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.
The OND concept was borne under the keen keyboard of Magnifico - proper respect is due.
Current Contributors are ScottyUrb, Bentliberal, wader,Oke, rfall, JML9999 and Neon Vincent.
BBC:Abu Qatada case: Home Secretary to visit Jordan
Abu Qatada case: Home Secretary to visit Jordan
Home Secretary Theresa May is to travel to Jordan in an effort to strike a deal over the deportation of Abu Qatada.
The radical Palestinian-Jordanian preacher was released from a UK jail under strict bail conditions on Monday.
In a statement, Mrs May said she intended to continue talks which Home Office Minister James Brokenshire held earlier with Jordanian authorities.
She said the UK and Jordan were "pursuing all options with regards to his deportation".
BBC:Experts delay call on releasing controversial H5N1 work
Experts delay call on releasing controversial H5N1 work
Experts have delayed a decision on whether controversial research into the H5N1 bird flu virus should be released.
It had been looking at how the work could be released while guarding against its abuse by bioterrorists.
But talks at the World Health Organization in Geneva decided more discussions were needed to see if it could be possible to publish in full.
One of the two journals which want to publish has already agreed to wait for talks to be complete.
BBC:Syria unrest: China envoy in Damascus talks
Syria unrest: China envoy in Damascus talks
A senior Chinese envoy has held talks with officials in Syria, in what Beijing says is an attempt to mediate in the crisis as bloodshed continues.
The visit by Deputy Foreign Minister Zhai Jun comes a day after Beijing voted against a UN resolution calling for an end to violence.
Fighting continued on Friday in Syria, with activists saying that at least 40 people were killed by security forces.
Some were reportedly shot dead in Homs, where the army resumed shelling.
BBC:German President Wulff quits over corruption claims
German President Wulff quits over corruption claims
German President Christian Wulff has announced his resignation, after prosecutors called for his immunity to be lifted.
An ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Wulff, 52, stepped down over corruption claims involving a dubious home loan. He denies any wrongdoing.
Mrs Merkel cancelled a visit to Italy on Friday to deal with the crisis, and said she regretted that he had quit.
German media say the crisis is unprecedented in post-war Germany.
BBC:Pope Benedict XVI to create 22 new cardinals
Pope Benedict XVI to create 22 new cardinals
Pope Benedict XVI will create 22 new cardinals - his closest aides - at a ceremony in St Peter's Basilica in Rome on Saturday morning.
The new "princes of the church" will be given red hats called birette and gold rings at the "consistory".
On Friday cardinals new and old attended a closed-door meeting pondering how to bring back faith in increasingly secular countries.
New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan said a "creative strategy" was needed.
BBC:Libya marks anniversary of revolt which ousted Gaddafi
Libya marks anniversary of revolt which ousted Gaddafi
Libyans have been marking the anniversary of the uprising that led to the overthrow of Col Muammar Gaddafi after his rule of more than 40 years.
Celebrations have been taking place across the country, including in the capital Tripoli and in the eastern city of Benghazi, where the revolt began.
The White House congratulated Libyans but urged the new government to protect "the rights of all the Libyan people".
But the anniversary comes amid fears of continuing instability in the country.
Reuters:Italian police seize $6 trillion of fake U.S. bonds
Italian police seize $6 trillion of fake U.S. bonds
(Reuters) - Italian police said on Friday they had seized about $6 trillion worth of fake U.S. Treasury bonds and other securities in Switzerland, and arrested eight Italians accused of international fraud and other financial crimes.
The operation, co-ordinated by prosecutors from the southern Italian city of Potenza, was carried out by Italian, Swiss and U.S. authorities after a year-long investigation, an Italian police source said.
It began as a investigation into mafia loan-sharking, but gradually expanded as prosecutors used telephone and computer intercepts to unearth evidence of illegal activity surrounding Treasury bonds.
The fake securities, worth more than a third of U.S. national debt, were seized in January from a Swiss trust company where they were held in three large trunks.
Reuters:U.S. arrests suspect in Capitol suicide attack plot
U.S. arrests suspect in Capitol suicide attack plot
(Reuters) - A Moroccan man was arrested near the U.S. Capitol on Friday wearing a vest he believed was full of al Qaeda-supplied explosives and charged in an attempted suicide bombing of Congress, the Justice Department said.
Amine El Khalifi, 29, an illegal immigrant who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against property owned and used by the United States, intending to detonate a bomb and to shoot people, the department said.
He was arrested by the FBI and the U.S. Capitol Police in a parking garage just a few blocks from the Capitol. The object of a lengthy undercover FBI investigation, El Khalifi later appeared in federal court in Virginia and faces up to life in prison if convicted.
U.S. law enforcement officials said there never was any threat to the public. The explosives in the suicide vest and the gun he had been given by the FBI had been rendered inoperable and posed no danger to the public.
Reuters:Euro zone mulls tweaks to Greek PSI to close debt gap
Euro zone mulls tweaks to Greek PSI to close debt gap
(Reuters) - The euro zone is considering tweaks to Greek debt restructuring terms for private investors among several options to further reduce Greek debt towards the target of 120 percent of GDP in 2020, euro zone officials said.
Under the main scenario of a debt sustainability analysis by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Greek debt will only fall to 129 percent of gross domestic product in 2020, assuming Greece has a primary surplus next year, one official said.
Euro zone leaders agreed in October that the debt should fall to 120 percent in eight years from 160 percent now, to be deemed sustainable.
They agreed to lend 130 billion euros to Greece to help finance the process, which also has to include private investors forgiving half of what Greece owes them in nominal terms.
Reuters:Xi waves off China economy fears, triggers deals
Xi waves off China economy fears, triggers deals
(Reuters) - China's leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping on Friday dismissed worries of a hard landing for his country's economy and turned to courting American companies and states hungry for a slice of Chinese growth on the final day of his U.S. visit.
Vice President Xi and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden also suggested Xi's five-day visit could pave the way for steadier ties between the world's two biggest economies, with Biden praising Xi's eagerness to understand America.
Xi, turning to courting American companies and governors hungry for a slice of his nation's growth, told a business forum in Los Angeles the world's No. 2 economy will continue to push domestic demand while directing investment toward the United States.
Xi said "2012 will be a crucial year in driving the 12th five-year plan. China's economy will maintain stable growth. ... There will be no so-called hard landing."
Reuters:Obama, eyeing China, to boost export financing
Obama, eyeing China, to boost export financing
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama pledged on Friday to try to help U.S. companies better compete against their foreign rivals, as he accused China and other countries of pursuing unfair trading practices.
Highlighting a major theme for his re-election campaign, Obama also touted a nascent resurgence in the American manufacturing sector during a stop at Boeing Co's huge plant in Everett, Washington.
Obama called the company's flagship Dreamliner "the plane of the future." The jet, used for long flights, is the world's first commercial airplane made largely of lightweight carbon composites.
"It looks cool," Obama said, adding that the plane was an example of the ability of U.S. manufacturers to innovate.
Reuters:Top Obama aide heads to Israel for talks on Iran, Syria
Top Obama aide heads to Israel for talks on Iran, Syria
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama's top security aide will visit Israel for two days of talks on regional issues including Syria and Iran, the White House said on Friday.
National security adviser Tom Donilon's trip from Saturday through Monday comes amid tensions over Iran's nuclear program, which the West says is aimed at securing weapons capability, but Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes.
U.S. and European officials on Friday voiced cautious optimism over the latest signals from Tehran that it might be willing to resume talks with major powers on the nuclear issue, after the Iranians sent them a letter.
Donilon's visit was "the latest in a series of regular, high-level consultations between the United States and Israel, consistent with our strong bilateral partnership, and part of our unshakeable commitment to Israel's security," the White House said in a statement.
NY Times:Court Overturns Conviction of Ex-Goldman Programmer
Court Overturns Conviction of Ex-Goldman Programmer
A federal appeals court reversed the conviction late Thursday of Sergey Aleynikov, a former Goldman Sachs programmer found guilty of stealing proprietary code from the bank’s high-frequency trading platform.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned the conviction and ordered the trial court to enter a judgment of acquittal. A judgment of acquittal generally bars the government from retrying a defendant.
The reversal was without explanation; it said an opinion would follow “in due course.”