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-Gaza war: Netanyahu vows to defy allies on Rafah invasion
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reaffirmed his determination to launch an offensive in Rafah, defying international criticism.
The city is crammed with some 1.5 million Palestinians from other parts of Gaza seeking refuge.
His comments come as the German chancellor, on a Middle East trip, restated his opposition to the plan.
But Mr Netanyahu said "no international pressure will stop Israel" from achieving all of its war aims.
"If we stop the war now before achieving all of its goals, the meaning is that Israel had lost the war and we will not allow this," Mr Netanyahu told a meeting of his cabinet.
He said Israel must be able to continue its war, with the aims of eliminating Hamas, releasing all hostages and ensuring Gaza "no longer poses a threat".
"To do this, we will also operate in Rafah."
Mr Netanyahu said the offensive in city at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip "will happen" and will take "several weeks"
BBC
Israel launches night raid on Gaza al-Shifa hospital
Israeli forces have launched an overnight raid on the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, with reports of tanks and heavy gunfire at the facility.
An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said the IDF was carrying out a "high precision operation in limited areas" of the hospital.
The IDF said "senior Hamas terrorists have regrouped" inside the hospital and are using it to launch attacks.
Eyewitnesses described a state of panic inside the complex in Gaza City.
In a recorded call with his brother posted on a WhatsApp group, one man said: "Tanks are surrounding us. We are hiding inside the tent. We hear tank fire in the vicinity of the compound."
Heavy gunfire could be heard around the hospital in unverified footage posted on social media.
In a voice message sent to journalists from inside the hospital, Muhammad Al-Sayyid said: "The soldiers here inside the complex there are dead and wounded, and the soldiers arrested some young men. The situation here is catastrophic."
NPR
The 'devil comet' is visible in the night sky, and is sticking around for the eclipse
A rarely-seen comet with a reputation for colorful flare-ups is once again visible from Earth.
Even more unusual is that the latest arrival of the comet — known officially as 12P/Pons-Brooks — coincides with next month's total solar eclipse and could be spotted during the event.
According to NASA, comets are frozen artifacts from the solar system's formation made of dust, rock and ice. Up to tens of miles wide with tails millions of miles long, comets heat up and grow brighter as they get closer to the sun.
The comet 12P/Pons-Brooks takes 71 years to fly around the sun and will next reach perihelion — the point in its elliptical orbit when it's closest to the sun — on April 21.
And this comet is particularly prone to outbursts.
12P/Pons-Brooks most recently flared up on Oct. 5, Nov. 1 and 14, Dec. 14 and Jan. 18., according to Space.com. The area around the spiraling comet can glow green and red and produce a long blue tail.
The Guardian
CATL, the little-known Chinese battery maker that has the US worried
It is the world’s biggest battery maker, it powers electric vehicles for Tesla, Volkswagen and BMW, and its EV technology is miles ahead of US offerings, say experts
The world’s two superpowers are so intricately linked that it’s hard to think of a pillar of the economy that hasn’t been strained by tensions between the US and China.
And the next frontline in the economic conflict may be the most fundamental yet: a fight for power itself.
A Chinese company that most people have never heard of is at the heart of the global race to store the clean energy needed to power the green transition in the US and the rest of the world.
China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Limited, or CATL, is an energy storage specialist that is the world’s largest battery maker for electric vehicles (EVs). But despite the fact that the company controls nearly two-fifths of the world’s EV battery market – and has powered cars made by brands including Tesla, Volkswagen and BMW – it has long flown under the radar of US politics.
The Guardian
Global eradication of polio ‘tantalisingly close’ with UK urged to keep up funding
The world is “tantalisingly close” to eradicating polio – with no confirmed cases of wild polio anywhere so far this year. But experts warn that vaccination efforts – and funding – must not falter if the world is to rid itself of a human infectious disease for the second time in history, after smallpox.
There have been no reported cases of wild polio infection in people for the last 19 weeks. Figures from the World Health Organization reveal that the last confirmed cases were on the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan in October and September 2023 respectively; these are the last nations on Earth where polio is endemic.
“To have gone 19 straight weeks … is a long period to go without a single case, that’s why there is some hope [of eradication]”
Reuters
North Korea fires ballistic missiles as Blinken visits Seoul
SEOUL, March 18 (Reuters) - North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Monday for the first time in two months, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Seoul for a conference hosted by President Yoon Suk Yeol on advancing democracy.
South Korea's military said several short-range missiles flew about 300 km (186 miles) after being fired between 7:44 a.m. and 8:22 a.m (2244 to 2322 GMT Monday) from Pyongyang, the North's capital, landing off the east coast.
It condemned the launches as a "clear provocation" and said it was sharing information on them with the United States and Japan.
Japan's defence ministry said three missiles were launched and travelled about 350 km, with a maximum altitude of 50 km.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the launches after his country's coast guard also reported the firing of what it said appeared to be a ballistic missile and specified that it had already ended its flight.
Reuters
Putin warns the West a Russia-NATO conflict is just one step from World War Three
MOSCOW, March 18 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Monday that a direct conflict between Russia and the U.S.-led NATO military alliance would mean the planet was one step away from World War Three but said hardly anyone wanted such a scenario.
The Ukraine war has triggered the deepest crisis in Moscow's relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Putin has often warned of the risks of nuclear war but says he has never felt the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron
last month said he could not rule out the deployment of ground troops in Ukraine in the future, with many Western countries distancing themselves from that while others, especially in eastern Europe, expressed support.
Asked by Reuters about the Macron remarks and the risks and possibility of a conflict between Russia and NATO, Putin quipped: "everything is possible in the modern world."
Al Jazeera
Foreign students attacked in India over Ramadan prayer at university hostel
At least four foreign students have been injured after a Hindu far-right mob allegedly stormed a university hostel in India’s western Gujarat state and attacked the group of students for offering prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, local media has reported.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday pledged to take “strict actions against the perpetrators”, as the local police in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi said an investigation was under way in connection with the attack at the Gujarat University. The students told local media that a small group had gathered on Saturday night inside the boys’ hostel premises for the Ramadan tarawih prayer as there is no mosque on the university campus based in Ahmedabad. Soon after, a mob armed with sticks and knives stormed the hostel, attacked them and vandalised their rooms, they said.
Washington Post
Border security deadlock heightens risk of government shutdown
A dispute over border security funding threatens to force a shutdown of vast swaths of the federal government in less than a week, as Congress and the White House struggled Sunday to reach a deal on long-term spending legislation.
Funding for roughly 70 percent of the federal government — including the departments of Defense, State and Homeland Security as well as the IRS and Transportation Security Administration — will lapse at 12:01 a.m. Saturday unless Congress acts before then.
A prolonged shutdown could have cascading effects on the government and economy. Two-thirds of IRS employees would face furloughs at the height of tax filing season. The roughly 1.3 million active-duty U.S. military service members would remain on the job without pay. So would airport security officers, many of whom called in sick in protest during a previous shutdown, sparking nationwide travel delays.