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.
Editorial Note:Some of the times on these OND Items are a tad stale but the stories seem to be ignored by US based News Agencies
BBC:Merkel not ruling out EU treaty change after Cameron talks
Merkel not ruling out EU treaty change after Cameron talks
Angela Merkel has said she does not rule out future treaty changes in Europe and will be a "constructive partner" to the UK in getting reforms.
After talks with David Cameron, the German leader said her "clear-cut" view was that the UK should stay in the EU.
While there was already "common ground" across many areas, she said progress on welfare would be "more protracted".
The British prime minister said there was no "magic" solution to reform but "where there's a will there's a way".
BBC:Silk Road drug website founder Ross Ulbricht jailed
Silk Road drug website founder Ross Ulbricht jailed
The founder of online illegal drug marketplace "The Silk Road", Ross Ulbricht, has been sentenced to life in prison.
Prosecutors say that his dark web site sold more than $200m (£131m) worth of drugs anonymously.
He was found guilty of charges including conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering and computer hacking.
The site was shut down in 2013 after police arrested Ulbricht.
BBC:Buhari promises change for Nigeria
Buhari promises change for Nigeria
Muhammadu Buhari has been sworn in as Nigeria's president, promising to bring "increased prosperity" to Africa's most populous country.
He is the first opposition figure to win a presidential election in Nigeria since independence in 1960.
"I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody", he told cheering crowds at the inauguration in the capital, Abuja.
He vowed to tackle "head on" the issues of corruption and the insurgency from militant Islamist group Boko Haram.
BBC:Islamic State militants in Libya 'seize Sirte airport'
Islamic State militants in Libya 'seize Sirte airport'
Islamic State militants in Libya say they have seized the airport in the city of Sirte, as the group continues to make advances in the country.
The news was announced by the group and by a Libyan militia that withdrew from the coastal city's airport on Thursday.
Most of Sirte, former leader Muammar Gaddafi's hometown, fell to IS last week.
In a statement, the group said it had also seized the Great Man Made River water project.
BBC:US removes Cuba from list of state sponsors of terror
US removes Cuba from list of state sponsors of terror
The United States has removed Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The move eliminates a major obstacle toward restoring diplomatic ties.
The change allows Cuba to conduct banking in the United States, among other activities.
President Barack Obama announced a historic thaw with Cuba in December, but the US trade embargo against the country remains, and may only be ended by Congress.
BBC:Japan volcano: Mount Shindake erupts, forcing evacuation
Japan volcano: Mount Shindake erupts, forcing evacuation
A volcano has erupted on an island in Japan, spewing black clouds of ash up to 9km (5.6 miles) into the sky and forcing the evacuation of inhabitants.
One person was reported to have suffered minor facial burns from falling debris as Mount Shindake erupted on Friday morning.
Most of the 137 residents of Kuchinoerabu island were evacuated by boat.
One spoke of how the sky turned dark as the volcano erupted.
Reuters:EU, Japan say wary of unilateral actions in South China Sea
EU, Japan say wary of unilateral actions in South China Sea
The European Union and Japan are concerned about unilateral actions that change the status quo in the South China Sea, a joint statement said on Friday, with China's reclamation in disputed waters stoking regional tensions.
"We continue to observe the situation in the East and South China Sea and are concerned by any unilateral actions that change the status quo and increase tensions," said the statement issued after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk and other EU leaders.
"We urge all parties ... to refrain from unilateral actions, including the threat or use of force and coercion," it said.
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The remark comes after the United States publicly highlighted Chinese island-building in the disputed Spratly islands several times in recent weeks.
Reuters:U.S. tried Stuxnet-style campaign against North Korea but failed - sources
U.S. tried Stuxnet-style campaign against North Korea but failed - sources
The United States tried to deploy a version of the Stuxnet computer virus to attack North Korea's nuclear weapons program five years ago but ultimately failed, according to people familiar with the covert campaign.
The operation began in tandem with the now-famous Stuxnet attack that sabotaged Iran's nuclear program in 2009 and 2010 by destroying a thousand or more centrifuges that were enriching uranium. Reuters and others have reported that the Iran attack was a joint effort by U.S. and Israeli forces.
According to one U.S. intelligence source, Stuxnet's developers produced a related virus that would be activated when it encountered Korean-language settings on an infected machine.
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But U.S. agents could not access the core machines that ran Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, said another source, a former high-ranking intelligence official who was briefed on the program.
Reuters:Mexican president misrepresented personal land deal, records show
Mexican president misrepresented personal land deal, records show
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto misrepresented to authorities the circumstances under which he acquired one of his properties, public documents reviewed by Reuters show, a discrepancy that could add to a controversy surrounding his personal finances.
According to an official asset declaration first made in 2013, Pena Nieto stated that he acquired the property through a "donation" or gift from his father. Pena Nieto, who made his asset declaration public in 2013 as part of a transparency and accountability push, has since updated and ratified this declaration twice.
Under a public information request, Reuters reviewed documents showing that Pena Nieto actually purchased the property in question - a 1,000 square meter piece of land in the town of Valle de Bravo - in 1988 from a third party. He paid 11.2 million pesos, equivalent to about $5,000 at the time, the registry shows. His wealth declaration lists the property as being valued at just 11,200 "old" pesos, the equivalent to about $5 at the time.
Reuters was unable to determine why Pena Nieto's declaration mischaracterized the purchase as a gift and understated the price. The declaration lists eight other real estate properties, five of which are also listed as donations. Reuters could not determine if those five properties, which include houses and land, are accurately characterized.
Reuters:U.S. economy contracts in first quarter; dollar hurts corporate profits
U.S. economy contracts in first quarter; dollar hurts corporate profits
The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter as it buckled under the weight of unusually heavy snowfalls, a resurgent dollar and disruptions at West Coast ports, but activity already has rebounded modestly.
The government on Friday slashed its gross domestic product estimate to show GDP shrinking at a 0.7 percent annual rate instead of the 0.2 percent growth pace it estimated last month.
A larger trade deficit and a smaller accumulation of inventories by businesses than previously thought accounted for much of the downward revision. There was also a modest downward revision to consumer spending.
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With growth estimates for the second quarter currently around 2 percent, the economy appears poised for its worst first-half performance since 2011. The economy's recovery from the 2007-2009 financial crisis has been erratic.
Reuters:U.S. says China has placed mobile artillery on reclaimed island
U.S. says China has placed mobile artillery on reclaimed island
The United States said on Friday that China had placed mobile artillery weapons systems on a reclaimed island in the disputed South China Sea, a development that Republican Sen. John McCain called "disturbing and escalatory."
Brent Colburn, a Pentagon spokesman traveling with Defense Secretary Ash Carter, said the United States was aware of the weapons.
McCain, chairman of the Senate's Armed Services Committee, said the move would escalate tensions but not lead to conflict.
Reuters:Hollande, Merkel call for rapid implementation of Minsk agreement
Hollande, Merkel call for rapid implementation of Minsk agreement
French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to rapidly implement measures agreed under the Feb.12 Minsk ceasefire, Hollande's office said in a statement.
Hollande said he and Merkel had spoken on the phone with Putin early on Friday afternoon and told him they want to see concrete results from four working groups that were set up on May 6 to deal with political, security, economic and humanitarian issues.
The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin expressed concern in the call over "increasingly frequent shelling by Ukrainian forces of civilian objects that have led to civilian casualties." It added the leaders exchanged views on potential additional measures that could shore up the fragile ceasefire.
Kremlin spokesman also said the three discussed a schedule for further expert-level meetings aimed at helping to implement the Minsk agreements
LA Times:Lung cancer therapy is 'milestone'
Lung cancer therapy is 'milestone'
A lung cancer therapy can more than double life expectancy in some patients, a "milestone" trial shows.
Nivolumab stops cancerous cells hiding from the body's own defences, leaving the cancer vulnerable to attack.
The results from 582 people, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, were described as "giving real hope to patients".
Lung cancer is the most deadly type of cancer, killing nearly 1.6 million people every year.
