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:Mexico men detained over Mexico radiation truck robbery
Mexico men detained over Mexico radiation truck robbery
The authorities in Mexico have detained six men suspected of stealing a truck earlier this week carrying medical equipment including a radioactive element.
The suspects had been admitted to a hospital in Hidalgo state with possible symptoms of radiation poisoning.
The truck was stolen on Monday as the driver made an overnight stop on the outskirts of Mexico City.
It was found abandoned two days later on a nearby field.
BBC:US jobless rate falls to 5-year low in November
US jobless rate falls to 5-year low in November
The US unemployment rate fell to a five-year low of 7% in November, according to the US Labor Department.
Payroll figures also showed that 203,000 jobs were created last month, more than predicted, as the US economy displayed encouraging signs of strength.
US markets cheered the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average spiking nearly 200 points.
The monthly non-farm payroll figure is watched closely by economists.
BBC:Russia and Ukraine leaders seek partnership treaty
Russia and Ukraine leaders seek partnership treaty
Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have held surprise talks on a "strategic partnership treaty".
Mr Yanukovych flew from China to Sochi in southern Russia for the meeting. He also cancelled a visit to Malta.
Last month he shelved a partnership deal with the EU, triggering angry protests in Ukraine's capital Kiev.
Jailed opposition politician Yulia Tymoshenko has reportedly called off a prison hunger strike.
BBC:'Hundreds dead' in Central African Republic violence
'Hundreds dead' in Central African Republic violence
At least 300 people have been killed in two days of violence in the capital of the Central African Republic, says the Red Cross.
The organisation said its staff stopped collecting bodies in Bangui as night fell but would resume over the weekend, and expected the toll to rise.
Violence in the CAR has raised fears of mass killings along sectarian lines.
Hundreds of French troops are arriving in the city as part of a UN effort to restore law and order.
BBC:Biden urges Seoul-Tokyo co-operation amid Asia tensions
Biden urges Seoul-Tokyo co-operation amid Asia tensions
US Vice-President Joe Biden has urged Japan and South Korea to "improve their relations and co-operation".
Mr Biden was in Seoul on the third leg of an Asian tour dominated by tensions over China's newly-declared air defence zone.
China's zone covers disputed islands controlled by Japan and an area claimed by Seoul.
Mr Biden said on Thursday China's move had "caused significant apprehension in the region."
BBC:Al-Qaeda claims attack on Yemen defence ministry
Al-Qaeda claims attack on Yemen defence ministry
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has said it was behind an attack on Yemen's defence ministry on Thursday that left 52 people dead.
The group's media arm, al-Malahim, said the ministry complex in Sanaa had been targeted because US unmanned drones were being operated from there.
The attack saw a suicide bomber ram an explosives-filled car into the main gate before gunmen launched an assault.
Among the dead were soldiers and civilians, including seven foreigners.
Reuters:Wall Street jumps on jobs; Dow, S&P end lower for the week
Wall Street jumps on jobs; Dow, S&P end lower for the week
(Reuters) - Stocks soared on Friday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 ending a five-day losing streak after a robust jobs report gave traders confidence that the economic recovery was gaining strength.
The S&P 500 scored its best day in nearly a month, with all 10 S&P sector indexes solidly higher in the broad rally.
About two-thirds of the stocks traded on both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq ended in positive territory.
Both the Dow and the S&P 500 closed slightly lower for the week, snapping eight-week rallies.
Reuters:Bank of America's record $500 million accord over Countrywide wins approval
Bank of America's record $500 million accord over Countrywide wins approval
(Reuters) - A federal judge has granted final approval to Bank of America Corp's record $500 million settlement with investors who claimed they were misled by the bank's Countrywide unit into buying risky mortgage debt.
In a decision made public on Friday, U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer in Los Angeles called the accord fair, reasonable and adequate. She also awarded the investors' lawyers $85 million of fees plus $2.98 million for expenses.
Investors, including several public and union pension funds, had accused Countrywide of misleading them in offering documents between 2005 and 2007 about the quality of home loans underlying the securities they bought.
Many of those securities carried high credit ratings that tumbled to "junk" status as market conditions worsened.
Reuters:Fed's Evans: Open to December taper, but prefers to wait
Fed's Evans: Open to December taper, but prefers to wait
(Reuters) - A top Federal Reserve official, who has been one of the most ardent supporters of the U.S. central bank's bond-buying stimulus program, said he was open to curtailing the purchases this month, although he would prefer to wait.
The comments from Charles Evans, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, suggest a strong report on November jobs growth on Friday has brought the Fed closer to reducing its third round of quantitative easing, known as QE3.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls expanded by a greater-than-expected 203,000 jobs in November, with the unemployment rate dropping to a five-year low of 7 percent.
"I'll be open-minded," Evans said in an interview with Reuters Insider, when asked whether he would support trimming the Fed's stimulus at its policy meeting on December 17-18.
Reuters:Rogue trader gets prison, told to repay Goldman $118 million
Rogue trader gets prison, told to repay Goldman $118 million
(Reuters) - Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc trader Matthew Taylor was sentenced Friday to serve nine months in prison and pay $118 million in restitution to his former employer after he pleaded guilty to pursuing an unauthorized $8.3 billion futures trade in 2007.
In imposing a sentence well below the 33- to 41-month term the U.S. Department of Justice had recommended, U.S. District Judge William Pauley in New York castigated both Goldman and government authorities for failing to immediately address Taylor's conduct when it occurred.
The case is a "paradigm of everything that is wrong with Wall Street and the regulators charged with protecting the public," Pauley said.
Prosecutors claimed Taylor lied to supervisors and fabricated trades in December 2007 to conceal an $8.3 billion position in Standard & Poor's 500 e-mini futures contracts, which bet on the direction of that index. Goldman fired him shortly thereafter.
Reuters:China Rongsheng ghost town reflects shipbuilder's struggle to survive
China Rongsheng ghost town reflects shipbuilder's struggle to survive
(Reuters) - Deserted flats and boarded-up shops in the Yangtze river town of Changqingcun serve as a blunt reminder of the area's reliance on China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group (1101.HK), the country's biggest private shipbuilder.
Like Rongsheng's shipyards, the area is struggling to survive.
The shipbuilder this week predicted a substantial annual loss, just months after appealing to the government for financial help as it reeled from industry overcapacity and shrinking orders. Rongsheng lost an annual record 572.6 million yuan ($92 million) last year, and lost 1.3 billion yuan in the first half of this year.
The company has become a test of China's market reforms.
Reuters:Historic global trade deal on ice as Cuba holds out
Historic global trade deal on ice as Cuba holds out
(Reuters) - Ministers appeared close to sealing the world's biggest trade reform for two decades early on Saturday but a last-gasp objection from Cuba forced an overnight halt, leaving the World Trade Organization four votes short of a final victory.
Earlier a major obstacle was overcome when India, the most vocal holdout, endorsed a draft text presented by the head of the WTO Roberto Azevedo, putting the WTO tantalizingly close to agreement. But Cuba, backed by Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua, refused to accept a deal that would not help pry open the U.S. embargo of the Caribbean island.
The deal, thrashed out at talks on the Indonesian island of Bali, would lower trade barriers and speed up the passage of goods through customs. Analysts estimate that over time it could boost the world economy by hundreds of billions of dollars and create more than 20 million jobs, mostly in developing countries.
Cuba wants language in the WTO deal to challenge the embargo, which has been in place for half a century and been condemned 22 times by the United Nations. President Barack Obama said last month it may be time to revise the U.S. policy.
Editorial Note As of the Writing Reuters was running down a report that Cuba had withdrawn it's objections.....
BBC:US war veteran 'deported by North Korea'
US war veteran 'deported by North Korea'
North Korea has deported a US veteran of the Korean War who had been detained in the country since October, the state-run KCNA news agency reports.
It says Merrill Newman was expelled on "humanitarian grounds" after he confessed to his "crimes" against the state during the 1950-53 war and "apologised".
Mr Newman, 85, had been held on charges of "hostile acts" against the North.
He had been visiting the country as a tourist.