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 consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, side pocket, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir, Bentliberal, Oke, jlms qkw, Interceptor7, and ScottyUrb, guest editor annetteboardman, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains you.
BBC:Syria crisis: UN report to confirm chemical arms attack
Syria crisis: UN report to confirm chemical arms attack
A UN report expected next week will "overwhelmingly" confirm that chemical weapons were used in Syria last month, the secretary general says.
Ban Ki-moon made no comment on who was to blame for the 21 August attack in the Ghouta area of Damascus, as that is not part of the report's remit.
But he did say Syria's president was guilty of "crimes against humanity".
The US and Russian foreign ministers are continuing their talks on a plan to make safe Syria's chemical weapons.
BBC:Egypt hit by pro and anti-Mohammed Morsi protests
Egypt hit by pro and anti-Mohammed Morsi protests
Supporters and opponents of Egypt's ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi have clashed during protests a day after a state of emergency was extended by two months.
The pro-Morsi demonstrations called by the Muslim Brotherhood appeared to be bigger than in recent weeks.
One person was killed and at least injured in clashes after Friday prayers in the coastal city of Alexandria.
In Sinai, the army has intensified its offensive against Islamist militants.
BBC:Somali crisis: Amnesty criticises evictions in Mogadishu
Somali crisis: Amnesty criticises evictions in Mogadishu
Amnesty International has denounced the forcible eviction of tens of thousands of homeless people from makeshift camps in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
The human rights group says the process has led to "large-scale human rights abuses" including the killing of two people during protests.
Some 370,000 people have been living in the camps, having fled drought, famine and fighting.
But their presence is hampering the government's drive to rebuild the city
BBC:CAR President Djotodia bans former Seleka rebel backers
CAR President Djotodia bans former Seleka rebel backers
President Michel Djotodia of the Central African Republic has dissolved the rebel group that helped bring him to power in a coup six months ago.
A statement by his office said anyone acting in the name of the rebel Seleka Coalition would be punished.
The rebels have been blamed for looting and many deaths after former President Francois Bozize was ousted in March.
Supporters of Mr Bozize have recently staged an offensive, leading to the death of nearly 100 earlier this week.
BBC:Philippines standoff: Rebels agree to ceasefire talks
Philippines standoff: Rebels agree to ceasefire talks
The leader of a Muslim rebel group whose members are fighting Philippine troops in Zamboanga city has agreed to ceasefire talks, officials say.
Vice-President Jejomar Binay, who spoke to rebel leader Nur Misuari, says the proposed truce will begin on Saturday.
It will end a five-day siege by nearly 200 separatist rebels, who have taken at least 100 residents hostage.
Over 22 people have died in clashes between rebels and troops since the rebels infiltrated the city on Monday.
BBC:India polls: Narendra Modi revealed as BJP's PM candidate
India polls: Narendra Modi revealed as BJP's PM candidate
India's main opposition party has named controversial politician Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for elections due next year.
Mr Modi, who has been chief minister of Gujarat state since 2001, has long been seen as a rising star of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In June, he was chosen to lead the party's campaign for the election.
Mr Modi is credited with making Gujarat one of India's most prosperous states.
Reuters:U.S. officials: Use of force not expected in U.N. resolution on Syria
U.S. officials: Use of force not expected in U.N. resolution on Syria
(Reuters) - The United States does not expect a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria's chemical weapons to include a potential use of military force due to Russian opposition, senior Obama administration officials said on Friday.
Their comments suggested Washington will not insist on including the use of force in the U.N. resolution.
The officials, who briefed a group of reporters on condition of anonymity, said the United States would instead insist that the resolution include a range of consequences should Syria refuse to give up chemical weapons in a verifiable way.
Those consequences could include sanctions, one official said.
Reuters:BlackBerry bidders may want to carve up business - sources
BlackBerry bidders may want to carve up business - sources
(Reuters) - A handful of potential bidders, including private equity firms, are lining up to look at BlackBerry Ltd, but initial indications suggest that interest is tepid and buyers are eyeing parts of the Canadian smartphone maker rather than the whole company, several sources familiar with the situation said.
Private equity firms are mostly interested in businesses such as BlackBerry's operating system and the patents around its keyboard, two of the sources said. However, one possibility is for a Canadian pension fund to team up with an investor to buy the whole company, which is currently worth a little more than $5 billion, one of the sources said.
BlackBerry's biggest shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, has approached several large Canadian investment funds about forging a deal to take the smartphone maker private, Reuters reported last week.
Fairfax has a 10 percent stake, and its chairman and chief executive, Prem Watsa, has left BlackBerry's board already to avoid any possible conflict of interest as the company assesses its strategic options.
Reuters:Three friends of accused Boston bomber to fight cover-up charges
Three friends of accused Boston bomber to fight cover-up charges
(Reuters) - Three college friends of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges that they helped cover his tracks when the FBI was trying to find the people responsible for the April 15 attack.
All three are charged with going to Tsarnaev's dorm room three days after the bombing and removing a laptop and a backpack containing empty fireworks shells after receiving a text message from him telling them to "go to my room and take what's there," according to court papers.
Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, both 19-year-old exchange students from Kazakhstan, pleaded not guilty to the charge of obstruction of justice and could face 25 years in prison or deportation.
Kadyrbayev's lawyer, Robert Stahl, said after the hearing that his client did not understand what Tsarnaev had done.
Reuters:KPN picks interim CFO as holds talks with America Movil
KPN picks interim CFO as holds talks with America Movil
(Reuters) - Dutch telecoms group KPN (KPN.AS), the subject of a takeover bid by Mexico's America Movil (AMXL.MX), appointed Steven van Schilfgaarde as interim chief financial officer on Friday after Eric Hageman unexpectedly quit earlier this week.
KPN said in a statement that the Supervisory Board intended to appoint a permanent successor in due course.
Investors and analysts had expressed concern over Hageman's departure for personal reasons, leaving the Dutch telecoms group without a key executive as it negotiates with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's group.
Van Schilfgaarde, who was interim CFO from January to September 2012 and more recently was head of KPN's IT Solutions business, had planned to quit next month.
Reuters:Blackstone-led buyout group makes lower bid for Pactera
Blackstone-led buyout group makes lower bid for Pactera
(Reuters) - China's largest technology outsourcing company, Pactera Technology International Ltd, said Blackstone Group LP and the company's management reduced their offer to take the company private, citing its weakening financial performance.
The offer of $7 per American depositary share (ADS), worth about $600 million, was reduced from $7.50 proposed in May.
Pactera shares were down 5 percent at $6.43 in early trading on Friday on the Nasdaq.
The previous proposal represented a 39 percent premium to Pactera's stock price at the time, while the latest offer represents a 33 percent premium.
Reuters:Japan must get ready to release Fukushima water into the sea: U.S. adviser
Japan must get ready to release Fukushima water into the sea: U.S. adviser
(Reuters) - Japan should begin preparing to release a massive tide of water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean, once it regains public trust and can confirm the water has only low levels of radiation, a U.S. adviser to the plant's operator said on Friday.
Lake Barrett, a former head of the Department of Energy's Office of Civilian Nuclear Waste Management, spent nearly a decade at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and led the clean-up operations after the 1979 partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant. He has been brought in by Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) to advise it on the lengthy decommissioning process at Fukushima.
He said work should begin now to pump groundwater from the plant before it reaches wrecked reactors - a measure that has been stalled by local opposition.
"They should start pumping as soon as practical," said Barrett, adding that groundwater would have to be released into the sea along with water that had been treated to remove most radiation - by a system designed by Toshiba Corp.
Mercury News:Wolverton: New iPhones come up short, even with new features
Wolverton: New iPhones come up short, even with new features
When it was announced, Apple's (AAPL) new iPhone 5C was panned for being too costly and its sibling, the new iPhone 5S, for being little different from last year's model.
But on closer inspection, they may be even more disappointing.
That's because the new phones fail to address long-standing complaints about the iPhone lineup. There's no truly big-screen iPhone. The battery lives of the new devices are still relatively short. And, perhaps most damningly, the new iPhones still can't talk and surf simultaneously on Verizon or Sprint.
What's more, the hallmark feature of Apple's new flagship iPhone 5S, its fingerprint detector, now appears to be little more than a gimmick that actually introduces a new security problem.