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.
I am in the UK for research at the moment, so when I go to Google and look for news, almost everything is heavily weighted toward the UK (and to a lesser extent, its colonies). So there is more in this diary, but there is a heavy UK weight to the news this evening. We begin as always with good and intriguing stories, and the more serious ones (even if largely good still) are beneath the fold.
From the Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects:
Thomas Edwards’ 2024 RIBA London Award-winning reimagined inner-city estate
Why shouldn’t homes for social rent match the private development domestic experience, with elegant, well-designed homes in a great setting and with a sense of security? Dover Court Estate cogently answers that question. A carefully implemented reimagining of a 1960s modernist estate near Balls Pond Road in Islington, it is a blueprint for renewing existing social housing estates and helping to maintain and support communities. Delivering 70 homes across eight sites without relocating residents, it carefully replaced disused garages with new buildings, and added a ball court and community centre. Stitching together a formerly intimidating estate landscape, the architects have created a new series of welcoming spaces and buildings which can be enjoyed by all residents and visitors in this diverse community. The project exemplifies careful and considered briefing and design at every stage.
From the Spectator:
James Innes-Smith
Do they really want to sit around getting sozzled?
Perhaps it was the anachronistic use of the term ‘gentlemen’ that finally put paid to the idea of the gentlemen’s club. If only these illustrious institutions had thought to rename themselves ‘cis-male inner-city safe spaces’, we probably wouldn’t be looking on aghast as another centuries old tradition is summarily flushed down the memory hole.
Strange that it’s taken the perpetually peeved a couple of hundred years to twig that gentlemen’s clubs were exclusively designed for… oh never mind, it’s a tough one to fathom I know, especially for all those highly educated Garrick club members who have just voted 60/40 in favour of admitting women, thereby abolishing one of the clubs’ founding principles: providing a plush place for educated chaps to enjoy a laugh or two over pappy prep school style grub and some decent wine.
From the Liverpool Echo:
The amusing markings were discovered by driving instructor Danny Smith
Road markings in Liverpool have been labelled as "scouse" as they tell drivers to go "dead slow."
The amusing road signs were brought to light by driving instructor Danny Smith, who runs Danny's Driving School, covering Liverpool, Knowsley and St Helens. Danny has a popular Instagram channel in which he posts clips of driving lessons and offers tips and guidance for those hoping to learn to drive.
And from the BBC:
Soldiers and Household Cavalry horses injured after four of them bolted through central London are "making remarkable progress" in their recovery, the British Army has said.
The horses were spooked at the sound of building works in Belgravia on 24 April, and fled through the city.
And not just for the UK — for all in the northern latitudes you may get lucky this weekend. This is from The Guardian:
Storm could trigger displays of aurora through Saturday night in parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England and Wales
A strong solar storm headed towards Earth could allow parts of the UK the chance to see the Northern lights this weekend.
The Met Office said space weather experts had issued a rare severe geomagnetic storm (G4) warning for this weekend, the first in nearly 20 years.
The storm, caused by powerful eruptions known as coronal mass ejections, could trigger spectacular displays of aurora. They could be visible across Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of northern England and Wales, the Met Office said.
One of the biggest stories in Europe this week has been Eurovision (finals are Sunday, but the friends here who usually host a black tie Eurovision party won’t be doing so this year, so I probably won’t watch until post-show highlights). This coverage is from Al Jazeera:
Eurovision 2024: Divided over Israel | The Take
Usually all quirky music and fun, Eurovision this year has been marked by protests over Israel’s participation during its ongoing war on Gaza. Will it overshadow an event meant to unite?
From Sky News:
The Netherlands' track Europapa is one of the most memorable of the show and was described by one critic as "so bad" it will "put you off music forever". The EBU, which organises Eurovision, says it is investigating an unexplained incident.
By Bethany Minelle
The Netherlands' Eurovision entry Joost Klein is under investigation by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) due to an unexplained "incident" - and will not be rehearsing again until "further notice".
The Dutch singer missed his slot in the show's penultimate dress rehearsal in Malmo, Sweden, on Friday, where he had been due to perform his track Europapa in fifth place, just before Israel's Eden Golan, 20, with her song Hurricane.
From Reuters:
LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) - Britain's economy grew by the most in nearly three years in the first quarter of 2024, ending the shallow recession it entered in the second half of last year and delivering a boost to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of an election.
Gross domestic product expanded by 0.6% in the three months to March, the Office for National Statistics said, the strongest growth since the fourth quarter of 2021 when it rose by 1.5%.
From The Guarian (Opinion):
- John McTernan was political secretary to Tony Blair and is now a political strategist
From Ulez to free school meals, London’s mayor introduced bold, principled policies – and won. Keir Starmer, take note
Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner, but I never doubted that Sadiq Khan would win re-election as the city’s mayor – even when rumours of a surprise upset were being breathlessly repeated. Of course, Labour has always had the ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. But this has meant that the party is all too often fearful in the face of large opinion poll leads, with an electoral strategy defined by the lessons of painful defeats.
The time has come to learn from winning, and where better to start than Khan’s win in London. This was, to borrow the words of the former Australian Labor prime minister Paul Keating, the “sweetest victory of all” – a victory for the true believers. What has gained Khan the two largest personal mandates in British electoral history has been his politics.
From The Guardian:
Government sources had indicated flights would begin in July, but order shows first could happen on 24 June
Rishi Sunak’s deportation flights to Rwanda, the cornerstone of the government’s immigration policy, could begin as early as 24 June, court papers seen by the Guardian show.
Government sources had indicated that the first flights carrying asylum seekers would take off in July, but a court order released on Friday has disclosed that the government now says flights could take off in late June.
On the other hand, we have this from Channel 4 (link includes a video):
The Labour Party has confirmed it will abandon the government’s scheme to send failed asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Instead it’s proposing a Border Security Command that it says will deter people smuggling and illegal migration.
From the BBC:
I am sitting in a shopping mall in Iraq, face-to-face with one of Europe’s most notorious people-smugglers.
His name is Barzan Majeed, and he is wanted by police forces in several countries, including the UK.
Over the course of our conversation - both here and the next day at his office - he says he does not know how many migrants he has transported across the English Channel.
In happier news we have this from Scotland. The story is from the BBC:
By David Wallace Lockhart
The Scottish government has recommitted to legislation that will allow someone to self-identify their legally recognised sex.
The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament in December 2022 but the UK government blocked it from becoming law over fears it would impact on equality laws across Great Britain.
Another common topic in the news here is Brits abroad. We are heading into the summer season soon (and London is already crowded). First are a couple of articles about tourists in Spain. First up is from CNN:
By Marnie Hunter and Mia Alberti
Spain’s Balearic Islands are further cracking down on public drinking and party boats as part of modifications to a 2020 decree that addressed “excess tourism.”
The new rules ban drinking in the streets in key tourist areas on the islands of Ibiza and Mallorca, with an exception for terraces and other licensed areas. Penalties for violations will range from €500 to €1,500 ($540-$1,615).
Party boats that sell alcohol on board will also be prohibited to be within one nautical mile of the areas included in the decree. Boarding or disembarking passengers will also be prohibited in the affected areas.
From the Liverpool Echo:
Jessica Kenny, 27, was paddling in the sea with her four-year-old son when she spotted the shark
A family holiday took a dark turn as a mum was "terrified" by a shark encounter at a Menorca beach.
Jessica Kenny, from Liverpool, was enjoying the sea with her young son when she noticed the ominous presence of a shark circling nearby. The incident unfolded at Playa Arenal d'en Castell, Menorca, where the 27-year-old GP receptionist, was paddling with her four-year-old and spotted the creature trailing her dad, Darren, aged 57.
From the Daily Mail:
By MIRIAM KUEPPER
A British man was arrested for allegedly arranging for his friends to flood a restaurant in Thailand with false one-star reviews after a dispute with the owner.
The British national, identified only as Alexander, 21, reportedly wanted to use the Italian restaurant as a convenient shortcut to his accommodation in Phuket in 2022.
Speaking of the British in SE Asia, this comes from the BBC:
Nick Marsh
In Asia, discussing food is like discussing the weather - it can get people talking for hours.
But when the BBC recently visited one of the region’s leading food and drink events, it became clear that there are some cuisines that leave even the foodies speechless.
“British food?” asks one Thai woman with a perplexed pause. “Um… I’m not really sure what that is. Is that, like, sausage?”
From The Guardian:
Exclusive: Defence ministry was told in recent days that staff details accessed but sources say SSCL knew in February
The IT company targeted in a Chinese hack that accessed the data of hundreds of thousands of Ministry of Defence staff failed to report the breach for months, the Guardian can reveal.
The UK defence secretary, Grant Shapps, told MPs on Tuesday that Shared Services Connected Ltd (SSCL) had been breached by a malign actor and “state involvement” could not be ruled out.
From the Independent:
Kim Sengupta reports from Nurmsi where he observes troops storming ‘Russian’ positions as part of Nato’s largest military exercises since the end of the Cold War
Apache helicopter gunships carry out strafing runs in support of troops on the ground storming Russian positions. A series of fortified trenches have been cleared in fierce close-quarter combat, and a counterattack repulsed with the use of drones and missiles.
From NDTV:
Pope Francis pressed his campaign Friday to urge Italians to have children, calling for long-term policies to help families.
Pope Francis addressed a conference on Friday, urging action to address Italy and Europe's demographic crisis. Birth rates across Europe have stagnated around 1.5 children per woman for the past decade, well below the replacement rate of 2.1.
According to the USCCB, during his talk, Pope Francis said the root cause of problems in the world "is not babies being born; it is selfishness, consumerism, and individualism, which make people satiated, lonely, and unhappy."
A couple from Africa, with the first from the BBC:
Every year there are fewer African penguins and soon there may be none at all. Scientists say that the species is declining by around 8% every year.
As the ocean swells around the rocky shore of South Africa's Betty's Bay, penguins hop along the waterline, calling to one another in short raspy barks.
They are endearingly comical as they totter about but Alistair McInnes looks worried.
And the weekly reminder of the horrors going on in Sudan, this from The Guardian:
As El Fasher stands on the ‘precipice of a massacre’, rights groups call for sanctions after new testimony describes atrocities carried out by RSF paramilitaries in Sudan
Gruesome new testimony details one of the worst atrocities of the year-long Sudanese civil war – the large-scale massacre of civilians as they desperately tried to flee an ethnic rampage in Darfur last summer.
Witnesses describe children, still alive, being “piled up and shot” by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as they attempted to escape the regional capital of El Geneina in June last year during a bout of ethnic violence in which thousands of civilians were killed.
From The Guardian:
Leading cultural figures including Margaret Atwood sign statement in support of rapper who criticised Iranian regime
More than 100 figures from the worlds of music, culture and human rights activism – including Coldplay and Sting – have signed a statement calling for the release of the Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi who has been sentenced to death in Iran after protesting in support of women’s rights.
The 33-year-old, who was a vocal supporter of the Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran was sentenced to death by a court in the city of Isfahan on 24 April, according to his lawyer.
Finally, one last from The Guardian:
Organised in a deliberately loose fashion, tokuryū pose fresh problems for police, as years of crackdowns see the appeal of a yakuza life fade
Gavin Blair
Watching three masked men smash their way into a luxury watch shop in Tokyo’s upmarket Ginza district in broad daylight, some onlookers assumed they were witnessing a TV drama or movie shoot.
But the heist in May 2023 was real. It was carried out by a group of teenagers aged between 16 and 19 who were recruited online, and part of a new crime phenomenon called tokuryū by authorities that is growing as Japan’s yakuza clans decline.