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 Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, rfall, and JML9999. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Interceptor7, BentLiberal, Oke and jlms qkw. The guest editors are Doctor RJ and annetteboardman.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
BBC:Argentine vice-president Boudou summoned in corruption case
Argentine vice-president Boudou summoned in corruption case
A judge in Argentina has summoned Vice-President Amado Boudou to appear in court in July to defend himself in a corruption case.
Mr Boudou is suspected of using his influence to ensure that a contract to print Argentina's banknotes was awarded to a company he allegedly controlled.
He was once seen as a possible successor of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
Mr Boudou denies wrongdoing. The opposition has called on him to resign.
BBC:Brazil economy in slowdown ahead of World Cup
Brazil economy in slowdown ahead of World Cup
Brazil's economy grew 0.2% in the first three months of 2014, official statistics show.
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics also revised down economic growth in the last three months of 2013, to 0.4%.
The sluggish growth figures come just before the start of the World Cup and presidential elections in October.
President Dilma Rousseff, who is seeking re-election, has said the football event will spur growth.
BBC:Malawi election: Peter Mutharika wins presidential vote
Malawi election: Peter Mutharika wins presidential vote
Opposition candidate Peter Mutharika has been declared the winner of Malawi's disputed presidential election.
The leader of the Democratic Progressive Party obtained 36.4% of the vote, the electoral commission announced.
A protester died earlier after police dispersed an angry crowd demanding a recount of last week's ballot.
Outgoing president Joyce Banda has alleged the vote was rigged.
BBC:Syria conflict: US citizen carried out suicide attack
Syria conflict: US citizen carried out suicide attack
A US citizen carried out a suicide bombing against Syrian troops on Sunday, the US state department says.
The rebel al-Nusra Front said the man conducted the bombing on their behalf. It was one of four attacks carried out in the northern city of Idlib that day.
It is thought to be the first suicide attack by a US citizen in the conflict.
More than 100,000 people have been killed in the battle between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule.
BBC:US House approves new medical marijuana legislation
US House approves new medical marijuana legislation
The US House of Representatives has passed legislation blocking the Department of Justice from interfering with state laws permitting medical marijuana use.
Republicans and Democrats banded together in the 219-189 vote in a surprising show of bipartisan support.
The provision does not address the use of marijuana for recreational purposes.
Nearly half the 50 US states have legalised medical marijuana, including for use by cancer patients.
BBC:Thailand elections not for a year, says coup leader
Thailand elections not for a year, says coup leader
The leader of Thailand's military coup has said elections will not be held for more than a year, to allow time for political reconciliation and reform.
In a televised address, Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha called on all sides to co-operate and stop protesting.
He repeated warnings against any resistance to the military.
The Thai army seized power on 22 May, and detained senior politicians for several days saying stability had to be restored after months of unrest.
Reuters:U.S. bond market faces possible reckoning
U.S. bond market faces possible reckoning
(Reuters) - The rally in U.S. Treasury bonds surprised many, taking 10-year yields to their lowest levels in 11 months. Jobs data and the European Central Bank meeting next week will determine whether bond prices have further to go.
The bond market's rally is the result of a confluence of factors - falling yields in Europe, extra demand from pension funds, concerns among investors about long-term economic demand and technical factors, including short-covering from those who thought bond yields were headed higher.
Prices have jumped, pushing the yield on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries Thursday to 2.422 percent, the lowest since last June, despite the U.S. Federal Reserve's easing back on its bond-buying stimulus program.
Investors aren't convinced that the Fed is cutting stimulus because of an impending surge in growth. Instead, they're more worried about weak economic indicators and a lack of inflation, which could change in the case of a strong jobs report or data showing price gains.
Reuters:U.S. investigating Icahn, Mickelson in insider trading probe: source
U.S. investigating Icahn, Mickelson in insider trading probe: source
(Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating possible insider trading involving billionaire investor Carl Icahn, golfer Phil Mickelson and Las Vegas gambler William Walters, a source familiar with the matter said.
Federal investigators are looking into whether Mickelson and Walters may have traded illegally on private information provided by Icahn about his investments in public corporations, the source told Reuters, confirming a report by the Wall Street Journal on Friday.
Icahn, Mickelson and Walters were not immediately available for comment.
The investigation centers on suspicious trades in Clorox Co (CLX.N) options days before Icahn announced a bid to acquire the company in 2011, according to the Journal, citing people briefed on the probe.
Reuters:Egypt's Sabahi contests presidential elections results
Egypt's Sabahi contests presidential elections results
(Reuters) - The defeated candidate in Egypt's presidential election, Hamdeen Sabahi, appealed on Friday against results that gave former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi victory, saying election rules had been broken.
Leftist politician Sabahi won 3 percent of votes in the election against more than 93 percent of votes cast for Sisi, judicial sources said. Official results have yet to be announced.
The election took place against the background of a crackdown against supporters of Mohamed Mursi, deposed as president by the army last July, which has seen his Muslim Brotherhood outlawed, hundreds killed and thousands arrested.
On Thursday, Sabahi conceded defeat but said the official turnout figures was too high and were "an insult to the intelligence of Egyptians".
Reuters:Japan’s Abe lauds benefits of casinos during Singapore trip
Japan’s Abe lauds benefits of casinos during Singapore trip
(Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said casino resorts could become a pillar of his country's future economic growth as he toured Singapore's two lavish gaming venues on Friday.
Abe, who until now has remained silent on the issue of casinos, gave a strong endorsement to legislation that would legalize casino gambling in Japan.
"I think integrated resorts will be a key part of Japan's economic growth strategy," he was quoted by Japanese media as saying.
Reuters:In dig at China, Japan PM says supports SE Asia on freedom of sea, air
In dig at China, Japan PM says supports SE Asia on freedom of sea, air
(Reuters) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, pushing for a greater role for Japan in regional security, said on Friday that Tokyo would offer its "utmost support" to Southeast Asian countries, several of which are locked in maritime disputes with its arch-rival China.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, rejecting rival claims to parts of it from Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei in one of Asia's most intractable disputes and a possible flashpoint.
Beijing also has a separate maritime dispute with Japan over islands in the East China Sea.
Abe, in his keynote address on Friday at the Shangri-La Dialogue for security officials and experts from the Asia-Pacific, also stressed the need for countries to respect international law - often code for criticising China's assertive military stance.
Reuters:NATO says bulk of Russian troops pulling back from Ukraine border
NATO says bulk of Russian troops pulling back from Ukraine border
(Reuters) - Russia is in the process of pulling back around two-thirds of the troops it had close to the border with Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Friday, a far more significant withdrawal than NATO has previously estimated.
Rasmussen also announced that ambassadors from Russia and NATO countries would meet in Brussels on Monday for the first time since March 5, soon after Moscow provoked the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War by seizing Ukraine's Crimea region.
Taken together, the two announcements could point to a slight easing of tensions between the Western military alliance and Russia over Moscow's annexation of Crimea and what NATO sees as Russian interference in eastern Ukraine.
NATO suspended all practical cooperation with Russia in April to protest its annexation of Crimea, but left the door open to contacts at ambassadorial level or higher in order to allow the two sides to discuss ways out of the crisis.
Reuters:SpaceX unveils sleek spaceship to fly U.S. astronauts
SpaceX unveils sleek spaceship to fly U.S. astronauts
(Reuters) - Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, on Thursday unveiled an upgraded passenger version of the Dragon cargo ship NASA buys for resupply runs to the International Space Station.
Rather than parachuting down into the ocean, the new capsule is outfitted with beefed up motors and landing legs to make precision touchdowns on land, said SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk, a billionaire technology entrepreneur who also runs the Tesla Motors Inc electric car company.
"You'll be able to land anywhere on Earth with the accuracy of a helicopter ... That is how a 21st century spaceship should land," Musk said before a jam-packed audience at SpaceX's Hawthorne, Calif., headquarters.
More than 32,500 people also watched the Dragon unveiling on a live SpaceX webcast.