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.
The OND concept was borne under the keen keyboard of Magnifico - proper respect is due.
Current Contributers are ScottyUrb, Bentliberal, wader,Oke, rfall, JML9999 and Neon Vincent.
BBC: Libya protests: Death toll mounts as unrest spreads
Libya protests: Death toll mounts as unrest spreads
Rights groups say there is a rising death toll from clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces in Libya.
Amnesty said 43 people had died in protests on Thursday, while other reports suggested dozens more were killed on Friday.
The government has blocked websites and shut off electricity in some areas.
State media outlets have warned of retaliation against anyone criticising Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
BBC: Bahrain protests: King Hamad seeks talks after violence
Bahrain protests: King Hamad seeks talks after violence
King Hamad of Bahrain has asked his eldest son, Crown Prince Salman, to start a national dialogue to resolve the Gulf state's political crisis.
The prince, who earlier called on protesters to withdraw from the streets, is authorised to talk to all parties, a statement said.
Troops fired on demonstrators trying to march into the centre of the capital Manama on Friday, wounding at least 50.
The US has urged its citizens to "defer non-essential travel" to the kingdom.
BBC: US vetoes UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements
US vetoes UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements
The US has vetoed an Arab resolution at the UN Security Council condemning Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories as an obstacle to peace.
All 14 other members of the Security Council backed the resolution, which had been endorsed by the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
It was the first veto exercised by the Obama administration which had promised better relations with the Muslim world.
A Palestinian official said the talks process would now be "re-assessed"
BBC: Somali pirates seize American yacht crew off Oman
Somali pirates seize American yacht crew off Oman
Four Americans sailing on a yacht off the coast of Oman have been taken hostage by Somali pirates, an international maritime watchdog says.
The S/V Quest, owned by a retired couple, was hijacked 240 nautical miles (275 miles) off Oman on Friday afternoon, Ecoterra told BBC News.
It is believed the yacht was en route from India to Oman.
While pirates usually attack cargo ships, they have hijacked a number of yachts in recent years.
BBC: Panama clashes: Guaymi angry over copper mining law
Panama clashes: Guaymi angry over copper mining law
Police in Panama have clashed with dozens of indigenous protesters trying to prevent copper mining on their ancestral lands.
Members of the Guaymi indigenous group occupied a bridge on a major highway on the outskirts of Panama City.
Clashes erupted when police tried to move the protesters to clear the way for traffic.
Lawmakers last week approved a law which opens up the western Ngobe-Bugle reservation to foreign mining projects.
BBC: Yemen protests: Three killed at anti-government rallies
Yemen protests: Three killed at anti-government rallies
At least three people have been killed during widespread anti-government demonstrations in Yemen.
Two people were killed in the southern port city of Aden from gunfire as police moved to disperse protesters, medical officials and witnesses said.
In the city of Taiz, one person was killed when a grenade was thrown from a car into a crowd of protesters.
And in the capital Sanaa, supporters and opponents of President Ali Abdullah Saleh clashed on the streets.
Reuters: U.S. launches diplomatic "surge" to end Afghan war
U.S. launches diplomatic "surge" to end Afghan war
(Reuters) - The United States is mounting a "diplomatic surge" to end the war in Afghanistan even as military pressure is forcing Taliban insurgents to consider whether to break with al Qaeda, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday.
Clinton, in a speech on Afghanistan at the Asia Society, said the Taliban's only option was to split from al Qaeda, accept the Afghan constitution and join peaceful dialogue on the country's future.
"They cannot wait us out. They cannot defeat us. And they cannot escape this choice," Clinton said in a speech that was broadcast live on the Internet.
Clinton repeated President Barack Obama's pledge to begin withdrawing some of the nearly 100,000 U.S. soldiers in the war zone in July with the aim of completing the transition to Afghan responsibility by the end of 2014.
Reuters: California Republicans cool to Brown tax plan
California Republicans cool to Brown tax plan
(Reuters) - California Democratic Governor Jerry Brown's plan to close the state's huge budget gap is running into a wall of Republican opposition over a proposed referendum on extending tax increases.
If Republicans hold firm and withhold votes for a tax ballot measure, they could force Brown and his fellow Democrats who control the Legislature to seriously consider a budget plan relying almost exclusively on spending cuts to tackle a deficit that may top $27 billion.
Putting a measure on the ballot requires a two-thirds legislative majority, which Democrats lack. They could try to put tax increases on the ballot on their own through procedural maneuvering, a worst-case option given that they want bipartisan support for a measure.
The political struggle over the budget in America's most populous state comes as state finances garner attention in the U.S. Congress, where some have called for legislation to allow financially troubled state governments to declare bankruptcy.
Reuters: Obama touts innovation agenda for spurring jobs
Obama touts innovation agenda for spurring jobs
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama touted his agenda to foster innovation as a means of spurring job creation and boosting U.S. global competitiveness during a high-tech visit to the Pacific Northwest on Friday.
Obama used a tour of an Intel Corp semiconductor plant in Oregon to underscore his commitment to finding ways to reduce stubbornly high unemployment -- considered crucial to his 2012 re-election chances.
While facing a brewing budget fight back in Washington, Obama sought to showcase research, development and education -- areas he has vowed to protect from spending cuts -- as keys to rejuvenating the sluggish U.S. economy.
"Even as we have to live within our means, we can't sacrifice investments in our future," Obama told Intel's workers. "If we want to win the future, America has to out-build, out-educate, out-innovate and out-hustle the rest of the world."
Reuters: Al Jazeera says signal jammed, Libya blocks website
Al Jazeera says signal jammed, Libya blocks website
(Reuters) - The Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera said on Friday its signal was being jammed on several frequencies and its website had been blocked in Libya.
Al Jazeera, whose coverage of the political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa is widely watched in the Arab world, reported the jamming on its website where it offered alternative frequencies on the Arabsat, Nilesat and Hot Bird satellites.
Al Jazeera has closely followed events in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen, contacting protesters and government backers by telephone and often using footage of events sent via the Internet.
Bahraini security forces fired on protesters on Friday, wounding dozens, and thousands of people demonstrated in Libya after a deadly government crackdown as pro-democracy unrest in the Middle East and North Africa turned increasingly violent.
Reuters: Intel plans $5 bln Arizona chip plant by 2013
Intel plans $5 bln Arizona chip plant by 2013
(Reuters) - Intel Corp plans to build a $5 billion, cutting-edge microchip factory in Arizona by 2013, sharply ramping up its U.S. manufacturing capacity as part of a major global expansion.
The state-of-the-art plant, which will crank out microchips with next-generation 14 nanometer line-widths, is expected to bring thousands of jobs to the cash-strapped western U.S. state, which is offering more incentives to lure businesses.
The announcement came after the White House announced it had appointed Intel chief executive Paul Otellini to a panel of experts advising President Barack Obama on jobs. Obama will tour Intel's Oregon manufacturing base on Friday.
Obama met with Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs and other technology industry leaders in Northern California on Thursday as part of a campaign to promote technological innovation as a means of boosting the struggling economy and reducing the 9 percent unemployment rate.
Reuters: Guantanamo prisoner to help prosecute others
Guantanamo prisoner to help prosecute others
(Reuters) - A U.S. military jury sentenced an admitted al Qaeda conspirator from Sudan to 14 more years in prison on Friday but he will serve far less if he keeps his promise to help prosecutors in cases against other Guantanamo captives.
All but 34 months of the sentence will be suspended if defendant Noor Uthman Muhammed keeps his agreement to help prosecute his former colleagues, the judge in the war crimes tribunal at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base said.
That means Noor, who has already spent nearly nine years in U.S. custody, could go home in December 2013.
The weapons trainer pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiring with al Qaeda and providing material support for terrorism. The jury of nine U.S. military officers issued the maximum -- but largely symbolic -- sentence.
MercuryNews.com: Obama dinner with Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and other tech titans sparks talk but not much information
Obama dinner with Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and other tech titans sparks talk but not much information
After an evening of toasts with Silicon Valley's business elite, President Obama continued his tech tour on Friday with a visit to an Intel chip plant in Oregon, during which the chip giant announced it will spend $5 billion on a new plant in Arizona.
But much less information seeped out from Thursday's 90-minute dinner, held at the Woodside home of venture capitalist John Doerr, aside from a couple of White House-provided photos. Behind the Secret Service barricades, Obama was flanked by Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Ten other titans of tech joined him, as well as his long-time friend and senior advisor, Valerie Jarrett. The gathering had to rank as one of the biggest power dinners Silicon Valley has ever seen.
What is known is that participants chewed on a range of topics, including education, work-force development, H1-B work visas and the elimination of the tax companies must pay to bring overseas cash holdings to the United States. Questions about how Jobs looked -- the cancer survivor is on his third medical leave from the company he founded -- or even what the menu was went unanswered as participants kept the details to themselves, unusual in a region where secrets frequently don't remain secret long -- even Jobs' Apple springs a leak now and then.
"I thought it would have died down today, but it's still going fast and furious," said a besieged spokesman for one of the attendees who spent Friday swatting away national media requests for interviews.