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.
NPR
Germany investigates the possible Russian eavesdropping of a military conference cal
Germany says it's launching an investigation after Russia reportedly eavesdropped on a video conference call of German military officers discussing the war in Ukraine.
The German officers were reportedly talking about sending weapons to Ukraine and a potential strike by Ukrainian military forces against a bridge in Crimea, the peninsula illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
A Russian state TV journalist leaked audio on Friday purporting to be from the video conference in a post on the social media site Telegram.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was traveling in Rome, told reporters on Saturday that the incident was "very serious."
NPR
The Sierra Nevada region is forecast for some temporary relief on Sunday before another round of heavy snow this week.
The storm system, which pummeled the region starting Thursday, brought nonstop snow totaling several feet and wind gusts of up to 150 mph at the highest peaks of the Sierra.
The National Weather Service said blizzard conditions are expected to improve beginning Sunday morning, though heavy snow will continue to fall on some parts of the Sierra and central Rockies throughout the day.
Meanwhile, a second storm system will pass through the region from Monday through Wednesday. The NWS said the northern Sierra region could see an additional 1 to 2 feet of snow. Southern Oregon and northern California are also forecast for some rain showers on Monday..
BBC
Star dune: Scientists solve mystery behind Earth's largest desert sands
The age of one of Earth's largest and most complex types of sand dune has been calculated for the first time.
Star dunes - or pyramid dunes - are named after their distinctive shapes and reach hundreds of metres in height.
They are found in Africa, Asia and North America, as well as on Mars - but experts had never before been able to put a date on when they were formed.
Now scientists have discovered that a dune called Lala Lallia in Morocco formed 13,000 years ago.
Star dunes are created by opposing winds that change direction. Understanding their age helps scientists understands those winds and unpick the climate of that era, says Prof Geoff Duller at the University of Aberystwyth, who published the research with Prof Charles Bristow at Birkbeck University.
BBC
Two sessions: Can a rubberstamp parliament help China's economy?
The Chinese government is under massive pressure to come up with solutions for its troubled economy.
So people will be watching the National People's Congress to see what's on offer when it starts on Tuesday.
Nearly 3,000 NPC delegates gather annually, for just over a week, inside Beijing's cavernous Great Hall of the People to pass laws, approve personnel changes and delegate the operation of government to smaller groups which meet throughout the year.
It is, for the most part, a political performance which rubber-stamps decisions already made behind closed doors.
But given that the messages delivered have been thought through by those in power, analysts will be looking out for any change in the official Party line and what it might mean for China and the world.
This has not seemed like much of a struggle in recent decades, as business boomed and living standards improved for most, year after year.
But now Asia's engine of growth is locked in a real estate crisis which has dissolved the life savings of many families who paid for flats which were never delivered.
BBC
Haiti violence: Gangs free 4,000 inmates in mass jailbreak
Armed gangs have stormed the main prison in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince, releasing many inmates.
The vast majority of about 4,000 men held there have now escaped, a local journalist told BBC News.
Among those detained were gang members charged in connection with the 2021 killing of President Jovenel Moïse.
Violence in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has worsened in recent years. Gangs aiming to oust PM Ariel Henry control 80% of Port-au-Prince.
The latest upsurge in violence began on Thursday, when the prime minister travelled to Nairobi to discuss sending a Kenyan-led multinational security force to Haiti.
Gang leader Jimmy Chérizier (nicknamed "Barbecue") declared a co-ordinated attack to remove him.
"All of us, the armed groups in the provincial towns and the armed groups in the capital, are united," said the former police officer, who is thought to be behind several massacres in Port-au-Prince.
Our tax preparer is from Haiti; we’ll be speaking with him tomorrow. Tragic situation.
The Guardian
Florida is swamped by disease outbreaks as quackery replaces science
hortly before Joseph Ladapo was sworn in as Florida’s surgeon general in 2022, the New Yorker ran a short column welcoming the vaccine-skeptic doctor to his new role, and highlighting his advocacy for the use of leeches in public health.
It was satire of course, a teasing of the Harvard-educated physician for his unorthodox medical views, which include a steadfast belief that life-saving Covid shots are the work of the devil, and that opening a window is the preferred treatment for the inhalation of toxic fumes from gas stoves. But now, with an entirely preventable outbreak of measles spreading across Florida, medical experts are questioning if quackery really has become official health policy in the nation’s third most-populous state.
“The surgeon general is Ron DeSantis’s lapdog, and says whatever DeSantis wants him to say,” said Dr Robert Speth, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at south Florida’s Nova Southeastern University with more than four decades of research experience.
“His statements are more political than medical and that’s a horrible disservice to the citizens of Florida. He’s somebody whose job is to protect public health, and he’s doing the exact opposite.”
AP
Shehbaz Sharif returns as Pakistan’s new premier as Imran Khan allies in parliament allege rigging
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Lawmakers in Pakistan’s National Assembly have elected Shehbaz Sharif for a comeback term as the country’s prime minister, as allies of imprisoned former premier Imran Khan in parliament shouted in protest, alleging rigging in last month’s election.
Sharif held the same office from April 2022 to August 2023, and is the younger brother of three-time premier Nawaz Sharif.
Khan is currently serving prison terms in multiple cases and has been barred from seeking or holding office. Sharif replaced him as prime minister after his ouster in a no-confidence vote in parliament in April 2022 .Speaker Ayaz Sadiq said Sharif secured 201 votes, defeating Omar Ayub of the Sunni Ittehad Council who got 92 votes. The winner only needs 169 votes to get a majority.
Reuters
Japan's Nikkei breaches 40,000 level for first time as tech stocks soar
TOKYO, March 4 (Reuters) - Japan's main stock benchmark breached the 40,000-point level for the first time on Monday, continuing a rapid rise to new peaks this year that has been spurred by
corporate governance reform and
cheap valuations.
As technology shares jumped, tracking their U.S. counterparts, the Nikkei share average (.N225), opens new tab rose 0.79% to 40,226.83 by the midday close, smashing through an intraday high of 39,990.23 hit on Friday.
Overseas investors appear to be leading the buying and many seem to be investing from a medium- to long-term perspective, said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.
"I think the market will continue to rise," he said.
Japanese tech shares were boosted by the ongoing artificial intelligence rally in U.S. stocks that saw the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to
record highs on Friday.
Deutsche Welle
Why are the Gulf states 'buying up' Egypt's coastline?
It has been described as a "turning point" in the worst economic crisis Egypt has dealt with in decades. The country is hugely indebted and suffering from a shortage of foreign currency, which has led to damaging inflation and rising prices that many ordinary Egyptians are finding hard to handle.
But, last week, Egyptian leaders announced that the United Arab Emirates would be investing $35 billion (€32 billion) directly into the Egyptian economy, mostly via a construction project at Ras al-Hikma, a Mediterranean peninsula near the city of Alexandria. It is thought to be the biggest such investment in Egypt's history.
The first tranche of money has already been deposited. Much of this came from cash the UAE already held in Egypt's central bank. The rest is expected to arrive within two months, according to Egyptian officials.
The impact of the deal and the release of the first tranche of funds from the central bank had an impact almost immediately, improving Egypt's financial position in various ways. The deal will also make it easier for Egypt to fulfill conditions set by the International Monetary Fund, or IMF. Egypt and the IMF are in the final stages of negotiating another multibillion dollar bailout, likely worth over $10 billion (€9.2 billion), to stabilize the Egyptian economy.