in the relationship between Japan and China. It's very difficult for one company to see how much this is going to damage the long-term prospects of Japanese companies," Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Nissan Motor Co (7201.T), told reporters in a year-end briefing in Tokyo.
Reuters:Japan sees opportunity in Myanmar's emerging economy
Japan sees opportunity in Myanmar's emerging economy
(Reuters) - Japan's deputy prime minister confirmed fresh financial aid for Myanmar on Friday during a visit to an industrial zone that underlined the long-isolated nation's growing importance as an economic partner.
With a land mass as large as Britain and France combined, Myanmar shares borders with 40 percent of the world's population in India, China, Bangladesh and Thailand.
President Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government has enacted reforms since it took over from a long-ruling military junta nearly two years ago.
Taro Aso, who is also Japan's finance minister, chose the country for his first official visit abroad just a week after taking up his job.
ABC News:CES 2013 Kicks Off, But Is Giant Trade Show Losing Steam?
CES 2013 Kicks Off, But Is Giant Trade Show Losing Steam?
Next week the Las Vegas lights might seem a bit brighter as thousands of brand-new HDTVs, tablets, phones, cameras, cars -- you name it -- power up and descend upon Sin City.
The 46th annual Consumer Electronics Show – CES 2013 -- is upon us.
The show is massive, with more than 33,000 consumer electronics exhibitors, including Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic. Many of them will hold press conferences starting Sunday night, and on Tuesday, the show, which is put on by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), will open its doors to 150,000 attendees.