Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, annetteboardman, jck, Rise above the swamp, and Besame. Alumni editors include (but are not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), ScottyUrb, Interceptor 7, Neon Vincent, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular 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 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
I am still jetlagged after getting back on Monday (thanks to Besame for taking care of the diary for me), so this will be a bit short. It isn’t because of a lack of news. It is because I fell asleep over the keyboard as I was working on this!
We begin with news from NPR:
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — It all began 20 years ago, when China loaned Sri Lanka more than $1 billion to build a fancy new port — what would become its second-largest — on its southern coast.
The Hambantota port, with its strategic location near busy Indian Ocean shipping routes, was touted as good for Sri Lankan commerce. But it wasn't profitable, and the government defaulted on those Chinese loans.
From CNBC:
Key Points
- China issued its first drought emergency this year as scorching temperatures dry up areas of the Yangtze River and put pressure on the power grid while the country battles a record-breaking heatwave.
- Authorities issued the national yellow alert late on Thursday after China’s central and southern provinces endured weeks of extreme heat, with temperatures in dozens of cities surpassing 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
- The heatwave has disrupted crop growth, threatened livestock and prompted some industries to shut down to conserve power for homes.
From Newsweek:
Russia will halt gas supplies to Europe for three days at the end of the month via its main pipeline into the region, state energy giant Gazprom said on Friday, piling pressure on the region as it seeks to refuel ahead of winter.
The unscheduled maintenance order on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, deepens an energy standoff between Moscow and Brussels which has already helped send inflation surging in the region and raised the risk of rationing and recession.
From the Washington Post:
Gusts traveled from Corsica to southern Czech Republic, hitting speeds of up to 140 mph at times
A massive storm complex traveled a nearly 1,000-mile path across Europe with winds up to 140 mph, causing devastation on the French island of Corsica and to landmarks in Venice, before moving on to inflict major wind damage in parts of Austria and Slovakia. Reports state that at least a dozen people have been killed in the storm, which also knocked out power for thousands.
From NBC News:
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has pledged to reveal what happened to the students, who vanished in the southwestern city of Iguala in September 2014, having dismissed the previous government’s version of events.
MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials on Thursday called the 2014 disappearance of 43 students a state crime that was covered up by the government, in another damning assessment of the previous administration’s actions regarding one of Mexico’s worst human rights atrocities.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has pledged to reveal what happened to the students, who vanished in the southwestern city of Iguala in September 2014, having dismissed the previous government’s version of events.
From the BBC:
The Vatican has said it will not probe accusations of sexual misconduct against one of its top cardinals due to insufficient evidence.
Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet was named in a class-action lawsuit accusing 80 clergy members of sexual assault in his home province of Quebec.
A former diocesan intern alleged the Cardinal inappropriately touched her at public events between 2008 and 2010.
From CNN?
(CNN) —
Two pilots are believed to have fallen asleep and missed their landing during a flight from Sudan to Ethiopia on Monday, according to a report by commercial aviation news site Aviation Herald.
The incident took place on board an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 en route from Khartoum to Addis Ababa, the report said, "when the pilots fell asleep" and "the aircraft continued past the top of descent."
Data obtained by the website indicates that the aircraft was cruising at 37,000 feet on autopilot when it failed to descend at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, its scheduled destination, on August 15.
From CNN:
Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN)Gunfire and explosions shook an upscale hotel in Mogadishu on Friday evening, as police responded to an attack by unidentified gunmen, according to local authorities and witnesses.
Police Major Hassan Dahir confirmed to CNN that a gun battle was taking place between gunmen and Somali security forces at the Hayat Hotel in Somalia's capital, in an area frequented by lawmakers and government officials.