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.
- Here are some stories for tonight:
- Mariupol: Ukraine rejects Russian offer to surrender port city
- Six killed after car drives into crowd in Belgium
- Saudi Aramco ramps up investment to boost production
- Deadly fires scorch West Texas communities
-
South Korea: Incoming President Yoon wants to relocate capital from Seoul
Ukraine war: Russia blocks ships carrying grain exports
South Carolina institutes firing squad executions
Millions in China’s northeast placed under COVID-19 lockdown
U.S. imports little from Ukraine and Russia, but food and farming costs are expected to rise
BBC
Mariupol: Ukraine rejects Russian offer to surrender port city
Ukraine has rejected a Russian ultimatum offering people in the besieged city of Mariupol safe passage out of the port if they surrender.
Under Russia's proposal, civilians would be allowed to leave if the city's defenders laid down arms.
But Ukraine has refused, saying there was no question of it surrendering the strategic port city.
Around 300,000 people are believed to be trapped there with supplies running out and aid blocked from entering.
Residents have endured weeks of Russian bombardment with no power or running water.
Details of the Russian proposal were laid out on Sunday by Gen Mikhail Mizintsev, who said Ukraine had until 05:00 Moscow time (02:00 GMT) on Monday morning to accept its terms.
BBC
Six killed after car drives into crowd in Belgium
At least six people have been killed after a car drove into a crowd of carnival-goers in southern Belgium.
The incident happened in the small town of Strépy-Bracquegnies, about 30 miles (50km) south of the capital Brussels.
The car drove at high-speed into dozens of people who were preparing to take part in a traditional parade on Sunday morning.
Around 40 people were injured and several are in a serious condition, the town's mayor said.
"There were about 150-200 people who were following the parade and [the] car arrived from behind and drove into the crowd," Jacques Gobert said.
"It continued for another 100m (328ft)," he added. "It should be considered a national catastrophe."
BBC
The state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco plans to sharply increase the amount it invests in energy production, after it reported a doubling of profits in 2021.
The firm aims to boost output significantly over the next five years.
Energy prices have soared in recent months as demand has outstripped supplies of oil and gas.
The war in Ukraine and a reluctance to rely on Russia for energy has added to the pressure to find additional sources of energy.
Saudi Aramco's move is likely to be welcomed by political leaders worried about the impact of high energy prices, although the boost to investment is aimed at increasing output over the course of the next five to eight years.
Last week prime minister Boris Johnson visited Saudi Arabia to try to persuade the country to release more oil into world markets in the short term.
Saudi Arabia is the largest producer in the oil cartel Opec (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) and by raising production it could help to reduce energy prices which are currently at 14-year highs.
NPR
Deadly fires scorch West Texas communities
Emergency response crews continued to fight at least four wildfires in or near Eastland County, between Abilene and Fort Worth, on Sunday.
The blazes, known collectively as the Eastland Complex fires, have killed at least one person, destroyed more than 140 structures and burned around 50,000 acres of dry and windy West Texas landscape.
The high winds have kept firefighting aircraft grounded at times, hampering their attempts to support the ground crews. But another form of help from above may be on the way: rain.
Angel Lopez-Portillo with the Texas A&M Forest Service says there's a chance of rain Sunday night and into Monday.
"That's exactly what we're hoping for," he said. "As the weather is changing in our favor, it will help us out tremendously."
Deutsche Welle
Ahead of Yoon Suk-yeol's presidential election victory, the conservative candidate promised in a campaign speech to forge ahead with a plan to relocate South Korea's capital from Seoul.
When Yoon takes office in May, his government is expected to follow through on plans to invest heavily in new cultural, educational and medical infrastructure in Sejong.
Located 125 kilometers (80 miles) south of Seoul, construction on the site planned site for the new South Korean capital began in 2007. Sejong was granted legal status as a "special self-governing city" in 2012.
As president, Yoon has promised to transfer major components of the National Assembly to the new city, support the creation of special economic zones in surrounding areas to attract foreign investment and create state-of-the-art technology and research institutes to attract the top scientists.
Yoon also envisages business opportunities for entrepreneurs and media organizations and a second presidential office to operate in parallel with the present administration before Sejong becomes the full seat of the government at some point in the future.
Deutsche Welle
Ukraine war: Russia blocks ships carrying grain exports
Wheat exports from Ukraine and Russia, which make up a vital part of the world's food supply are still being blocked by Russia from leaving the Black Sea, Germany's largest agricultural trader BayWa said this week.
"Zero [grain] is currently being exported from the ports of Ukraine — nothing is leaving the country at all," Jörg-Simon Immerz, head of the grain trading at BayWa, told dpa news agency.
He added that the export activity on the Russian side is "very limited."
Immerz's assessment was backed up by the Panamanian Maritime Authority, who said on Wednesday that the Russian Navy was preventing 200-300 ships from leaving the Black Sea — most of them were carrying grain. Other reports suggest around 100 vessels are blocked.
Noriel Arauz, the administrator for the authority, said three Panamanian-flagged ships have come under Russian fire since the invasion of Ukraine started. One of the ships sank and two others were damaged, while no one was injured.
Reuters
South Carolina institutes firing squad executions
March 18 (Reuters) - South Carolina now has the means to facilitate executions by firing squad, officials said Friday, making it one of few states where it is lawful to carry out a death sentence in that manner.
The state Department of Corrections said it alerted the Attorney General's office that it has developed protocols and completed renovations at a correctional facility in Columbia, the capital city, making way for death row inmates to choose to be shot by a three-man squad among three possible methods of execution.
A state law passed in May 2021 authorized the death penalty policy changes, giving condemned persons the option to choose death by rifles or lethal injection when available. It also made the electric chair the state's primary mode of execution.
Al Jazeera
Millions in China’s northeast placed under COVID-19 lockdown
China has imposed stay-at-home orders on millions more people in the country’s northeast, as it tries to tackle its biggest coronavirus outbreak in two years.
The country has largely kept the virus at bay since it brought to heel its initial outbreak in 2020 using targeted lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions.
However, the Omicron strain of COVID-19 has taken hold in multiple cities across China.
Jilin, the second-biggest city in Jilin province, will lock down about 4.5 million inhabitants for three days from Monday night, local authorities announced. More than 4,000 new infections were reported across China on Sunday, with two-thirds in Jilin province, which borders Russia and North Korea.
Washington Post
Even though only a fraction of the food eaten in the United States is imported, with much of that coming from Mexico and Canada, the ripple effects of the conflict in Ukraine will conspire to further drive up food prices and keep them high into next year, analysts say. And because Russia is a main producer of fertilizer and other agricultural chemicals, the conflict is likely to have an impact what is grown this year on American soil.
Guebert has seen the effects firsthand. His fertilizer cost was $510 a ton last year, he said. This year, it’s $1,508. He has no choice but to pay it to meet his target crop yields, he said, and while the price he is paid for his grain will rise, too, “prices will reach a point where no one can afford to purchase them.”