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 Contributors are ScottyUrb, Bentliberal, wader,Oke, rfall, JML9999 and Neon Vincent.
BBC:Syrian authorities 'committed crimes' against civilians
Syrian authorities 'committed crimes' against civilians
The Syrian authorities have committed clear and widespread crimes against the country's civilian population, the UN secretary general has said.
In an address to the General Assembly, Ban Ki-moon said the international community had failed in its duty, and inaction had encouraged Syria's leaders in their repression of civilians.
But he said further militarisation of the opposition was not the answer.
He spoke as the Red Cross waited to get access to a bombed-out part of Homs.
BBC:Hackers had 'full functional control' of Nasa computers
Hackers had 'full functional control' of Nasa computers
Hackers gained "full functional control" of key Nasa computers in 2011, the agency's inspector general has told US lawmakers.
Paul K Martin said hackers took over Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) computers and "compromised the accounts of the most privileged JPL users".
He said the attack, involving Chinese IP addresses, was under investigation.
In a statement, Nasa said it had "made significant progress to protect the agency's IT systems".
BBC:EU summit: All but two leaders sign fiscal treaty
EU summit: All but two leaders sign fiscal treaty
All but two of the EU's 27 leaders have signed a new treaty to enforce budget discipline within the bloc.
The "fiscal compact" aims to prevent the 17 eurozone states running up huge debts like those which sparked the Greek, Irish and Portuguese bailouts.
To take effect, the pact must be ratified by 12 eurozone states.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who with the Czechs refused to sign, said the summit had accepted his ideas for cutting red tape and boosting growth.
BBC:US tornadoes kill six in Indiana as storms sweep in
US tornadoes kill six in Indiana as storms sweep in
A series of powerful tornadoes have killed at least six people in the US state of Indiana, and caused damage and injury in Tennessee and Kentucky.
A local official confirmed three people had been killed by storms in each of Jefferson and Scott counties, Indiana.
Earlier on Friday tornadoes hit Alabama, causing widespread damage to houses and injuring five people.
In Henryville, Indiana, reports of extreme damage included a roof torn off a high school.
BBC:International smuggling rings busted, says US officials
International smuggling rings busted, says US officials
The US authorities say they have smashed several major international smuggling rings stretching from the US to China, Taiwan and the Philippines.
In all, 29 people were charged with distributing contraband cigarettes and fake luxury goods in the United States, as well as drug smuggling.
The smuggled goods were manufactured in China and were worth hundreds of millions of dollars, prosecutors say.
All the rings used a port in New Jersey. Six suspects remain at large.
BBC:Diamond Jubilee: Prince Harry names Belize road
Diamond Jubilee: Prince Harry names Belize road
Prince Harry has officially named a new road in Belize after his grandmother.
The prince conducted the naming service for Queen Elizabeth II Boulevard in the capital Belmopan on the first day of his trip to the former British colony.
Belize is the first step on his first overseas solo trip on behalf of his grandmother, the Queen, as part of her Diamond Jubilee.
His seven-day tour will also include visits to the Bahamas and Jamaica. He will then travel on to Brazil.
Reuters:Obama says not bluffing on Iran military option
Obama says not bluffing on Iran military option
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama issued his most direct threat yet of U.S. military action against Iran if it builds a nuclear weapon, but in a message to Israel's leader ahead of White House talks he also cautioned against a pre-emptive Israeli strike.
"As president of the United States, I don't bluff," Obama warned Iran in a magazine interview published on Friday, three days before he will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington.
With the meeting expected to be dominated by stark differences over what Washington fears could be an Israeli attack on Tehran's nuclear sites, Netanyahu said he wanted to preserve the "freedom of action of the State of Israel in the face of threats to wipe us off the map."
Monday's talks are shaping up as the most consequential encounter of U.S. and Israeli leaders in years, with tensions further magnified by Republican presidential candidates slamming Obama over his Middle East policy.
Reuters:Citigroup Chairman Parsons stepping down
Citigroup Chairman Parsons stepping down
(Reuters) - Richard Parsons will step down as chairman of Citigroup Inc at its annual meeting in April and will be succeeded by Michael O'Neill, the former chief executive of Bank of Hawaii Corp, Citigroup said on Friday.
Two other board members are also leaving. The moves will leave Citi under the leadership of directors and top executives who came to the company following losses in the financial crisis that required government bailouts.
Parsons, 63, joined the board 16 years ago and became chairman in 2009.
"Given the strong position that Citi is in today, I have concluded that the time has come for me to take my leave," Parsons said in a statement.
Reuters:States slash birth control subsidies as federal debate rages
States slash birth control subsidies as federal debate rages
(Reuters) - Even as a national debate rages over contraception insurance, tens of thousands of low-income women and teenagers across the United States have lost access to subsidized birth control as states slash and restructure family planning funds.
Montana and New Jersey have eliminated altogether their state family planning programs. New Hampshire cut its funding by 57 percent and five other states made more modest program trims.
But the biggest impact, by far, has been in Texas.
State lawmakers last fall cut family-planning funds by two-thirds, or nearly $74 million over two years. Within months, half the state-supported family planning clinics in Texas had closed.
Reuters:Iran parliament vote seen bolstering Supreme Leader
Iran parliament vote seen bolstering Supreme Leader
(Reuters) - Iranians wrapped up a parliamentary election likely to reinforce Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's power over rival hardliners led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Iranian leaders were looking for a high turnout at Friday's poll to ease a crisis of legitimacy caused by Ahmadinejad's re-election in 2009, when widespread accusations of fraud plunged the Islamic Republic into the worst unrest of its 33-year history.
Iran also faces economic turmoil compounded by Western sanctions over a nuclear program that has prompted threats of military action by Israel, whose leader meets U.S. President Barack Obama in the White House on Monday.
The vote in Iran is only a limited test of political opinion since leading reformist groups stayed out of what became a contest between the Khamenei and Ahmadinejad camps.
Reuters:Euro falls as Greece moves back in spotlight
Euro falls as Greece moves back in spotlight
(Reuters) - The euro ended a roller coaster week sharply lower and may come under further selling pressure as Greece's bailout moves back into focus, and as the European Central Bank chimes in on monetary policy next week.
The euro dropped against the dollar for a third straight day on Friday and was on track for its worst week since mid-December after debt-burdened Spain challenged the European Union's new fiscal pact.
Spain, the euro zone's fourth-largest economy, set a softer 2012 deficit target than originally agreed to under the euro zone's austerity drive.
Earlier in the global session, the euro was pressured by a surprise slide in retail sales in Germany, the euro zone's largest economy.
Reuters:Challenge to Obama recess appointments denied
Challenge to Obama recess appointments denied
(Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday threw out a challenge to President Barack Obama's recent recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, refusing to add the issue to a lawsuit on another topic.
"The Court declines this invitation to take up a political dispute that is not before it, and the motion will be denied," wrote U.S. District Court Justice Amy Berman Jackson.
The National Federation of Independent Business, a lobbying group for small businesses, sought to add the appointments challenge to a legal action filed last year. It argued the appointments violated the U.S. Constitution.
Jackson faulted the plaintiffs for trying to "shoehorn" the recess appointment into a case about an NLRB rule.
LA Times:'The Lorax': not quite what the doctor ordered, critics say
'The Lorax': not quite what the doctor ordered, critics say
The 2008 animated film "Horton Hears a Who" fared somewhat better than the live-action versions of 2000's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (a box-office hit) and 2003's widely panned "The Cat in the Hat."
And reviews are mixed for "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax," now playing in theaters. The animated feature tells the story of a boy searching for a real live tree in a deforested plastic land.
The Times' Kenneth Turan (watch review below) finds that "The Lorax" strays too far from the source material. Although the film maintains the book's ecological message and offers "lively and colorful" visuals, Turan writes that "this movie version adds a whole lot of other stuff, most of it not very good and not in keeping with the spirit of the Seuss original."