The Overnight News Digest is nightly series dedicated to chronicling the day's news of import or interest. Everyone is welcome to add their own news items in the comments. Tonight's quick fill-in OND collects some news from around the world.
Top Story
- NYT - Exodus of Syrians Highlights Political Failure of the West
Arresting images of desperation on the West’s doorstep have brought Syria, for the moment, back to worldwide attention: refugees cramming into train stations and climbing border fences; drowned Syrian toddlers washing up on beaches, a girl in polka dots, a boy in tiny shoes.
It was never any secret that a rising tide of Syrian refugees would sooner or later burst the seams of the Middle East and head for Europe. Yet little was done in Western capitals to stop or mitigate the slow-motion disaster that was befalling Syrian civilians.
“The migrant crisis in Europe is essentially self-inflicted,” said Lina Khatib, a research associate at the University of London and until recently the head of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. “Had European countries sought serious solutions to political conflicts like the one in Syria, and dedicated enough time and resources to humanitarian assistance abroad, Europe would not be in this position today.” |
Some News
- Guardian - First refugees arrive from Hungary after Austria and Germany open borders
The first of thousands of refugees reached Austria early on Saturday morning after busloads left Hungary in a sudden exodus when the Austrian and German governments agreed to receive them.
About 1,200 people had set off westwards through Hungary early on Friday evening, on foot and in cars, while many more remained at Budapest’s Keleti railway terminus. Later, however, Hungarian authorities announced they would provide buses to take the refugees to the Austrian border. The Austrian chancellor, Werner Faymann, confirmed Austria and Germany would allow them in.
News channels and social media showed people being met by Austrian authorities at Nickelsdorf just before 3am local time as the first buses arrived. |
- CNN - Blue sky vanishes immediately after Beijing's massive parade
Less than 24 hours after the end of China's massive military parade, Beijing is back to its usual smoggy self.
Residents woke up Friday morning to find the crystal blue skies that graced the city nearly two weeks suddenly gone -- in their place, the familiar sight and smell of dour gray pollution clouds.
Starting late August, Beijing enjoyed a rare string of continuously clear days as authorities took drastic action to ensure an azure backdrop for the largest parade it's ever held -- a showcase marking the 70th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II.
Hundreds of factories were shut during this time, while half of Beijing's five million registered cars were banned from the streets. |
- Guardian - Men tell Polish TV they have 'irrefutable proof' Nazi gold train exists
Two men who claim to have discovered an armoured Nazi-era train laden with gold and valuables in Poland say they have irrefutable proof of its existence.
Andreas Richter and Piotr Koper told Polish news channel TVP 2 on Friday they had clear evidence of having solved the 70-year mystery near the town of Wałbrzych, where tales of a gold train hidden by the retreating Germans had circulated since the end of the second world war.
Reading a statement, Koper said: “As the finders of a second world war armoured train, we, Andreas Richter and Piotr Koper, declare that we have legally informed state authorities about the find and have precisely indicated the location in the presence of Wałbrzych authorities and the police.” |
- NYT - Obama and Saudi King Sidestep Dispute Over Iran Nuclear Deal
President Obama and King Salman of Saudi Arabia moved to put their differences behind them on Friday in a long-delayed White House meeting amid months of tension over the nuclear agreement with Iran and a continuing schism over the way forward in Syria.
King Salman, who refused Mr. Obama’s invitation to a regional summit meeting at Camp David in May in light of the discord over the Iran deal, arrived at the White House ready to accept the agreement and press ahead on other issues. In a show of respect, Mr. Obama greeted the monarch at the entrance of the West Wing and escorted him inside with a friendly hand on the back.
In public comments opening their sessions in the Oval Office, neither leader directly addressed the rift over Iran or acknowledged their disagreements over Syria and Yemen. But they later issued a joint statement saying that the king supported the agreement with Iran and vowing to bolster mutual efforts to combat the Islamic State, Al Qaeda and other radical groups in the Middle East. |
- AP - Iraq's Top Cleric Demands Real Steps in Fighting Corruption
Iraq's top Shiite cleric said on Friday the government must start hunting the "big heads" as part of its anti-corruption drive, calling for "convincing and assuring steps" as proof of the government's seriousness in implementing its highly-touted reform plan.
Last month, Iraq's Shiite-led government announced a package of reforms following large rallies in Baghdad and other provinces protesting endemic corruption, sectarian politics and shabby basic services. Graft is widely believed to be rampant in Iraq, and estimates based on findings from an anti-corruption commission and government reports show hundreds of millions of dollars have gone missing in the 12 years since Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled…
"One of the essential steps for reform is to hunt the big heads among the corrupt and hold them accountable, to retrieve all the stolen money," Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said in remarks delivered through a representative during the Friday sermon in the revered Shiite city of Karbala. |
- BBC - Sierra Leone village in quarantine after Ebola death
Nearly 1,000 people in Sierra Leone have been put under quarantine following the death of a 67-year-old woman who tested positive for Ebola.
It comes five days into a six-week countdown for the country to be officially declared Ebola-free. The quarantine will last for three weeks, provided no new cases are recorded.
More than 11,000 people have died since the start of the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. |
- SMH - Charity founder says Afghanistan 2015 is 'as bad as 2002'
In her years trekking to and from Afghanistan, with her small but helpful bags of money raised from Australian donors, Mahboba Rawi has always found reason for hope - slowly, slowly things seemed to be improving in her war-ravaged homeland.
But such was the assault on her senses on a recent visit that she immediately locked herself away for two weeks and cried tears of helplessness and despair.
"The poverty was unbelievable," she writes in a note to supporters of her charity, Mahboba's Promise. She describes exiting Kabul International Airport into the streets of the capital: "I was shocked because after 10 years there seemed to have been no improvement – the road was full of kids begging; women sitting on the roads, wearing burqas. They crowd around, 10 to 15 at each car. They run alongside, saying things like 'I haven't eaten' and 'my children haven't eaten for many days'." |
- MercoPress - China warns Delhi, “India should rethink its oil exploration plants”
The state-run China Daily has said that India's plans to conduct oil exploration off Vietnam coast in the South China Sea is “illegal and is an ”unwise move“ that may ”sabotage” positive momentum in ties.
“India's intention to once again explore for oil in the disputed waters of the South China Sea is an unwise move, as it will further complicate the maritime disputes and do a disservice to maintaining the positive momentum that has been achieved in China-India ties,” the China Daily said in an editorial.
Titled 'India should rethink its oil exploration plans', the editorial said according to reports India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation plans to restart exploration activities in the waters off Vietnam's coastline which are “also claimed by China”. |
- Times of India - Monsoon retreat begins as rain deficit grows to 13%
Even as the rainfall deficit for the season grew to 13%, the monsoon began to retreat from the country on Friday, leaving India staring at a second successive drought year.
The India Meteorological Department said the southwest monsoon had withdrawn from parts of west Rajasthan and conditions were favourable for its retreat from more areas in northwest India in the next three-four days.
"The withdrawal could extend to parts of Punjab and Haryana, and more areas of Rajasthan in the next few days," said B P Yadav, director, IMD. |
- SMH - Australian national park fee hike and asset sales mooted in leaked document
People visiting or camping in national parks in NSW face hefty increases, and staff have been told to be "proactive" in the hunt for asset sales and alternative uses of their own accommodation, according to a leaked document submitted to parliamentary estimates hearings.
Park staff are urged to help secure the "financial sustainability" of the National Parks and Wildlife Service amid "ongoing budgetary pressures … and decreasing expense allocations across future years", the deputy chief executive of the service, Michael Wright, stated in a letter dated June 29 this year.
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- AP - Anger as Guatemala Votes Amid Graft Scandals
The wave of political turmoil that toppled Guatemala's president has overshadowed Sunday's vote to elect a new leader — an election many fear could put a lid on the anti-corruption drive.
Tens of thousands who demonstrated for the ouster of President Otto Molina Perez got part of their wishes when the president resigned to face possible corruption charges in a customs fraud scheme. He was spending the weekend in a military lockup. But a second major demand wasn't met: the postponement of the election that many said offered little alternative to the old guard.
"The people are rejecting this political system, the mafia takeover of democracy. They feel like voting is simply selecting the next person who will loot the country," said Manfredo Marroquin, president of the influential civic group Citizen Action. |
- LAT - Mexico's deportations of Central American migrants are rising
Mexico is on track to catch and deport thousands more Central American migrants than the United States this year, according to a new report.
By the end of this year, Mexico is expected to have deported 70% more Central American migrants than it did in 2014, according to the report by the Migration Policy Institute, a think tank based in Washington…
Mexico has apprehended 173,000 Central American migrants in 2015, according to Mexico's National Migration Institute, the report says, compared with 110,000 in the United States, according to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. |
- Globe and Mail - Canadians want a new PM, poll suggests
The NDP is still leading the country in popular support, but the party’s high numbers in Quebec overshadow the fact it is losing momentum to the Liberal Party in the rest of Canada, a Léger poll has found.
The survey of 2,119 Canadians suggests the Liberal Party under Justin Trudeau has been growing in popular support in recent weeks, especially in the key battleground of Ontario. The province not only has the most seats, but also the largest potential for vote swings that could determine the election…
The New Democratic Party has the support of 31 per cent of respondents at the national level, ahead of the Liberals at 30 per cent and Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party at 28 per cent. However, Mr. Léger said the Liberals have picked up one point a week during the campaign, closing the gap with the NDP nationally. |
- WaPo - Cruising toward oblivion
For nearly all of the first century of automobile travel, getting your license meant liberation from parental control, a passport to the open road. Today, only half of millennials bother to get their driver’s licenses by age 18. Car culture, the 20th-century engine of the American Dream, is an old guy’s game.
“The automobile just isn’t that important to people’s lives anymore,” says Mike Berger, a historian who studies the social effect of the car. “The automobile provided the means for teenagers to live their own lives. Social media blows any limits out of the water. You don’t need the car to go find friends.”
Much of the emotional meaning of the car, especially to young adults, has transferred to the smartphone, says Mark Lizewskie, executive director of the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum in Hershey, Pa. |
- Seattle Times - Washington State Supreme Court: Charter schools are unconstitutional
After nearly a year of deliberation, the state Supreme Court ruled 6-3 late Friday afternoon that charter schools are unconstitutional, creating chaos for hundreds of families whose children have already started classes.
The ruling — believed to be one of the first of its kind in the country — overturns the law voters narrowly approved in 2012 allowing publicly funded, but privately operated, schools…
It was not immediately known what would happen with the schools that are already running. The parties have 20 days to ask the court for reconsideration before the ruling becomes final. |
- Star Tribune - Garrison Keillor takes a State Fair curtain call
He’s announced his retirement for next summer. He just completed a 30-city farewell tour. But was Friday night at the Minnesota State Fair, Garrison Keillor’s last time at the grandstand with “A Prairie Home Companion”?
He didn’t really address the issue specifically or if “Prairie Home” might visit the fair next year with new host Chris Thile. But Keillor dropped enough hints Friday that the end is in sight.
During his “News from Lake Wobegon” monologue, he said at one point, that “I’m talking like an old man now, I realize that.” |