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 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 consist of founder Magnifico, regular editors jlms qkw, maggiejean, wader, Oke, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir, BentLiberal and ScottyUrb, guest editor annetteboardman, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent. We invited our readers to comment & share other news.
BBC:Kerry urges North Korea to join regional dialogue
Kerry urges North Korea to join regional dialogue
US Secretary of State John Kerry has called on North Korea's leaders to "come to the table in a responsible way" to end regional tensions.
Speaking in Tokyo, the fourth and final stop on his Asian tour, Mr Kerry warned North Korea it risked further isolation if its threats continued.
He also reaffirmed the US commitment to defend its allies, including Japan.
The countries he had visited were united in seeking the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, he said.
BBC:BBC 'used LSE students as human shield' in North Korea
BBC 'used LSE students as human shield' in North Korea
The BBC has refused to drop a Panorama programme on North Korea after a students' union said it used students "as a human shield" to film there.
Three BBC journalists accompanied 10 London School of Economics students and spent eight days in the country.
The LSE students' union's Alex Peters-Day said Monday's programme should be dropped because students were lied to and could not give informed consent.
But the BBC said the students had been properly warned ahead of the trip.
BBC:Cyprus to ease citizenship rules for EU bailout losers
Cyprus to ease citizenship rules for EU bailout losers
Cyprus is to relax its citizenship rules for foreign investors who lost at least 3m euros (£2.5m) under an EU bailout deal.
President Nicos Anastasiades said new measures, mostly affecting the Russian business community, would be approved at a cabinet meeting on Monday.
Russians have billions of euros in Cypriot bank deposits.
Investors were angered when it emerged they would lose up to 60% of their savings under the terms of the bailout.
BBC:Croatians vote for their first EU parliament members
Croatians vote for their first EU parliament members
Voters in Croatia are electing members of the European Parliament for the first time.
The 12 victorious candidates will take their seats after the Balkan nation becomes the newest member of the European Union on 1 July.
Some 3.7 million people are eligible to vote in what officials have described as a "historic" vote after a 10-year journey to EU membership.
But analysts say turn-out may be low as the country struggles with recession.
BBC:Venezuelans vote to choose Hugo Chavez successor
Venezuelans vote to choose Hugo Chavez successor
People in Venezuela are voting in a presidential election, called after the death of Hugo Chavez.
Acting President Nicolas Maduro, chosen by Mr Chavez as his successor, is running against Henrique Capriles, currently governor of Miranda state.
Mr Capriles narrowly lost to Mr Chavez in elections last October.
On the eve of polls opening, he accused Mr Maduro of breaking election laws by continuing its campaign on state television.
Electoral authorities say voting has been going smoothly. Security had been stepped up for the vote, the BBC's Will Grant in Caracas reports.
BBC:Gunmen launch deadly attack on Somalia courthouse
Gunmen launch deadly attack on Somalia courthouse
At least 19 people have been killed in bomb and gun attacks in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
Sixteen people, including nine attackers, are believed to have died after gunmen stormed the city's main court buildings.
Later a car bomb was detonated on the road to the airport, killing three, including two Turkish aid workers and the attacker.
The Islamist militant group al-Shabab says it carried out the attacks.
Reuters:Defiant North Korea readies mass parade for founder
Defiant North Korea readies mass parade for founder
(Reuters) - North Korea prepared for the annual celebration of its founder's birth on Monday, having rejected talks with South Korea aimed at reducing tensions and reopening a joint industrial park between the two countries.
The North has threatened for weeks to attack the United States, South Korea and Japan since new U.N. sanctions were imposed in response to its latest nuclear arms test in February.
Speculation has mounted of a new missile launch or nuclear test in a bid to either force Washington to hold talks with Pyongyang or to shore up the leadership of Kim Jong-un, the grandson of the reclusive state's founder.
The third Kim to rule in Pyongyang attended a midnight celebration of his father and grandfather's rule with top officials including his kingmaker uncle Jang Song-thaek and the country's top generals.
Reuters:Nikkei eases 0.9 pct; weak U.S. retail data weighs
Nikkei eases 0.9 pct; weak U.S. retail data weighs
Sun Apr 14, 2013 8:07pm EDT
TOKYO, April 15 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average
shed 0.9 percent in early trade on Monday, slipping further from
a nearly five-year high, as exporters retreated after weak U.S.
retail sales raised concerns over the recovery in the world's
largest economy.
The Nikkei dropped 126.71 points to 13,358.43, while
the broader Topix index lost 0.9 percent to 1,138.10.
Reuters:EU's Ashton to visit Balkans as Serbia awaits talks verdict
EU's Ashton to visit Balkans as Serbia awaits talks verdict
(Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will visit the Western Balkans this week, when the European Commission is due to decide whether to recommend the start of EU membership talks with Serbia and possibly Macedonia.
Ashton's trip will take her to Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia, an EU statement said on Sunday. It said further stops on the tour would be announced later, leaving open the possibility that Serbia could be included.
"I travel to the Western Balkans to reinforce the EU's commitment to the European perspective for the countries in the region. I will encourage the leaders in the region to continue the reform process and promote good neighborly relations," Ashton said in the statement.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is expected to issue a progress report on the Western Balkans on Tuesday, when it will decide whether to recommend the start of accession talks with Serbia and possibly Macedonia. The report is also expected to cover Kosovo's prospects for a closer relationship with the EU.
Reuters:Kremlin criticizes U.S. blacklist ahead of Obama adviser visit
Kremlin criticizes U.S. blacklist ahead of Obama adviser visit
(Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin's spokesman on Sunday called a U.S. law barring Russians from the country over alleged rights abuses unacceptable interference in Russia's affairs, setting a tough tone before a visit by a senior White House adviser.
Dmitry Peskov's remarks were the first comment from Putin's office after the U.S. administration named 18 Russians subject to visa bans and asset freezes over the Magnitsky Act legislation passed by Congress late last year.
Most of the 18 were blacklisted for alleged links to the prosecution of whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, whose death in a Moscow jail in 2009 has set off a chain of events that has damaged Russian-U.S. ties.
"This is direct interference in Russian affairs. The so-called 'Magnitsky case' should not be discussed outside Russia at all," state news agency Itar-Tass quoted Peskov as saying. "This is unacceptable to us, and we will never agree with it."
Reuters:World military spending dips in 2012, first fall since 1998
World military spending dips in 2012, first fall since 1998
(Reuters) - Global military spending dropped in 2012 for the first time in more than a decade thanks to deep cuts in the United States and Europe which made up for increases in countries such as China and Russia, a leading think-tank said on Monday.
Big powers the United States and its European allies face tight budgets in an economic downturn and have scaled back involvement in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The world's second biggest economy China, however, is ramping up spending and registered 7.8 percent growth in 2012 from the year before, up 175 percent from 2003.
Military expenditure as a whole fell 0.5 percent to $1.75 trillion last year in the first decline in real terms since 1998, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which carries out research on international security, armaments and disarmament, said in a statement.
"We are seeing what may be the beginning of a shift in the balance of world military spending from the rich Western countries to emerging regions," said Sam Perlo-Freeman, director of SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.
Reuters:Chad says troops unsuited to guerrilla war, quitting Mali
Chad says troops unsuited to guerrilla war, quitting Mali
(Reuters) - Chad will withdraw its troops from Mali where they risk being bogged down in guerrilla war after helping to drive Islamists from northern towns, President Idriss Deby said in comments broadcast on Sunday.
His words came days after a suicide bomber killed three Chadian troops in the northern town of Kidal, demonstrating how al Qaeda-linked Islamists are still able to strike in the heavily-defended towns they once controlled.
Some 2,000 Chadians have fought alongside French troops in the heaviest fighting to drive Islamists from remote northern towns, mountains and deserts they previously occupied.
"Face-to-face fighting with the Islamists is over. The Chadian army does not have the skills to fight a shadowy, guerrilla-style war that is taking place in northern Mali," Deby told French media, including TV5 Monde, RFI and Le Monde.
PC Magazine:Google's Schmidt Calls for Civilian Drone Regulation
Google's Schmidt Calls for Civilian Drone Regulation
Eric Schmidt doesn't want a drone flying over his house.
Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, told The Guardian in a recent interview, that civilian drones - which have been used for everything from whale watching to movie making - need to be regulated lest they infringe on our civil liberties.
Your neighbors shouldn't be able to buy a drone, launch it from their backyard, and use it to monitor your activity, Schmidt told The Guardian in a subscribers-only interview that was picked up by the BBC.
"I would prefer to not spread and democratize the ability to fight war to every single human being," Schmidt said, referring to the controversial use of drones by the military.