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:
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The plans for giant seaweed farms in European waters
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Israel-Gaza: Hopes as Gaza ceasefire comes into effect
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These Ukrainian volunteers recover soldiers' remains to return them to their families
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Get ready to look up in the night sky at all those meteor showers
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Yet more human remains found as drought shrinks Lake Mead reservoir
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Alabama city disbands police force after racist text messages revealed
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Stock rally may end this week
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Biden Emerges From Isolation Again After Second Negative Coronavirus Test
BBC
The plans for giant seaweed farms in European waters
At a testing site way off the Dutch coast a breakthrough was made this summer.
Some 12km (7.5 miles) out at sea, a converted fishing boat mechanically harvested a batch of farmed seaweed.
The kelp had been grown on netting hanging below a 50m (164ft) long plastic tube that was floating on the water, held in place by buoys and two anchors on the seafloor.
The boat was positioned alongside, and an 8m tall, electric-powered cutting arm was moved into the water. It pulled up the tubing and sliced the long strands of seaweed from the 2m in width net. The seaweed was then automatically bagged-up, and dropped onto the deck.
North Sea Farmers, the consortium behind the test, says it was the world's first mechanical harvest of an offshore (some distance from the coast) seaweed farm.
Eef Brouwers, North Sea Farmers' manager for farming and technology, says that the successful harvest was "an important first step" towards the large-scale cultivation of commercial seaweed farms in the North Sea.
BBC
Israel-Gaza: Hopes as Gaza ceasefire comes into effect
A ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants has come into effect after three days of violence which left at least 43 people dead.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) militants said the truce will begin at 23:30 local time (20:30 GMT), after talks moderated by Egyptian mediators.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid's office confirmed the ceasefire.
The latest violence is the most serious flare-up between Israel and Gaza since an 11-day conflict in May 2021.
The Israeli military confirmed it was striking Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza as the ceasefire came into force in response to rockets fired just before, and Israeli media reported some isolated rocket fire from Gaza in the minutes after.
But the ceasefire largely appears to be holding since then.
The Israeli military said it began the latest attack on sites in the Gaza Strip in response to threats from a militant group. It followed days of tensions after Israel arrested a senior PIJ member in the occupied West Bank.
By Sunday evening, the Palestinian health ministry said that 15 children had been confirmed among the 43 deaths recorded in the latest violence. Gaza's health ministry has blamed "Israeli aggression" for the deaths of Palestinians and for the more than 300 people wounded.
NPR
These Ukrainian volunteers recover soldiers' remains to return them to their families
DNIPRO, Ukraine — Outside a morgue in the central eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, a scene plays out all day, every day.
Coffin lids are brought out and leaned against a wall, along with large crosses and flowers. The coffins soon follow, the pale face of a dead soldier sometimes visible inside. They're slid inside a waiting van; the lids put on.
This is where Oleg Repnoy's journey begins. He's a volunteer for Evacuation 200, an organization that returns dead Ukrainian soldiers — or their remains — to their families.
"My job is to accompany these heroes on their last trip home," he says.
Since fighting began on Feb. 24, no one could keep up with the number of casualties, he says. So this special volunteer unit was created to help.
NPR
Ex-rebel sworn in as Colombia's president in historic shift
BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombia's first leftist president will be sworn into office Sunday, promising to fight inequality and heralding a turning point in the history of a country haunted by a long war between the government and guerrilla groups.
Sen. Gustavo Petro, a former member of Colombia's M-19 guerrilla group, won the presidential election in June by beating conservative parties that offered moderate changes to the market-friendly economy, but failed to connect with voters frustrated by rising poverty and violence against human rights leaders and environmental groups in rural areas.
Petro is part of a growing group of leftist politicians and political outsiders who have been winning elections in Latin America since the pandemic broke out and hurt incumbents who struggled with its economic aftershocks.
The ex-rebel's victory was also exceptional for Colombia, where voters had been historically reluctant to back leftist politicians who were often accused of being soft on crime or allied with guerrillas.
NPR (Public service announcement)
Get ready to look up in the night sky at all those meteor showers
Watch out for the shooting stars coming your way in the next few weeks.
The most popular meteor shower, known as the Perseids, is about to reach its peak — with up to 100 meteors per hour.
The Perseids are annual and are active between July and September. The warm summer weather makes it easier to be outdoors for viewing, NASA notes.
The Perseids will peak Aug. 13 and be most visible in the Northern Hemisphere in the hours before dawn, but might be seen as early as 10 p.m. A bright, full moon will appear during the shower, which could affect visibility.
This meteor shower is known for what scientists call fireballs, which NASA describes as "larger explosions of light and color that can persist longer than an average meteor streak.”
The Guardian
Yet more human remains found as drought shrinks Lake Mead reservoir
A fourth set of human remains has been found at the shrinking reservoir of Lake Mead as the drought gripping the western US continues to blaze and sends its water levels plunging.
The fourth set of skeletal remains was found on Saturday at Swim Beach in Nevada, and are now being assessed by the local Clark county coroner. The identity of the body is unknown, nor the manner of death.
“Park rangers responded and set a perimeter to recover the remains with the support from Las Vegas Metropolitan police department’s dive team … The investigation is ongoing,” the National Park Service said in a statement.
The lake is now at its lowest level for more than 80 years, posing a dire threat to a water source that is crucial for 25 million people. The dry spell has dried out its tributaries, threatened key hydropower production and hurt tourism at what is a popular recreation site for many hundreds of miles.
But it is the regular discovery of bodies as the water recedes that has captured a gruesome slice of the public imagination in the US – and beyond.
The Guardian
Alabama city disbands police force after racist text messages revealed
The small city of Vincent in Alabama has voted to disband its police force after the revelation of racist text messages exchanged between two of its officers.
In the exchange, which recently surfaced on social media, one user named “752” asked: “What do y’all call a pregnant slave?” To this, one person who is not identifiable through the text, responded with question marks.
The user named 752 then responded: “BOGO Buy one, get one free.”
The messages were first reported by AL.com on Tuesday, the same day the Vincent city council met to decide on the issue.
Earlier on Tuesday, the police chief, James Srygley, had said the department had “conducted an internal investigation” and that they had taken “appropriate disciplinary action”.
But on Thursday, Srygley himself was identified as one of the officers who was terminated. Assistant chief John L Goss was also terminated, and the city council then voted to disband the whole department.
Reuters
Stock rally may end this week.
NEW YORK, Aug 5 (Reuters) - A rally in U.S. stocks that has powered on despite skepticism from Wall St faces a reality check in the coming week, as key inflation data threatens to shut the door on expectations of a dovish shift from the Federal Reserve. read more
The S&P 500 (.SPX) has walked a tightrope this summer, rising 13% from its mid-June lows on hopes that the Fed will end its market-bruising rate increases sooner than anticipated. A blowout U.S. jobs number on Friday bolstered the case for more Fed hikes but barely dented stocks – the S&P fell less than 0.2% on the day and eked out its third straight week of gains.
New York Times
Biden Emerges From Isolation Again After Second Negative Coronavirus Test
WASHINGTON — President Biden left isolation on Sunday morning after a weeklong rebound case of Covid-19, heading to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware for a short getaway before resuming official travel.
The president appeared in good spirits as he emerged from the White House in the early morning hours without a tie and headed to Marine One for the flight to the beach. “I’m feeling good,” he told reporters.
The White House said that Mr. Biden had tested negative for the coronavirus for a second consecutive day before leaving the White House. “He will safely return to public engagement and presidential travel,” Dr. Kevin C. O’Connor, the White House physician, said in a memo released by the White House.