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.
BBC
Atlantic to get 'extraordinary' hurricane season
The North Atlantic could get as many as seven major hurricanes of category three strength or over this year, which would be more than double the usual number, the US weather agency NOAA has warned.
Normally you'd expect three major hurricanes in a season.
As many as 13 Atlantic hurricanes of category one or above are forecast for the period, which runs from June to November.
Record high sea surface temperatures are partly to blame, as is a likely shift in regional weather patterns.
While there's no evidence climate change is producing more hurricanes, it is making the most powerful ones more likely, and bringing heavier rainfall.
"This [hurricane] season is looking to be an extraordinary one," NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad said in a news conference.
The recent weakening of the El Niño weather pattern – and the likely switch to La Niña conditions later in the year – creates more favourable atmospheric conditions for these storms in the Atlantic.
BBC
US firm to pay $310m over Ohio derailment and toxic fire
The firm at the heart of a Ohio train derailment and chemical spill will pay $310m (£243m) in a settlement to the US government.
Norfolk Southern will pay $235m to cover the cost of cleaning up contaminated air, water and soil in East Palestine.
The February 2023 derailment led to a fire that burned through hazardous cargo. Toxic fumes killed thousands of animals and forced many residents to flee.
In April, Norfolk Southern reached a separate $600m class-action settlement with residents of the town.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Justice department sued Norfolk Southern less than two months after the derailment last year.
The lawsuit sought penalties and injunctive relief "for the unlawful discharge of pollutants, oil and hazardous substances" under the US Clean Water Act.
The settlement, announced by the US Department of Justice on Thursday, requires Norfolk Southern to pay for long-term environmental monitoring, mental health services for residents and take steps to improve rail safety.
The company must also now pay a $15m civil penalty over alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.
Reuters
Mexico's 'heat dome' has already killed dozens of people as hotter days loom
MEXICO CITY, May 23 (Reuters) - The extreme heat smothering much of Mexico has killed dozens of people across multiple states over recent weeks, the country's health ministry said in a report published on Thursday, with hotter temperatures forecast for coming days.
Mexico has been reeling from a high-pressure weather phenomenon known as a "heat dome," which has trapped hot air over much of the country, creating record-breaking temperatures that have surpassed 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in some places.
Heat-related causes killed 22 people between May 12 and 21, according to preliminary figures shared by Mexico's health ministry.
The 10-day period overlapped with the second and third heat waves out of five forecast for March to July by the country's top weather agencies. The third heat wave is ongoing.
The new deaths bring the toll from the extreme temperatures to 48 since the hot season began on March 17, mostly due to heat stroke and some to dehydration. At the same point in Mexico's hot seasons of 2022 and 2023, the health ministry had reported just two and three heat-related deaths, respectively.
Reuters
Heavy rains return to southern Brazil, flooding even higher ground in Porto Alegre
PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, May 23 (Reuters) - Heavy rains once again pounded parts of Brazil's southernmost state on Thursday, ruining days-long clean-up efforts and flooding areas which had previously been untouched in Rio Grande do Sul's capital city of Porto Alegre.
Record flooding over the past month has killed 163 people and displaced around 600,000 more. Another 64 people are still missing.
Rains had lightened up to a drizzle over the past few days, with stores beginning to open and residents working to rebuild.
But the skies opened once more on Thursday morning, dumping heavy rains and flooding areas of Porto Alegre all over again.
One daycare in the neighborhood of Menino Deus, which had reopened on Wednesday after a week-long clean-up, was forced to evacuate as the rains rushed in.
"It all happened very quickly, (the flooding happened) much faster than last time," the director of the childcare center, who did not give her name, said.
Reuters
Elon Musk now says he opposes US tariffs on Chinese EVs
PARIS, May 23 (Reuters) - Tesla
(TSLA.O), opens new tab founder Elon Musk told tech investors in Paris on Thursday he opposed U.S. tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), an about-face from his January warning that trade barriers were needed or China would "demolish most other car companies in the world."
On Thursday, Musk said he did not favour measures that distorted the market.
The Biden administration has maintained a number of tariffs introduced by former President Donald Trump, while ratcheting up others, including quadrupling EV duties to more than 100%. The White House said the new measures affect $18 billion in imported Chinese goods.
"Neither Tesla nor I asked for these tariffs, in fact I was surprised when they were announced. Things that inhibit freedom of exchange or distort the market are not good," Musk said at the Viva Technology conference in Paris via video link.
Al Jazeera
US sues Ticketmaster, Live Nation over ‘illegal monopoly’
The Department of Justice in the United States has filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuitagainst Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation Entertainment, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly and inflating ticket prices for concerts, shows and other events.
The lawsuit, filed in US federal court in Manhattan on Thursday, was brought with 30 state and district attorneys general and seeks to break up the monopoly they say is squeezing out smaller promoters and hurting artists.
“The live music industry in America is broken because Live Nation-Ticketmaster has an illegal monopoly,” Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter said in a statement.
“Our antitrust lawsuit seeks to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s monopoly and restore competition for the benefit of fans and artists.”
For years, concert fans and politicians in the US have been calling for a re-examination of Live Nation’s purchase of Ticketmaster in 2010.
CNN
Colombia launches expedition to explore 300-year-old Spanish shipwreck filled with sunken treasure
Colombia has launched the initial phase of an underwater expedition to explore a Spanish warship that sank in the Caribbean more than 300 years ago and is believed to contain billions of dollars worth of artifacts – the rights to which are under heated dispute.
Discovered in 2015 in waters off the coast of the port city of Cartegena by the Colombian government, the San José is often called the “holy grail of shipwrecks.”
The 62-gun, three-masted ship – the flagship and largest galleon of a Spanish fleet – was believed to have been carrying gold, silver, emeralds and other valuable goods from the mines of Potosi, Peru. It was said to have been traveling from Panama to Colombia when it sank with 600 people reportedly on board on June 8, 1708, during a battle with British ships in the War of the Spanish Succession.
The first stage of the expedition will focus on photographing the ship using “non-intrusive” remote sensors, the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH) said, adding that results of the initial expedition could pave the way for subsequent explorations, which would include recovering archaeological materials from the shipwreck.
N Y Times
Obama Is a Surprise Guest Among Allies at Biden’s State Dinner for Kenya
Yes, Barack Obama was there.
State dinners are best known as bear hugs for overseas allies, and Thursday’s honoree was Kenya. But the sixth state dinner of President Biden’s term was designed to clutch domestic allies — not the least of them Mr. Obama, whose father was Kenyan — even tighter as the president makes the long slog toward November.
The 500-person event, held on the South Lawn of the White House on a humid May evening, was attended by dozens of influential Kenyans, of course. The list included President William Ruto of Kenya and his wife, Rachel, along with three of his daughters. It also included some of the country’s wealthiest figures, like James Mwangi, the chief executive of the global banking conglomerate Equity Group Holdings Limited.