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 now moi, JeremyBloom. 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. Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
Pictures of the week come from CNN.
And because of the season, we will start with east Asian news and news about east Asians, with this from CNN:
Rising concerns over increasingly aggressive military maneuvers by China have prompted Taiwan to extend the mandatory military service period most of its young men must serve. But former conscripts interviewed by CNN say Taipei will need to do far more than that if it is to make the training effective.
Outdated, boring and impractical. That was the verdict of six young men who spoke to CNN about their recent experiences of mandatory service in Taiwan’s military.
From KXAN:
A bill filed in the Texas Senate aims to ban citizens of China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran from purchasing real estate in Texas, following national security concerns from top Republicans and prompting condemnations from Democrats. KXAN's Ryan Chandler reports.
From Reuters:
HANOI, Jan 20 (Reuters) - As China, Japan and other East Asian countries prepare to celebrate the start of the Lunar Year of the Rabbit on Sunday, the people of Vietnam will be an exception - welcoming instead the Year of the Cat.
From the PBS News Hour:
COVID casts shadow over Lunar New Year celebrations in China
From The Guardian:
Negative population growth that arrived a decade before forecasts has been exacerbated by Covid and restrictive government policies
Verna Yu
Talk to any young woman in urban China about the prospects of having children and the chances are, they are not keen.
“It costs too much to give kids a decent life. The stuff they teach at school is propaganda, so I’d want to send them to an international school or abroad. But I can’t afford that,” said Kongkong, a 26-year-old researcher who swears she will not have children.
From NBC:
Firefighters battled a blaze that broke out in a shanty town near to the upscale Seoul district of Gangnam. Hundreds of people were evacuated but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
From Al Jazeera:
Vehicles were crushed under tonnes of snow and ice that collapsed on a highway tunnel.
The discovery of eight more bodies has increased the death toll to 28 following an avalanche in Tibet that buried multiple vehicles in deep snow and ice on a section of road connected to a highway tunnel.
Chinese state media reported late on Friday that eight more victims were uncovered by rescue workers digging by hand and with mechanical diggers in deep snow to locate vehicles that were buried when the avalanche hit a road and highway tunnel connecting the city of Nyingchi in Tibet’s southwest with outlying Medog county.
From the Deccan Herald:
According to an official statement, the DGCA said the financial penalty of Rs 30 lakh has been imposed on Air India and Director-in-flight services "for violation of applicable Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs)" while the Pilot-In-Command saw his licence suspended for three months for "failing to discharge his duties" as per the Aircraft Rules, 1937 and applicable CARs.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also imposed a penalty of Rs three lakh on Air India's Director of in-flight services for "failing to discharge her duties". This is the first time that the DGCA has imposed a penalty on an airlinefor unruly passenger behaviour onboard a flight.
From the Hindustan Times:
'Muslims would've left India if..': UK MP blasts BBC over Modi documentary
From Al Jazeera:
At least 13 injured after a bomb attack derails a train in Bolan district in Balochistan province, local official says.
By Abid Hussain
Islamabad, Pakistan – At least 13 people have been injured after a bomb blast derailed a passenger train in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan.
The bomb exploded after midday (07:00 GMT) on Friday as the Jaffar Express passenger train was passing through the Bolan district, more than 150 kilometres (more than 90 miles) from the provincial capital Quetta, authorities said.
From the BBC:
A top UN official believes progress is being made towards reversing bans on women taking part in public life in Afghanistan.
It comes as a delegation led by Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has ended a four-day visit, meeting with senior Taliban officials in Kabul to discuss aid programmes and the participation of women.
But the country is also facing an economic crisis. The death toll in Afghanistan from an unprecedented cold wave has risen to 78 as temperatures in many parts of the country fell to -30 °C.
From Moneywise (via Yahoo! Finance):
The 2023 World Economic Forum has been going on for just a few days and we’re already getting a glimpse of the future the global elites envision for us all.
Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, stunned reporters in Davos when he expressed that the oil-rich nation was open to trading in currencies beside the U.S. dollar for the first time in 48 years.
From CNN:
Israel’s highest court this week ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire a key ally, a dramatic move amid an unprecedented confrontation between his government and the judiciary.
The High Court ruled 10-1 on Wednesday that it was unreasonable for Aryeh Deri, leader of the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox party Shas, to serve as a minister. He was appointed interior and health minister just three weeks ahead of the ruling.
From The Hill:
Three suicide drones on Friday morning attacked a U.S. base in Syria, leaving two Syrian fighters injured.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a release that forces at the al-Tanf Garrison shot down two of the drones, but one was able to strike the compound.
No American troops were injured in the attack.
From the Hindustan Times:
Ardent ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev warned NATO that a defeat for Russia in Ukraine could provoke a nuclear war. His statement came as Western officials convene for another meeting with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
From The Washington Post:
The Kremlin on Friday declined to comment on the recent installation of air defense systems in multiple locations in and around Moscow, as Russia seeks to close gaps in its defenses, apparently fearful that Ukraine could launch an audacious and humiliating attack on the Russian capital.
Russia has deployed Pantsir-S1 air defense systems atop two government buildings in Moscow, including the Ministry of Defense on Frunzenskaya Embankment, and a district education ministry building on Teterinsky Lane, according to independent Russian-language media.
From The Guardian:
Authorities suspect omerta may have helped Matteo Messina Denaro live in freedom among 10,000 people
It is hard to believe that in the small Sicilian town of Campobello di Mazara, where everyone knows each other and their secrets, no one thought to inquire after the identity of the man who had turned up out of the blue, with no known family or friends, over a year ago.
Impeccably dressed in designer clothes, he could be seen drinking an espresso at the local cafe on most mornings, dining in a pizzeria, strolling the streets, shopping, and cordially greeting his neighbours.
That is until Monday, when he was arrested coming out of a clinic in Palermo and revealed to be Matteo Messina Denaro, the last godfather of the Sicilian mafia and the world’s most wanted mob boss.
From Al Jazeera:
French leader says the planned 2024-30 budget will change the military for the possibility of high-intensity conflicts.
France will boost military spending by more than one-third in the coming years, President Emmanuel Macron said, as he unveiled ambitions to transform the French army to deal with the great “perils” of this century.
Acknowledging the end of the “peace dividend” of the post-Cold War era, Macron said on Friday the planned 2024-2030 budget would adapt the military to the possibility of high-intensity conflicts, made all the more urgent since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost 11 months ago.
From the BBC:
A disease or parasite new to UK waters may have caused the deaths of thousands of shellfish along the North East and North Yorkshire coast, a report said.
A panel of 12 experts found it was "about as likely as not" a new pathogen caused the die-off in late 2021.
They said it was "very unlikely" regular dredging of the River Tees caused it, while capital dredging was "exceptionally unlikely".
From The Guardian:
The church made me answer prurient questions in order to be ordained – and if I were to enter a civil marriage, I’d essentially be sacked
- Charlie Bell is an Anglican priest in the diocese of Southwark
In many ways, my partner and I are quite boring and conventional. We may have met through a dating app – very 21st century – but otherwise there’s been nothing particularly scandalous or unusual about how we do things. Quite frankly, most people wouldn’t bat an eyelid.
Except, of course, for the fact that I’m a priest in the Church of England – and that’s where the problems begin. For while the rest of the country seems able to see the clear and unambiguous good that springs from same-sex relationships, the church continues to drag its heels. For years, in fact, it has told us that there’s nothing good at all about our love for one another – that it’s something to be shunned, embarrassed about, even erased. Our love is, ultimately, a problem.
From the BBC:
By Oliver Slow & Andre Rhoden-Paul
The Archbishop of Canterbury will not personally use proposed new prayers to bless same-sex couples.
The Church of England this week said it wants to offer blessings to gay couples but would not allow priests to marry them.
From Reuters:
Church of England bishops apologize to LGBTQI+ people
From CNBC:
KEY POINTS
- “Ministers are deliberately misleading the public about the life and limb cover and who is to blame for excessive deaths,” Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said.
- Unite National Lead Officer Onay Kasab said that a resolution was “in the government’s hands,” and the dispute would only end when the U.K. leadership enters “proper negotiations” over pay.
From CBS:
A prime suspect in the disappearance of 43 college students has been deported to Mexico by U.S. authorities. Federal authorities said the man was caught trying to cross the border on Dec. 20 without proper documents.
U.S. federal agents confirmed to the Associated Press Thursday that the man is Alejandro Tenescalco. Tenescalco was a police supervisor in the city of Iguala, where municipal police abducted the students from a rural teachers' college.
From The Guardian:
Elvis François, 47, from Dominica, had scrawled the word ‘help’ in English on the boat’s hull
The Colombian navy has rescued a man from Dominica who says he survived 24 days adrift in the Caribbean on a sailboat by eating ketchup, garlic powder and seasoning cubes.
Elvis François, 47, had scrawled the word “help” in English on the boat’s hull, which officials said was key to his rescue.
From NDTV:
According to reports, average Amazon deforestation soared by 75 percent during Bolsonaro's presidency, compared with the previous decade.
Brazil this week began the first operations against Amazon deforestation since veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office, the Ibama environmental agency said Friday.
On the campaign trail before his October election victory -- when he defeated far right climate change skeptic Jair Bolsonaro -- Lula promised to end deforestation by 2030.
From the AP:
By DANIEL POLITI and FRANKLIN BRICEÑO
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Peru’s capital Friday and were met with volleys of tear gas for the second straight day, as demonstrators made clear they will keep up their mobilizations to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte.
Many of the protesters in Lima had arrived from remote Andean regions, where dozens have died amid unrest that has engulfed large portions of the country since Pedro Castillo, Peru’s first leader from a rural Andean background, was impeached and imprisoned after he tried to dissolve Congress last month.
From NDTV:
The headline was later changed to say: "Departure reveals unique pressures on PM." The story mentioned Jacinda Ardern's life as a working mother of a small child.
The BBC conceded Friday it was wrong for writing about Jacinda Ardern's shock resignation as prime minister of New Zealand with the headline: "Can women have it all?"
The since-deleted headline was posted Thursday on Twitter with a link to an article by BBC World, the UK broadcaster's global newsroom.
Angry commentators contrasted it with BBC headline writers' ungendered coverage of male politicians including Boris Johnson, the thrice-married father of seven who quit as UK prime minister last year.