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:Deadly French train crash at Bretigny-sur-Orge
Deadly French train crash at Bretigny-sur-Orge
Six people have been killed and more than 20 injured in a train crash at Bretigny-sur-Orge, south of Paris, French officials have said.
The intercity train had just left Paris and was heading towards Limoges when it derailed, crashing into a station platform at 17:14 (15:14 GMT).
Passengers were left trapped inside carriages.
French President Francois Hollande visited the scene and expressed his shock at the accident.
BBC:Edward Snowden re-emerges for Moscow airport meeting
Edward Snowden re-emerges for Moscow airport meeting
Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has met human rights groups and lawyers at a Moscow airport, in his first appearance in three weeks.
He said he sought asylum in Russia as he was unable to travel to Latin America, where he has been offered asylum.
Mr Snowden had dropped a previous request after Moscow said he could stay only if he stopped the US leaks.
The Kremlin repeated its earlier condition on Friday.
BBC:Heathrow reopens after Boeing Dreamliner 787 fire
Heathrow reopens after Boeing Dreamliner 787 fire
Flights have resumed at London's Heathrow Airport after a fire on a parked Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet.
All runways were closed for nearly 90 minutes after the fire at 16:30 BST. No passengers were aboard the plane at the time, a Heathrow spokesman said.
Fifty Dreamliners worldwide were grounded in January after malfunctions with the plane's lithium-ion batteries.
Boeing modified the jets with new batteries and flights resumed in April.
BBC:Shot Pakistan schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai addresses UN
Shot Pakistan schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai addresses UN
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl shot by the Taliban, has told the UN that books and pens scare extremists, as she urged education for all.
Speaking on her 16th birthday, Malala said efforts to silence her had failed.
She was shot in the head on a school bus by Taliban gunmen because of her campaign for girls' rights.
The speech at the UN headquarters in New York was her first public address since last October's incident in Pakistan's north-western Swat valley.
BBC:Typhoon Soulik makes landfall in Taiwan
Typhoon Soulik makes landfall in Taiwan
Typhoon Soulik has made landfall in Taiwan, bringing strong winds and torrential rain to the island.
Some 8,000 people were evacuated from their homes in areas prone to landslides as soldiers were deployed in high-risk areas, AFP reported.
Schools and offices in Taipei and several other cities closed on Friday afternoon as the tropical storm neared.
Soulik is set to arrive in mainland China's eastern provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang later on Saturday.
BBC:Pakistan Taliban 'sets up a base in Syria'
Pakistan Taliban 'sets up a base in Syria'
The Pakistani Taliban have visited Syria to set up a base and to assess "the needs of the jihad", a Taliban official has told the BBC.
He said that the base was set up with the assistance of ex-Afghan fighters of Middle Eastern origin who have moved to Syria in recent years.
At least 12 experts in warfare and information technology had gone to Syria in the last two months, he said.
Their presence in the country is likely to have a sectarian motive.
Reuters:Obama speaks with Putin on Snowden, but no sign of movement
Obama speaks with Putin on Snowden, but no sign of movement
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama raised U.S. concerns directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday over Moscow's handling of former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, but there was no sign of a breakthrough on Washington's demand that Russia expel him.
Obama and Putin spoke by phone in a discussion that White House spokesman Jay Carney said earlier would largely be about Snowden, who is wanted in the United States for disclosing secret surveillance programs. Carney had accused Russia of providing Snowden a "propaganda platform" to air his complaints about the United States.
A White House statement about the Obama-Putin call offered no indication that Putin was prepared to send Snowden back to the United States.
"The two leaders noted the importance of U.S.-Russian bilateral relations and discussed a range of security and bilateral issues, including the status of Mr. Edward Snowden and cooperation on counter-terrorism in the lead-up to the Sochi Winter Olympics," the statement said. The Sochi Olympics are in 2014.
Reuters:Third person dies in Asiana air crash: San Francisco hospital
Third person dies in Asiana air crash: San Francisco hospital
(Reuters) - A Chinese girl died in hospital on Friday, becoming the third fatality in the crash of an Asiana Airlines jet at San Francisco airport last Saturday, doctors and Chinese officials said.
The child, who died on Friday morning, had been in critical condition, according to a statement from two doctors at San Francisco General Hospital. The girl was a Chinese national, according to the Chinese consulate in San Francisco.
The crash landing of the Boeing 777 also killed two Chinese teenage girls and injured more than 180 other people. The two victims who died on Saturday were visiting the United States to attend summer camp with a group of schoolmates.
Both fell out of the plane during the crash and one was run over by a fire truck rushing to the scene, the San Francisco Police Department said on Friday, although it was unclear whether she was still alive at the time.
Reuters:Brazil unions try to seize protest momentum with strikes
Brazil unions try to seize protest momentum with strikes
(Reuters) - Tens of thousands of union demonstrators blocked roads and snarled traffic in dozens of Brazilian cities on Thursday in a one-day strike aimed at seizing the momentum of huge protests that swept the country last month.
The disruptions, mostly peaceful aside from scattered clashes between police and protesters in a few cities, were limited compared to June protests that drew more than 1 million supporters in Brazil's largest demonstrations in two decades.
Late Thursday, police in Rio de Janeiro fired tear gas and used batons to disperse an unruly group of demonstrators, some of them hooded and masked, that sought to take advantage of the march by union workers to create unrest. Labor activists also tried to push back some of the aggressive demonstrators.
Bus drivers, metal-workers, stevedores and bank tellers were among the unionized workers who took to the streets nationwide as organized labor attempts to elevate workers' rights above the tide of complaints that washed across Brazil in recent weeks.
Reuters:Rupee spoils holidays abroad for Indians, but not for all
Rupee spoils holidays abroad for Indians, but not for all
With the rupee hovering near a record low, Indian tourists would be tempted to give foreign shores a miss this year. But staying home is not an option for Harsh Chadha, a multinational executive just back from a three-week family vacation in the UK.
Chadha, 35, is part of India’s growing elite, whose trips abroad are not affected by the vagaries of the currency market.
“[If I’m planning] a trip to a place like London [and] already spending enough money … a 10-15 percent increase in the dollar will not be pinching me a lot,” says Chadha, an IT director who bought pounds for 92 rupees ($1.5) each before going on vacation.
The Indian rupee has fallen around 10 percent since March and reached a low of 61 to the dollar in June, hurt by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s plans to taper stimulus measures and India’s ballooning import bill.
Reuters:Japanese carriers keep their 787s aloft as they assess Heathrow fire
Japanese carriers keep their 787s aloft as they assess Heathrow fire
(Reuters) - Japanese carriers, ANA Holdings (9202.T) and Japan Airlines Co. (9201.T) said Saturday that they will fly their Boeing Co (BA.N) 787 jets as normal as they gather information from the U.S. planemaker on the cause of a fire on one of the carbon composite at Britain's Heathrow airport.
"We are aware of the incident and are checking with Boeing. Operations of our 787s are continuing as normal," said ANA Holdings spokesman, Ryosei Nomura. Owning 20 of the Boeing jets, ANA is the world's biggest operator of the 787.
"As of now 787 operations are normal," Japan Airlines spokesman Hisanori Iizuka said. Engineers at JAL are in contact with Boeing to gather information to help it decide on 787 operations going forward, he added. JAL has eight of the Boeing jets.
It was separate overheating incidents on 787s operated by the Japanese carriers that prompted aviation regulators in the U.S. and elsewhere to ground the plane for more than three months until the U.S. maker was able to win approval for a revamped battery encased in a steel box.
Reuters:China agrees to currency, procurement reforms in talks with U.S
China agrees to currency, procurement reforms in talks with U.S
(Reuters) - China acknowledged U.S. concerns about cyber theft of intellectual property and trade secrets and agreed to steps that would open its financial and government procurement markets, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday.
In a statement on outcomes of the annual U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue that concluded Thursday in Washington, the Treasury Department also said China had committed to move to a market-determined exchange rate for its yuan currency.
"During the S&ED, Chinese officials acknowledged U.S. concerns over the growing problem of the cyber-enabled theft of trade secrets and business confidential information," the statement said.
"China pledged to better protect against trade secret misappropriation through strengthened enforcement," it added, referring to an issue that Washington has made a top priority with China as U.S. economic losses from intellectual property theft mounted.
USA Today:Twinkies make early return at Wal-Mart stores
Twinkies make early return at Wal-Mart stores
NEW YORK (AP) — Twinkies are making an early comeback at Wal-Mart stores, and they won't be frozen beforehand.
The world's largest retailer says it is selling the snack cakes at about 1,600 stores starting Friday and that about 3,000 of its 4,000 U.S. stores should have them by Sunday morning, a day before Hostess had said the spongy yellow cakes would start hitting shelves nationwide.
By late next week, stores will also have Hostess Mini Muffins and fried Fruit Pies, said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Veronica Marshall. Coffee Cakes, Ho Hos, Orange CupCakes, Suzy Qs and Zingers will be available by August.
Sno-Balls will arrive in the fall.