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 (RIP), 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.
Photos of the week from The Guardian as do the photos of wildlife this week.
And our first story comes from The Guardian as well:
The sand swirled, and cleared. A flash of gold appeared and my heart leapt
I was 10 when I went on my first archaeological dig. I’d been exploring a clay pit near Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes, where I grew up, and found the fossilised jawbone of a small ichthyosaurus, complete with tiny teeth. I took it to a local geologist – he was amazed at what I’d found and put me in touch with an archaeologist in Buckinghamshire, who took me to a dig site. I found a bucket full of historical items in a spoil heap. From then on, I went to dig sites every weekend.
I like to work with my hands, so pursued a career as a brick- and stonemason; I even taught the trade in a college for three years. In 1984, I was working as a builder when a former student invited me to try scuba diving. It was exciting being able to see underwater. Over the next two years, I trained for a diving qualification and became close with some guys in a scuba club.
From Asahi Shimbun:
OSLO—The Nobel Peace Prize ceremony gave both Norwegian and Japanese citizens an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of making “orizuru” folded-paper cranes, a symbol of prayers for peace in Japan.
The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) was awarded the prize in Oslo on Dec. 10.
And one of a few more from Asahi Shimbun:
By NATSUKI KAWAHARA
HAMAMATSU--From one angle, it’s a glass bottle of Coca Cola lying on a piece of paper.
But when seen from the side, there is just a thin sheet of paper with nothing on it.
The illustration, drawn with colored pencils, was by a young artist named Keito who lives in Osaka Prefecture.
That is it. The only truly positive stories I found in a quick perusal of the international news this evening. The rest of it is below the fold.
This is actually two days old, but I didn’t notice in on Daily Kos. Please point me in the direction of a discussion if there was one. This is from the Washington Post:
A woman was killed by an elephant at a venue in Thailand touted as an ethical sanctuary, shining a light on the morality of tours that involve the animals.
An elephant handler in Thailand is under investigation after a Spanish tourist was killed during a bathing activity at a venue advertised as an ethical sanctuary, an officer at the Tourism and Sports Office in Phang Nga province said Wednesday. The grim incident has again spotlighted the question of how tourists can ethically — and safely — interact with elephants while traveling.
Humans have been interacting with elephants for centuries, said Hannah S. Mumby, an assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong’s Area of Ecology and Biodiversity who has studied human-wildlife interactions and Asian elephants. But regardless of how innocuous a tourism experience appears, she said, “an elephant is always still a wild animal.”
From the Asahi Shimbun:
East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) admitted it feared evil spirits could be behind a series of unexplained health issues among train drivers in Tokyo that resulted in repeated overruns and other operational disruptions.
The company even asked a Shinto priest to conduct a purification ritual and offer prayers for operational safety as it continues to try to resolve the problem.
And one last from the Asahi Shimbun:
Just after 10:15 p.m. in late November, three young women were wandering around a cul-de-sac in a sleepy residential area filled with apartments and detached houses.
Just a five-minute walk took the trio far from the noise in front of JR Oji Station in Tokyo’s Kita Ward.
The three were British tourists who arrived in Japan about a week earlier and had gone sightseeing in Osaka and Tokyo.
The first of two here from Al Jazeera:
Al Jazeera visits areas liberated from the military in Karen State where establishing a civil administration is the next task for pro-democracy forces.
By Andrew Nachemson
Karen State, Myanmar – Thaw Hti was a tiny speck amid a march of hundreds of thousands that snaked its way through the streets of Yangon in 2021, demanding a return to democracy after the Myanmar military seized power.
“We had signboards and they had guns,” she said, recounting with bitterness the events of March 2021.
From Al Jazeera:
The nationwide electoral success of the anti-establishment NPP does not mean Tamil nationalism is on the decline.
-
PhD Candidate at SOAS, University of London
“They’re trampling on our graves with their boots,” said Kavitha, a Tamil woman, as the torrential rain lashing our faces washed away her tears. Standing barefoot and ankle-deep in mud at the site of a former cemetery in Visuvamadu, Sri Lanka, she was lamenting the adjacent military base built on the graves of fallen Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters, including that of her brother.
The LTTE was an armed group dominant in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka that fought to establish an independent Tamil state for nearly three decades, until its definitive defeat and surrender to the Sri Lankan state in 2009. Through the war, the state bulldozed and repurposed many structures belonging to the LTTE, like the cemetery in which Kavitha’s brother was buried, as it recaptured territory from the armed group.
From Deutsche Welle:
Iran says the man took his own life. He was traveling in Iran as a tourist, Swiss authorities say, when collared on espionage charges. Meanwhile, France summoned Iran's ambassador over three "hostages" held since 2022.
Switzerland demanded on Friday that Iranian authorities provide more information on the death of a Swiss national in an Iranian prison the day before.
The Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) said it had been informed of the 64-year-old man's arrest on December 10 on suspicion of espionage.
From the New York Times:
Palestinians, Sudanese and Syrians fleeing war have found a home in the country. But Cairo says newcomers are straining resources and is seeking financial help from the West.
In easier times for Egypt’s refugees, Azza Mostafa, a pro-government TV anchor, had nothing but generous words for the many thousands of Syrians who had built new lives in Egypt after their own country imploded into civil war in 2011.
“I’d like to say to our Syrian families and our brothers in Egypt,” she said in a 2019 broadcast, “you’ve truly brought light to Egypt.”
From The Guardian:
Refugees tell of attacks on darker-skinned people and non-Arab groups by Rapid Support Forces and its allies in Darfur
Husna Ibrahim Arbab had already lost her son in the early days of Sudan’s civil war – burned to death in his tent after it was set on fire – when she was apprehended by militia aligned with the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group while fleeing west towards the border with Chad.
A bullet flew by close to her head, the 24-year-old said. Five male relatives were separated from the group she was travelling with, taken to a creek, and shot in the chest.
From Deutsche Welle:
European debates on immigration tend to examine only the effects of migrants on host countries. But in Africa, what happens to the countries and societies migrants leave behind?
When it comes to migration, Europe is
shifting to the right: Italy is promoting the idea of outsourcing asylum procedures to third countries; the Netherlands is working on bringing in tough new immigration laws; and in Austria, the country's anti-migrant Freedom Party has now been
tasked with forming a government.
From Al Jazeera:
South Africa’s military has enhanced border operations along the Limpopo River to halt smugglers and illegal crossings from Zimbabwe.
By Tendai Marima
Musina, South Africa – Every day, Fadzai Musindo walks across the border between Zimbabwe and South Africa – sometimes via the official border post but usually by taking the more dangerous informal route.
Streams of men, women and children regularly cross the bridge separating the two countries, but for the 43-year-old mother of three, it is a necessity so she can earn enough to fend for her children.
Another from The Guardian:
Three people arrested after group escapes Johannesburg house by breaking a window and burglar bar
South African police have rescued 26 Ethiopians from a suspected human trafficking ring in Johannesburg after the group broke a window and burglar bar to escape from a house where they were being held naked.
Three people were arrested on suspicion of people trafficking and possessing an illegal firearm on Thursday night after neighbours in the Sandringham suburb heard the commotion and tipped off the police, the Hawks serious crime unit said in a statement. Police urged the public to report any other escaped naked people in the area.
From Al Jazeera:
Assault on presidential complex comes amid visit by China’s foreign minister, withdrawal of French troops, and instability caused by armed groups.
By Blaise Noubarassem and Shola Lawal
N’Djamena, Chad – Chad’s capital city is still smarting after
deadly gun battles erupted on Wednesday night between security forces and more than a dozen armed fighters who brazenly stormed the presidential palace. At least 19 people were killed.
Businesses and schools opened as usual on Thursday, and most people went to work, but there was a more heightened security presence on the streets of N’Djamena – a city already teeming with soldiers. Military tanks dotted the city centre, and roads leading to the palace complex were closed.
Another from Al Jazeera:
Strained relations between Abuja and Niamey have disrupted joint military patrols and allowed the armed group to expand.
By Shola Lawal
A new armed group called Lakurawa is attacking villages in remote corners of northwestern Nigeria and across the border in Niger, posing new threats to two countries that already suffer from protracted conflict involving several other groups, including Boko Haram.
In November, the Nigerian army acknowledged for the first time the existence of Lakurawa and said its members were operating from headquarters in the country’s Sokoto and Kebbi states.
From the NY Times:
He was the sole resident of Budelli, an undeveloped sliver of paradise off the northern coast of Sardinia. He embraced the solitude, until he was evicted.
Mauro Morandi, whose 32-year sojourn on an uninhabited Mediterranean island led to his being known as Italy’s Robinson Crusoe, died on Jan. 3 in Modena, Italy. He was 85.
The cause was a brain hemorrhage, said Antonio Rinaldis, who wrote a 2023 book with Mr. Morandi about his life on the island.
Slowly, slowly… From The Guardian:
Move marks shift in views but sexually active gay men will not be admitted to Roman Catholic seminaries
Gay men will be allowed to train as priests in Roman Catholic seminaries, so long as they observe celibacy, according to new guidelines announced by the Italian Bishops Conference (CIE).
The decision marks a shift from the view previously held by Pope Francis that gay men should not be admitted to seminaries owing to the risk of them leading a double life.
From DW:
Elon Musk and X could face penalties should EU investigators find that he manipulated the site's algorithm to influence voters. The Digital Services Act allows the EU to impose hefty fines and even block the platform.
Under the Digital Services Act,
Elon Musk and his social media platform,
X, could face heavy penalties should investigators for
the European Union find that he manipulated the site's algorithm in order to influence voters. The DSA was adopted in 2022 to prevent disinformation and other illegal activities online.
In July, the European Union found that X had violated multiple tenets of the DSA by not providing access to data to researchers, failure to complay with advertising-transparency requirements, and selling access to its "blue check" verification system in a way that allowed fraudsters to impersonate celebrities and public officials.
Another from DW:
Elon Musk has picked sides in the upcoming German election, holding a controversial open-mic session on X with far-right AfD chancellor candidate Alice Weidel. What do the facts say about their claims?
From The Guardian:
Norwegian capital’s sites were 98% free of fossil fuels last year, and it aims to increase use of electric machinery
Tafseer Ali felt no need to raise his voice as the pair of diggers lumbered past him, their treads weighing heavy on the rock and asphalt.
Quiet electric machines like these make it easy to work in the city centre, the construction manager said – and keep the neighbours happy. “If they have less noise, we get fewer complaints.”
From the NY Times:
Scotland, which has the highest rate of recorded drugs deaths in Europe, is opening a new facility for users to inject illegal drugs under medical supervision.
A facility where users can inject drugs under nurses’ supervision is set to open in Glasgow on Monday after almost a decade of debate over how to deal with the city’s unwanted status as a European capital for narcotic-related deaths.
Offering hot drinks and a lounge with sofas, as well as booths for injections, the Safer Drug Consumption Facility is the first of its kind in Britain and follows similar initiatives in other cities around the world, including New York.
A recorded narrative from The Guardian:
Biodiversity writer Phoebe Weston hears from farmers on the west coast of Scotland who claim they are losing hundreds of lambs a year in a case of rewilding gone wrong
“Fair enough, if it was a select number of birds … ,” one farmer said to biodiversity writer Phoebe Weston during her trip to Scotland, “but when it’s mass murder, then it’s not acceptable.”
Out on the cold west coast, there is a heated dispute about one of the country’s most successful ever rewilding programmes: the reintroduce of sea eagles to their natural habitat more than 50 years ago.
From Politico:
The incoming U.S. administration admits that its stunning polar gambit is about warding off Russian ambitions.
Greenland is just the tip of the iceberg.
Competition to rule the wider Arctic and its vast mineral resources and key waterways has ramped up, culminating this week in U.S. President-elect Donald Trump floating military action to capture Greenland from Denmark.
And from The Guardian:
Though few welcome idea of being acquired by the US, status quo as part of Denmark is not universally popular
And a palate cleanser, so to speak, from the Asahi Shimbun:
Even politicians who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize are not always universally praised in their home countries.
Just as the achievements of former Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato (1901-1975) and Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022), who served as the Soviet Union’s last leader, are viewed with mixed feelings by their respective countrymen today, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (1924-2024), too, was met with both praise and criticism in the United States until the end of his life.
