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:Syria crisis: Kofi Annan seeks to set up monitoring team
Syria crisis: Kofi Annan seeks to set up monitoring team
The UN and Arab League envoy on Syria, Kofi Annan, says he is sending a team to Damascus to discuss setting up a new international monitoring mission.
After briefing the Security Council about his peace efforts, Mr Annan renewed calls for an end to fighting and for unimpeded humanitarian aid.
Syria said it was ready to co-operate with Mr Annan, but also reaffirmed its determination to combat "terrorists".
Meanwhile the Turkish government has urged its nationals to leave Syria.
The foreign ministry in Ankara said developments in Syria have led to "serious security risks".
BBC:Afghanistan massacre suspect named as Sgt Robert Bales
Afghanistan massacre suspect named as Sgt Robert Bales
The US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in a massacre that has undermined relations with Kabul has been named as Staff Sgt Robert Bales.
Senior US officials told the BBC the name of the suspect as he was heading back to the US to face charges.
He is expected to land soon at Fort Leavenworth, in Kansas, from Kuwait.
His lawyer, John Henry Browne, said on Thursday that the suspect was a 38-year-old man who had been injured twice while serving in Iraq.
BBC:George Clooney released after Sudan embassy arrest
George Clooney released after Sudan embassy arrest
George Clooney has been arrested for civil disobedience during a demonstration outside Sudan's embassy in Washington DC on Friday.
The actor was taking part in a protest to warn of a humanitarian crisis in the volatile border area between Sudan and South Sudan.
He was detained alongside his father, Nick, but both have now been released after paying bail of $100 (£63).
George Clooney is a keen Sudan activist and has visited the area several times.
BBC:Dharun Ravi guilty of Rutgers webcam hate crime
Dharun Ravi guilty of Rutgers webcam hate crime
A US student who used a webcam to secretly film his room-mate in a gay encounter has been found guilty of hate crime and invasion of privacy.
Former Rutgers University undergraduate Dharun Ravi, 20, shook his head as the verdict was returned at a court in the state of New Jersey.
His room-mate, Tyler Clementi, jumped to his death from a bridge in 2010.
The case attracted national attention, including comment from President Obama, and prompted anti-bullying measures.
BBC:Goldman Sachs resignation letter 'could prompt change'
Goldman Sachs resignation letter 'could prompt change'
A resignation letter describing the culture of Goldman Sachs as "toxic" could encourage the US investment bank to take more care of its clients, a senior executive has told the BBC.
This week, a former senior manager at the bank, Greg Smith, wrote that staff had referred to clients as "muppets".
But Jim O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said the bank was constantly worrying about clients.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has also expressed his support.
BBC:Venezuela's Chavez flies home after cancer treatment
Venezuela's Chavez flies home after cancer treatment
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he is flying home after having surgery for cancer in Cuba.
Mr Chavez, 57, announced his return on the internet social networking site Twitter as his plane took off from Havana airport.
The Venezuelan leader had been in Cuba for three weeks for treatment for a recurrence of the cancer he first had treated last year.
He is due to stand for re-election as president in October.
Reuters:Goldman person leaked Apple, Intel secrets: lawyer
Goldman person leaked Apple, Intel secrets: lawyer
(Reuters) - A person at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, who has not been identified or charged in a broad U.S. insider-trading probe, was caught on a wiretap leaking secrets about Intel Corp and Apple Inc, a lawyer for accused former Goldman board member Rajat Gupta said in court on Friday.
Lawyer Gary Naftalis, in a heated exchange with U.S. prosecutor Reed Brodsky during a pre-trial hearing, said the Goldman person leaked confidential information about the two companies to Raj Rajaratnam, the Galleon Group hedge fund founder convicted of insider-trading charges last year.
Gupta, the best-known corporate executive accused in a sweeping prosecution of insider-trading at hedge funds in recent years, denies criminal charges that he tipped Rajaratnam with Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble Co secrets between 2007 and 2009. His trial is scheduled to begin in May.
"In a letter he (Brodsky) said the government had a person who provided confidential information to Raj Rajaratnam about Apple and Intel," Naftalis said. "There is also wiretap evidence, substantial evidence of another source at Goldman Sachs."
Reuters:MF Global customers seek to streamline liquidation
MF Global customers seek to streamline liquidation
(Reuters) - The primary advocate group for former MF Global customers is undertaking an effort to convert the commodities broker's bankruptcy status to one that allows a more streamlined liquidation process, saying it would preserve more potential payback for customers.
The Commodity Customer Coalition, which represents thousands of customers of the fallen broker, told Reuters on Friday it wants to ask the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to handle the case under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code, designed specifically for liquidation of assets.
A spokesman said the coalition has reached out to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the U.S. futures regulator, in hopes of gathering support for a planned court filing to change the case from Chapter 11, which allows a company to keep operating while it tries to reorganize and negotiate with creditors.
MF Global Holdings Ltd collapsed after it revealed exposure to risky European sovereign debt. With liquidation the only realistic option, the money being spent to keep it afloat in Chapter 11 serves no purpose, coalition spokesman John Roe said on Friday.
Reuters:Afghanistan's Karzai slams United States over massacre
Afghanistan's Karzai slams United States over massacre
(Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday lashed out at the United States for failing to fully cooperate with an investigation into the massacre of 16 Afghan villagers by a U.S. staff sergeant and questioned whether only one soldier could have been involved.
A series of blunders by the United States, including the killings in Kandahar province on Sunday and the inadvertent burning of copies of the Koran at a NATO base last month, has further strained already tense relations between the countries.
"This has been going on for too long. You have heard me before. It is by all means the end of the rope here," Karzai told reporters at the heavily fortified presidential palace.
Flanked by senior officials, a tired and sometimes angry Karzai listened to village elders and the families of victims of the massacre, and dressed somberly in black for the start of an expected two days of talks to discuss the killings.
Reuters:Turkey considers Syria buffer zone; Annan seeks unity
Turkey considers Syria buffer zone; Annan seeks unity
(Reuters) - Turkey said on Friday it might set up a "buffer zone" inside Syria to protect refugees fleeing President Bashar al-Assad's forces, raising the prospect of foreign intervention in the year-long revolt.
With the uprising entering its second year, U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan urged the Security Council to end its divisions over Syria and work to help a peace mission mired in difficulty.
On the ground in Syria, the violence continued. Syrian forces battled protesters in at least three suburbs of the capital Damascus, opposition activists said. They were also flare-ups in other cities, with a number of deaths reported.
Refugees were crossing hills into Turkey, evading Syrian forces and minefields to be taken into refugee camps there. The increasing flow, and memories of a flood of 500,000 fleeing into Turkey from Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War, are causing growing concern in Ankara.
Reuters:Gasoline lifts inflation, dents confidence
Gasoline lifts inflation, dents confidence
(Reuters) - Consumer prices rose the most in 10 months in February as the cost of gasoline spiked, but there was little sign that underlying inflation pressures were building up.
Surging gasoline prices put a small dent in consumer confidence early this month, other data showed on Friday. Still, Americans do not believe the sharp run-up in prices will last.
The Labor Department said the Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 percent in February after advancing 0.2 percent in January. Gasoline accounted for more than 80 percent of the rise.
Stripping out volatile food and energy costs, the so-called core CPI edged up just 0.1 percent.
Reuters:Iran sanctions seen spurring more Saudi oil sales to U.S.
Iran sanctions seen spurring more Saudi oil sales to U.S.
(Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is preparing to extend this year's unexpected jump in oil sales to the United States, adding to speculation about the response of the world's top oil exporter to sanctions against Iran and a rally in prices.
The kingdom's shipments to the United States have quietly risen 25 percent to the highest level since mid-2008, according to preliminary U.S. government data, a sizeable leap that appears at least partly related to the imminent completion of a major expansion at its joint-venture Motiva refinery in Texas.
But some say the scale of the increase, plus other U.S. data showing Gulf Coast inventories are still subdued, suggest the potential for a political dimension as well, evoking comparisons to 2008 when the OPEC kingpin was driving up production to knock oil prices off record highs near $150 a barrel.
The surge appears set to continue. Vela, Saudi Arabia's state oil tanker company, has booked at least nine very large crude carriers (VLCCs) capable of carrying 2 million barrels of crude each from the Middle East Gulf to the U.S. Gulf since the start of March, the biggest such wave of fixtures in years, analysts say.
Chicago Trib:Microsoft says hacking code could have leaked
Microsoft says hacking code could have leaked
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft's process for sharing information about security vulnerabilities in its products came under fire Friday after a roadmap for exploiting a severe, recently discovered flaw appeared on a hacking website in China.
The guideline, known as "proof-of-concept" code, most likely leaked from one the more than 70 security companies that get advance warnings from the company about major new holes, according to the researcher who found the flaw.
Microsoft said it was investigating the disclosure and "will take the necessary actions to protect customers and ensure that confidential information we share is protected pursuant to our contracts and program requirements."
"The details of the proof-of-concept code appear to match the vulnerability information shared with Microsoft Active Protections Program partners," said Yunsun Wee, Microsoft's director of its Trustworthy Computing effort.