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 jlms qkw, Bentliberal, wader, Oke, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir and ScottyUrb, guest editors maggiejean and annetteboardman, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains
BBC:UN Syria mission should be reduced, Ban Ki-moon says
UN Syria mission should be reduced, Ban Ki-moon says
The head of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, has recommended that its mission in Syria should be scaled back and refocused on political mediation, after a UN-backed truce failed to take hold.
In a report to the Security Council, Mr Ban said the mission should concentrate on fostering dialogue instead of monitoring the truce.
Violence has escalated in Syria, despite the ceasefire agreed in April.
The 300-strong UN mission's mandate expires in two weeks' time.
BBC:Pakistan drone attack kills 12 suspected militants
Pakistan drone attack kills 12 suspected militants
A US drone attack has killed at least 12 suspected militants in Pakistan's north-western tribal area, Pakistani security officials say.
They say drones fired five missiles at a village east of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.
The CIA is reported to have stepped up drone attacks in the area recently.
Meanwhile, in an attack in the south-east of the country, gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on a bus, killing 18 people.
BBC:Mexico's Pena Nieto's presidential victory confirmed
Mexico's Pena Nieto's presidential victory confirmed
Enrique Pena Nieto has been confirmed as the winner of Mexico's presidential election, following a final recount.
Final results showed that Mr Pena Nieto achieved 38.21%, with second placed Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador 31.59%.
While third-placed Josefina Vazquez Mota admitted defeat, Mr Lopez Obrador said he would challenge the result in Mexico's electoral tribunal.
Accusations of irregularities led to a re-check of about 50% of votes after the result was announced on Monday.
BBC:Bolivian farmer dies in protests against Canadian mine
Bolivian farmer dies in protests against Canadian mine
A Bolivian farmer has died during protests against a silver-mining project owned by a Canadian company.
Local officers said the man had died in clashes with the police, who were sent to the Malku Khota project after protests turned violent.
Five employees have been taken hostage in the last week.
Bolivian Government Minister Carlos Romero has denied that any clashes took place on Friday, and said the farmer died in an dynamite accident.
BBC:Libya election helicopter 'shot near Benghazi'
Libya election helicopter 'shot near Benghazi'
Gunmen have fired at a helicopter carrying voting material for Saturday's election, killing an electoral worker, officials have said.
The helicopter made a forced landing outside the eastern town of Benghazi.
The identity of the attackers is not known, but eastern Libya has been a focus of unrest by groups seeking greater regional autonomy.
The parliamentary poll is the first national vote since Col Muammar Gaddafi was toppled last year.
BBC:Chinese police 'smash' trafficking gangs, frees 181
Chinese police 'smash' trafficking gangs, frees 181
Chinese police have broken up two major child trafficking gangs and freed 181 children, officials say.
Authorities arrested 802 suspects on Monday in an operation across the country, the Public Security Ministry said in a statement.
Kidnapped children are often sold for adoption, or as labour and household servants.
Child-trafficking has become a serious problem in China and critics blame the one-child policy and lax adoption laws.
Reuters:Dismal hiring shows economy stuck in low gear
Dismal hiring shows economy stuck in low gear
(Reuters) - U.S. employers hired at a dismal pace in June, raising pressure on the Federal Reserve to do more to boost the economy and dealing another setback to President Barack Obama's reelection bid.
The Labor Department said on Friday that non-farm payrolls grew by just 80,000 jobs in June, the third straight month below 100,000.
Job creation was too weak to bring down the country's 8.2 percent jobless rate and the report fueled concerns that Europe's debt crisis was shifting the U.S. economy into low gear.
"We're just crawling forward here," said Nigel Gault, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Reuters:Friend flees Assad as U.S. pressures Russia
Friend flees Assad as U.S. pressures Russia
(Reuters) - One of President Bashar al-Assad's personal friends has defected and was headed for exile in France on Friday, as the Syrian crisis took on a Cold War tone when Washington threatened to make Russia and China "pay" for backing the government in Damascus.
Manaf Tlas, a cadet college classmate, Republican Guard general and son of Assad's father's defense chief, has yet to surface abroad, or clearly to throw his lot in with the rebels, who acknowledged the loss of one of their strongholds overnight.
But his desertion, leaked by family friends, was confirmed by the French government. That gave a boost to a conference it hosted in Paris at which Western powers and Sunni Arab rulers, bitterly opposed to Assad's Iranian-sponsored administration, agreed to "massively increase" aid to the Syrian opposition.
The departure of Tlas, a glamorous, 40-something fixture of both Damascus society and Assad's praetorian close protection force, may have limited practical impact. But it offers succour to an opposition that is divided and poorly armed, as well as to foreign backers whose assurances of flagging morale in Assad's inner circle had begun to wear thin after 16 months of conflict.
Reuters:U.S. steps up warnings on Iran dissident camp in Iraq
U.S. steps up warnings on Iran dissident camp in Iraq
(Reuters) - The United States warned an Iranian dissident group on Friday that time was running out for it to vacate its Iraqi base camp, and said its hope to be taken off the official U.S. blacklist of terrorist organizations could depend on its compliance.
Daniel Benjamin, the State Department's coordinator for counter-terrorism, said the Mujahadin-e Khalq (MEK) must complete its move from the Camp Ashraf facility, which the Iraqi government has vowed to close by July 20.
"It is past time for the MEK to recognize that Ashraf is not going to remain an MEK base in Iraq," Benjamin told reporters, saying Baghdad's patience was running out.
"The Iraqi government is committed to closing it, and any plan to wait out the government in the hope that something will change is irresponsible and dangerous."
Reuters:Car bomb kills seven, wounds 20 in central Iraq: police
Car bomb kills seven, wounds 20 in central Iraq: police
(Reuters) - A bomb in a parked car killed seven people and wounded 20 on Friday when it exploded in the central Iraqi city of Ramadi, police and hospital sources said.
The blast in Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, killed mainly women in a residential area, the sources said.
"We heard a big explosion and when we arrived at the scene we found a parked car on fire," a police officer said.
"Bodies were scattered everywhere and some houses were destroyed," he said, declining to be named. He said police had begun evacuating the wounded and had cordoned off the area in case of further explosions.
Reuters:Seven arrested in British anti-terrorism raids
Seven arrested in British anti-terrorism raids
(Reuters) - Seven men have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences in Britain after weapons were found in a vehicle stopped on a motorway, police said on Friday, as security forces are on high alert ahead of the London Olympics.
The vehicle was pulled over in a routine stop on the M1 motorway in South Yorkshire, northern England, on Saturday and impounded on suspicion of the driver having no insurance.
The suspects were believed to be linked to militant Islamism and were still being questioned but it was unclear what they planned, a security source said.
Firearms, other weapons and other unspecified material were later found inside which prompted police to trace and arrest the driver, passenger and other suspects.
Reuters:Iran blames France, Germany for atom scientist hits
Iran blames France, Germany for atom scientist hits
(Reuters) - Iran's spy chief accused German and French intelligence agencies on Friday of involvement in assassinations of its nuclear scientists, sticking to a hard official line as sanctions imposed over its disputed atomic ambitions bite harder.
The Islamic Republic has previously accused Israel, the United States and Britain of plotting the killings to set back its uranium enrichment program, which Western powers suspect is being used to develop nuclear weapons capability.
Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi spread the blame to France and Germany, after days of hawkish rhetoric and missile tests by Tehran that helped push benchmark Brent crude oil prices above $100 for the first time since June.
"In these two networks (involved in the assassinations) we saw connections with the information services in Germany, France, Britain, Israel, the United States and regional intelligence agencies," the state news agency IRNA quoted Moslehi as saying. He did not name the other countries.
Appleinside:Amazon to launch at least three new Kindle Fire models this fall, report says
Amazon to launch at least three new Kindle Fire models this fall, report says
A new report claims that Amazon will begin production of follow-up models to its Kindle Fire in late summer ahead of a possible fall rollout that is expected to bring new screen resolutions and 4G wireless compatibility to the 7-inch tablet.
NPD Display Search senior analyst Richard Shim (via CNET) said that the internet retail giant will bring at least three models of what is being called the "Kindle Fire 2" to market and could potentially have a 8.9-inch version in the works for the fourth quarter of 2012.
Citing "supply chain" sources from a number of different parts manufacturers Shim expects three distinct 7-inch models to show up in time for the holiday season:
1,024-by-600 display, no camera; August production.
1,280-by-800 display with camera; August production.
1,280-by-800 display with camera and 4G connectivity; September production.
Following the production of the smaller models may be an 8.9-inch version with a 1,920-by-1,200 pixel display that would sit somewhere between the recently-released Google Nexus 7 and larger 9.7-inch Android tablets.