Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame and jck. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Interceptor 7, Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), 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.
The vanishing Arctic
Since the mid-80s the Arctic has been warming twice as fast as the entire world — a phenomenon the vast majority of scientists agree is the direct result of human-induced climate change.
In 2020, the Siberian Arctic was more than 5 degrees warmer than the long-term average. The period between October 2019 and 2020 was the second warmest in more than a century of records.
It resulted in the “lowest June snow extent across the Eurasian Arctic observed in the past 54 years”, according to the US National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration’s recently released 2020 Arctic Report Card. It also led to extreme fires across Siberia generating record levels of carbon dioxide.
It was so warm this year that Anna Sleptsova’s hometown of Verkhoyansk experienced the hottest temperature ever recorded north of the Arctic Circle.
The UK is sending robot submarines to watch the world’s largest iceberg crash into an island
The world's largest iceberg, A-68a, may be mere days away from crashing into the Antarctic wildlife refuge of South Georgia island, and researchers are already preparing for the aftermath. According to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), which has tracked the iceberg for months, two refrigerator-sized robots will soon ship out for South Georgia to study the underwater effects of the impending collision.
The twin submersibles — each one measuring about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long and operated remotely — will spend almost four months collecting data on seawater temperature, salinity and clarity from opposite sides of the iceberg, according to a statement from BAS.
China's The Global Times appears to confirm a ban on Australian coal imports amid perilous trade tensions
Chinese state media appears to have confirmed that Beijing has blocked Australian coal imports, in a move which is likely to cost the economy billions of dollars and further inflame tensions between the two countries.
Nationalistic state-owned tabloid The Global Times reports that China's top economic planner has approved power plants to import coal without clearance restrictions from several countries "except for Australia".
Australian government sources say such media reports should be treated seriously because they are generally directly sanctioned by the Chinese Government.
Minnesota juvenile lifer walks free after 18 years in prison
A Black man sent to prison for life as a teenager took his first steps of freedom Tuesday to the sound of ringing bells and cheering family members and supporters, hours after a pardons board commuted his sentence in a high-profile murder case.
Myon Burrell’s prosecution and harsh punishment raised questions about the integrity of the criminal justice system that put him away nearly two decades ago for the death of a young girl killed by a stray bullet. Earlier this year, The Associated Press and APM Reports uncovered new evidence and serious flaws in the police investigation, ultimately leading to the creation of an independent national legal panel to review the case.
Last week, panel members published their findings, raising many of the same concerns, including that police had “tunnel vision” while pursuing Burrell as a suspect. The panel said it saw no purpose served by keeping Burrell locked up, pointing to his age at the time of the crime and his good behavior behind bars.
Alaska woman has allergic reaction to COVID vaccine
Health officials in Alaska reported Wednesday that a health care worker had a severe allergic reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine within 10 minutes of receiving a shot. She was treated and kept in the hospital overnight but has recovered.
Rep. Joe Wilson tests positive for Covid-19
US Rep. Joe Wilson announced Wednesday evening that he has tested positive for Covid-19 and will go into isolation through the holidays.
The South Carolina Republican, who spoke on the House floor earlier in the day, said in a statement: "Earlier this evening I learned that I have tested positive for COVID-19. I will be taking all necessary precautions, as directed by the House Physician."
"Thankfully I feel fine and do not have any symptoms. It is so important that we all do our part to help prevent the spread of this virus."
Wilson is the latest member to test positive for Covid-19. He was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to vote and spoke on the House floor at 2 p.m. ET. He kept his face mask on following new rules from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that members must keep them on when they address the chamber from the floor.
China's Chang'e-5 lunar probe successfully delivers moon samples to Earth
China has become only the third country in the world to successfully collect rocks from the moon.
In the early hours of Thursday morning Beijing time, the country's unmanned
Chang'e-5 mission returned to Earth carrying the country's first moon samples, according to Chinese state media outlet Xinhua.
The samples were retrieved from a previously unvisited area of the moon, and are also the first samples to be collected by any country since the 1970s.
The returning capsule landed in Siziwang Banner, which lies north of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, just before 2 a.m. Thursday Beijing time (1 p.m. ET Wednesday), according to China's National Space Administration (CNSA).
Florida’s new python-sniffing dogs have 1st success
Truman, the python-sniffing black Labrador retriever, recently tracked down his first snake in a new program Florida is using to eradicate the invasive species.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recently began training Truman and another dog named Eleanor to detect a python’s scent and alert handlers when they’ve come across one. The first success was last week when Truman found an 8-foot (2.4-meter) Burmese python in the Rocky Glades Public Small Game Hunting Area in Miami-Dade County.
“We’ve got to stay innovative. We’ve got to try new approaches and the detector dogs is just one area where we’re doing that,” commission Executive Director Eric Sutton. told commissioners during an update Wednesday.
Florida Closes Apalachicola Bay Until 2025 to Conserve Oysters
Because of a dwindling oyster population, a Florida agency voted unanimously Wednesday to shut down oyster harvesting in Apalachicola Bay through the end of 2025, dealing a blow to an area that historically produced 90% of the state’s oysters and 10% of the nation’s.
People in the area are divided between coming up with a long-term plan to save the industry, and allowing it to continue on a limited basis. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission did express the hope of reopening the bay before the ban on commercial and recreational harvesting ends if oysters recover sooner.
“If we can get there faster, that's everyone's desire,” Commissioner Michael Sole said. “Look, time is money for these people. I understand why we're saying a five-year time horizon, I just think that should be the outside edge of our closure and we should be driven to doing what we can to make this as fast as possible.”