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 consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, side pocket, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir, Bentliberal, Oke, jlms qkw, Interceptor7, and ScottyUrb, guest editor annetteboardman, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains you.
BBC:Panama Canal work stops in $1.6bn row
Panama Canal work stops in $1.6bn row
The Spanish-led consortium working on a project to widen the Panama Canal has said that work at the site has been halted over a disagreement on cost overruns.
The construction group says it is owed $1.6bn (£1bn).
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said the demand amounted to blackmail.
The new lock, which was due to be completed next year, would allow the passage of larger cargo ships in one of the world's busiest maritime routes.
BBC:ICC opens CAR 'war crimes' preliminary investigation
ICC opens CAR 'war crimes' preliminary investigation
The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda says she has opened a preliminary investigation into possible war crimes in the Central African Republic (CAR).
Fatou Bensouda said she had received reports of "extreme brutality by various groups".
Tens of thousands of Muslims have already fled to Cameroon and Chad.
CAR, one of Africa's poorest nations, has been in chaos for more than a year after Muslim rebels seized power.
BBC:North Korea send American Kenneth Bae back to labour camp
North Korea send American Kenneth Bae back to labour camp
A US citizen held for more than a year in North Korea has been moved back to a labour camp, US officials say.
State department officials and Mr Bae's sister were quoted as saying the 45-year-old had been returned from a hospital to the camp on 20 January.
Mr Bae, a Korean-American, was arrested in November 2012 and sentenced to 15 years' hard labour in May.
North Korea says he used his tourism business to form groups to overthrow the government.
BBC:Syria crisis: Evacuation operation in Homs begins
Syria crisis: Evacuation operation in Homs begins
Emergency officials have evacuated 83 civilians from the city of Homs in Syria, according to the United Nations.
Buses were able to enter the rebel-held Old City after both sides agreed to a three-day pause in the fighting.
Up to 3,000 civilians are thought to be trapped in Homs.
The UN-negotiated ceasefire between Syrian forces and rebels should also allow food and medical aid to reach Homs on Saturday.
BBC:Hong Kong: US bomb from World War Two defused by police
Hong Kong: US bomb from World War Two defused by police
Hong Kong police have successfully defused a 2,000 pound (900kg) bomb from World War Two, described as the biggest wartime bomb to be found in the city.
More than 2,200 people were evacuated when the bomb was found in a construction site in the city's Happy Valley district on Thursday afternoon.
The AN-M66 bomb contained 1,000 pounds (450kg) of explosives.
The device is believed to have been dropped by the US Navy during WW2, when Japan occupied the then British colony.
BBC:Iran food aid backfires in 'shame'
Iran food aid backfires in 'shame'
A plan by President Rouhani's government to address poverty in Iran has backfired after it was ridiculed on social media.
The Iranian government decided to give out free food baskets in a bid to reduce inflation and the benefits bill.
But the actual handout of food led to large queues and chaotic scenes, images of which were shared on social media.
Anne-Marie Tomchak from #BBCtrending investigates.
Reuters:Pentagon to boost missile defense spending by over $4 billion: sources
Pentagon to boost missile defense spending by over $4 billion: sources
(Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Department plans to ask Congress for $4.5 billion in extra missile defense funding over the next five years as part of the fiscal 2015 budget request, say congressional sources and an expert.
Nearly $1 billion of that sum will pay for a new homeland defense radar to be placed in Alaska, with an additional $560 million to fund work on a new interceptor after several failed flight tests, said Riki Ellison, founder of the nonprofit Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, and two of the congressional sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly.
The Pentagon's request for added funding comes despite continued pressure on military spending and cuts in other arms programs, a sign of Washington's growing concern about missile development efforts by North Korea and Iran, the sources said.
The White House plans to send its fiscal 2015 budget request to Congress on March 4.
Reuters:Telecom Italia says no Brazil merger talks
Telecom Italia says no Brazil merger talks
(Reuters) - Italian phone group Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) denied media speculation that it was in talks to merge its prized wireless unit TIM Brasil (TIMP3.SA) with Vivendi's (VIV.PA) Brazilian subsidiary GVT.
Brazilian daily O Estado de S. Paulo reported earlier on Friday that a Telecom Italia executive met with the management of French media group Vivendi in recent days for preliminary talks about a possible tie-up between the two group's Brazilian units, citing a source close to the matter.
"(There are) no ongoing talks over a possible GVT deal," a Telecom Italia spokesman said.
A Vivendi spokesperson added the group had no knowledge of talks with Telecom Italia about GVT.
Reuters:U.S. stresses commitment to defend Japan in Washington talks
U.S. stresses commitment to defend Japan in Washington talks
(Reuters) - The United States on Friday stressed its commitment to the defense of Japan and stability in the Asia-Pacific region against a backdrop of increasingly assertive territorial claims by China.
After a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Secretary of State John Kerry emphasized the importance of the U.S.-Japan relationship, which both countries say remains robust in spite of a bump after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited a controversial war shrine in December.
Kerry said the United States and Japan were committed to closer security collaboration and stressed the long-standing U.S. commitment to defend Japan if it is attacked.
"I ... underscored that the United States remains as committed as ever to upholding our treaty obligations with our Japanese allies," Kerry told reporters after talks with Kishida.
Reuters:Russia calls new U.N. Syria aid-access draft a "non-starter"
Russia calls new U.N. Syria aid-access draft a "non-starter"
(Reuters) - Australia, Luxembourg and Jordan have presented to the five permanent U.N. Security Council members a draft resolution demanding full access for aid workers across Syria, which was quickly dismissed by Russia as a "non-starter."
Western diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the council's five veto powers - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - received the draft resolution on Thursday but have yet to hold substantive discussions on it.
Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin made clear on Friday Moscow dislikes the draft.
"It's a non-starter, it's very disappointing, even worse than some texts we saw a couple of months ago," Churkin told Reuters at a Russian reception at U.N. headquarters to screen the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Reuters:Man lynched in Central African Republic, court plans investigation
Man lynched in Central African Republic, court plans investigation
(Reuters) - An angry crowd killed and mutilated a man who fell from a truck filled with Muslims fleeing the capital of Central African Republic on Friday, witnesses said, while an international court said it would investigate alleged crimes committed there.
The attack was the second daylight lynching reported this week as violence rages between the majority Christian population and Muslims accused of links to Seleka, a former rebel grouping that seized power last year and ruled until January.
Members of the crowd killed the man and cut off his hands and genitals, Peter Bouckaert, emergencies coordinator at campaign group Human Rights Watch, told Reuters.
"It was easily over 10,000 people and that's an extremely conservative estimate," he said, referring to the convoy's size.
Reuters:Markets this week: BHEL, TCS top Sensex losers
Markets this week: BHEL, TCS top Sensex losers
The BSE Sensex ended down 0.7 percent in what was a slow week for Indian shares. The week began with the benchmark index sliding 1.5 percent on Monday as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to sell as part of a slump in emerging markets.
Investor sentiment remained subdued despite a survey on Monday showing that Indian factories started 2014 on a high note, with manufacturing activity growing at its fastest pace in nearly a year as domestic and overseas orders increased.
The remaining four sessions saw the Sensex ending marginally in the green. The benchmark is, however, down 3.7 percent so far this year.
ComputerWorld:Iron Mountain fire in Buenos Aires kills 9, destroys corporate records
Iron Mountain fire in Buenos Aires kills 9, destroys corporate records
Computerworld - Nine first responders were killed and seven others injured when a fire swept through Iron Mountain's business archive facility in Buenos Aires yesterday. The firefighters were killed or injured when a wall collapsed during the blaze.
According to an Associated Press report, investigators are looking into why a fire-prevention system failed to suppress the fire. The Buenos Aires facility was equipped with fire-detection and sprinkler systems, according to a statement by Iron Mountain.
The facility only held paper records, unlike many other of the company's archives, which stores digital records in data centers, according to Iron Mountain spokesman Christian Potts. "We don't yet know the cause of the fire in Argentina," Potts said.
The fire yesterday is not a first for the company, which operates archives in 30 countries for storing digital and paper documents, film and other artifacts for both businesses and governments.