Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame and jck. 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.
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.
There are a lot of stories about the war but we’ll look at other things instead. This is from CNN:
By
Hilary Whiteman
Brisbane, Australia CNN —
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is suffering its sixth mass bleaching due to heat stress caused by climate change, the reef’s managers confirmed Friday.
The update comes mid-way through a 10-day monitoring mission by UNESCO scientists as they consider whether to add one of the world’s seven natural wonders to their “in danger” list.
From Reuters:
Companies listed on U.S. markets report all kinds of information they’d rather not – like the chief executive’s salary as a multiple of the average worker’s pay, for example. A new draft proposal from the Securities and Exchange Commission to increase climate-related reporting would add many new items to that list. It’s a legal punch bag in the making.
From the NY Post:
Four members of a French family fell to their deaths from a building in Switzerland shortly after police tried to execute a warrant at their home Thursday morning, authorities said.
The fatal victims included a 40-year-old man, his 41-year-old wife, her twin sister and the couple’s 8-year-old daughter. The couple’s 15-year-old son was seriously injured, police said.
From Reuters:
Scientists have found traces of microplastic in human blood for the first time in new research.
From The Guardian:
Announcement marks turning point in the nearly 17-month war in the northern region
Tigrayan rebels have agreed to a “cessation of hostilities”, marking a turning point in the nearly 17-month war in northern Ethiopia after the government’s announcement of an indefinite humanitarian truce a day earlier.
The rebels said in a statement sent to AFP they were “committed to implementing a cessation of hostilities effective immediately” and urged Ethiopian authorities to hasten delivery of emergency aid into Tigray, where hundreds of thousands face starvation.
Below the fold, news about the war.
From NY Post:
From ABC News:
Even as the conflict in Ukraine rages, a vast apparatus is being built to gather and preserve evidence of potential violations of international laws of war that were written after World War II
LVIV, Ukraine -- Each day searing stories pour out of Ukraine: A maternity hospital bombed in Mariupol. A mother and her children killed as they fled Irpin in a humanitarian corridor. Burning apartment blocks. Mass graves. A child dead of dehydration in a city under siege, denied humanitarian aid.
Such images have contributed to a growing global consensus that Russia should be held accountable for war crimes in Ukraine.
From Reuters:
Russia bites back with gas rouble payments
- Gazprom has 4 days to work out rouble payments
- Russia exports $880 million of gas a day
LONDON, March 25 (Reuters) - Russia warned the West on Friday that billing in roubles for billions of dollars of natural gas exports to Europe could be just days away, Moscow's toughest response yet to crippling sanctions imposed by the West for the invasion of Ukraine.
Also from Reuters:
March 24 (Reuters) - Russians have rushed to stock up on anti-depressants, sleeping pills and contraceptives among other products since the conflict in Ukraine began, data released on Thursday showed, with people buying a month's worth of medicine in just two weeks.
Although official opinion polls suggest most Russians support President Vladimir Putin's decision to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, social media, interviews and anecdotal data suggest many Russians have been distressed by the severity of the sanctions imposed on Moscow by the West to try to force it to withdraw its forces.
From The Guardian:
Nato military action by no means certain for fear of Putin’s ability to strike back
Could Russia use chemical weapons in Ukraine and how would west respond?
Nato military action by no means certain for fear of Putin’s ability to strike back
Joe Biden was asked twice in a press conference on Thursday if Nato would respond with military action were Russia were to use chemical weapons in Ukraine, a fear raised repeatedly over the past few weeks by the US, UK and others.
How did the US president reply – and what did he mean?
“We would respond,” Biden said in his first answer. “We would respond if he uses it. The nature of the response would depend on the nature of the use.”
From South China Morning Post:
- Investors have pulled money out of China on a huge scale even as flows to other emerging markets held up, the Institute of International Finance says
- Analysts expect fund outflows in yuan-denominated assets to remain volatile in coming weeks, raising concerns about how authorities will manage the yuan
From CBS News:
London — Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told a NATO summit on Thursday that Russia had used white phosphorus against civilians in his country.
And we finish off with CNN:
By Arnaud Siad, Nathan Hodge and Toyin Owoseje
Vladimir Putin likened Russia's treatment by the West to the public backlash against J.K. Rowling.
J.K. Rowling has hit back at Vladimir Putin after the Russian President compared the West’s treatment of his country to a public backlash faced by the Harry Potter author.
In a message shared on her Twitter account on Friday, the writer said critiques of cancel culture are “not best made” by those “slaughtering civilians.”