Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Interceptor7, Magnifico, annetteboardman, jck, and Besame. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck, 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.
Our news is from randomly scattered locations around the globe this evening. We begin, as we often do, with news from The Guardian:
Peter Magombeyi, who was overseeing a doctors’ strike, turns up confused and in pain
Jason Burke
A doctor and labour activist in Zimbabwe whose reported abduction led to widespread protests by medical staff has been found, disoriented and in pain but alive.
Peter Magombeyi, the acting president of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA), disappeared at about 10pm (2100 BST) local time on Saturday. The union leader sent a short message to colleagues saying he believed he was being kidnapped before all communications ceased.
From The Independent:
If you can wade through the bile, it isn’t all bad on social media. There are little moments of hope to be found – you just have to look
In the increasingly polarised, frankly bonkers political climate we are all being dragged through, I have been trying, to hold on to the fact that we are all human and most of us, however differently we view the world, essentially mean well.
It’s a state of mind my instincts usually lead me to but it has been challenged somewhat today by the Brexit Party, who are almost admirable in their steadfast refusal to behave in any way which might display the British sense of decency and fair play we are famous for. They abstained from voting on a European parliament resolution yesterday which called on Iran to release EU-Iranian nationals in prison for no coherent reason that the Islamic Republic is able to give.
From Metro.co.uk:
Richard Hartley-Parkinson
Anton jumped from his parents’ flat moments after being beaten by them, according to neighbours
A child has died after jumping from his parents’ flat after years of alleged abuse. The boy, named only as Anton, killed himself after getting home from school on August 23 in Enerhodar, southern Ukraine.
Downstairs neighbour, Zhanna said she heard Anton’s parents ripping his clothes and beating him followed by silence, the sound of a child running.
She said: ‘Several seconds passed and there was that horrific thud when a body hits the ground,’ she added.
Another from The Guardian:
Civil Aviation Safety Authority says it will make its own call on the 737 Max, which was grounded after two crashes left 346 dead
Ben Butler
Australia’s air safety regulator may refuse permission for Boeing 737 Max planes to fly even if its US counterpart revokes an order grounding the aircraft, which has crashed twice, leaving 346 people dead.
A Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman said that the decision of the US Federal Aviation Administration would be an important factor in deciding whether to allow the Max to fly, but Casa would also take into account other information before making its decision.
From the BBC:
Indonesia's president has delayed a vote on controversial new laws that would have outlawed sex outside marriage.
They'd gained a lot of attention online, with the Australian government updating its advice for tourists heading to Bali.
Now President Joko Widodo says the new laws need more consideration and has delayed next week's vote.
Bali's a hugely popular destination, attracting millions of visitors each year.
From Sky News:
Earlier this week, Kuala Lumpur had the most polluted air on the planet when levels plunged to "very unhealthy".
Kuala Lumpur is choking.
The city's normally sparkling twin Petronas Towers now are smudged outlines, faint behind a thick layer of smog.
As we flew into the Malaysian capital the haze was so dense that we couldn't see the ground below until we were almost on the tarmac.
From The Guardian:
Pacific nation changes allegiance to Beijing just days after Solomon Islands also cut ties with Taipei
Kate Lyons
Taiwan has lost its second diplomatic ally in less than a week after the Pacific nation of Kiribati moved to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan and establish foreign relations with China.
The decision comes after the Solomon Islands announced it was breaking away from Taiwan on Monday, and means that in just a week the number of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies has dropped from 17 to 15.
From the BBC:
Russia says a North Korean fisherman detained on charges of poaching in the Sea of Japan has died in custody.
He was one of six men injured while resisting arrest, a senior Russian border guard official said.
Another Asia story from the Beeb:
One of the world's most protracted conflicts is getting messier.
Earlier this week, India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, a measured diplomat-turned-politician, said India expected to have "physical jurisdiction" over Pakistan-administered Kashmir one day.
Delhi and Islamabad both claim Kashmir in full, but control only parts of it - territories recognised internationally as "Indian-administered Kashmir" and "Pakistan-administered Kashmir". More than four million people live in 10 districts spread over an area of more than 13,000 sq km (5019 sq miles) in the latter.
Also from Sky News:
The panther was recaptured after being tranquillised.
First there was the Essex lion, now a French panther has been spotted prowling on rooftops in northern France.
Unlike the reports of a lion in Essex, which after an extensive search turned out just to be a plump cat, when the emergency services turned up to investigate the panther - that's exactly what they found.
From the Telegraph we start with two arts (ish) news stories:
James Crisp
Belgians have reacted with disbelief after an image of the Manneken Pis - the national symbol of a naked urinating boy - was censored on the box of the Brussels edition of Monopoly.
Instead the Manneken Pis’ modesty will be covered by swimming trunks picked out in the Belgian capital’s colours and Iris motif.
Monopoly’s American owners were not willing to have a picture of the famous statue on the Brussels themed version of the board game.
and the second one:
Stuart Heritage
For 11 years now, Between Two Ferns has operated on a deceptively simple premise. Zach Galifianakis sits on a cheap office chair in a dingily-lit studio and passive-aggressively belittles an A-list celebrity.
Sometimes it seems like the celebrity is in on the joke, sometimes it seems like they’re not, and sometimes it seems like they were in on the joke initially but have recently started to have second thoughts. These last ones are the best.
Take the Justin Bieber interview, for example. Galifianakis greets Biber by saying how exciting it is to meet him "especially in the middle of your public meltdown". After a long, awkward pause and a handful of aborted questions, Galifianakis asks "When you're in the recording studio, do you ever ask yourself 'Hey, what if I make something that isn't shitty".
From the Daily Record (Ayrshire):
Julian McLaughlan, 23, unwittingly launched his art career after posting his paintings to social media.
A Kilwinning man who ‘packed in’ art school after a year will open his first art show in Glasgow next weekend.
Julian McLaughlan, 23, unwittingly launched his art career after posting his paintings to social media.