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.
From Vox:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK needs to prepare for no deal — but talks are probably not done yet.
Another
Brexit deadline has come and gone. Well, sort of.
From USA Today (AP):
PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron denounced what he called an “Islamist terrorist attack” against a history teacher decapitated in a Paris suburb Friday, urging the nation to stand united against extremism.
The teacher had discussed caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad with his class, authorities said. The suspected attacker was shot to death by police after Friday’s beheading.
From The Guardian (opinion):
Citizens frustrated by the president’s top-down approach to crisis management are chafing against the latest restrictions
It’s not quite a lockdown, but the new measures announced by President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday come pretty close. Starting this Saturday, Paris and eight other metropolitan areas, home to some 20 million people, will see curfews imposed on all non-essential activity between 9pm and 6am for at least four weeks.
From the Washington Post:
PARIS — French prosecutors charged former president Nicolas Sarkozy with "criminal association" as part of an investigation into the financing of his 2007 presidential campaign, particularly its alleged ties to the government of then-Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi.
Although Sarkozy was charged in 2018 with corruption and embezzling funds from Libya, the new charges are a dramatic escalation — the most serious indictment a former head of state has faced in the history of France’s Fifth Republic, the governing system established in 1958.
From the New York Times:
Hugo de Jonge, the Dutch health minister, said that “incurably ill” children ages 1 to 12 should be able to die with the help of a doctor.
The Dutch government announced plans this week to allow doctors to end the lives of terminally ill children who are under 13 years old, a decision that is bound to inflame the debate over physician-assisted death.
The Netherlands already allows doctors to facilitate the deaths of people who are over 12 or less than a year old as long as parents have given their consent.
From The Guardian:
Alice Bordon says she is still shocked co-worker drugged her to make her underperform
An Italian woman has described how a bitter workplace rivalry resulted in a colleague spiking her morning cappuccino with a sedative as job cuts loomed.
Alice Bordon, the target of the plot, told the newspaper La Stampa that she had always trusted the colleague and was still incredulous that she had tried to “eliminate” her by slipping a tranquilliser into her coffee so that she would feel sleepy and underperform at work.
From CNN:
(CNN) — They're the sole inhabitants of a tiny Italian hamlet, but these elderly retirees aren't taking any chances when it comes to upholding the country's strict Covid-19 rules.
Giovanni Carilli and Giampiero Nobili wear masks every time they meet and insist on standing one meter apart, despite the fact that they have no neighbors and rarely leave the secluded town of Nortosce.
From CNN:
A photoshoot involving Finland's Prime Minister,
Sanna Marin, has sparked a debate about sexism in the country.
Marin, who became the world's youngest Prime Minister when she took office aged 34 last year, posed for the October issue of Trendi magazine wearing a blazer, with no shirt underneath.
Mari Paalosalo-Jussinmäki, director of women's media at A-lehdet magazine group -- publisher of Trendi -- told CNN that there was an "enormous" backlash against the photoshoot and cover story in Finland. She said the magazine received fierce criticism on social media soon after it was released on October 9.
From the Daily Beast:
Two traditional sing-alongs in late September in Switzerland’s Schwyz canton were attended by 600 people who yodeled together and then spread the virus.
Swiss authorities have voiced their concern about two sing-along yodeling concerts attended by 600 fans of the traditional singing that are now known to have been superspreader COVID-19 events that have turned a small Swiss canton into a hot spot as a second wave of the pandemic sweeps Europe.
People who attended the indoor performances in late September in the Schwyz canton were advised to socially distance, but not required to wear masks that would have impeded their yodeling.
From the New York Times:
An investigation into an initiative that grants citizenship to wealthy foreign investors appeared to show lawmakers helping to arrange a passport for a businessman despite being told he was a convicted criminal.
The small Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus has given citizenship and passports to more than 3,000 foreigners who agreed to invest at least $2 million in the country — a “golden passport” that allowed the holders to travel visa-free throughout the European Union.
But this week Cyprus announced that it was ending the initiative after an undercover investigation by journalists appeared to show two lawmakers helping to arrange a passport for a fictitious businessman, despite being told he had a criminal record.
From NBC (Reuters):
"The expansion of settlements violates international law and further imperils the viability of a two-state solution," the joint statement said.
By Reuters
PARIS — France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain are deeply concerned about Israeli plans to build new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, the countries said in a joint statement on Friday.
Israel this week approved more than 1,300 new settler homes in the West Bank, bringing to a total of over 4,000 the number of such homes that are in the pipeline, according to an Israeli settlement watchdog.
From The Guardian:
Nationalist politician jailed for kidnapping to lead country until elections next year
Sadyr Japarov, a nationalist politician who until last week was serving an 11-year jail term on kidnapping charges, has been confirmed as president of Kyrgyzstan after his predecessor resigned following protests.
Sooronbay Jeenbekov stepped down on Thursday after violent demonstrations erupted over disputed parliamentary election results.
From the BBC:
A 74-year-old Indian man, who was mistakenly declared dead and put in a mortuary freezer in Tamil Nadu state, has died days after being rescued.
Mr Balasubramanyam was declared dead on Monday after being taken to hospital. It's unclear what was wrong with him.
He was placed in a freezer until the next day when undertakers who came to collect his body for the funeral saw he was shaking and realised he was alive.
From CNN:
By Helen Regan
(CNN)Two activists in Thailand have been arrested on charges of attempting violence against the Queen, which could result in a possible life sentence.
The arrests come after Queen Suthida's motorcade drove past protesters in Bangkok on Wednesday, with video showing the crowd shouting and holding up the defiant three-finger salute inspired by the Hunger Games movie franchise. Police were seen pushing back protesters as the car, which also carried King Maha Vajiralongkorn's youngest son, Prince Dipangkorn, slowly drove past.
Bunkueanun "Francis" Paothong and Ekachai Hongkangwan are to be charged under Section 110 of Thailand's criminal code, according to the Thai Lawyers For Human Rights.
From Yahoo (video):
Reports: Japan to release Fukushima's nuclear waste water into sea
Japan will release over 1 million metric tons of water contaminated from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster into the sea, media reports said Friday.
From CNN:
By Alessandra Castelli, CNN
(CNN)A Brazilian senator was allegedly caught with huge amounts of cash hidden in his underwear during a Federal Police raid on Wednesday, a court order says -- part of a wider ongoing probe into the possible misuse of funds for the Covid-19 pandemic response.
Senator Chico Rodrigues, who represents the state of Roraima in the Federal Senate, confirmed that the raid took place in his home in Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima. He has denied any wrongdoing.
From People.com:
Nathan Hrushkin, 12, stumbled upon a young hadrosaur thought to be between 3 and 4 years old
A 12-year-old boy with dreams of becoming a paleontologist got a kickstart on his career goals this summer when he stumbled upon the bones of a 69-million-year-old dinosaur.
Nathan Hrushkin and his dad Dion were hiking on a conservation area in Canada’s Horseshoe Canyon in July when they came across partially exposed bones, the Nature Conservancy of Canada said on Thursday.
News of the arts:
From WRIC (Richmond, VA)
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The New York Time Style Magazine published an article on Thursday listing the 25 most influential works of American protest art since WWII. The Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue topped the list, specifically in its current state.
The City of Richmond saw a prolonged period of protests following the death of George Floyd in late May. The statue’s base is now covered in graffitied messages. Most messages on the statue are representing the Black Lives Matter movement or calls for police reform. Throughout the summer projections were displayed on the statue as well.
From the New York Times:
Heirs of Baron Mor Lipot Herzog, a Hungarian banker whose collection of masterpieces was seized by the Nazis, are still pursuing its return.
The judge presiding over perhaps the longest-running art restitution dispute had not been born when the family of Baron Mor Lipot Herzog, one of Hungary’s most prominent bankers, filed a claim in Budapest in 1945 for a collection of 2,500 artworks, Renaissance furniture and tapestries.
After 75 years, the case files from the still unresolved claim hold hundreds of thousands of pages in English, Hungarian, Russian, Polish, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch. There have been 11 court decisions, five appeals and 15 claims by roughly 30 lawyers in the United States, Hungary, Russia, Poland, France, Germany and Switzerland.
From the Verge:
A major criminal enterprise is proving tricky to prosecute
The Civil War-era desk, designed in 1876, looked too good to be true. Ornate, fashioned from walnut, maple, and oak, it was created to honor Union infantryman John Bingham.
“When you opened the door, it played Yankee Doodle Dandy,” said Clayton Pennington, a Maine Antique Digest reporter, according to an article in CBC. “It had a piece of a regimental flag on it, Latin sayings, an eagle with a clock on top. I mean, the thing was just absolutely over the top.”
It was also a fake.
From the Oxford Observer:
Art hasn’t changed, but amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the ways in which it is taught and viewed in school have.
Art teachers across the Talawanda School District–which has three elementary schools, a middle school and a high school–have collaborated to create virtual classes and content to offer positive feedback for their students.
From the Bangor Daily News:
BANGOR — The Bangor Public Library continues to celebrate Women’s Suffrage Centennial with a new juried art exhibition. Women’s Right to Vote 2020: a Community Exhibition highlights the artwork of 14 artists in the Bangor community who interpreted the ratification of the 19th amendment through their own artistic lens.
Due to COVID-19, the Bangor Public Library’s Minsky Lecture Hall Gallery is closed to the public, but starting Oct. 15 the public can experience the exhibit via reproductions on display throughout downtown Bangor or a virtual gallery experience link through our website. There will also be a virtual exhibit opening that the public is encouraged to attend where first-, second- and third-place winners will be announced at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 22.
From Hawaii Public Radio:
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced this week $10 million in COVID aid for artists and cultural organizations. It will pay out in two tiers - for businesses doing more than or less than $1 million a year in revenue. Kumu hula Vicky Holt Takamine explains who and what the money is for, and Misty Kelai‘i, executive director of the Mayor's Office of Culture and the Arts, tells us more. Click here to apply for the Culture and Arts Relief and Recovery Fund.
From the Art Newspaper:
After netting $4.2m for a Cranach, the museum plans to sell off works by Monet, Dubuffet, Degas, Miró and Matisse
NANCY KENNEY
Amid other sell-offs by art institutions, Sotheby’s announced today that the Brooklyn Museum will be expanding its deaccessioning campaign throughout the current auction season, starting with sales of works of art by Dubuffet, Monet, Degas, Miró and Matisse at the house on 28 October.
From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
MIA reinstalls its South and SE. Asian galleries, casting a bold new light on Asian art.
ELIZABETH FLORES • Star Tribune
An 18th century ritual crown from China or Tibet, typically worn by a Buddhist priest or monk, is part of Mia’s reinstalled galleries.
Low-lit alcoves. Gray walls. Ancient Thai sculptures lost in shadows.
That was how the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s South Asian, Southeast Asian and Himalayan galleries looked when Pujan Gandhi arrived as curator two years ago.