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, Doctor RJ 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 editor is annetteboardman.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
BBC:Pope Francis hints at 'brief' papacy
Pope Francis hints at 'brief' papacy
Pope Francis has suggested he may resign his papacy like his predecessor, rather than remain at the Vatican for life.
The pontiff made the comments during a interview with Mexican television, marking the second anniversary of his election.
"I have the feeling that my pontificate will be brief. Four or five years; I do not know, even two or three," he said.
He praised Pope Benedict's decision to step aside in 2013 as "courageous".
BBC:Brazil: Thousands back Dilma Rousseff over Petrobras
Brazil: Thousands back Dilma Rousseff over Petrobras
Thousands of government supporters across Brazil have been taking part in marches to show their backing for President Dilma Rousseff.
The opposition has called for Ms Rousseff's impeachment over a a huge corruption scandal in the state-owned oil company, Petrobras.
Most of the politicians accused of taking bribes are from Brazil's governing coalition.
Anti-government marches are expected to take place on Sunday.
BBC:Boko Haram unrest: South Africa concern at Nigeria 'mercenaries'
Boko Haram unrest: South Africa concern at Nigeria 'mercenaries'
The South African government is concerned its nationals may be working as mercenaries in Nigeria in the war against the Boko Haram militant group.
Nigerian government spokesman Mike Omeri told the BBC that foreigners were just training troops in the use of new weapons.
Nigeria has recently bought helicopter gunships and tanks from South Africa and former Soviet Union countries.
But the South African government says the men may be involved in fighting.
BBC:Narendra Modi: India and Sri Lanka must be good neighbours
Narendra Modi: India and Sri Lanka must be good neighbours
Narendra Modi has urged Sri Lanka and India to act like good neighbours, during the first official visit to Colombo by an Indian PM for 28 years.
He promised that his neighbours would benefit from India's status as "the new frontier of economic opportunity".
Analysts say Mr Modi is attempting to counter the increasing influence of China on its island neighbour.
India's failed effort to broker a peace deal in Sri Lanka's civil war in the 1980s helped to sour relations.
BBC:Maldives ex-leader Mohammed Nasheed jailed for 13 years
Maldives ex-leader Mohammed Nasheed jailed for 13 years
A former president of the Maldives has been sentenced to 13 years in prison after he was found guilty of ordering the arrest of a judge while in office.
Mohamed Nasheed was cleared of the charges last month, but was re-arrested and charged under anti-terrorism laws.
His lawyers quit during the second trial, which they said was biased and intended to end his political career.
Hundreds of supporters have been protesting on a regular basis since Mr Nasheed's arrest last month.
BBC:Egypt unveils plans to build new capital east of Cairo
Egypt unveils plans to build new capital east of Cairo
The Egyptian government has announced plans to build a new capital to the east of the present one, Cairo.
Housing Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the project would cost $45bn (£30bn) and take five to seven years to complete.
He said the aim was to ease congestion and overpopulation in Cairo over the next 40 years.
The announcement was made at an investment conference that aims to revive the Egyptian economy.
Reuters:Japan, France sign defense pact to spur cooperation, joint development
Japan, France sign defense pact to spur cooperation, joint development
(Reuters) - Japan and France signed a deal on military equipment and technology transfers on Friday, in a move to drive cooperation and joint development of defense gear, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe strengthens security ties with major powers.
Japan, at odds with China on territorial and other issues, has reached similar deals with Britain and Australia over the past two years, while ending a ban on its military fighting abroad and easing restrictions on weapons exports.
The agreement encourages bilateral defense cooperation by ensuring that transferred technology and equipment will not be provided to a third country without the consent of the country of origin.
"I think we've managed to bring our bilateral security and defense cooperation one step forward ... It is a major achievement that we've agreed on specific plans of cooperation," Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said.
Reuters:Brazil arrests former Italian guerrilla pending deportation
Brazil arrests former Italian guerrilla pending deportation
(Reuters) - Brazilian police arrested on Thursday an Italian former leftist guerrilla wanted for murder in his country, but released him hours later after an injunction suspended his deportation.
Cesare Battisti faces life imprisonment in Italy for four murder convictions. He has denied involvement in the murders.
He was granted asylum in Brazil by the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who refused an Italian extradition request in 2010, a decision that upset relations between the two countries.
Last week, a lower court judge in Brasilia annulled Battisti's visa and ordered that he be deported, ruling that he should not have been given residence in Brazil because he was a convicted criminal in his country.
Reuters:Human rights concerns limit U.S. intelligence, military aid to Nigeria
Human rights concerns limit U.S. intelligence, military aid to Nigeria
(Reuters) - The United States is limiting its intelligence and military aid to Nigeria during Boko Haram's deadly insurgency due to concerns over the country's human rights record, U.S. officials say.
Boko Haram has killed thousands of people in northeastern Nigeria in its six-year insurgency and has also pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, which has created a self-declared caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria.
Africa's second-biggest economy and top oil exporter is growing as an investment destination. But reports of violence and corruption by authorities have tarnished its image.
The United States has shied away from providing Nigeria with real-time information for targeting Boko Haram militants, a U.S. government official said, partly in fear that the Nigerians will use the information to target the wrong people.
Reuters:EU considers foreign camps to handle asylum seekers
EU considers foreign camps to handle asylum seekers
(Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers will on Monday consider helping set up camps in the Middle East and Africa where people can request asylum on site without having to risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe, officials said.
At least 3,500 people, many of them fleeing poverty and fighting, died trying to make the journey in 2014, according to the United Nations. Data suggest the number trying to reach the most common destination, Italy, is rising sharply.
The Italian coast guard said on Friday it had coordinated the rescue of 153 migrants who were being taken to Sicily aboard a Danish merchant ship after their rafts ran into trouble around 30 miles from the coast of Libya.
"The idea is to establish camps in Africa, on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea, that would deal with the requests of asylum seekers," Italian Home Affairs Minister Angelino Alfano told reporters in Brussels.
Reuters:Cameroon says treats Boko Haram suspects humanely despite prison deaths
Cameroon says treats Boko Haram suspects humanely despite prison deaths
(Reuters) - Cameroon is treating hundreds of suspected Boko Haram militants in its prisons humanely despite the death of 25 in a prison cell last December, a government minister said on Friday, rejecting a rights group report that accused the army of abuses.
Information Minister Issa Tchiroma said several of the Boko Haram suspects were arrested with arms in their possession, while others were caught with mobile phone videos in which they were filmed slitting the throats of their victims.
The Boko Haram suspects "were not summarily executed. They will be tried according to the laws of the land," Tchiroma, who is also government spokesman, told a news conference.
He rejected a January report by the regional human rights organization REDHAC that accused the army of rights abuses in the northern region where it was battling Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist sect.
Reuters:Russia rejects U.S. concerns over Vietnam base role in bomber flights
Russia rejects U.S. concerns over Vietnam base role in bomber flights
(Reuters) - Russia on Friday rejected U.S. concerns about its use of a former American base in Vietnam for the refueling of Russian bomber flights around U.S. territory in the Pacific, dismissing recent U.S. statements as "puzzling" and "strange".
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the United States had asked Vietnam to stop letting Russia use Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay for tanker aircraft that have refueled nuclear-capable bombers engaged in shows of strength over the Asia-Pacific region.
“It is strange to hear such statements from representatives of the state whose armed forces are permanently stationed in a number of Asia-Pacific countries and which continues to increase its level of military activity in the region," Russia's Defense Ministry said.
It said U.S. statements that the refueling of Russian bombers from Vietnam could lead to increased regional tensions was "puzzling."
LA Times:Autonomous Car Prepares for 3,500-Mile US Road Trip
Autonomous Car Prepares for 3,500-Mile US Road Trip
Call it a preview of the cross-country road trip of the future.
An autonomous car developed by Michigan-based auto supplier Delphi Automotive will soon be making a 3,500-mile journey across the U.S. A person will sit behind the wheel at all times but won't touch it unless there's a situation the car can't handle. The car will mainly stick to highways.
Companies both inside and outside the auto industry are experimenting with technologies that take more and more responsibilities away from the driver — right up to the act of actually driving the car. Most experts say a true driverless vehicle is at least a decade away.
Delphi plans to show off one of several versions of the car — an Audi Q5 crossover outfitted with laser sensors, radar and multiple cameras — on Saturday at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. The official car will start its journey March 22 in San Francisco and arrive in New York a little more than a week later.