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, tbd, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors oke,palantir, BentLiberal and ScottyUrb, guest editor annetteboardman, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent. We invited our readers to comment & share other news.
BBC:Israel and Palestinians reach agreement to resume talks
Israel and Palestinians reach agreement to resume talks
Israel and the Palestinians have reached an agreement which establishes the basis for resuming peace talks, the US Secretary of State has announced.
John Kerry was speaking in Jordan, after meetings with both sides earlier.
He gave no details of the agreement, but said initial talks would be held in Washington next week.
The last round of direct talks broke down nearly three years ago over the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
BBC:British drug case trio 'pardoned in Dubai'
British drug case trio 'pardoned in Dubai'
Three British men jailed for four years each for drug offences in Dubai earlier this year have been pardoned, legal rights charity Reprieve has said.
Londoners Suneet Jeerh, Grant Cameron and Karl Williams were found guilty of possessing synthetic cannabis in April.
They claimed they were tortured by police following their arrest while on holiday in the Gulf state last July.
Mr Cameron's mother said he was already back in London. The other two men were expected to return to the UK soon.
BBC:Detroit legal battle over bankruptcy petition
Detroit legal battle over bankruptcy petition
A judge in the US state of Michigan has ordered the city of Detroit to withdraw its application for bankruptcy over its debts of $18bn (£12bn).
Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said the petition, filed on Thursday, violated the state's laws and constitution because it threatened pension benefits.
But the state's attorney general immediately appealed against the order.
Earlier, Governor Rick Snyder said the move towards bankruptcy would reverse decades of decay.
BBC:Star Wars home of Anakin Skywalker threatened by dune
Star Wars home of Anakin Skywalker threatened by dune
Sand dunes migrating over the Tunisian desert are poised to bury a famous Star Wars film set.
The buildings of the fictional city Mos Espa featured in The Phantom Menace, "Episode I" of the Jedi saga.
Sited on the planet Tatooine, this was the home of the young Anakin Skywalker, later to become Darth Vader.
Scientists have used the dwellings as a fixed geographic reference to measure the migration of giant wind-blown crescent-shaped dunes, or barchans.
BBC:Pakistan politician sought over poisoning which killed 22
Pakistan politician sought over poisoning which killed 22
Pakistani police are seeking the arrest of a local politician in connection with the fatal poisoning of 22 people from a rival branch of his family.
Police allege the politician, Arsal Khan Khichi, hired a cook to poison food at his cousin's home last month.
Mr Khichi had lost to his cousin in a recently-held local election in Punjab.
However, police say his rival was not at home when the poisoning took place. Mr Khichi is thought to be in Dubai and has not commented on the allegations.
BBC:Mokhtar Belmokhtar charged over Algeria gas plant siege
Mokhtar Belmokhtar charged over Algeria gas plant siege
US prosecutors have charged militant Islamist leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar over a deadly siege at an Algerian gas plant in January.
He faces charges including hostage-taking, kidnapping and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction.
Belmokhtar remains at large and the US is offering a $5m (£3.2m) reward for information leading to his arrest.
Three US citizens were among at least 37 hostages killed when Algerian troops stormed the Tigantourine plant.
Reuters:North Korean ship was carrying sugar donation, Cuba told Panama
North Korean ship was carrying sugar donation, Cuba told Panama
(Reuters) - When a North Korean ship carrying Cuban arms was seized last week in Panama on suspicion of smuggling drugs, Cuba first said it was loaded with sugar for the people of North Korea, according to a Panamanian official familiar with the matter.
Cuban officials were quick to request the ship be released, pledging there were no drugs on board, and made no mention of the weapons which two days later were found hidden in the hold under 220,000 sacks of brown sugar, the official told Reuters.
"They said it was all a big misunderstanding," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Cuba declined to comment on the official's account.
Reuters:Exclusive: Probe of Boeing's 787 focuses on condensation, emergency beacon
Exclusive: Probe of Boeing's 787 focuses on condensation, emergency beacon
(Reuters) - Officials investigating the fire on a parked Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 are focused on how condensation and increased humidity could have sparked the blaze at London's Heathrow Airport last week, three sources familiar with the probe said.
British authorities said on Thursday an emergency beacon made by Honeywell International Inc was the likely source of the fire, and called for the device to be turned off. But the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it was still trying to understand what sparked the fire.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is close to taking steps to follow the AAIB recommendations.
The July 12 fire rekindled concerns in the industry about Boeing Co's advanced carbon-composite Dreamliner, which was grounded for more three months earlier this year after two incidents involving overheated lithium-ion batteries. The AAIB said the London fire is not related to those batteries.
Reuters:Samsung close to mobile-device deal with FBI: sources
Samsung close to mobile-device deal with FBI: sources
(Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is close to signing a deal to sell its popular line of Galaxy devices to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, sources familiar with the situation said on Friday.
The deal would be a boost for Samsung, which is increasingly seeking to cater to the needs of government agencies, a niche long dominated by Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd.
The FBI, with more than 35,000 employees, at present uses mainly BlackBerry devices. It is unclear whether the agency plans to replace all BlackBerry equipment with Galaxy models or whether it will use hardware from both companies.
A spokeswoman for the FBI declined to comment on the matter, saying that the selection of its new smartphones is part of an active acquisition process and any current discussions are proprietary to the government.
Reuters:SEC seeking to ban SAC's Cohen from financial industry
SEC seeking to ban SAC's Cohen from financial industry
(Reuters) - U.S. securities regulators took their boldest step yet in a long-running insider trading probe against Steven A. Cohen, declaring Friday they would try to bar the hedge fund mogul from managing other people's money.
Legal experts said the charges represented a strategic calculation by the SEC that some action had to be taken, but that the agency could end up struggling to prove its case.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Cohen, 57, with failing to supervise former SAC Capital Advisors portfolio manager Mathew Martoma and SAC executive Michael Steinberg, both of whom face criminal and civil insider trading charges.
The civil administrative proceeding is the most serious challenge yet to Cohen and his standing in the industry he helped build and which made him billions.
Reuters:Russia opposition leader freed on bail, protests rattle Kremlin
Russia opposition leader freed on bail, protests rattle Kremlin
(Reuters) - Russia unexpectedly freed opposition leader Alexei Navalny on bail on Friday, bending to the will of thousands of protesters who denounced his five-year jail sentence as a crude attempt by President Vladimir Putin to silence him.
Putin's spokesman called the protesters "mobs" and warned that the rallies were illegal.
In a highly unusual ruling that points to Kremlin uncertainty over how to handle Navalny's case, a judge approved the prosecution request to free him pending his appeal so that he can run in a Moscow mayor election on September 8.
The anti-corruption blogger will be unable to leave Moscow but hailed the decision, a day after he was convicted of theft, as a victory for people power.
Reuters:China frees up lending rates in major reform
China frees up lending rates in major reform
(Reuters) - China's central bank removed controls on bank lending rates, effective Saturday, in a long-awaited move that signals the new leadership's determination to carry out market-oriented reforms.
The move gives commercial banks the freedom to compete for borrowers, a reform the People's Bank of China said on Friday will help lower financial costs for companies. Previously, the lending floor was 70 percent of the benchmark lending rate.
However, the PBOC, in a statement, left a ceiling on deposit rates unchanged at 110 percent of benchmark rates, avoiding for now what many economists see as the most important step Beijing needs to take to free up interest rates.
The latest step underscores Beijing's resolve to start fixing distortions in its financial system and the economy more broadly as it tries to shift from export- and investment-led growth to more consumption-led activity.
LA Times:Asiana crash: Girl was alive when rescue truck ran over her
Asiana crash: Girl was alive when rescue truck ran over her
Official confirmed Friday that one of the victims of the Asiana Airlines crash died after being run over by a rescue vehicle.
San Mateo County Coroner Robert J. Foucrault said Friday that a 16-year-old Chinese girl was alive on the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport when she was struck by the vehicle July 6. She suffered crushing injuries and internal bleeding —”multiple blunt injuries that are consistent with being run over by a motor vehicle.”
“She was alive when she received the injuries,” he said.
San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White told reporters that it is believed the girl was struck by an Aircraft Rescue Firefighting truck, known as an ARFF—a specialized vehicle that can run at speeds up to 70 mph and spray fire-retardant foam even while speeding toward a burning plane.
Air-safety experts said they could not remember a case in recent U.S. history of a passenger being fatally struck by rescuers after a crash landing. They said it would require a significant reevaluation of how crews handle crashes.