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:Cameron fears Iraq effect holding West back in Syria
Cameron fears Iraq effect holding West back in Syria
UK PM David Cameron has expressed concern that international action in Syria may be being held back because of fears of a repeat of the Iraq war.
It follows evidence from the US and the UK that Syrian government troops may have used chemical weapons.
Mr Cameron said world leaders must look at Syria and "ask ourselves what more we can do."
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama said proof the weapons had been used on civilians would be "a game changer".
BBC:Part of 9/11 plane landing gear' found in New York
Part of 9/11 plane landing gear' found in New York
New York police say what appears to be part of the landing gear of one of jets flown into the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001 has been found.
The 5ft (1.52m) piece of metal, which bears a Boeing label and serial number, was wedged between two New York City buildings, police said.
It was found on Wednesday by surveyors inspecting a lower Manhattan building.
Nearly 3,000 people died in the terror attacks as planes were brought down in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
BBC:Duke of Edinburgh on three-day visit to Canada
Duke of Edinburgh on three-day visit to Canada
The Duke of Edinburgh has arrived in Toronto on a brief visit to Canada where he will present a regiment with a new ceremonial flag.
Prince Philip will present new colours as colonel-in-chief to the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment.
The Queen's husband left London on an aircraft provided by the Royal Canadian Air Force, and will return on Sunday.
Philip, 91, has been hospitalised three times in the past 18 months after suffering health scares.
BBC:Nigeria's Boko Haram 'got $3m ransom' to free hostages
Nigeria's Boko Haram 'got $3m ransom' to free hostages
Islamist militant group Boko Haram was paid more than $3m (£2m) before releasing a French family of seven, a Nigerian government report says.
The confidential report, seen by Reuters news agency, does not say who paid the money.
Both France and Cameroon deny paying a ransom while Nigeria has not commented on the issue.
The French family, including four children, were captured in Cameroon in February and freed last week.
BBC:Bomb attack on Karachi election meeting kills 10
Bomb attack on Karachi election meeting kills 10
At least 10 people have been killed in a bomb attack on an election meeting in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.
Police said a device had exploded near the office of the Awami National Party (ANP) in the western area of Mominabad.
The apparent target was an ANP National Assembly candidate scheduled to address the meeting, Bashir Jan, who survived.
The Taliban said it carried out the attack as part of the group's policy to target secular political parties who have spoken of fighting against it.
BBC:Israel 'to stop using white phosphorus shells'
Israel 'to stop using white phosphorus shells'
The Israeli military says it is to stop using artillery shells with white phosphorus to create smokescreens on the battlefield.
It says shells will be replaced with types based completely on gas, which will create the same effect.
Rights groups condemned Israel's use of white phosphorus during the Gaza conflict because of its severely harmful effects on civilians.
International law restricts the use of white phosphorus during war.
Reuters:Turkey becomes partner of China, Russia-led security bloc
Turkey becomes partner of China, Russia-led security bloc
(Reuters) - NATO member Turkey signed up on Friday to became a "dialogue partner" of a security bloc dominated by China and Russia, and declared that its destiny is in Asia.
"This is really a historic day for us," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in Kazakhstan's commercial capital Almaty after signing a memorandum of understanding with Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Secretary General Dmitry Mezentsev.
"Now, with this choice, Turkey is declaring that our destiny is the same as the destiny of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) countries."
China, Russia and four Central Asian nations - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - formed the SCO in 2001 as a regional security bloc to fight threats posed by radical Islam and drug trafficking from neighboring Afghanistan.
Reuters:China slams Philippine bid to "legalize" occupation of islands
China slams Philippine bid to "legalize" occupation of islands
(Reuters) - China accused the Philippines on Friday of trying to legalize its occupation of islands in the disputed South China Sea, repeating that Beijing would never agree to international arbitration.
Frustrated with the slow pace of regional diplomacy, the Philippines in January angered China by asking a U.N. tribunal to order a halt to Beijing's activities that it said violated Philippine sovereignty over the islands, surrounded by potentially energy-rich waters.
Claims by an increasingly powerful China over most of the South China Sea have set it directly against U.S. allies Vietnam and the Philippines. Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also claim parts of the waters and China has a separate dispute with Japan in the East China Sea.
Manila said on Thursday that a U.N. arbitration court had set up the tribunal which would hear Manila's complaint, but China said this was an attempt to steal Chinese territory.
Reuters:Japan's ANA to test fly Boeing 787 Dreamliner on Sunday
Japan's ANA to test fly Boeing 787 Dreamliner on Sunday
(Reuters) - Japan's All Nippon Airways (9202.T) will conduct a test flight of Boeing Co's (BA.N) 787 Dreamliner on Sunday, as it prepares to bring back passengers on a plane that was grounded across the world following incidents of batteries overheating.
The test flight by ANA, the Dreamliner's top customer, comes after U.S. and Japanese authorities gave approval for flights to resume and will be the first of some 230 flights the airline has planned before allowing the jet to carry passengers.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Ray Connor and ANA Group CEO Shinichiro Ito will be on board Sunday's flight.
ANA has yet to decide when commercial flights would restart, President Osamu Shinobe said, but he reiterated the Dreamliner would remain a core part of its fleet strategy.
Reuters:Vodafone investors want bigger bid or full takeover by Verizon
Vodafone investors want bigger bid or full takeover by Verizon
(Reuters) - Six major Vodafone investors said $100 billion was not enough for the British company's stake in its U.S. joint venture with Verizon Communications, and urged the latter to come up with an offer of at least $120 billion.
Their comments followed a Reuters report on Wednesday that Verizon had hired advisers to prepare a possible $100 billion bid to buy Vodafone's 45 percent stake in their Verizon Wireless joint venture, likely to be structured as a roughly 50:50 cash and stock bid.
Should the $100 billion figure stand, the six shareholders, with around 1.3 billion of Vodafone's shares between them, said they would prefer the British group to push for a full merger with Verizon instead.
The main concern among investors contacted by Reuters was the fact that a sale of Verizon Wireless - the best performing asset by far in the Vodafone portfolio - would highlight the operator's exposure to its troubled European markets.
Reuters:Thousands of South Sudanese rebels surrender after thaw with Sudan
Thousands of South Sudanese rebels surrender after thaw with Sudan
(Reuters) - Several thousand South Sudanese rebels have surrendered to the government and returned home from alleged rear bases in neighboring Sudan, government and rebel officials in the south said on Friday.
South Sudan has been struggling to contain insurgencies it claims have been supported by Sudan since it gained independence from its northern neighbor in 2011 under a peace deal that ended one of Africa's longest civil wars. Sudan denies the allegations.
The north declined to comment on the rebels' surrender, which follows the two countries agreeing to resume southern oil exports through the north and pledging not to support insurgencies on the other's territory.
The South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA), one of the largest rebel groups in the new country, and two other militia groups said they had accepted an amnesty offer from President Salva Kiir.
Reuters:Ponzi scheme in West Bengal flames out, embers linger
Ponzi scheme in West Bengal flames out, embers linger
Suicides, thousands of duped investors, hundreds of laid-off journalists, bickering politicians, protests slack regulation, one suspected mastermind arrested: it’s Ponzi scheme time in West Bengal, and it looks likely that little will change after the drama ends.
The latest fleecing of poor and middle-class investors brought in an estimated $730 million, according to media reports, though public interest litigation filed in the Calcutta High Court by one lawyer says the amount is as high as Rs. 300 billion. ($5.5 billion) The head of the Saradha Group and accused mastermind of the scheme, Sudipta Sen, was arrested in Kashmir on April 23 after two weeks as a fugitive. He has maintained his innocence, and reportedly threatened suicide, saying he might not be able to repay investors.
Sen started out as a small-time property dealer in the late 1990's in Kolkata. His Saradha Group in the past decade had interests in real estate, tours groups and newspapers and television stations, and eventually owned nearly 100 companies.
Data from India’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs reveals interesting details. Many were incorporated in a one-week period in January 2011. They shared an address: 455 Diamond Harbour Road, Behala, Kolkata. They each listed working capital of Rs. 5 lakh each ($9,196). Their email addresses were the same. India’s market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, began investigating the Saradha Group in 2010.
Forbes:LivingSocial Hacked. 50 Million Members Affected. Those With 'Universal Passwords' Should Probably Change Them.
LivingSocial Hacked. 50 Million Members Affected. Those With 'Universal Passwords' Should Probably Change Them.
LivingSocial’s revenue struggles aren’t its only headache today. The daily deals site has been hacked. The Washington, D.C.-based company, which relies heavily on investment from Amazon, has over 70 million members; the accounts of over 70% of them — 50 million members — were compromised by a recent cyber attack.
The hackers did not get financial or credit card details but did get access to “names, email addresses, date of birth for some users, and encrypted passwords — technically ‘hashed’ and ‘salted’ passwords,” according to an internal memo circulated to employees that was obtained by AllThingsD. “We never store passwords in plain text,” notes CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy in the memo.
So if you’re among the affected users, the hackers have just the right amount of information to phish you. The site is sending out emails to customers advising them to change their passwords. Beware emails that purport to be from LivingSocial that are actually from malicious parties seeking to take advantage of known customers of the site. In official emails, LivingSocial is advising members to visit its homepage and click on a “Create a New Password” button at the top of the site.
Though the passwords were encrypted, the site is “encourag[ing] you, for your own personal data security, to consider changing password(s) on any other sites on which you use the same or similar password(s).”