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
They were Israel's eyes on the border - but their Hamas warnings went unheard
They are known as Israel's eyes on the Gaza border.
For years, units of young female conscripts had one job here. It was to sit in surveillance bases for hours, looking for signs of anything suspicious.
In the months leading up to the 7 October attacks by Hamas, they did begin to see things: practice raids, mock hostage-taking, and farmers behaving strangely on the other side of the fence.
Noa, not her real name, says they would pass information about what they were seeing to intelligence and higher-ranking officers, but were powerless to do more. "We were just the eyes," she says.
It was clear to some of these women that Hamas was planning something big - that there was, in Noa's words, a "balloon that was going to burst". To some of them it became a dark joke: who would be on duty when the inevitable attack came?
BBC
AI to hit 40% of jobs and worsen inequality, IMF says
Artificial intelligence is set to affect nearly 40% of all jobs, according to a new analysis by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
IMF's managing director Kristalina Georgieva says "in most scenarios, AI will likely worsen overall inequality".
Ms Georgieva adds that policymakers should address the "troubling trend" to "prevent the technology from further stoking social tensions".
The proliferation of AI has put its benefits and risks under the spotlight.
The IMF said AI will likely affect a greater proportion of jobs - put at around 60% - in advanced economies. In half of these instances, workers can expect to benefit from the integration of AI, which will enhance their productivity.
In other instances, AI will have the ability to perform key tasks that are currently executed by humans. This could lower demand for labour, affecting wages and even eradicating jobs.
NPR
Frederik X is proclaimed the new king of Denmark after Queen Margrethe II abdicates
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark's prime minister proclaimed Frederik X as king on Sunday after his mother Queen Margrethe II formally signed her abdication, with massive crowds turning out to rejoice in the throne passing from a beloved monarch to her popular son.
Margrethe, 83, is the first Danish monarch to voluntarily relinquish the throne in nearly 900 years. Many thousands of people gathered outside the palace where the royal succession was taking place, the mood jubilant as the Nordic nation experienced its first royal succession in more than a half-century, and one not caused by the death of a monarch. Wearing a magenta outfit, Margrethe signed her abdication during a meeting with the Danish Cabinet at the Christiansborg Palace, a vast complex in Copenhagen that houses the Royal Reception Rooms and Royal Stables as well as the Danish Parliament, the prime minister's office and the Supreme Court.
NPR
Sushi restaurants are thriving in Ukraine, bringing jobs and a 'slice of normal life'
SLOVIANSK, Ukraine — Roughly a 30-minute drive from the rubble-strewn hell-scape of Russian-occupied Bakhmut, in a brightly lit restaurant on a lightless street, a pair of Ukrainian soldiers are waiting for takeout. Sushi rolls. Sixty-four assorted pieces.
"We are living human beings," says one of the soldiers, an artilleryman who goes by the call-sign Traumat. "It's very important to be able to come back [from the front lines] and have something from our normal life."Of all the businesses still operating, though, the country's popular and almost ubiquitous sushi restaurants are perhaps the most improbable.
Dependent on imported ingredients like fresh fish, restaurants have had to navigate supply issues, border protests and power outages. Staffing shortages, long an issue in Ukraine's restaurant industry, have worsened as young people have fled or been conscripted. "Being at a restaurant, sitting at a restaurant is almost like psychotherapy," says Olha Nasonova, a restaurant consultant in Kyiv and co-founder of the National Restaurant Association of Ukraine. "It's how we feel the normalcy of life when life is not normal around you."
The Guardian
‘We are ready for a war’: Somalia threatens conflict with Ethiopia over breakaway region
Somalia is prepared to go to war to stop Ethiopia recognising the breakaway territory of Somaliland and building a port there, a senior adviser to Somalia’s president has said.
A memorandum of understanding signed on 1 January allowing landlocked Ethiopia to develop a naval base on Somaliland’s coast has rattled the Horn of Africa, one of the world’s most volatile regions.
Somalia claims Somaliland as part of its territory and has declared the deal void. Last Sunday its president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, called on Somalis to “prepare for the defence of our homeland”, while rallies have been held in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, against the agreement.
“We are pursuing all diplomatic options and I think Ethiopia will come to its senses, but we are ready for a war if Abiy wants a war,” said the adviser, referring to the Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed.
Reuters
Reparation bonds could unlock $300 billion for Ukraine
LONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Ukraine needs cash to keep defending itself against Russian aggression. The United States and European Union are struggling to keep writing cheques to the country. They’re also reluctant to hand over $300 billion of Russian central bank reserves, which Western governments froze at the start of the war.
Here is a proposal for a fallback plan. Kyiv could raise money by selling bonds backed by future claims for war damages against Moscow. It would be better if Ukraine’s backers just gave it more cash, as the United Kingdom did last week. But elsewhere fatigue is setting in. U.S. President Joe Biden has so far failed to persuade Congress to approve a new $61 billion package for Kyiv. Meanwhile, Hungary blocked the EU’s planned 50 billion euros in aid last month, although other member states are determined to find a way round the problem.
One objection to the idea is that the bonds would be so risky that investors would demand a deep discount. So Kyiv wouldn't get anything like the full $300 billion. After all, even if a judicial process awards Ukraine damages, Western governments may be reluctant to transfer the title of Russia’s reserves to Kyiv. Ukraine itself might also agree to abandon reparation claims against Moscow as part of some future peace deal.
This is why the ideal anchor investors would be Western governments. They have a lot to lose if Ukraine fails to hold off Russia’s assault.
Deutsche Welle
Africa's crises fall out of focus as global attention drifts
Care International has listed the ten forgotten humanitarian crises of last year — all of them in Africa. Climate change plays a huge role, the aid organization says, and more media attention is needed.
Crises in Africa are being overlooked, with news about humanitarian emergencies on the continent buried beneath the weight of media attention focused elsewhere, Care International's 2023 report concludes.
That means issues such as hunger in Angola, chronic malnutrition in Burundi and high child mortality in the Central African Republic are disappearing from public view, the authors concluded.
Analyst Fredson Guilengue from the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Johannesburg sees reasons for the low interest in Africa's plight in the escalation of the two conflicts in the West. "The first is the continuation of the Russia-Ukraine war. It is getting a lot of attention worldwide, especially on the European continent, because the war is returning to Europe," Guilengue told DW.
The global media is now focusing more on Europe and less on Africa or other places. This will continue in 2024 as the wars continue.
In addition, the second trouble spot, namely the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, has exacerbated this dilemma: what is happening in other parts of the world hardly receives any attention.
Al Jazeera
Five richest men doubled fortunes after 2020, Oxfam says as Davos opens
The world’s richest five men have more than doubled their fortunes since 2020, the charity Oxfam has said, sounding the alarm about unchecked corporate power as business elites hold their high-profile annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland.
The five men are worth a combined $869bn after growing their fortunes at a rate of $14m per hour during the past four years, Oxfam said in its report “Inequality Inc.”, released on Monday.
Despite the growth in the fortunes of the five – LVMH chief Bernard Arnault, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, investor Warren Buffet, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Tesla CEO Elon Musk – 5 billion people have gotten poorer over the same period, Oxfam said.
Billionaires are today $3.3 trillion richer than they were in 2020, while a billionaire leads 7 out of 10 of the world’s biggest companies, the London-based charity said.
If current trends continue, the world will have its first trillionaire within a decade but poverty will not be eradicated for another 229 years, according to the anti-poverty group.
Al Jazeera
Israel vows not to ‘stop’ as Gaza death toll nears 24,000 on day 100 of war
On day 100 of the war on Gaza, Israel’s relentless bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip continues with no sign of easing, amid a growing humanitarian catastrophe and the looming threat of a regional spillover.
At least 23,968 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, have been killed since the war began on October 7, after Hamas fighters carried out an assault on southern Israel that killed 1,139 there. Israel said about 240 people were also taken captive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to “continue [the war] until victory”, saying in a televised address late on Saturday that “it is possible and necessary”.
“No one will stop us – not The Hague, not the Axis of Evil and no one else,” Netanyahu said, in reference to a case that South Africa brought to the International Court of Justice seeking emergency measures to halt Israel’s war, and in reference to the Iran-aligned “axis of resistance” groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
San Francisco Chronicle
Another big S.F. hotel defaults on mortgage — a bad sign for city’s tourism industry
The owner of the Hilton Financial District at 750 Kearny St. said Wednesday that it defaulted on a $97 million loan, according to a securities filing. Portsmouth Square Inc.’s affiliate Justice Operating Company LLC was issued the notice of default for the 544-room hotel.The company said it has proposed a loan modification agreement that is under review by special servicer LNR Partners. It warned that an agreement may not be reached and its lenders could potentially seek to foreclose on the property. The loan was originated in 2013 by Bank of America and others.
New York Times
Dangerous Subzero Wind Chills Blanket Much of the U.S.
More than 100 million people in the United States were under a wind chill warning or advisory on Sunday as an “Arctic blast” enveloped huge parts of the country, while the South was expected to get snow and the Northeast braced for blinding wind-driven squalls, forecasters said.
The National Weather Service reported wind chill readings on Sunday of 19 degrees below zero in Arkansas, 9 degrees below zero in Dallas and 60 degrees below zero in Montana. Rapid City, S.D., reached its previous record low of 23 degrees below zero, forecasters said. Low temperatures are expected to grip most of the country through the middle of the week.
“These wind chills will pose a risk of frostbite on exposed skin and hypothermia,” the Weather Service said. “Have a cold survival kit if you must travel.”