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 Rise above the swamp. . 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.
Since 2007 the OND has been 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.
Some stories for tonight:
- Ukraine: US orders families of embassy staff to leave
- Hossein Vafaei becomes first Iranian to win a snooker ranking title with victory over Mark Williams
- German navy chief resigns over Ukraine comments
- Change to aid rules needed to prevent famine in Afghanistan, say UK experts
- French adventurer, 75, dies in attempt to row across the Atlantic
- Wildfire that closed scenic California highway burns on, 500 evacuated
- Mexican officials find more than 3,000 migrants in two days
- Syria prison attack kills more than 100, clashes ongoing
- Is the bubble about to burst for Bitcoin?
- TV anchor grills Ron Johnson over dismal poll numbers
- Top Jan. 6 Investigator Fired From Post at the University of Virginia
BBC
Ukraine: US orders families of embassy staff to leave
The US has ordered the relatives of its embassy staff in Ukraine to leave amid rising tension in the region.
The State Department has also given permission for non-essential staff to leave and urged US citizens in Ukraine to consider departing.
In a statement, it said there were reports that Russia is planning significant military action against Ukraine.
Russia has denied claims that it is planning to invade Ukraine.
The State Department also warned people not to travel to Ukraine and Russia due to the ongoing tension and "potential for harassment against US citizens".
A State Department official told the AFP news agency that the embassy remains open but repeated warnings from the White House that an invasion could come at "any time"
Pool news:
Hossein Vafaei becomes first Iranian to win a snooker ranking title with victory over Mark Williams
Hossein Vafaei became the first Iranian player to win a ranking title, beating Mark Williams in the final of the Snooker Shoot Out.
Vafaei won the one-frame final with a break of 71 and dedicated the victory to his late grandmother.
"That is for you grandma," the 27-year-old told Eurosport. "It's Mother's Day in Iran and I am very proud I did that.
"It's a big achievement for a country like Iran. Nobody knew about snooker before. Now they know."
Wales' Williams, the three-time world champion, only got the chance to play one shot in the final with world number 42 Vafaei sinking a tricky, long red after the break-off.
"I thought I'd played a pretty good break-off shot there and what a fantastic red that was," said Williams. "To make that break under pressure to win your first tournament, hats off to him."
BBC
German navy chief resigns over Ukraine comments
The head of the German navy has resigned over controversial comments he made over Ukraine.
Kay-Achim Schönbach said the idea that Russia wanted to invade Ukraine was nonsense. He added that all President Vladimir Putin wanted was respect.
A number of countries have supplied weapons to Ukraine, including the US and UK. But Germany has refused Ukraine's request for ammunition.
Russia has denied claims that it is planning to invade Ukraine.
But President Putin has issued demands to the West which he says concern Russia's security, including that Ukraine be stopped from joining the military defence alliance Nato.
He also wants Nato to abandon military exercises and stop sending weapons to eastern Europe, seeing this as a direct threat to Russia's security. Mr Schönbach said on Saturday that he had resigned from his role "with immediate effect" in order to "avert further damage".
The Guardian
Change to aid rules needed to prevent famine in Afghanistan, say UK experts
Afghanistan can only be saved from state collapse and widespread starvation if the definition of legitimate humanitarian aid to the country is broadened, some of Britain’s most senior former security and diplomatic chiefs have said.
The group, including two former national security advisers, a former chief of defence staff and a former ambassador to Afghanistan, write in a letter published in the Guardian that the aid that can be sent to the Taliban-controlled country without fear of sanctions is too restricted.
Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation has deteriorated drastically since last August when the Taliban stormed back to power 20 years after being toppled. International aid came to a sudden halt after their takeover, worsening the plight of millions of people who were already suffering from hunger after several severe droughts.
The Guardian
French adventurer, 75, dies in attempt to row across the Atlantic
A 75-year-old Frenchman attempting to row across the Atlantic “to laugh at old age” has been found dead in his cabin at sea, his support team said.
Portuguese coast guards found Jean-Jacques Savin’s overturned boat off the archipelago of the Azores on Friday.
They sent a diver down on Saturday to search it, his team added, but the former paratrooper’s body “was found lifeless inside the cabin”.
The avid triathlete set off from the southern tip of mainland Portugal on 1 January, but there had been no contact with him since overnight Thursday to Friday when he activated two distress beacons.
It was just his latest adventure after crossing the Atlantic alone in a custom-built barrel in 2019, a 127-day trip followed by thousands on Facebook.
Savin was hoping again to reach the Caribbean, this time in a rowing boat eight metres long and 1.7 metres wide, with a rowing station at its centre.
Reuters
Wildfire that closed scenic California highway burns on, 500 evacuated
Jan 23 (Reuters) - A wildfire that closed northern California's scenic coastal highway and threatened a famous bridge burned into its third night on Sunday, as some 500 people remained under evacuation orders, officials said.
The so-called Colorado fire, about 15 miles (24 km) south of Monterey and just north of the area known as Big Sur, broke out on Friday night and crossed the Pacific Coast Highway, burning for a time on the ocean side of the road.
The fire approached but did not damage the Bixby Creek Bridge, known for its spectacular concrete arch support that soars 260 feet (80 meters) over the gorge and Pacific Ocean below.
The fire consumed 1,050 acres (425 hectares) and was 25% contained as of Sunday morning and since then has shown "moderate activity with isolated runs and tree torching," said Cecile Juliette, a spokesperson for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
Reuters
Mexican officials find more than 3,000 migrants in two days
MEXICO CITY, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Mexican officials found more than 3,000 migrants in the country illegally over the past 48 hours, the government's National Migration Institute (INM) said on Sunday.
The largest groups made up 380 migrants found in the western Gulf Coast state of Veracruz, with one group located in a tour bus and another group found in a trailer, the INM said.
Another 319 migrants were part of a caravan that got lost after departing from the southern city of Tapachula with the goal of reaching the United States. More than two dozen migrants were also found inside an imposter ambulance with fake logos in the state of Oaxaca, the statement said.
Al Jazeera
Syria prison attack kills more than 100, clashes ongoing
At least 120 people have been killed in ongoing battles between US-backed, Kurdish-led forces and ISIL (ISIS) fighters after an attack on a Syrian prison.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “at least 77 IS members and 39 Kurdish fighters, including internal security forces, prison guards and counter-terrorism forces have been killed” in the attack that started on Thursday.
ISIL claimed responsibility for the prison break on its Amaq media mouthpiece on Friday. A video it released on Saturday purported to show armed men infiltrating the prison and raising the group’s black flag as they stormed the Kurdish-run Ghwayran jail in Hasakeh city. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage.
At least seven civilians were also killed in the fighting, according to the SOHR.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Sunday it tightened its siege, aided by US-led troops, and that 17 of its soldiers had been killed.
Al Jazeera
Is the bubble about to burst for Bitcoin?
It lost half its value on Friday, with other cryptocurrencies dealing in the red.
Bitcoin, the mother of all cryptocurrencies, has lost almost half of its value in just a few hours.
It reached an all-time high of more than $65,000 last year.
But on Friday it dropped below $35,000 for the first time in months.
And it is not just Bitcoin. Some of the biggest names in the blockchain have been trading in the red.Some blame Russia’s Central Bank, which proposed on Friday a ban on the trade and mining of cryptocurrencies.
Raw Story
In an interview on Sunday, Pederson asked Johnson how he planned to win re-election with an approval rating of 35%.
"You will have to get some moderates to vote for you," the host noted, "people who really aren't part of your base. How will you do that as someone who has become a very polarizing figure in politics?"
"First of all, I'm not a polarizing figure," Johnson shot back. "It's just that people in the legacy media call me one and all of the sudden, you become one. I'm not a polarizing figure at all. I'm just trying to convey the truth. I've done a really good job as Wisconsin's United States senator."
NY Times
Top Jan. 6 Investigator Fired From Post at the University of Virginia
The top staff investigator on the House committee scrutinizing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has been fired by the state’s new Republican attorney general from his position as the top lawyer for the University of Virginia, from which he was on leave while working on the congressional inquiry.
The office of the Virginia attorney general, Jason S. Miyares, said the firing of the investigator, Timothy J. Heaphy, was not related to the Jan. 6 investigation, but the move prompted an outcry from Democrats in the state, who accused him of taking the highly unusual action as a partisan move to further former President Donald J. Trump’s attempts to undermine the committee’s work.
“This is purely payback for Jan. 6 — there is no other reason that makes any sense,” said Scott Surovell, a top Democrat in the Virginia State Senate, who said that he knew of no other similar example in recent history where a new attorney general had immediately removed a school’s top lawyer. “In our state, we normally leave those decisions to the school’s board of visitors and president.”