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, and Besame. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck, 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 start with a small good news story, from the NY Times:
The dramatic rescue of a child who drifted out to sea on a toy flotation device, captured on video, earned the praise of the Greek prime minister.
ATHENS — The unicorn had wings.
And when a 3-year-old girl climbed aboard the inflatable toy at a beach in the town of Antirrio in southern Greece on Monday, the wind grabbed hold of both her and the flotation device before her parents could react. Within moments, she was carried out to sea, adrift and alone, clinging to the unicorn’s neck.
From CNN.com:
Written by Sara Spary Oscar Holland, CNN
The
British street artist Banksy has financed and decorated a bright pink rescue boat to help save the lives of migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe.
The ship, which has been named "Louise Michel" after a French anarchist, is a former French navy vessel that Banksy purchased using proceeds from his artwork, according to the new search and rescue mission.
On its website, the Louise Michel project said it aims to "uphold maritime law and rescue anyone in peril without prejudice."
From Al Jazeera:
Top EU diplomat says preparing sanctions against Turkey over territorial dispute with Greece in Eastern Mediterranean.
The European Union has threatened Turkey with fresh sanctions - including tough economic measures - unless progress is made in reducing soaring tensions with Greece and Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell on Friday said the bloc wanted to give "a serious chance to dialogue" but was steadfast in its support for member states Greece and Cyprus in the crisis, which has raised fears of a military standoff.
From Al Jazeera:
Majority of Lebanon's imports were redirected for a week after the explosion until Beirut port became operational again.
Tripoli, Lebanon - On August 4, several ships were making their way through the Mediterranean Sea towards the port of Beirut to offload shipments of wheat, medicine and steel, among others.
But when the clock struck 6:08pm in Lebanon, a huge explosion at Beirut port's now-infamous Hangar 12 sent strong shockwaves through the sea. They were felt all the way to Cyprus.
From Reuters:
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities said on Friday they had arrested the acting leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mahmoud Ezzat, during a raid on an apartment in Cairo.
The arrest is the latest blow to Egypt’s oldest and most organised Islamist movement, which has been crushed in a sweeping crackdown since it was forced from power seven years ago.
News from NBC (originally from Reuters):
The threats to Denis Mukwege and his family appeared to be linked to his outspoken criticism of violence against women and other human rights violations.
GENEVA — The life of a top Congolese doctor who won the Nobel Peace prize for his work treating war rape victims is in danger after a series of death threats, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday.
The threats, received in the form of phone calls to Dr. Denis Mukwege and his family as well as via social media, appeared to be linked to his outspoken criticism of violence against women and other human rights violations, another U.N. official said.
From The Guardian:
Typical holiday destinations across Europe are seeing an influx of a new type of visitor: local staycationers
Ashifa Kassam in Madrid, Lorenzo Tondoin Caltanissetta and Ana Salvá in Mallorca
It is usually the domain of hangover-nursing sunbathers and rowdy tourists getting an early start on beach parties. But this year – as quarantines, restrictions and advisories take a toll on travel – the white sandy beaches and crystal-clear waters of Magaluf on the Spanish holiday island of Mallorca have some new visitors: Mallorcans.
“This is the first time we’ve ever come – Mallorcans do not come to Magaluf,” laughed Laura, 31, as she settled in for a day on the beach with her friends. “We came this year only because we knew there were no tourists.”
From the NY Times:
The country has suspended the use of glue traps, which conservationists say are cruel to animals and harm the environment.
PARIS — The hunting technique involves coating branches with glue to trap songbirds, which are caged to attract additional birds that can then be killed.
Activists have condemned it as cruel to the animals and harmful to the environment, and such practices have been banned in all European Union countries except France, which created a workaround to allow hunters to continue its use.
From The Guardian:
Bloc sources say Britain is trying to water down EU geographical protections
The UK government has renewed its attempt to reopen the chapter of the Brexit divorce treaty protecting specialty food and drink, such as Parma ham, roquefort cheese and champagne, in a move that left the EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, “a little bit flabbergasted”.
The British proposal on protected status for food and drink was included in a draft free-trade agreement handed to Barnier by his opposite number, David Frost, last week, according to two EU sources.
Also from The Guardian:
One video shows members of Britain First entering hotel and banging on bedroom doors
Anger is mounting over a series of videos posted by far-right organisations in which activists enter hotels where asylum seekers are being held, knock on their doors to interrogate them and accuse them of wasting taxpayers’ money.
A video by Britain First, circulated widely on social media, shows a group of far-right activists entering a hotel in Bromsgrove, near Birmingham, and banging on bedroom doors, demanding to know what country the asylum seekers are from.
From CBS News:
Police in Berlin, Germany, are preparing for a weekend of possible violence from those who oppose coronavirus restrictions and their far-right supporters. After Berlin officials banned protests against COVID restrictions earlier this week because prior demonstrations failed to comply with health and safety measures, the anti-restriction and far-right supporters took to social media to call on people to arm themselves and take to the streets.
According to Reuters, Berlin police announced on Friday that more than 3,000 police officers will be on the streets of Berlin on Saturday to maintain order. There were thousands of applications to hold protests and rallies as of Thursday night. Police said they were prepared to use water cannon, if necessary, to control the crowd.
From Business Insider:
- Richard Grenell, the former US ambassador to Germany, said at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday that he saw President Donald Trump "charm" German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
- When asked about the comment at a press conference on Friday, Merkel looked mystified by the suggestion, then declined to comment.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel looked mystified when she was asked whether President Donald Trump had "charmed" her.
From the BBC:
A polar bear has killed a man in Norway's Arctic Spitsbergen island, local officials say.
The attack occurred at a campsite near Longyearbyen, the main town of the island in the Svalbard archipelago.
The bear was then shot and found dead at the local airport.
From Reuters:
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - El Al Airlines (ELAL.TA) will on Monday fly Israel’s first flight to the United Arab Emirates by a commercial carrier, an airline spokesman confirmed on Friday, as the countries forge ahead with a deal to normalise ties.
The direct flight between Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport and the UAE’s political capital of Abu Dhabi is due to carry an Israeli delegation and top aides to U.S. President Donald Trump, who brokered the Aug. 13 accord.
From the NY Times:
Flooding has left more than 150 dead and 200 others injured in recent days, battering a country already torn asunder by violence and the coronavirus.
CHARIKAR, Afghanistan — Hamid Agha’s family was sleeping outside when the rain began. He had witnessed torrential rain before during his two years living in Charikar, a city carved along the foothills of the Hindu Kush in northern Afghanistan, and thought little of it. Yet when the family of 13 awoke on Wednesday, having moved inside their oppressively hot three-room home during the night, it was to the sound of floodwater.
From The Guardian:
Mother of 14-year-old victim expresses fury at lenient sentence as critics say Iranian law unfairly favours men
Patrick Wintour
An Iranian man who beheaded his 14-year-old daughter has been sentenced to only nine years in jail, in a case that has sparked outrage at the way Iranian law appears to enshrine supposed male rights over women’s lives.
Rana Dashti, the mother of 14-year-old Romina Ashrafi, expressed fury at the lenient sentence in an interview with the Iranian Labor news agency (Ilna) on Friday and said the court’s ruling had “caused fear and panic for me and my family”.
From AOL.com (Thomson Reuters):
MOSCOW, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Russia has released previously classified footage of the world's largest nuclear explosion, caused when the Soviet Union detonated the so-called Tsar Bomba almost 60 years ago.
The hydrogen bomb, which carried the force of 50 million tons of conventional explosives, was detonated in a test in October 1961, 4,000 meters over the remote Novaya Zemlya archipelago above the Arctic Circle.
From Al Jazeera:
Six months after city's worst religious riots in decades, rights groups and families call for investigation and action.
New Delhi, India - Brothers Amir and Hashem were on their way home from their grandparents' house in India's capital, New Delhi, when they were stopped by a group of Hindus, and beaten to death because they were Muslims, their family said.
The two men were among the 53 people killed in February in the worst religious violence seen in the city in decades.
Their father Babu Khan recalled when he had to identify his sons' bodies.
"When they showed us the photos, our world came crashing down," Khan told Al Jazeera, sobbing.
From CNN:
Hong Kong (CNN)China launched a series of ballistic missiles into the South China Sea this week, according to United States defense officials, part of a flurry of military exercises extending thousands of miles along the country's coastline, as tensions with Washington over the disputed waterway continue to escalate.
Beijing claims almost all of the vast South China Sea as its sovereign territory and has stepped-up efforts to assert its dominance over the resource-rich waters in recent years, transforming a string of obscure reefs and atolls into heavily fortified man-made islands and increasing its naval activity in the region.
Also from CNN:
In this February 2018 file photo, two US Air Force F-22 Raptors fly in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.
(CNN)US F-22 fighter jets intercepted Russian military aircraft in international airspace off the coast of Alaska late Thursday, according to North American Aerospace Defense Command.
The intercept took place amid heightened tensions between the US and Russian militaries, tensions that were thrust onto center stage this week when a collision between American and Russian military vehicles in Syria
injured seven US service members and led Moscow and Washington to blame each other for the incident.
From Reuters:
TAILANDIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Mauro Lucio Costa wanted to do the right thing for the world’s largest rainforest.
For decades, the third-generation rancher in northern Brazil watched guiltily as his industry, feeding soaring global appetite for beef, razed ever more jungle. So, gradually he experimented with grasses and grazing techniques that today make his ranch one of the most efficient in Brazil. Costa became a model for those who believe beef can be raised profitably and sustainably – even in the Amazon.
From the NY Times:
Brazilians are asking a question that could threaten President Jair Bolsonaro’s political future: Why did his wife and son receive payments from a man under investigation for corruption?
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, was visiting a cathedral in the capital in recent days when a reporter threw out a question: President, why did your wife receive $16,000 from a former aide under investigation for corruption?
The response was aggressive, even for a president known for venting his anger at journalists and critics.
From the Guardian:
Julio Mora, 110, and Waldramina Quinteros, 104, a combined nearly 215 years, received Guinness certification in mid-August
Associated Press in Quito
Julio Mora slipped away from his parents to secretly marry Waldramina Quinteros one February day. Both families disapproved.
Seventy-nine years later, they’re still together – he is 110 years of age, and she is 104, both lucid and both in good health, though relatives say they’re a little depressed because they miss their big family get-togethers due to the pandemic.
News of the Arts
From the Associated Press and KSTP:
Actor Chadwick Boseman, who played Black icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown before finding fame as the regal Black Panther in the Marvel cinematic universe, died Friday of cancer, his representative said. He was 43.
Boseman died at his home in the Los Angeles area with his wife and family by his side, his publicist Nicki Fioravante told The Associated Press.
From the NYTimes:
This Sotheby’s sale of works by Basquiat, Warhol and other stars is expected to raise nearly a million dollars for the Center, an L.G.B.T.Q. nonprofit in the city.
Owning a private collection of nearly 140 artworks by luminaries like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein would be a godsend for most arts organizations, but it was a burden for the Keith Haring Foundation.
Legal counsel had warned the nonprofit for years that keeping a collection made by artists other than its founder might fail to serve its charitable purpose. So last year the foundation began arranging with Sotheby’s to sell the artworks in an online auction called “Dear Keith,” with all proceeds benefiting the Center, an L.G.B.T.Q. community organization in the West Village.
From The Guardian:
For 15 years, one of New York’s most prestigious art galleries sold forged paintings – a new film explores how the art world fell for it
Adrian Horton
In November 2011, the arthouse Knoedler & Company – an Upper East Side mainstay and one of modern art’s most trusted and elite shops – shuttered in the middle of a show. The venerable gallery, founded in 1846, had weathered the civil war, two global conflicts, bankruptcy, the expansion of the American art market, purchase by the actor Armie Hammer’s great-grandfather, and 9/11. But in the end, it mysteriously ceased operations with little more than an email announcement.
The closure sent shock waves through the fine art establishment, a notoriously insular and opaque world, but in the days and months that followed, a trickle of press leaks revealed the extent of the damage: for 15 years, Knoedler had procured and sold at least 40 fraudulent paintings – an astounding $60m of forged work attributed to such modern American masters as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell. It was, according to Driven to Abstraction, a new documentary on the scandal, “the greatest forgery hoax ever of modern American art”.
