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, maggiejean, wader, Oke, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir and ScottyUrb, guest editor and annetteboardman, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains
BBC:Gaza conflict: Israel vows to intensify offensive
Gaza conflict: Israel vows to intensify offensive
Israel has put up to 75,000 reservists on stand-by and vowed to intensify its raids on the Gaza Strip after Jerusalem was targeted by a rocket for the first time in decades.
Twenty-eight Palestinians and three Israelis have died since Israel killed Hamas's military chief on Wednesday.
Israel says it has since targeted some 600 "terror sites" in Gaza.
Telephoned by PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Barack Obama repeated the US's support for Israel's "right to defend itself".
BBC:New York bomb plotter Adis Medunjanin sentenced to life
New York bomb plotter Adis Medunjanin sentenced to life
A Bosnian-born US citizen has been sentenced to life in prison over a plot to bomb the New York subway.
Adis Medunjanin, 34, was convicted in May of multiple US terrorism offences, including conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction.
Two former schoolmates who helped to plan the attack had pleaded guilty and testified against Medunjanin.
The men were trained by al-Qaeda in Pakistan before agreeing to participate in the plot, prosecutors said.
BBC:Hague war court acquits Croat Generals Gotovina and Markac
Hague war court acquits Croat Generals Gotovina and Markac
A war crimes court in The Hague has overturned the convictions of two Croatian generals charged with atrocities against Serbs in the 1990s.
Appeals judges ordered the release of Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac.
In 2011 they were sentenced to 24 years and 18 years respectively over the killing of ethnic Serbs in an offensive to retake Croatia's Krajina region.
The men arrived in Zagreb later on Friday to a hero's welcome. But their release was condemned in Serbia.
BBC:Iran ready to double uranium enrichment at Fordo - IAEA
Iran ready to double uranium enrichment at Fordo - IAEA
Iran is ready to double the output at its underground uranium enrichment facility, the UN nuclear watchdog says.
A leaked report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said there were 2,784 centrifuges at Fordo, and that Iran could soon double the number operating from 700 to 1,400.
The development is likely to fuel Western suspicions that Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
The government in Tehran insists the nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.
BBC:David Petraeus: Benghazi attack 'was terror strike'
David Petraeus: Benghazi attack 'was terror strike'
Former CIA chief Gen David Petraeus has told lawmakers that the deadly assault on a US consulate in Libya was a terror attack.
During two appearances on Capitol Hill on Friday he said the public explanation had been edited to prevent alerting groups under suspicion.
He gave evidence to the House Intelligence Committee and its Senate counterpart, both in closed session.
The testimony on Benghazi came one week after Gen Petraeus quit over an affair.
BBC:Mali's Mujao Islamists and rebels in battle for control
Mali's Mujao Islamists and rebels in battle for control
Militant Islamists and Tuareg-led rebels have clashed in northern Mali.
The rebels said they launched an offensive against the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao) group, but they were later repelled, AFP news agency reported.
Meanwhile, rebels and another Islamist group, Ansar Dine, held talks in neighbouring Burkina Faso.
The Islamists said they were ready to work with the Malian government to end months of instability in the north.
Reuters:Israel's Barak seeks three more Iron Dome rocket interceptors
Israel's Barak seeks three more Iron Dome rocket interceptors
(Reuters) - Defence Minister Ehud Barak will seek cabinet approval for funds that could provide Israel with three new Iron Dome rocket interceptors, officials said on Friday as cross-border fighting surged in Gaza.
Israel's military air defence corps has four Iron Dome batteries deployed and will receive a fifth from state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd after Barak rushed its production, his ministry said in a statement.
It said Barak would on Sunday, the beginning of the Israeli work week, ask the cabinet to earmark 750 million shekels ($190 million) for expanding the Iron Dome program. An Israeli official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, estimated that money would be enough for three more batteries.
First fielded last year, Iron Dome has served as a bulwark against rockets and mortar bombs fired by Palestinian militants in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip.
Reuters:Wal-Mart files U.S. labor charge against union
Wal-Mart files U.S. labor charge against union
(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc is taking its first legal step to stop months of protests and rallies outside Walmart stores, targeting the union that it says is behind such actions.
Wal-Mart filed an unfair labor practice charge against the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, or UFCW, asking the National Labor Relations Board to halt what the retailer says are unlawful attempts to disrupt its business.
The move comes just a week before what is expected to be the largest organized action against the world's largest retailer, as a small group of Walmart workers prepare to strike on Black Friday, typically the busiest shopping day of the year.
"We are taking this action now because we cannot allow the UFCW to continue to intentionally seek to create an environment that could directly and adversely impact our customers and associates," Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar said on Friday. "If they do, they will be held accountable."
Reuters:Geithner says Treasury cannot delay tax hikes
Geithner says Treasury cannot delay tax hikes
(Reuters) - The Treasury Department does not have the authority to delay the tax increases that will take effect at the end of the year if the White House and Congress are unable to stave off the "fiscal cliff," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday.
The law "does not give me the authority to give them, to let them avoid making some decisions on rates and policy," Geithner said on Bloomberg TV's "Political Capital with Al Hunt," when asked whether he could freeze the income tax withholding rates if Washington was close to averting the year-end fiscal crisis.
Some $600 billion in spending cuts and tax hikes will start taking effect December 31 -- a combination of austerity measures known as the "fiscal cliff" that could tip the country into recession if lawmakers fail to act.
Some analysts believe the Treasury has discretion to hold back issuing new tax withholding tables if it believes a deal stopping tax changes is in the offing.
Reuters:Oil platform blaze off Louisiana leaves workers missing
Oil platform blaze off Louisiana leaves workers missing
(Reuters) - An oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico and operated by Houston-based Black Elk Energy burst into flames on Friday, leaving at least two people missing and badly injuring several others, U.S. and Louisiana officials said.
The fire has been extinguished, Black Elk spokeswoman Leslie Hoffman said. She said an emergency response is under way, but declined further comment, saying the company will issue a statement later Friday.
The U.S. Coast Guard said 11 people were airlifted to hospitals while nine others were evacuated to other nearby energy facilities. Search and rescue helicopters were scouring the area, located around 17 miles south of Grand Isle, Louisiana.
No fatalities have been confirmed but two workers are missing. The 11 hurt included four who suffered burns and were in critical condition at Louisiana's West Jefferson Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Reuters:JPMorgan, Credit Suisse settle with SEC for $417 million
JPMorgan, Credit Suisse settle with SEC for $417 million
(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.VX) will pay a combined $416.9 million to settle U.S. civil charges that they misled investors in the sale of risky mortgage bonds prior to the 2008 financial crisis, regulators said on Friday.
JPMorgan will pay $296.9 million, while Credit Suisse will pay $120 million in a separate case, with the money going to harmed investors, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said.
Both settlements addressed alleged negligence or other wrongdoing in the packaging and sale of risky residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), including at the former Bear Stearns Cos which JPMorgan bought in 2008.
The banks settled without admitting wrongdoing, and in separate statements said they were pleased to settle.
Reuters:China's commerce minister voted out in rare congress snub: sources
China's commerce minister voted out in rare congress snub: sources
(Reuters) - China's commerce minister was surprisingly blocked from a spot on the ruling Communist Party's elite body during a conclave this week, sources said, a rare snub for an official that could raise questions about trade policies during his tenure.
The failure of Chen Deming to secure a seat on the 25-member Politburo marks one of the few surprises to emerge from the party's five-yearly congress that wrapped this week with the anointing of a new slate of top leaders who will run the world's second largest economy.
It is also the first time in more than two decades that an official designated for a Politburo spot has been voted out of the party's 205-member Central Committee in elections. Central Committee membership is a prerequisite for a Politburo seat.
"Chen Deming was voted out during multi-candidate elections to the Central Committee," one source told Reuters. State news agency Xinhua said there were eight percent more candidates than seats in a preliminary vote before the formal election on Wednesday.
LA Times:Ikea Admits Forced Labor Was Used in 1980s
Ikea Admits Forced Labor Was Used in 1980s
BERLIN — Ikea has long been famous for its inexpensive, some-assembly-required furniture. On Friday the company admitted that political prisoners in the former East Germany provided some of the labor that helped it keep its prices so low.
A report by auditors at Ernst & Young concluded that Ikea, a Swedish company, knowingly benefited from forced labor in the former East Germany to manufacture some of its products in the 1980s. Ikea had commissioned the report in May as a result of accusations that both political and criminal prisoners were involved in making components of Ikea furniture and that some Ikea employees knew about it.
“Even though Ikea Group took steps to secure that prisoners were not used in production, it is now clear that these measures were not effective enough,” the company said in a statement on Friday.
The use of political prisoners as forced labor, even decades ago, is a publicity disaster for a company that with its familiar blue and yellow logo seems at times like a cultural ambassador for Sweden. Inexpensive Ikea furnishings have filled countless student apartments and the homes of millions of young families around the world.