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 consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, side pocket, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir, Bentliberal, Oke, jlms qkw, Interceptor7, and ScottyUrb, guest editor annetteboardman, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains you.
BBC:US in worldwide travel alert after 'al-Qaeda threat'
US in worldwide travel alert after 'al-Qaeda threat'
The US state department has issued a global travel alert because of an unspecified al-Qaeda threat.
In a statement, the department said the potential for an attack was particularly strong in the Middle East and North Africa.
It comes shortly after the US announced nearly two dozen embassies and consulates would be shut on Sunday.
The alert expires on 31 August 2013, the department said. It recommended US citizens travelling abroad be vigilant.
BBC:Germany ends spy pact with US and UK after Snowden
Germany ends spy pact with US and UK after Snowden
Germany has cancelled a Cold War-era pact with the US and Britain in response to revelations about electronic surveillance operations.
Details of snooping programmes involving the transatlantic allies have been leaked to the media by former US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden.
The revelations have sparked widespread outrage in Germany, where elections are due next month.
The agreement dates from 1968-9, and its cancellation is largely symbolic.
BBC:Zimbabwe election: Mugabe's Zanu-PF 'wins majority'
Zimbabwe election: Mugabe's Zanu-PF 'wins majority'
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's party has won a huge majority in parliament in this week's elections, officials say.
With most seats declared, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said Zanu-PF had won 137 seats in the 210-seat chamber, just short of two-thirds.
Results in the presidential race have yet to be announced.
Mr Mugabe's main rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, has already dismissed the election as "a sham".
BBC:China media: Snowden saga
China media: Snowden saga
Media in China see further embarrassment for the US after whistleblower Edward Snowden gets temporary asylum in Russia.
State media have contrasted the Russian government's "deft" handling of Mr Snowden's case with the constant "embarrassment" suffered by Washington.
"So far, the US has exhausted its tricks, but there is still no outcome on the extradition of Mr Snowden. It can be described as suffering constant embarrassment in this drama. In contrast, Russia has handled things with ease," says Xinhua News Agency.
Some newspapers are questioning double standards from the US about its global cyber-surveillance operations.
BBC:Mining firm desecrated Australia Aboriginal site
Mining firm desecrated Australia Aboriginal site
A mining company has been convicted of desecrating an Aboriginal site in Australia's Northern Territory.
Mining firm OM Manganese was found guilty on Friday - the first time a company has been successfully prosecuted in Australia for desecration of a sacred site.
The site is known as Two Women Sitting Down and is at Bootu Creek, north of Tennant Creek.
OM Manganese was fined A$150,000 ($134,000; £88,000).
BBC:Egypt 'orders police to blockade pro-Morsi sit-ins'
Egypt 'orders police to blockade pro-Morsi sit-ins'
Egypt's government has ordered police to block access to protest camps set up by supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, state TV reports.
Thousands have been defying warnings from the authorities to abandon the sit-ins in Cairo outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque and at Nahda Square.
On Friday evening they expanded their protest to a third sit-in site.
More than 100 Morsi supporters have been killed in clashes since he was overthrown by the military on 3 July.
Reuters:U.S. sets rules to prevent type of rail crash that hit Quebec town
U.S. sets rules to prevent type of rail crash that hit Quebec town
(Reuters) - The U.S. rail safety regulator issued rules on Friday meant to prevent the kind of runaway fuel-train accident that devastated a Canadian town last month.
Under the rules, rail cars carrying hazardous materials like combustibles may not be left unattended on main tracks or adjacent tracks unless specifically authorized.
Railroads must boost their safety procedures and record-keeping for trains that carry hazardous material and are braked, according to the rules from the Federal Railroad Administration.
Last month, a parked train carrying crude oil broke loose and crashed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, exploding into a fireball that killed 47 people. It was North America's worst rail disaster in two decades.
Reuters:Lawmakers want perjury probe for Corzine
Lawmakers want perjury probe for Corzine
(Reuters) - A group of Republican lawmakers called on Friday for a criminal investigation of Jon Corzine, the head of failed futures broker MF Global, saying he may have committed perjury when speaking before Congress in 2011.
Corzine, a Democrat who previously served as New Jersey's governor and senator, headed MF Global when it collapsed in October 2011 in one of the 10 biggest U.S. bankruptcies.
Customers were left reeling when it was discovered that about $1.6 billion was missing from their accounts. That money turned out to have been used as stop gaps, which is illegal and caused public outrage.
Corzine maintained during several Congressional hearings that he did not know what happened to the money. But recorded conversations unearthed by MF Global's regulator showed otherwise, the members of the House of Representatives said.
Reuters:U.S. intestinal bug traced to salad greens from Mexican company
U.S. intestinal bug traced to salad greens from Mexican company
(Reuters) - U.S. health authorities have traced at least one source of an intestinal bug that has sickened more than 400 people in 17 states to salad greens supplied to restaurants by a company in Mexico.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said a salad mix linked to the outbreak of cyclosporiasis was supplied to restaurants in Iowa and Nebraska by Taylor Farms de Mexico, a processor of food service salads.
The restaurants included outlets of the Olive Garden and Red Lobster chains, both of which are owned by Darden Restaurants Inc, the FDA said in an e-mail.
The FDA found that illnesses at four restaurants were traced to Taylor Farms. The agency said it will be conducting an assessment of the company's processing facility in Mexico to try to learn the probable cause of the outbreak.
Reuters:History shows Snowden may face tough exile in Russia
History shows Snowden may face tough exile in Russia
(Reuters) - U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden seems assured of a warm welcome in Russia and may even achieve celebrity status in his new home, but history suggests he will no longer be master of his fate and a Moscow exile will bring some difficult challenges.
The former U.S. spy agency contractor finally left Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on Thursday after spending nearly six weeks confined to its transit zone while a diplomatic battle over his future raged between Russia and the United States.
Snowden, sought by Washington on espionage charges for leaking details of Internet and phone surveillance programs, now embarks on his new life armed with an asylum document that is valid for a year and can be renewed annually.
Former Russian intelligence officers said things will not be easy for Snowden - a highly interesting catch for the Kremlin - if the legacy of earlier defections is any guide.
Reuters:In overture to China, Japan PM may skip visit to war dead shrine
In overture to China, Japan PM may skip visit to war dead shrine
(Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will likely skip visiting a shrine for war dead on a traditional remembrance day this month, a move he hopes will open the door to a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping and mend badly frayed ties.
Whether Xi, faced with huge domestic challenges, is willing or able to risk responding to the overture remains in doubt. But relations between the world's second- and third-largest economies have now been hostile for months, with a row over disputed islands adding to wartime bitterness and a regional rivalry.
China and South Korea, occupied or colonized by Japan in the 20th century, are especially touchy about visits to Yasukuni Shrine by Japanese leaders because it also honors people convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal.
Conservatives like Abe say it is only natural to pay respects there to those who died for their country, especially on Aug 15, the anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War Two. Tokyo hopes that if Abe stays away on the day, it would score points in Beijing.
Reuters:Brazil enacts tough anti-bribery law required by OECD
Brazil enacts tough anti-bribery law required by OECD
(Reuters) - Bribing a public official in Brazil could become a very onerous mistake for local and foreign businesses under a law enacted on Friday that for the first time makes companies liable for bribes paid by their employees.
Companies found guilty of bribery will face fines of up to 20 percent of their gross annual revenue for the previous year or a maximum of 60 million reais ($26.22 million). They could also be suspended from operating, have assets confiscated and even face possible dissolution.
Brazil's Congress passed the law in record time in the wake of sweeping protests that shook the country's political establishment in June, fueled by widespread public anger with corruption and bad government.
The law proposed by President Dilma Rousseff's government covers both bribery of foreign officials by Brazilian companies and bribery of local officials by any company.
LA Times:After a Fee Dispute With Time Warner Cable, CBS Goes Dark for Three Million Viewers
After a Fee Dispute With Time Warner Cable, CBS Goes Dark for Three Million Viewers
The war between CBS and Time Warner Cable intensified on Friday when the cable company withdrew the CBS stations of its three million customers in markets including New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.
CBS stations went black just after 5 p.m. Eastern time. Both sides then issued statements blaming the other for being unreasonable in the negotiations, which were extended from Monday.
The dispute centers on what are known as retransmission fees, which cable companies have increasingly been compelled to pay to broadcasters, despite vigorous protest. CBS’s president, Leslie Moonves, has been a leader in seeking retransmission fees for broadcasters.
The decision to black out the stations means that Time Warner Cable subscribers will not be able to watch CBS programming until a deal is reached. In the past, subscribers have reacted with anger at such suspensions, but generally because they have missed specific programs. In this case, the summer programming roster does not contain many highly popular shows that might drive a settlement. CBS’s biggest appeal this summer is from the show “Under the Dome,” which will not have a new episode until Monday.