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, Rise above the swamp, and Besame. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, 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.
We begin with a couple about COVID around the world. First up, the BBC:
James Gallagher
You'd be forgiven for letting out a weary sigh. There's so much going on from Ukraine to the rising cost of everything - and now Covid is rearing its ugly head again.
The latest statistics show the number of people infected in the UK has more than doubled since the start of June with around 2.3 million people testing positive. You probably know someone who's had it.
From ABC:
Pyongyang's state newspaper says not to touch objects falling near the border.
SEOUL, South Korea -- Authorities in North Korea have instructed its people to avoid “alien things” falling near its border with South Korea.
North Korea’s state newspaper Rodong Sinmun published a news report on where the COVID-19 virus came from and pointed the finger at materials that flew in from South Korea. The paper said that two local townspeople showed COVID-19 symptoms after touching "alien things" at the border.
Also from ABC (but AP in origin), sort of a pandemic story:
Summer travel is underway across the globe, but a full recovery from two years of coronavirus could last as long as the pandemic itself
JERUSALEM -- At a tourism conference in Phuket last month, Thailand’s prime minister looked out at attendees and posed a question with a predictable answer.
“Are you ready?” Prayuth Chan-ocha asked, dramatically removing his mask and launching what's hoped to be the country's economic reset after more than two years of coronavirus-driven restrictions. When the crowd yelled its answer — yes, according to local media — it might have been speaking for the entire pandemic-battered world.
From Politico (Happy Canada Day, for those who celebrate wherever you might be):
Festivities draw Freedom Convoy protesters back to Parliament Hill.
OTTAWA, Ont. — Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa featured a supersized police presence and the return of Freedom Convoy supporters to Parliament Hill.
Revelers joining official festivities had to pass through metal detectors while city, provincial and national police forces patrolled and blocked traffic in and around the area.
One of the few good news stories tonight is this, from the NY Post:
It was a whale of a rescue tale.
Dramatic video shows a trapped whale splashing its way to freedom after a Norwegian coast guard crew cuts the monster-sized mammal loose from ropes.
“Are you holding my feet?” a crew member says in Norwegian, as he cautiously leans over the side of the ship KV Bison to cut ropes tangled around the massive whale’s tail and an orange buoy.
Here are a few on the war in Ukraine. Let’s start with Al Jazeera:
Ukraine’s army has accused Russia of carrying out attacks using incendiary phosphorus munitions on Snake Island, just a day after Moscow withdrew its forces from the rocky outcrop in the Black Sea.
Two sorties of Russian Su-30 fighter jets dropping phosphorus bombs were flown over the island from the Russian-controlled Crimean Peninsula, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said on Telegram on Friday.
From CNN:
By Jonny Hallam, Josh Pennington and Arnaud Siad
Pro-Russian investigators in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on Friday said they have charged another two British citizens with being “mercenaries,” according to the Donetsk News Agency.
“An investigation is now underway against British mercenaries Dylan Healy and Andrew Hill. They are charged under the same articles as the three previously convicted mercenaries. An investigation is under way and charges have been brought,” the agency reported quoting an unnamed DPR official.
Other Russia news comes from Reuters:
SOFIA, July 1 (Reuters) - Russia's ambassador to Bulgaria said on Friday she would ask Moscow to close its embassy in the Balkan country after her appeal for Sofia to reverse what she called an unprecedented hostile step to expel 70 Russian diplomatic staff was ignored.
In a statement addressed to the Bulgarian people, the ambassador, Eleonora Mitrofanova, said the closure of the Russian embassy would inevitably lead to the closure of Bulgaria's embassy in Moscow too.
From Reuters:
SOFIA, July 1 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's outgoing Prime Minister Kiril Petkov rejected a Russian ultimatum to reverse a decision to expel 70 Russian diplomatic staff by noon on Friday and named the country's finance minister as his possible successor.
The Balkan nation, an EU and NATO member state and once a close ally of Russia, has been roiled in recent days by political upheaval which saw parliament pass a vote of no-confidence in the coalition government last week and Petkov this week announce the Russian expulsions on espionage concerns.
and from Al Jazeera:
The court seeks the arrest of three men who served in the government of the Russian-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for three men wanted on suspicion of committing war crimes during the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, it announced on Thursday.
The Hague-based court opened an investigation in 2016 into the conflict, which killed hundreds and left thousands of civilians displaced.
From CNN:
Yair Lapid is used to being in the spotlight.
The son of a prominent family, Lapid has dabbled in acting, screenwriting, music and even amateur boxing, before becoming best known to the Israeli public as a journalist-turned-politician.
Now Lapid will be entering his biggest spotlight yet – as Israel’s caretaker prime minister.
From ABC (AP):
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is dealing with another boozy scandal after the deputy chief whip resigned and then was suspended by the Conservative Party after a drunken incident in which he reportedly groped two men at an event
LONDON -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government is dealing with another boozy scandal after the deputy chief whip resigned from his post and then was suspended by the Conservative Party over a drunken incident in which he reportedly groped two men at an event.
Chris Pincher, whose role was to maintain discipline among Tory members of Parliament, submitted a letter of resignation to Johnson on Thursday.
From Al Jazeera:
Ban includes plastic straws, disposable cutlery, earbuds, candy and ice cream packaging, and cigarette packets.
India has imposed a ban on single-use plastics on items ranging from straws to cigarette packets to combat worsening pollution in the nation of nearly 1.4 billion people.
The ban on single-use plastic items includes straws, cutlery, earbuds, packaging films, plastic sticks for balloons, candy and ice cream, and cigarette packets, among other products, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a statement on Friday.
From Insider.com:
Erin Van Rheenen
- I was living in Quito, Ecuador, when I found out I was pregnant while having a miscarriage.
- My bleeding was heavy, so my boyfriend and I went to a hospital for help.
- There, doctors and nurses treated me as if I had attempted an abortion at home.
From Al Jazeera:
As five-day conference comes to an end, several NGOs urge leaders to keep pledges made to save the world’s seas.
Environmental groups have urged world leaders to keep promises they made at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon this week, to do everything in their power to save the world’s seas.
“The ocean, climate and coastal communities worldwide need real progress, not promises, when it comes to ocean health,” Marco Lambertini, director-general of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said on Friday.
From the AP:
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The daughter of a reporter slain earlier this week in the northern Mexico border state of Tamaulipas died Friday of wounds suffered in the attack that killed her father.
On Wednesday, Antonio de la Cruz became the 12th journalist killed so far this year in Mexico, when a man on a motorcycle fired at him in his car outside his home. His daughter Cinthya de la Cruz Martínez, 23, was with him in the vehicle and was also shot.
From CNN:
Livia Borghese, Jula Buckley and Maureen O'Hare
(CNN) — The countdown has begun. From January 16, 2023, visitors to Venice -- that jewel in Italy's tourism crown -- will have to pay for the privilege.
It's set to become the first city in the world to require an entrance fee. The launch date was announced by Venice's councilor for tourism, Simone Venturini, at a press conference on Friday.
From The Guardian:
Virgilio Trujillo Arana, a 38-year-old indigenous Uwottuja man, was shot in the head three times in the city of Puerto Ayacucho
A Venezuelan indigenous leader who was an opponent of armed groups and illegal mining has been shot dead in the Amazonas state capital, a non-governmental organization and three people with knowledge of the case said.
Virgilio Trujillo Arana, a 38-year-old indigenous Uwottuja man, was a defender of the Venezuelan Amazon and had set up community groups to act as guardians of the Autana municipality of Amazonas.