Deutsche Welle
Germany in January 2024: The Alternative for Germany (AfD), which the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has partially classified as right-wing extremist, is enjoying record highs in opinion polls. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of people have been taking to the streets to demonstrate against the anti-immigration party.
The German Bundestag is also debating how to deal with the AfD. A motion has been submitted by the three governing parliamentary factions, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens, and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP). The topic: "Resilient democracy in a diverse country — a clear stand against the enemies of democracy and their plans of forced displacement."
This was prompted by a media report about a meeting of right-wing extremists in which AfD officials as well as members of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) took part. The gathering is said to have been about plans for the so-called remigration (expulsion) of millions of people who have immigrated to Germany.
This is an open thread where everyone is welcome, especially night owls and early birds, to share and discuss the happenings of the day. Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
C/NET
Commentary: Meta's boss has big plans for artificial general intelligence, a technology that's variously exciting, scary -- and very much unproven.
Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, who runs one of the biggest AI research efforts around, wants to run one that's even bigger. It's a pretty far-out idea.
On Thursday, he said that Meta is leveling up its work to tackle not just artificial intelligence, but also what's known as artificial general intelligence. AI and AGI are already very nebulous terms, but in a nutshell, with "general intelligence" systems Zuckerberg wants to create much, much smarter computing systems — ones that at least match human cognitive abilities like learning, reasoning, planning, creating and remembering information.
That's a sensible goal for a tech giant eager to shape the future of computing, attract the best research talent and keep antsy shareholders happy. But for you and me, it's not likely to mean a hyperintelligent bot will be offering advice through your smart glasses anytime soon.
NPR
MANCHESTER, N.H. — The New Hampshire attorney general's office is investigating recorded calls that appear to use a voice crafted to sound like President Biden to tell voters not to cast their ballot in the state's presidential primary on Tuesday.
"Although the voice in the robocall sounds like the voice of President Biden, this message appears to be artificially generated based on initial indications," the AG's office said in a statement.
The call, which was sent Sunday, said, "Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday."
Biden won't appear on the Democratic primary ballot because of a dispute between the state and the Democratic National Committee over the party's nominating calendar. Instead, some activists are urging New Hampshire voters to write in Biden's name so he wins the primary regardless.
NPR
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, granted the Biden administration's request to vacate the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals' injunction in a case involving razor wire places along Texas's border with Mexico.
The move paves the way for federal officials to remove the wire.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.
Texas has maintained that it needs to act on the border because the federal government has failed to stem the tide of migrants crossing from Mexico.
Gov. Greg Abbott launched a controversial state-led, border security effort called "Operation Lone Star" in 2021. Since then, Texas has installed razor wire, a floating barrier in the Rio Grande, and added thousands of Texas state troopers and National Guard soldiers to patrol parts of the state's 1,254 mile long border with Mexico.
BBC
Canada has said it will cap the number of foreign students admitted to the country for two years in an attempt to address pressure on housing and healthcare in the country.
The cap will result in a decrease of 35% in approved study permits.
Over 800,000 foreign students were in Canada in 2022, up from 214,000 a decade earlier.
The new measures are also meant to ensure the "integrity" of the system, officials said.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced the cap on Monday, saying that Canada aims to approve around 360,000 undergraduate study permits this year.
BBC
There are few places from where you can see Russian-occupied territory with the naked eye in Ukraine.
The western bank of the Dnipro river in the city of Kherson is one of them.
You can't see the Russian troops on the other low, marshy riverbank, but you know they're there.
Incoming artillery fire as we arrive at an abandoned building serves as a sharp reminder.
There is nothing new about shelling in war. But the unit we're meeting deals with one of the key innovations of this invasion: drones.
Al Jazeera
The United States has rejected a claim made by Yemen’s Houthi rebels that they attacked the US military cargo ship Ocean Jazz in the Gulf of Aden.
“The Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists’ report of an alleged successful attack on M/V Ocean Jazz is patently false,” the US Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement on Monday. “NAVCENT has maintained constant communications with M/V Ocean Jazz throughout its safe transit.”
The Iran-aligned armed group, which controls much of Yemen, did not say when or precisely where the attack took place, or if any damage was caused.
Al Jazeera
The United States has urged Israel to launch an investigation into the death of Tawfiq Ajaq, a 17-year-old Palestinian-American who Palestinian authorities say was killed by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank.
At a press briefing in Washington, DC on Monday, US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters that the US is “devastated about the killing” and is continuing “to engage closely with the Government of Israel to ascertain as much information as possible. “
We have called for an urgent investigation to determine the circumstance of his death,” Patel said. He added that the head of the US Office of Palestinian Affairs had visited Ajaq’s family to offer condolences and would continue assisting them together with the US Embassy in Jerusalem.
Deutsche Welle
A proposal to allow foreign citizens to serve in the German army, known as the Bundeswehr, could be extended to Europeans in countries outside of the EU, a senior German lawmaker told DW.
Free Democratic Party (FDP) member Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who chairs the German parliament's defense committee, said that she can envision opening up the German army to candidates from across the continent.
She said candidates could initially come from the EU as well as countries like the United Kingdom, a former EU member, as well as neutral Switzerland. But there is also scope beyond these countries.
"I think that Europe also needs to be considered further, namely those who may live in European states but which do not yet belong to the European Union, but which may well be in accession negotiations," Strack-Zimmermann said in an interview with DW's Nina Haase.
Reuters
an 22 (Reuters) - Dexter Scott King, the younger son of the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, died on Monday of prostate cancer, the King Center in Atlanta announced.
His wife, Leah Weber King, said he died in his sleep at his Malibu, California, home. He was 62.
“He gave it everything and battled this terrible disease until the end. As with all the challenges in his life, he faced this hurdle with bravery and might,” she said.
Dexter King was born in Atlanta on Jan. 30, 1961, and was named after Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where his father served his first pastorate.
He was seven years old when his father was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.
"Words cannot express the heartbreak I feel from losing another sibling," said Reverend Dr. Bernice A. King, CEO of the King Center, in a statement.“I’m praying for strength to get through this very difficult time.”
Reuters
JERUSALEM, Jan 22 (Reuters) - A group of relatives of Israelis held hostage by Palestinian gunmen in Gaza stormed a parliamentary committee session in Jerusalem on Monday, demanding that the lawmakers do more to try to free their loved ones.
The action by about 20 people signalled growing domestic dissent in the fourth month of the Gaza war against Hamas.
One woman held up pictures of three family members who were among the 253 people seized in the cross-border Hamas rampage of Oct. 7 that triggered the worst fighting in decades.
Some 130 remain in captivity after others were brought home in a November truce.
"Just one I'd like to get back alive, one out of three!" the woman protester cried after pushing into the
The Guardian, UK
A schoolboy from Devon has reportedly joined Mensa after scoring higher on an IQ test than Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
Rory Bidwell, 12, recently achieved the maximum possible score for his age group of 162 on the Cattell III B test, the North Devon Gazette reported, just above the 160 purportedly assigned to physicists Einstein and Hawking.
Rory has as a result been invited to join Mensa, which describes itself as the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organisation open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test.
Rory sat the two-hour test in Exeter and according to reports did no preparation for the assessment.
The Guardian, UK
Two people have died and tens of thousands were left without power after Storm Isha wreaked havoc across the UK with gusts as high as 107mph.
Police Scotland said an 84-year-old man died after a car in which he was a passenger crashed into a fallen tree on the A905 at Grangemouth at about 11.45pm on Sunday.
In Limavady,
Northern Ireland, a man in his 60s died in a road collision involving two vans and a fallen tree at about 9.45pm on Sunday.
A 26-year-old man was in a critical condition after his car collided with a fallen tree in Cramlington, Northumberland at 6.55am on Monday.
The wild weather led to widespread power cuts. About 24,000 households in Northern Ireland were without power on Monday afternoon, down from a height of 53,000.
The Guardian, US
Norman Jewison, the acclaimed and versatile Canadian-born director whose Hollywood films ranged from Doris Day comedies and Moonstruck to social dramas such as the Oscar-winning In the Heat of the Night, has died at the age of 97.
Jewison, a three-time Oscar nominee who in 1999 received an Academy Award for lifetime achievement, died “peacefully” on Saturday, according to his publicist Jeff Sanderson. Additional details were not immediately available.
Throughout his long career, Jewison combined light entertainment with topical films that appealed to him on a deeply personal level. As Jewison was ending his military service in the Canadian navy during the second world war, he hitchhiked through the US south and had a close-up view of Jim Crow segregation.
In his autobiography This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me, he noted that racism and injustice became his most common themes.
The crew of the Overnight News Digest consists of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, jeremybloom, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Rise above the swamp, Besame and jck. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) eeff, 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.