Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame, jck, and JeremyBloom. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Interceptor 7, Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), rfall, ScottyUrb, 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.
BBC
Canada wildfire: Firefighter dies tackling British Columbia blaze
A third firefighter has died in Canada while battling the country's worst wildfire season on record.
Authorities say the firefighter died tackling the Donnie Creek fire near Fort St John, in the western province of British Columbia.
People are evacuating an area further south in the province, near the US border, as fires swirl out of control.
A third of all fires currently raging in Canada are in British Columbia.
So far this season, Canadian wildfires have burned about 30 million acres of land - more than the land area of South Korea or Cuba.
Residents in the town of Osoyoos, in the south of the province, and its surrounding areas were told to evacuate late on Saturday after a fire originating from the northwestern US state of Washington crossed into Canada.
BBC
At least 44 killed in Pakistan after explosion at Islamist political rally
At least 44 people have been killed in an explosion in Pakistan during a rally organised by an Islamist party.
More than 100 people were also injured in the explosion in north-west Bajaur district, where Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) was holding a meeting.
Police told the BBC that they have found evidence suggesting the explosion was a possible suicide attack.
A rescue operation has been completed and all injured have been taken to hospital, officers said.
Officials have warned the death toll may rise further, as 15 people are in a critical condition.
The motivation behind the attack is not yet clear. Security forces have cordoned off the area and an investigation into the explosion is taking place.
Hundreds of people were attending the JUI-F workers' convention on Sunday in the town of Khar, in the Pakistani tribal district of Bajaur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan.
NPR
A drone attack on Moscow briefly shut one of its airports and injured one Putin: “No hitbacks. No fair”
Russian authorities say three Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow in the early hours on Sunday, injuring one person and prompting a temporary closure for traffic of one of four airports around the Russian capital.
It was the fourth such attempt at a strike on the capital region this month and the third this week, fueling concerns about Moscow's vulnerability to attacks as Russia's war in Ukraine drags into its 18th month.
The Russian Defense Ministry referred to the incident as an "attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime" and said three drones targeted the city. One was shot down in the surrounding Moscow region by air defense systems and two others were jammed. Those two crashed into the Moscow City business district in the capital.
The Guardian
China: 31,000 forced to flee homes in Beijing as Typhoon Doksuri brings heavy rains
Beijing has recorded its heaviest rainfall this year as the remnants of Typhoon Doksuri passed through China’s capital, forcing more than 31,000 people to evacuate their homes in the city, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Heavy rain continued to fall in Beijing as well as in Hebei, Tianjin and eastern Shanxi as Doksuri dissipated over northern China, the China Meteorological Administration said.
Doksuri is one of the strongest storms to hit China in years and caused widespread flooding over the weekend in the southern province of Fujian, driving hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
Average rainfall in Beijing overnight reached 140.7mm (5.5in), with the maximum recorded rainfall in Fangshan area hitting 500.4mm (19.7in), according to the city’s observatory. Rains in the southern and western areas were expected to be heavier early on Monday.
The Guardian
Nikki Haley suggests Mitch McConnell should step aside amid health concerns
Presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has suggested her fellow Republican Mitch McConnell – the longtime powerful US Senate leader – should step aside after an episode in which he physically froze and was unable to speak at the Capitol this week.
Appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, Haley was asked by the host Margaret Brennan whether she still had confidence in McConnell’s ability to lead after the episode.
“I think Mitch McConnell did an amazing job when it comes to our judiciary, when we look at the judges, when we look at the supreme court he’s been a great leader,” said Haley, the former South Carolina governor and ex-United Nations ambassador during the Donald Trump presidency. “But we’ve gotta stop electing people because they look good in a picture and they hold a baby well.”
She also said the 90-year-old US senator Dianne Feinstein, the 80-year-old president Joe Biden, and 83-year-old congresswoman Nancy Pelosi – all of whom are prominent Democrats – should “know when to walk away”
Al Jazeera
West African gov’ts give Niger coup leaders a week to cede power
West African countries have imposed sanctions on Niger’s new military leaders, threatening to use force if they fail to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum within a week, after the latest coup in the Sahel region raised alarm on the continent.
In the third coup in as many years to topple a leader in the Sahel, Niger’s elected president and Western ally, Bazoum, has been held by the military since Wednesday.
General Abdourahmane Tiani, the head of the powerful presidential guard, has declared himself leader.
Bazoum is one of a dwindling group of elected presidents and pro-Western leaders in the Sahel, where since 2020 an armed uprising has triggered coups in Mali and Burkina Faso.
Former colonial ruler France and the European Union have suspended security cooperation and financial aid to Niger following the coup, while the United States warned that its aid could also be at stake.
San Francisco Chronicle
Why California’s coast isn’t warming up like the rest of the world’s oceans
Water in the Florida Keys surpassed 100 degrees this week, the north Atlantic Ocean is at record temperatures, and a developing El Niño is warming waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s July report, 44% of the global oceans are experiencing marine heat waves — the most in recorded history. Waters off the California coast have remained cooler-than-normal, though, scientists forecast that temperatures may creep up as the seasons turn.
“An interesting situation right now is that off the coast of California, the ocean temperatures aren’t all that warm,” said Nate Mantua, a NOAA climate scientist. “That’s because the winds there have actually been a little stronger than normal. The surface winds have been blowing pretty steadily in a way that causes coastal upwelling.” Upwelling brings cool, nutrient-rich water to the surface, vital for fish and other marine species higher up the food chain.
Deutsche Welle
Netherlands starts towing burning EV-laden freight ship
Salvage specialists started towing a burning freighter ship off the coast of the Netherlands to a less dangerous location on Sunday.
It has been ablaze for several days near the Wadden Sea nature reserve and authorities hope to relocate it to a less sensitive spot.
The operation had initially been announced on Saturday but was then delayed because of unfavorable winds and concerns of smoke-related risks for crews on the vessels towing the stricken freighter.
But on Sunday conditions became suitable to tow the freighter carrying more than 3,500 cars, around 500 of them electric vehicles.
The ship has been ablaze for several days. Extinguishing the fire has proved extremely challenging, in no small part because of the difficulty of extinguishing lithium-ion batteries if they ignite.
Dousing the fire with large quantities of water was also not an option, for fear of sinking the ship, sending the pollutant materials on board to the ocean floor.
The fire has shown some of the modern challenges of transporting larger numbers of electric vehiclesby ship, on packed freighters, where on-board fire-extinguishing equipment is often relatively primitive and where it can be hard for crews to access the tightly-packed ranks of vehicles.
Deutsche Welle
Alcohol in Iran: The deadly cost of prohibition
New York City, Christmas 1926: More than 80 people died after drinking poisonous alcohol. It was the height of prohibition, the nationwide alcohol ban that had begun in 1920 in the United States.
Beyond the ban, the federal government had taken the extreme measure of adding high amounts of methanol to alcohol in the hopes that people would taste it and be put off. But drinkers were not discouraged, and thousands died as a result, according to author Deborah Blum in her 2010 book "The Poisoner's Handbook." Reports indicate that at least 10,000 people died due to the nationwide ban.
Iran has been trying something similar since 1979, and it too, has gone badly.
Iran strictly prohibited alcohol consumption, with severe consequences ranging from flogging and fines to potential imprisonment after the 1979 Islamic revolution. But that didn't stop people from drinking. Like in the United States, the ban led to the creation of underground networks to brew alcohol and a mafia that some experts believe has deep ties to the government itself.
"Sometimes drinking is our only reason for happiness and a small chance to have fun," 25-year-old Mahsa* told DW. Even so, after at least 300 people were hospitalized and 40 died due to alcohol poisoning in recent weeks, she quit. "I think they succeeded in scaring us to stop drinking alcohol."
"Unfortunately, in recent years we have seen an increase of about 20-30% annually in the number of people who were poisoned or developed [adverse] side effects from drinking methyl alcohol," Mohammad Kazem Attari, a US-based Iranian physician and researcher, told DW.
Reuters
Russia's Medvedev: We'd have to use a nuclear weapon if Ukrainian offensive was a success
MOSCOW, July 30 (Reuters) - Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who has sometimes raised the spectre of a nuclear conflict over Ukraine, said on Sunday that Moscow would have to use a nuclear weapon if Kyiv's ongoing counter-offensive was a success.
Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, a body chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said in a message on his official social media accounts that Russia would be forced to fall back on its own nuclear doctrine in such a scenario.
"Imagine if the.. offensive, which is backed by NATO, was a success and they tore off a part of our land then we would be forced to use a nuclear weapon according to the rules of a decree from the president of Russia.
"There would simply be no other option. So our enemies should pray for our warriors' (success). They are making sure that a global nuclear fire is not ignited," he said.
Washington Post
Elon Musk’s flashing 'X' sign met with city of San Francisco’s scrutiny
The city of San Francisco sent representatives twice this weekend to inquire about the flashing, gargantuan “X” logo that Elon Musk installed atop his social media platform’s downtown headquarters, the latest in his attempts to rebrand the company.
The “X” sign, representing a new logo and name for what was once Twitter, was installed Friday. City officials issued a notice of violationagainst the company that same day, saying the sign was installed without a permit. Replacing signage on buildings, or placing a new sign on top of a building, requires the city’s approval.
A city building inspector has since tried twice — on Friday and on Saturday — to gain access to the new rooftop sign, according to the city’s complaint tracker. X representatives denied access to the inspector, allegedly telling the official that the structure “is a temporary lighted sign for an event,” according to the city’s complaint. The city inspector explained to on-site X representatives that the structure must be removed or abide by city code.