Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Interceptor7, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame and jck. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, 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.
Caveat; as I noted on KTK I’m on pain pills so if I report a story like Hindenburg explodes or Amelia Earhart lost at sea, view it with caution.
BBC
Coronavirus: India surpasses US for highest single-day rise in Covid-19 cases
India has set a record for the world's highest single-day increase in coronavirus cases.
The nation, the world's third-most infected, on Sunday reported 78,761 new cases in 24 hours, passing the number posted in the US on 17 July.
The rise comes as the government continues to lift restrictions to try to boost an economy that lost millions of jobs when the virus hit in March.
An upsurge of Covid-19 in many rural areas continues to be a major concern.
On Sunday, global infections passed the 25 million mark, with 843,000 deaths. The US remains the most affected nation, closing in on six million infections, according to Johns Hopkins University research.
India's single-day tally on Sunday passed the one-day increase of 77,299 reported by the United States on 17 July.
Cardiology doctor, Manoj Kumar, told Reuters: "It is the largest one-day surge in cases worldwide and the reason behind this - because the pandemic is spreading in the rural areas."
Deutsche Welle
A new, unsettling study on children and the coronavirus pandemic has just been published as countries around the world reopen kindergartens and school classrooms. The study's findings are sure to further fuel already heated debates over the risk of infection in institutions of learning.
Doctors at the Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC have found that infected children can spread the SARS-CoV-2 virus for weeks even though they themselves show no COVID-19 symptoms. That means that children with only mild symptoms, or none at all, can unknowingly infect people around them.
In an earlier study, researchers in Boston showed that children and youths they observed had surprisingly high viral loads.
The new study, which was published on August 28 on the website of the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics, was conducted by Roberta L. DeBiasi and Meghan Delaney, who analyzed data from 91 children in 22 hospitals across South Korea. "Unlike in the US health system, those who test positive for COVID-19 in South Korea remain in the hospital until they have completely recovered from their infection," says DeBiasi.
According to the study, roughly 22% of the children developed no symptoms throughout their infection, 20% began asymptomatic but later developed symptoms, and 58% tested symptomatic.
NPR
Coffee lovers, here's something to be grateful about. Unlike paper towels, disinfectant or yeast, coffee has never been hard to find during the pandemic.
It has remained widely available on supermarket shelves even though COVID-19 has been particularly bad in some of the world's largest coffee growing nations. Brazil, which has recorded more cases than any nation other than the United States, is the world's top producer of coffee. India, Mexico and Colombia all rank in the top ten globally for both COVID cases and coffee production. Other major coffee exporters including Peru and Uganda have found themselves cut off by border closures and lockdowns.
"It's natural to think that the harvesting of the coffee crops may be disrupted or perhaps badly disrupted," says Steven Hurst, a coffee trader based in London. "But quite honestly and quite frankly, we've seen relatively little, if any, evidence of that."
Hurst's company Mercanta, The Coffee Hunters, buys coffee from all over the world. He says the origin of the beans is a central part of the product he's selling. It's not just Arabica beans, it's shade-grown Arabica from Peru. Or it's coffee from a small farmer collective in Uganda.
Reuters
Protesters crowd Minsk as Belarus leader gets birthday call from Putin
(Reuters) - Belarusians chanting “Happy Birthday, you rat” and flying red-and-white opposition flags gathered near President Alexander Lukashenko’s residence on Sunday as protesters kept up pressure on the veteran leader to resign, before dispersing peacefully.
The president, in office for 26 years, has shown no inclination to step down. For the second weekend in a row he appeared in a black cap and carrying an automatic rifle while walking around his residence, according to a photo published by Russia’s RIA news agency.
Lukashenko, who turned 66 on Sunday, is struggling to contain weeks of protests and strikes since winning an Aug. 9 election his opponents say was rigged. He denies electoral fraud and has said the protesters, whom he previously called “rats”, are backed from abroad.
Al Jazeera
Musk unveils Neuralink brain machine interface implanted in pigs
Just when you thought the year 2020 couldn't get much weirder, billionaire Elon Musk has introduced a group of pigs with mind-reading brain implants.
During an event Friday afternoon at Neuralink's headquarters in Fremont, California, Musk found himself hanging out with a passel of Yucatan swine. Several of them had previously undergone a surgical procedure in which a robot placed the latest version of Neuralink's computing implant into their brains. As a result, the brain activity of these enhanced porkers could be transmitted wirelessly to a nearby computer, allowing onlookers at the event to watch the animals' neurons fire as Musk strokes their snouts.
Musk spoke enthusiastically at the event about the potential for the technology to address brain injuries and other disorders. "The neurons are like wiring, and you sort of need an electronic thing to solve an electronic problem," he said. For the four-year-old startup, this demonstration is meant to show that Neuralink's brain-machine interface technology is progressing toward a day when it could be safely put into humans, possibly aiding people with a wide variety of debilitating conditions while also opening the door to a host of wild, sci-fi scenarios. Among them, Musk has said music could be transmitted directly into a person's mind
Raw Story
Christian fundraising site has raised over $220,000 for accused Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse
According to a report from the Religion News Service, a website dedicated to raising funds for Christian endeavors has allowed supporters of accused Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse to accumulate over $220,000 for his defense.
Rittenhouse, 17, is facing extradition to Wisconsin and has been charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree homicide and one count of attempted homicide in addition to charges of recklessly endangering two other victims and possessing a weapon while under the age of 18.
As RNS reports. the fundraising site Give Send Go has been hosting the plea for money for Rittenhouse, reaching $223,000 by early Sunday morning — exceeding its goal of $200,000.
The Give Send Go campaign for Rittenhouse, titled “Raise money for Kyle Rittenhouse Legal Defense,” contains a statement reading, “Kyle Rittenhouse just defended himself from a brutal attack by multiple members of the far-leftist group ANTIFA – the experience was undoubtedly a brutal one, as he was forced to take two lives to defend his own.
New York Times
New Yorkers Are Fleeing to the Suburbs: ‘The Demand Is Insane’
Over three days in late July, a three-bedroom house in East Orange, N.J., was listed for sale for $285,000, had 97 showings, received 24 offers and went under contract for 21 percent over that price.
On Long Island, six people made offers on a $499,000 house in Valley Stream without seeing it in person after it was shown on a Facebook Live video. In the Hudson Valley, a nearly three-acre property with a pool listed for $985,000 received four all-cash bids within a day of having 14 showings.
Since the pandemic began, the suburbs around New York City, from New Jersey to Westchester County to Connecticut to Long Island, have been experiencing enormous demand for homes of all prices, a surge that is unlike any in recent memory, according to officials, real estate agents and residents.
In July, there was a 44 percent increase in home sales for the suburban counties surrounding the city when compared with the previous year, according to Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants
New York Times
Big Oil Is in Trouble. Its Plan: Flood Africa With Plastic.
Confronting a climate crisis that threatens the fossil fuel industry, oil companies are racing to make more plastic. But they face two problems: Many markets are already awash with plastic, and few countries are willing to be dumping grounds for the world’s plastic waste.
The industry thinks it has found a solution to both problems in Africa.
According to documents reviewed by The New York Times, an industry group representing the world’s largest chemical makers and fossil fuel companies is lobbying to influence United States trade negotiations with Kenya, one of Africa’s biggest economies, to reverse its strict limits on plastics — including a tough plastic-bag ban. It is also pressing for Kenya to continue importing foreign plastic garbage, a practice it has pledged to limit. But the behind-the-scenes lobbying by the petroleum companies has spread concern among environmental groups in Kenya and beyond that have been working to reduce both plastic use and waste.
Washington Post
Biden’s sister, Valerie, at his side for 74 years — and for one final goal
When Joe Biden was in elementary school, the nuns put him on safety patrol, giving him a shiny blue badge. One day on the bus, his sister Valerie acted up, and Biden knew his duty was to report her.
Instead, with his father’s gentle encouragement, he turned in his badge and quit the patrol. Nothing was more important than family, he decided — even if members of that family stretched the rules a little.
Since he was nearly 3, when his little sister was born, Joe and Val have shared a personal partnership. Valerie Biden Owens has not only been deeply entwined in her brother’s life but has been fundamental in building his political career.
When he had a debilitating stutter, she helped him overcome it. When he ran for high school class president, she directed the effort. And she has run Biden’s campaigns ever since — for county councilman, U.S. senator and his first two bids for president. The 2020 campaign is the first Biden operation not run by his sister, but Owens, 74, remains an influential presence, according to friends and advisers. She helped craft the themes of the Democratic convention, particularly connecting Americans’ struggles with her brother’s story of overcoming tragedy. She reviews his speeches, participates in every debate preparation and scrutinizes major ads before they are released.
