Israel sets March deadline for Gaza ground offensive in Rafah
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. Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
BBC
Israel sets March deadline for Gaza ground offensive in Rafah
Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz has warned that unless Hamas frees all hostages held in Gaza by 10 March an offensive will be launched in Rafah.
It is the first time Israel has said when its troops might enter Gaza's overcrowded southern city.
Global opposition is growing to such an attack in Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.
Earlier, the UN public health agency said a key Gaza hospital had ceased to function following an Israeli raid.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it had not been allowed to enter Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, north of Rafah, to assess the situation.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) entered the complex on Thursday, saying intelligence indicated hostages taken by Hamas were being held there.
The IDF has described its operation in Nasser as "precise and limited", accusing Hamas of "cynically using hospitals for terror".
BBC
Papua New Guinea ambush: More than 60 shot dead in Highlands region
At least 64 people have died in an ambush in Papua New Guinea's remote Highlands region.
The victims were shot dead during a tribal dispute in the Enga province over the weekend, a national police spokesman told the BBC.
The Highlands area has long struggled with violence, but these killings are believed to be the worst in years.
An influx of illegal firearms have made clashes more deadly and fuelled a cycle of violence.
Police started collecting bodies at the scene near the town of Wabag - roughly 600km (373 miles) northwest of the capital Port Moresby.
"This is by far the largest [killing] I've seen in Enga, maybe in all of Highlands as well," Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary Acting Supt George Kakas told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
"We're all devastated, we're all mentally stressed out. It's really hard to comprehend."
NPR
The hottest trend in U.S. cities? Changing zoning rules to allow more housing
America is facing a housing crisis.
The U.S. is short millions of housing units. Half of renters are paying more than a third of their salary in housing costs, and for those looking to buy, scant few homes on the market are affordable for a typical household.
To ramp up supply, cities are taking a fresh look at their zoning rules that spell out what can be built where and what can't. And many are finding that their old rules are too rigid, making it too hard and too expensive to build many new homes.
So these cities, as well as some states, are undertaking a process called zoning reform. They're crafting new rules that do things like allow multifamily homes in more neighborhoods, encourage more density near transit and streamline permitting processes for those trying to build.
{snip}
Instead, the vast majority of new housing was in midsize apartment buildings with 20 or more units.
"The zoning reforms made apartments feasible. They made them less expensive to build. And they were saying yes when builders submitted applications to build apartment buildings. So they got a lot of new housing in a short period of time," says Horowitz.
NPR
Thousands rail against Mexico's president and ruling party in 'march for democracy'
MEXICO CITY — Tens of thousands of demonstrators cloaked in pink marched through cities in Mexico and abroad on Sunday in what they called a "march for democracy" targeting the country's ruling party in advance of the country's June 2 elections.
The demonstrations called by Mexico's opposition parties advocated for free and fair elections in the Latin American nation and railed against corruption the same day presidential front-runner Claudia Sheinbaum registered as a candidate for ruling party Morena. Approximately 90,000 people turned out to rail against the leader, according to government figures.
Sheinbaum is largely seen as a continuation candidate of Mexico's popular populist leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador. He's adored by many voters who say he bucked the country's elite parties from power in 2018 and represents the working class.
The Guardian
Two police officers and firefighter fatally shot after call in Minneapolis suburbs
A desperate call for help from a home in suburban Minneapolis early on Sunday turned deadly for two police officers and a firefighter who were fatally shot at the scene, according to officials.
A suspect in the shooting also died, officials said.
The deaths of the two Burnsville police officers and the firefighter were confirmed by the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, which represents public safety professionals in the state. A third officer was wounded in the shooting.
“Horrific news from Burnsville,” Minnesota governor Tim Walz said in a post on Facebook. “While responding to a call of a family in danger, two police officers and one firefighter lost their lives, and other officers were injured.
L A Times
New storm to bring more rain across L.A. County beginning Sunday night
Los Angeles County can expect to see intermittent showers across the region beginning Sunday night and continuing through Wednesday, with the latest winter storm system forecast to bring the heaviest rain and threat of flooding along the Central Coast.
Compared with the historic storm that pummeled the region earlier this month, forecasters expect “much less rain” for the county this time but warned that the most intense showers will hit during the day Monday and Tuesday night. Over the next three days, downtown could see up to 2.4 inches of rain; Santa Clarita, 2.19 inches; Long Beach, 1.8 inches; and Torrance, 1.97 inches.
The rain may not be as intense as some areas farther north, but there are still concerns about the prospect for flooding, landslides and mudflows — particularly in the Santa Monica Mountains and Hollywood Hills — because of the soaking Southern California received from the previous storm,
Reuters
Japan hosts Ukraine reconstruction meeting, pledges new tax treaty
TOKYO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Japan hosted Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Monday in Tokyo to discuss the reconstruction of Ukraine, pledging a new bilateral tax treaty and other support for Japanese businesses as the Ukraine war rages on.
"Japan has stood with and continues to stand with Ukraine," Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a speech opening the talks, during which he announced a new bilateral tax treaty and the start of negotiations for an investment treaty without giving details.
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters its third year, Japan has pledged more than $10 billion worth of financial aid, as it seeks to show solidarity with Kyiv's war effort. It cannot provide direct military support because the export of lethal weapons is forbidden.
Japan partially eased its
arms export rules in December, the first such overhaul in almost a decade, but still has restrictions on shipping weapons to countries at war.
Al Jazeera
Arrests after Iran’s iPhone ban paves way for multimillion-dollar scam
Tehran, Iran – At least one person has been arrested and more are wanted after a company scammed people out of tens of millions of dollars, promising cheap iPhones after a ban on them in Iran.
A division of Iranian law enforcement tasked with economic crimes said on Friday that the main suspect in the case of a firm called Kourosh Company had fled the country, but a “main member” of the company was arrested and two more are wanted.
It said that, in coordination with the judiciary, “all the assets of the main suspect of the case were confiscated” without saying how much the assets were worth.
Starting last year, Iran banned official registration of all new iPhone models made by United States tech giant Apple. The ban was extended this year, affecting all iPhone 15 models.
All phones imported into Iran must be registered upon entry – even those belonging to tourists – or else they are considered contraband and only have network coverage for one month on any local SIM card.
All new iPhone 14 and 15 handsets are being smuggled into Iran and can readily be found in shops in Tehran and across the country, but the ban has caused chaos.
N Y Times
Poll Ranks Biden as 14th-Best President, With Trump Last
President Biden has not had a lot of fun perusing polls lately. He has a lower approval rating than every president going back to Dwight D. Eisenhower at this stage of their tenures, and he trails former President Donald J. Trump in a fall rematch. But Mr. Biden can take solace from one survey in which he is way out in front of Mr. Trump.
A new poll of historians coming out on Presidents’ Day weekend ranks Mr. Biden as the 14th-best president in American history, just ahead of Woodrow Wilson, Ronald Reagan and Ulysses S. Grant. While that may not get Mr. Biden a spot on Mount Rushmore, it certainly puts him well ahead of Mr. Trump, who places dead last as the worst president ever.