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.
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BBC:Sri Lanka: Cameron in 'robust' talks over human rights
Sri Lanka: Cameron in 'robust' talks over human rights
David Cameron has clashed with the president of Sri Lanka as he pushed for action to protect the rights of its minority Tamil community.
Downing Street said the PM "pressed his points very directly and robustly" in an hour-long meeting with Mahinda Rajapaksa at a Commonwealth summit.
Mr Cameron's convoy was earlier mobbed by demonstrators on a visit to the north of the country.
Mr Rajapaksa says he has brought peace and stability to Sri Lanka.
BBC:Chemical arms watchdog adopts Syria stockpile plan
Chemical arms watchdog adopts Syria stockpile plan
The global chemical weapons watchdog says it has now adopted a detailed plan for the destruction of Syria's stockpile by mid-2014.
Friday had been the deadline for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to agree a final destruction timetable.
The deadline was set under a US-Russia brokered plan backed by the UN.
The plan was adopted despite an earlier setback, when Albania rejected a request to host the destruction.
BBC:Spain's Gibraltar checks lawful - EU
Spain's Gibraltar checks lawful - EU
Checks by Spain at its border with Gibraltar did not break EU laws, the European Commission has ruled.
Madrid imposed strict controls at the border with the British territory amid a row over the creation by Gibraltar of an artificial reef in disputed waters.
The commission's ruling followed a UK complaint and it has also written to the UK and Spain with recommendations to avoid future delays at the border.
But the UK still says the "politically motivated" checks were unlawful.
BBC:JP Morgan agrees $4.5bn mortgage settlement
JP Morgan agrees $4.5bn mortgage settlement
US investment bank JP Morgan has agreed to pay $4.5bn (£2.8bn) to investors who lost money on mortgage-related securities during the financial crisis.
The settlement is with 21 major institutional investors.
Mortgage-related investments were a major factor in the crisis, which began in 2007 with the collapse of the US housing market.
Last month JP Morgan agreed a separate, preliminary $13bn deal with the US government over mortgage securities.
BBC:Deaths at Libya anti-militia protest in Tripoli
Deaths at Libya anti-militia protest in Tripoli
At least 31 people have been killed and 235 injured in clashes in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, officials say, after militiamen opened fire on protesters.
The demonstrators had marched to the headquarters of the Misrata militia to demand that it leave Tripoli.
Hours after the incident, armed men returned to storm the compound, where militiamen are still holed up.
The Libyan government has been struggling to contain numerous militias who control many parts of the country.
BBC:UN rejects Africa bid to halt Kenya leaders' ICC trials
UN rejects Africa bid to halt Kenya leaders' ICC trials
The UN Security Council has rejected an attempt to suspend the trials of Kenya's president and vice-president at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
A resolution had been proposed by African states to suspend the trial of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto for a year.
Eight of the 15 council members abstained and the motion did not pass.
Both men face charges over violence following the disputed 2007 election, which left some 1,200 people dead.
Reuters:Japan's new CO2 goal dismays U.N. climate conference
Japan's new CO2 goal dismays U.N. climate conference
(Reuters) - China, the EU and environmentalists criticized Japan at U.N. climate talks on Friday for slashing its greenhouse gas emissions target after its nuclear power industry was shuttered by the Fukushima disaster.
The Japanese government on Friday decided to target a 3.8 percent emissions cut by 2020 versus 2005 levels. That amounts to a 3 percent rise from a U.N. benchmark year of 1990 and the reversal of the previous target of a 25 percent reduction.
"Given that none of the nuclear reactors is operating, this was unavoidable," Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara said.
Japan's 50 nuclear plants were closed on safety concerns after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami wrecked the Fukushima reactors northeast of Tokyo. Nuclear accounted for 26 percent of Japan's electricity generation and its loss has forced the country to import natural gas and coal, causing its greenhouse gas emissions to skyrocket.
Reuters:FBI warns of U.S. government breaches by Anonymous hackers
FBI warns of U.S. government breaches by Anonymous hackers
(Reuters) - Activist hackers linked to the collective known as Anonymous have secretly accessed U.S. government computers in multiple agencies and stolen sensitive information in a campaign that began almost a year ago, the FBI warned this week.
The hackers exploited a flaw in Adobe Systems Inc's software to launch a rash of electronic break-ins that began last December, then left "back doors" to return to many of the machines as recently as last month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a memo seen by Reuters.
The memo, distributed on Thursday, described the attacks as "a widespread problem that should be addressed." It said the breach affected the U.S. Army, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, and perhaps many more agencies.
Investigators are still gathering information on the scope of the cyber campaign, which the authorities believe is continuing. The FBI document tells system administrators what to look for to determine if their systems are compromised.
Reuters:Ackman's Pershing Square takes big stakes in Freddie, Fannie
Ackman's Pershing Square takes big stakes in Freddie, Fannie
(Reuters) - Activist investor Bill Ackman's Pershing Square hedge fund has invested half a billion dollars to acquire stakes of nearly 10 percent each in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the latest big investor this week to buy into the mortgage finance companies.
Shares of both companies surged on Friday, when Pershing said in regulatory filings it has a 9.77 percent stake in common shares of mortgage insurer Freddie Mac and a 9.98 percent stake in Fannie Mae.
Bruce Berkowitz of Fairholme Capital Management announced this week that he and other investors were willing to buy and recapitalize government-controlled Freddie Mac and its sister company, Fannie Mae.
In light of the proposed Fairholme transaction, Pershing said in the filings that "they may engage in discussions with management, the board, other stockholders of the issuer, representatives of the federal government, and other relevant parties" involved with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
Reuters:In win for Big Oil, U.S. proposes biofuel mandate cut
In win for Big Oil, U.S. proposes biofuel mandate cut
(Reuters) - The Obama administration proposed on Friday slashing federal requirements for U.S. biofuel use in 2014, bowing to pressure from the petroleum industry and attempting to prevent a potential fuel crunch next year.
It was the first cut to renewable fuel targets written into a 2007 law, and seen as a clear win for oil refiners and a loss for biofuel producers. It followed a prolonged lobbying blitz on both sides of the issue.
The plan follows the Environmental Protection Agency's warnings that the country was approaching a point where the so-called Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) would require the use of more ethanol than can be blended into gasoline at the 10 percent level that dominates the U.S. fueling infrastructure.
Refiners have said this "blend wall," if left in place, would force them to export more fuel or produce less gasoline, leading to shortages and higher prices at the pump.
Reuters:Albanian 'no' deals blow to Syria chemical weapons plan
Albanian 'no' deals blow to Syria chemical weapons plan
(Reuters) - Albania rejected on Friday a U.S. request to host the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons, dealing a blow to a U.S.-Russian accord to eliminate such arms from the country's protracted civil war.
Negotiations went down to the wire as the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague hit the deadline on Friday for a step-by-step plan to get rid of 1,300 tonnes of Syria's sarin, mustard gas and other agents.
After the Albanian decision, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning body adopted a plan on Friday night that set out deadlines in the destruction process but did not name a host country for the effort or provide details on security arrangements.
Albania's refusal marked an unprecedented break from its traditionally staunch allegiance to NATO ally Washington and may make it hard to meet destruction deadlines. It followed a storm of protest in the Adriatic republic, where protesters complained of exploitation.
Reuters:Mexico becoming Nissan's export hub for Americas: CEO
Mexico becoming Nissan's export hub for Americas: CEO
(Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201.T) will build 1 million cars in Mexico by 2016, cementing the country's position as the export hub for the Japanese automaker in the Americas, Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn told Reuters as he inaugurated a $2 billion plant.
Most of the cars from the new plant in Aguascalientes in central Mexico will be sent by rail to destinations throughout North and South America.
A staff of 3,000 in the light, airy plant filled with rows of shiny yellow robots will produce one car every 38 seconds, in partnership with Nissan's other Aguascalientes plant.
"We like Mexico because it allows us to be competitive," Ghosn said in an interview at the plant on Tuesday. "It's not only about cost, it's also about quality and it's about responsiveness - capacity to respond to variation of the market very quickly.
nbc news:Emergency meningitis vaccine will be imported to halt Ivy League outbreak
Emergency meningitis vaccine will be imported to halt Ivy League outbreak
Emergency doses of a meningitis vaccine not approved for use in the U.S. may soon be on the way to Princeton University to halt an outbreak of the potentially deadly infection that has sickened seven students since March.
Government health officials said Friday they have agreed to import Bexsero, a vaccine licensed only in Europe and Australia that protects against meningitis B, a strain not covered by the shots recommended for college students in the U.S.
"This is a bad disease and we know how devastating it is," Dr. Thomas Clark, acting head of the Centers for Disease Control's meningitis and vaccine preventable diseases branch, told NBC News. "A lot of us had a gut feeling that there would be more cases and we should get the ball rolling."
The unprecedented move could aim to inoculate the nearly 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students at the Ivy League school in hopes of stopping the spread of an illness that kills 10 percent or more of teens and young adults who get it.