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.
The OND concept was borne under the keen keyboard of Magnifico - proper respect is due.
Current Contributers are ScottyUrb, Bentliberal, wader,Oke, rfall, JML9999 and Neon Vincent.
BBC:Morocco's King Mohammed unveils constitutional reforms
Morocco's King Mohammed unveils constitutional reforms
Morocco's King Mohammed VI has announced proposals for constitutional amendments in a landmark speech.
The king said the measures would entrench democratic institutions and protect rights, though he confirmed that he will retain some key powers.
The reforms would give the prime minister and parliament more executive authority and make Berber an official language in Morocco, alongside Arabic.
The proposals will be put to a referendum on 1 July.
BBC:Syria unrest: Deadly fresh protests erupt
Syria unrest: Deadly fresh protests erupt
Fresh demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad's regime have erupted across Syria, with reports of at least 18 people killed by security forces.
The worst violence was reported in Homs, while activists said Aleppo had seen its first protester death.
Official media played down the size of the unrest, but said a number of policemen had been shot and one killed.
Earlier, the Syrian army moved into two northern towns as it sought to end months of anti-government protests.
BBC:Libya unrest: Government says in talks with rebels
Libya unrest: Government says in talks with rebels
Libya's prime minister has said his government has been in talks with the rebels fighters, despite denials from the rebels themselves.
Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi called for new negotiations between the government and rebel leaders to resolve the conflict.
He also accused Nato of crimes against humanity in its attacks on Libya.
Earlier, Libyan rebels said that 10 civilians had been killed and 40 wounded in a rocket attack by Col Gaddafi's forces on Misrata.
BBC:Greece: Merkel and Sarkozy urge bail-out
Greece: Merkel and Sarkozy urge bail-out
The leaders of Germany and France have said that they want a new rescue package for debt-laden Greece to be agreed as soon as possible.
Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy were speaking after Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou announced a cabinet reshuffle.
The changes include a new finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos.
Mr Papandreou wants to impose political stability as Greece awaits approval for the next tranche of bail-out money.
BBC:Saudi Arabia women drive cars in protest at ban
Saudi Arabia women drive cars in protest at ban
Women in Saudi Arabia have been openly driving cars in defiance of an official ban on female drivers in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
The direct action has been organised on social network sites, where women have been posting images and videos of themselves behind the wheel.
The Women2Drive Facebook page said the direct action would continue until a royal decree reversed the ban.
Last month, a woman was arrested after uploading a video of herself driving.
BBC:Chinese officials stole $120 billion, fled mainly to US
Chinese officials stole $120 billion, fled mainly to US
Thousands of corrupt Chinese government officials have stolen more than $120bn (£74bn) and fled overseas, mainly to the US, according to a report released by China's central bank.
Between 16,000 and 18,000 officials and employees of state-owned companies left China with the funds from the mid-1990s up until 2008.
The officials used offshore bank accounts to smuggle the funds, according to the study posted on the People's Bank of China website this week but which has since been removed.
It said the officials smuggled about 800 billion yuan into the US, Australia, Canada and Holland through offshore bank accounts or investments, like property or collectables.
Reuters:Pakistan "concerned" by NATO incursion near border
Pakistan "concerned" by NATO incursion near border
(Reuters) - Pakistan said Friday NATO aircraft attacked one of its military posts in the northwest near the Afghan border and it had expressed its serious concern to the U.S. embassy in Islamabad.
The incident in the Mohmand tribal region comes after relations between the United States and its ally hit a new low following the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. SEALS in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad in May.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said NATO aircraft intruded around 2.5 km (1.5 miles) inside Pakistani territory and attacked a military post.
Its statement said Pakistan had conveyed its "serious concern" to the U.S. embassy.
Reuters:IMF cuts U.S. growth forecast, warns of crisis
IMF cuts U.S. growth forecast, warns of crisis
(Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for U.S. economic growth on Friday and warned Washington and debt-ridden European countries that they are "playing with fire" unless they take immediate steps to reduce their budget deficits.
The IMF, in its regular assessment of global economic prospects, said bigger threats to growth had emerged since its previous report in April, citing the euro zone debt crisis and signs of overheating in emerging market economies.
The Washington-based global lender forecast that U.S. gross domestic product would grow a tepid 2.5 percent this year and 2.7 percent in 2012. In its forecast just two months ago, it had expected 2.8 percent and 2.9 percent growth, respectively.
With regard to the global economy overall, the IMF struck a measured tone, saying the slowdown of recent months should be "temporary." It trimmed its forecast for global growth this year only slightly, to 4.3 percent from 4.4 percent, and maintained its estimate for robust Chinese growth of 9.6 percent despite recent signs of a slowdown there.
Reuters:Japan plant starts clean-up of radioactive water
Japan plant starts clean-up of radioactive water
(Reuters) - The operator of Japan's crisis-hit nuclear power plant said it started an operation to clean up radioactive water later Friday, after several glitches that delayed the plan.
Large and growing pools of radioactive water were in danger of spilling into the sea within a week unless the plan got under way, officials had said earlier this week.
Tokyo Electric Power Co, known as Tepco, has pumped massive amounts of water to cool three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant that went into meltdown after a March 11 earthquake and tsunami disabled cooling systems.
But managing the radioactive water has become a major headache as the plant runs out of places to keep it. Around 110,000 tonnes of highly radioactive water -- enough to fill 40 Olympic-size swimming pools -- is stored at the plant.
Reuters:U.N. sees "unique opportunity" for global atom safety
U.N. sees "unique opportunity" for global atom safety
(Reuters) - Nuclear power plants should be designed and located so that they can withstand rare and "complex combinations" of external threats, U.N. experts said in a report drawing wider lessons from Japan's atomic crisis.
Japan's nuclear accident has created a "unique opportunity" to seek to learn and improve safety worldwide, an 18-member team from the International Atomic Energy Agency said in the report that marked the first outside review of the Fukushima disaster.
The 160-page document, obtained by Reuters on Friday, was prepared for a major international meeting next week that will launch a push to strengthen reactor standards in the face of mounting public concern about the risks posed by nuclear safety.
A three-page summary was issued at the end of the team's review mission to Japan earlier this month, saying the country underestimated the threat from a killer wave to the Fukushima plant and urging sweeping changes to its regulatory system.
Reuters:Greek PM dumps finance chief to try to survive
Greek PM dumps finance chief to try to survive
(Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou dumped his finance minister on Friday in a reshuffle meant to stiffen resolve for harsh economic reforms and avoid a default that could cause global economic turmoil.
Papandreou picked the outgoing defense minister, Evangelos Venizelos, as the new finance chief, jettisoning George Papaconstantinou, architect of a belt-tightening program that has stoked violent unrest and a revolt in his Socialist Party.
The move seemed likely to buy time for the prime minister, but analysts said it could also weaken the austerity drive after Venizelos said he would try to reach an agreement with Greece's bailout lenders to let it soften the deeply painful reforms.
The European Union and International Monetary Fund have made a new bailout for Greece, estimated at 120 billion euros, conditional on Papandreou's five-year package of cuts and tax hikes worth 28 billion euros ($39.59 billion).
Reuters:Nuclear retreat to add 30 percent to CO2 growth: IEA
Nuclear retreat to add 30 percent to CO2 growth: IEA
(Reuters) - A halving of a global nuclear power expansion after Japan's Fukushima disaster would increase global growth in carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent through 2035, the IEA said on Wednesday.
The International Energy Agency warned last month that a political goal to limit climate change to safer levels was barely achievable after global emissions rose by near 6 percent in 2010.
Governments agreed last year to limit warming to less than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, but the world was poised to surpass that level of carbon emissions, said the energy adviser to 28 industrialized economies.
A halving of nuclear power growth would make the task even more difficult, said IEA chief economist Fatih Birol.
Seattle Times:Computer woes interrupt United Airlines service, passengers stranded
Computer woes interrupt United Airlines service, passengers stranded
A computer outage is interrupting United Airlines' flight departures, airport processing and reservations systems nationwide, leaving many passengers stranded Friday.
Charles Hobart for United Airlines said in an email that the outage occurred at 5:15 p.m. Friday (PDT).
"Our technology team is working to resolve the issue as soon as possible," Hobart said in the email. "We apologize for the disruption being caused to travelers at affected airports and we are seeking to resume operations as quickly as possible."
He said no other information was available.
Only two flights are being affected at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, said airport spokesman Perry Cooper. Cooper noted that United is not one of the airport's major carriers.