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 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.
You can pick and choose among the international stories this evening. I’ll leave it at this: the Navalny story and Ukraine and NATO are widely covered in this blog and elsewhere. There is a lot of good information out there, so as usual this diary will focus on the less widely discussed news. And because it is me hosting tonight, and I am in that kind of mood, I wanted to start with a couple of archaeology stories. The first is from Explorers’ Web:
One tomb containing a who’s who of fourth-century Macedonian royalty has been a bone of contention in the archaeological community for decades.
Now a recent report in the Journal of Archaeological Science claims to have resolved the controversy. But has it?
From The Guardian:
Antiquities authority drops proposal for Menkaure pyramid after review prompted by international outcry
Egypt has scuttled a controversial plan to reinstall ancient granite cladding on the pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three great pyramids of Giza, a committee formed by the country’s tourism minister said in a statement.
Mostafa Waziri, the secretary general of the supreme council of antiquities, announced the plan last month, declaring it would be “the project of the century”.
And from Haaretz:
The extant highway is deadly but new finds at Legio, the Roman Legion base at Armageddon, spur archaeologists to urge government: Consider other ways to save drivers from themselves
Ruth Schuster
"And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. ... And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon" – Revelation 16:1,16
At the foot of Tell Megiddo lies a sprawling Roman army camp. This was no temporary military encampment with tents and a mangy grunt on guard. This was a full-fledged base of the fearsome Roman legions. Over no less than 180 years from the second century, it served the Legio II Triana and then the Legio VI Ferrata, aka the Ironclad Legion.
And before we go below the fold, your Taylor Swift news from The Guardian here and here (I seem to be geographically obliged to include Taylor Swift news, as my local news comes from Kansas City).
From The Guardian:
Jarrad Antonovich died after drinking plant-based psychedelic and having frog toxin extract ‘kambo’ dabbed into burns
Joe Hinchliffe
The ceremonial leader of a spiritual retreat in northern New South Wales at which a man died after drinking ayahuasca may have told witnesses not to talk about the fatal ceremony, a coroner has heard.
The second sitting of the inquest into the death of Jarrad Antonovich – who died after drinking the plant-based psychedelic and having the frog toxin extract “kambo” dabbed into burns in his skin – held its second hearing on Friday.
From Deutsche Welle:
Following years of legal battles against Julian Assange, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says that "enough is enough." The WikiLeaks founder is facing extradition to the US from the UK.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday called for the release of Julian Assange of legal pursuit by US and UK authorities.
The 52-year-old WikiLeaks founder, who is an Australian citizen, has been trapped in legal limbo for years after releasing a raft of top secret US documents on war in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2010. He is currently being held in London but is facing extradition to the US on charges of espionage.
Lots of news about the election in Indonesia. This is from The Guardian:
People under 40 will decide who leads the world’s third-largest democracy when voting takes place on 14 February
For first-time voter 18-year-old Nafis Athallah, the election is everywhere. There are banners on the roads, pavements, and even outside homes, and his social media feed has been transformed into an election battleground, with campaign videos, fan art dedicated to candidates, and streams of opinions.
His friends are divided over who to support, and have been debating the election, conscious of the huge role younger people will play in the vote on 14 February. “Half of the active voters are young people. So it’s a very, very big demographic,” says Nafis, who is from Medan, North Sumatra.
This is also from The Guardian:
President-elect Prabowo Subianto has human rights abuses to answer for, says mother of student shot at 1998 protest
Every Thursday for the past 17 years, in searing heat and pouring rain, Maria Catarina Sumarsih has stood outside the Indonesian presidential palace, demanding justice for her son. He was shot dead in 1998, when authorities opened fire on student protesters as they called for an end to the rule of dictator Suharto.
Soon, it is assumed, the palace behind her will be inhabited by Prabowo Subianto – a former son-in-law of Suharto and a special commander under his 32-year regime, one of the most brutal and corrupt of the 20th century. He is accused of involvement in a series of rights abuses, including enforced disappearances and torture during the Suharto era, which ended in the same year that Sumarsih’s son died.
From Al Jazeera:
Indonesian island with its unique religion and culture is preparing for Nyepi, the day when everything shuts.
By Ian Neubauer
Bali, Indonesia – At dawn, as the first shards of light dance over the rice fields in the seaside village of Seseh on Bali’s west coast, Putu and her husband Made, who like many Indonesians go by one name only, spend an hour reciting prayers and distributing small palm leaf baskets containing offerings to ensure the health of the coming harvest.
Later in the day, their 11-year-old daughter will attend a class for “sanghyang dedari”, a sacred trance dance for girls that is designed to counteract negative supernatural forces.
From Deutsche Welle:
Japan's space agency, JAXA, successfully launched its next-generation H3 rocket into orbit after facing some initial setbacks.
From South China Morning Post:
- Singapore will give handouts of US$445 to each household and offer rebates to businesses amid inflation and higher operating costs
- Given this is one of the ‘more generous budgets in recent times’, analysts say the move could be setting the stage for an election
Singapore’s second-in-command Lawrence Wong on Friday unveiled a budget aimed at relieving families and businesses of the pressures of rising costs of living, with a raft of goodies signalling a potential gear-up for an election.
Analysts said there appeared to be “something for everyone in the budget”, a historical trend that suggested the approach of the polls, due to be called by November 2025.
From Deutsche Welle:
A Taiwanese influencer has staged an eleborate hoax that involved him pretending to be kidnapped and then escaping his captors, according to a Cambodian court.
A court in Cambodia on Friday sentenced two Taiwanese men to two years imprisonment for staging a kidnapping from a seaside resort and posting video of it online.
Chen Neng-chuan, who goes by the handle "Goodnight Chicken" and Lu Tsu-hsien known as "Anow," were arrested after posting fake videos on Facebook of themselves being beaten and detained by security guards, according to the Preah Sihanouk provincial court.
From The Guardian:
Researchers used samples from populations deemed by experts and campaigners to be vulnerable to exploitation, including Uyghurs and Tibetans
A genetics journal from a leading scientific publisher has retracted 18 papers from China, in what is thought to be the biggest mass retraction of academic research due to concerns about human rights.
The articles were published in Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine (MGGM), a genetics journal published by the US academic publishing company Wiley. The papers were retracted this week after an agreement between the journal’s editor in chief, Suzanne Hart, and the publishing company. In a review process that took over two years, investigators found “inconsistencies” between the research and the consent documentation provided by researchers.
Also from The Guardian:
Case of Emily Chen, who did a few months’ work for US logistics firm, highlights ‘deteriorating’ climate for foreign firms
Amy Hawkins
China has detained one of its citizens on spying charges after she did some work for a US company, in a case that experts say highlights the potential risks of working for foreign businesses in the country.
Emily Chen, 50, disappeared after flying into Nanjing Lukou international airport in December on a visit from Doha, where she lives.
From NDTV:
According to Election Commission data, 28,030 electoral bonds worth ₹ 16,437.63 crore were sold between 2016 and 2022, with the BJP raking in over ₹ 10,000 crore from that amount.
A day after the Supreme Court struck down the electoral bonds scheme - on grounds it violated citizens' right to information, was unconstitutional, and may lead to quid pro quo arrangements between political parties and donors - the government has said it is "studying" the order.
Sources told NDTV the government is weighing options and will not, at this stage, move to overrule the country's highest court, like it did in December when it passed a bill - with most opposition leaders suspended - to establish a new mechanism to appoint members of the Election Commission.
From Deutsche Welle:
Alexey Strelnikov16 hours ago
As young men who obtain Russian citizenship could end up having to serve in the military, the numbers applying have fallen drastically in the past two years.
Interest in obtaining Russian citizenship has fallen sharply since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. According to the Russian Interior Ministry, some 63,600 people applied for a Russian passport in 2023 — almost half the number in 2022, and a quarter of that in 2015.
Denis (not his real name) was born in the Latvian city of Liepaja on the Baltic coast. He lived there until 1994 before moving to Veliky Novgorod in Russia with his family and obtaining Russian citizenship. But in 2012, he had to decide between his Latvian and Russian passport, after Latvia decided to accept dual citizenship for EU and NATO states. The 40-year-old told DW that he opted for his Russian nationality. "At the time, I had moved to Novgorod, but I kept visiting Latvia because of my friends there," he said. "I didn't know where Russia was heading."
From Deutsche Welle:
Asylum-seekers in Germany may soon receive their social benefits on a prepaid debit card rather than as cash payments to stop them from sending benefit money home. Some communities have already started the scheme.
It has been two and a half months since the small, picturesque town of Greiz, Thuringia, became one of the first places in Germany to introduce the controversial "pay card" scheme for asylum-seekers — and, according to state administrator Martina Schweinsburg of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), it has been a success.
That's mainly because, Schweinsburg argues, it has eased a lot of tension in the small eastern German town.
From The Guardian:
Opponents lodge legal appeal against Sunday’s planned mascletà, a celebration of noise, near recently restored Manzanares river
Stephen Burgen
Environmentalists and animal welfare groups are protesting against Madrid city council’s plans to stage an especially noisy firework display in a nature reserve created on the recently restored Manzanares river.
Opponents say the mascletà, a celebration of noise rather than light, planned for this Sunday lunchtime will lead to a “massacre” of wildlife, and of birds in particular.
From Deutsche Welle:
Can Europe count on the US to defend it as part of NATO?
The war in Ukraine is entering its third year and Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly raised the specter of using nuclear weapons. Should Europe need to defend itself against such an attack, it would depend to a large extent on the United States. But is the US assurance that it will defend Europe as part of the NATO alliance reliable? DW Poltical Correspondent Hans Brandt talks to Heather Williams, Director, Project on Nuclear Issus, CSIS.
From Deutsche Welle:
Cai NebeFebruary 15, 2024
For more than 70 years, European colonialists physically uprooted African communities and tried to destroy their sense of identity. Renaming landmarks was just one way to impose European identity on African heritage.
From The Guardian:
Amina Noor travelled from north London with the child to Kenya where the procedure was carried out in 2006
A woman who was found guilty of handing over a three-year-old British girl for female genital mutilation (FGM) during a trip to Kenya has been jailed for seven years.
Amina Noor, 40, was convicted last year of assisting a Kenyan woman to carry out the procedure overseas in 2006. The conviction was the first for assisting in such harm under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003.
From The Guardian:
Exclusive: The animal translocation scheme by wildlife NGOs including African Parks, once headed by the royal, has been dogged by controversy
Four more people have died after an elephant translocation overseen by two wildlife organisations, including one that was headed by Prince Harry, in a protected area in Malawi. The recent deaths bring the total fatalities connected to the relocated elephants to seven.
From Al Jazeera:
Experts say the management model can be adopted by communities across Senegal and elsewhere in the world.
By Jack Thompson
Joal-Fadiouth, Senegal – Clutching a purse and clad from head to toe in white protective gear, Bintou Sonko removes a small metal kettle from her purse and releases smoke into one of the 50 beehives nestled in the dense mangrove outside her town in Senegal. Pacifying the bees, the 53-year-old extracts a dark golden liquid from within.
In 2022, she, her sister, and several others in the 67-strong women’s cooperative in Joal-Fadiouth, a town 100km (62 miles) south of Dakar, spent a month learning how to make honey, build hives and interact calmly with the bees. Despite an initial fear of being stung, she is in no doubt of their importance in the mangrove.
From CNN:
Senegal’s outgoing president Macky Sall Friday said he would hold presidential elections “as soon as possible” one day after the West African country’s constitutional council ruled against his decision to postpone elections.
“The President of the Republic has taken note of this decision which lies within the framework of the normal jurisdiction mechanism of a democracy and the rule of law sanctioned by the Senegalese constitution,” Sall’s office said in a statement.
From The Guardian:
Company claimed its chatbot ‘was responsible for its own actions’ when giving wrong information about bereavement fare
Leyland Cecco
Canada’s largest airline has been ordered to pay compensation after its chatbot gave a customer inaccurate information, misleading him into buying a full-price ticket.
Air Canada came under further criticism for later attempting to distance itself from the error by claiming that the bot was “responsible for its own actions”.
And one last one from The Guardian:
Adil Meléndez Márquez received call from bodyguards 20 minutes after Sir Henry Brooke award from Alliance for Lawyers at Risk
“I’m very afraid,” says Colombian lawyer Adil Meléndez Márquez, the day after being presented with an award in London honouring human rights defenders.
Meléndez is no stranger to death threats, because of his work on cases related to Colombia’s decades-long civil war, environmental justice and corruption, but things have just got a lot scarier. With bitter irony, 20 minutes after receiving the Sir Henry Brooke award from the Alliance for Lawyers at Risk, his bodyguards called him to say that they had been stood down from, leaving him without protection.