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, JeremyBloom, and doomandgloom. 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 since 2007, 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 from Africa, courtesy of the BBC; and from CNN.
And we will begin with a happy story from Africa also from the BBC (the Beeb has started with a paywall this month, so I might not be able to rely on them as much, but we have some stories today):
Wedaeli Chibelushi
Musical icon Angélique Kidjo has become the first black African performer to be selected for a star on the prestigious Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Kidjo, who comes from the West African country of Benin and has won five Grammy awards, was among the 35 names announced as part of the Walk of Fame's class of 2026 list.
From Deutsche Welle:
Since gaining freedom from Portugal on July 5, 1975, Cape Verde is regarded as one of West Africa's most stable nations. Overcoming low literacy and inadequate healthcare are just some of its achievements.
"Many say
Cape Verde is a beacon for other African countries," says long-serving Cape Verdean politician Gualberto do Rosario.
"I don't believe in such comparisons. Undoubtedly, Cape Verde scores better than many other African countries in various indices," the former prime minister (in 2000 and 2001) and chairman of the current ruling Movement for Democracy (MpD) tells DW. "But I think there is still much to do, and we should continue working to advance the country.
From the BBC:
Kevin Peachey
While cash might not be as popular as it once was, the opportunity to fashion the next series of banknotes has got brains whirring and tails wagging.
Within a day of reporting on the Bank of England's public invitation to influence a major redesign of banknotes, there were more than 2,000 responses to Your Voice, Your BBC on the issue.
Dudley the British Bulldog, pictured on Cawsand Beach in Cornwall, will be one of the least likely contenders, despite being described as a "national treasure" by his owner Julie, from Plymouth.
From DW (link is to a video):
Veit Blümlhuber in France's Drome region
15 hours ago
Many plastic kayaks don't survive tourist season on the Drome River intact. A local initiative gives them a new lease on life — as designer furniture.
And finally, from The Guardian:
Province’s language police had a petite contretemps when it challenged Montreal transit agencies use of word on buses
Quebec’s mercurial and controversial language police have decided that using the word “go” is a legitimate way to cheer on sports teams in the province, paving the way for excited fans – and Montreal’s transit agency - to celebrate without fear of recrimination.
In new guidelines, the Office Québécois de la Langue Française (OQLF, the Quebec Board of the French Language) said that “go” was now “partially legitimized”, according to reporting by the Canadian Press, although the language watchdog says it prefers the French equivalent: allez.
More news below the fold.
We begin with the way “they” look at “us” (note the quotation marks, please), from Al Jazeera:
In trying to shut us out, Trump may be doing what African leaders have long failed to do: Push us to stand on our own.
On June 16, The New York Times disclosed that United States President Donald Trump is considering broadening his travel ban list to include as many as 36 additional countries, most of them African – including my country, Zimbabwe.
Twelve days earlier, Trump had enacted a proclamation barring citizens from 12 nations from entering the US. Seven of them – Chad, Congo Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan – are African.
From the BBC:
Wycliffe Muia & Kennedy Gondwe
Two female tourists, including a British pensioner, have been killed by a charging elephant while on safari in Zambia, police have told the BBC.
Easton Taylor, 68, from the UK and 67-year-old Alison Taylor from New Zealand were attacked by a female elephant that was with a calf at the South Luangwa National Park, said local police chief Robertson Mweemba.
From the BBC:
Natasha Booty & Farouk Chothia
Sudan plunged into a civil war in April 2023 after a vicious struggle for power broke out between its army and a powerful paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
It has led to a famine and claims of a genocide in the western Darfur region.
More than 150,000 people have died in the conflict across the country, and about 12 million have fled their homes in what the United Nations has called the world's largest humanitarian crisis.
From the Associated Press:
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt said Friday that Ethiopia has consistently lacked the political will to reach a binding agreement on its now-complete dam, an issue that involves Nile River water rights and the interests of Egypt and Sudan.
Ethiopia’s prime minister said Thursday that the country’s power-generating dam, known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, on the Nile is now complete and that the government is “preparing for its official inauguration” in September.
From the BBC:
Emilia Belli, Ben Summer & Lucy Ballinger
Priests and choristers at a cathedral mired in controversy did a "seven last shots of Christ" drinking game at a pub on Good Friday after services at the Archbishop of Wales' cathedral.
People who sang with the choir at Bangor Cathedral have told the BBC there "seemed to be any excuse to bring out the wine" and "go to the pub" because of a "binge drinking culture".
Also from the BBC:
Dan Hunt
A man has been sentenced after he "repeatedly and persistently" encouraged a vulnerable woman he met online to kill herself.
Tyler Webb, 23, connected with his victim on social media before asking the woman, who cannot be named, to harm herself for his own "sexual gratification".
From France24:
An 18-year-old Frenchman was detained and charged on July 1 with being part of a terrorist criminal enterprise. Amid reports of an increase in masculinism – a belief in the supremacy of men and advocacy of outmoded gender roles – among young men, it is the first time that French anti-terror authorities have launched an investigation into someone for activities linked to the "involuntary celibate” (incel) movement.
France's counter-terrorism authority has launched its first investigation into the threat posed by the toxic misogyny of masculinist, incel culture.
An 18-year-old identified as Timothy G. was charged and placed in pre-trial detention on Tuesday for being part of a “terrorist criminal conspiracy” and making threats.
From The Guardian:
After initial concerns, pupils are said to be more focused and have better social interactions with each other
Bans on smartphones in Dutch schools have improved the learning environment despite initial protests, according to a study commissioned by the government of the Netherlands.
National guidelines, introduced in January 2024, recommend banning smartphones from classrooms and almost all schools have complied. Close to two-thirds of secondary schools ask pupils to leave their phones at home or put them in lockers, while phones are given in at the start of a lesson at one in five.
From the NY Times:
More than 1,500 people were evacuated when a fire broke out on the southeastern tip of Crete, most of them tourists.
When a wildfire spread on the Greek island of Crete this week, Fanouris Vatsinas quickly made arrangements to move dozens of guests from the hotel he owns. Yet he could not bring himself to leave.
“But then,” he said, “the fire reached the hotel, and the firefighters came to get me, too.”
From France 24:
Just about everything about the onion-domed Russian Orthodox church near the otherwise unassuming Swedish city of Vasteras seems odd: its close proximity to the airport, its taller-than-planned spire, and its elusive priest allegedly commended by the Kremlin’s foreign spy agency, SVR. Swedish intelligence services think so too, and have warned that Moscow is likely using it as a platform for espionage and other hostile hybrid activities potentially threatening Sweden’s national security.
It is an unusually warm day for May. The birds are chirping, and the strong, sweet scent of the trees that typically blossom at this time of the year fills the spring air. Off the main road from Vasteras and towards the sparsely populated district of Hasslo, a narrow and bumpy forest path leads into a thick grove. Eventually it opens up into a peaceful, almost fairy-tale-like meadow, bathing in sunlight.
At its centre stands a structure that is as stunning as it is unexpected: a Russian Orthodox church built entirely in timber and whose tall, onion-domed spire reaches up to the tree-tops.
From Al Jazeera:
From China to Iran, several countries have already been engaging with the Taliban. Experts say they could be next.
By Sarah Shamim
Russia has become the first country to accept the Taliban government in Afghanistan since the group took power in 2021, building on years of quieter engagement and marking a dramatic about-turn from the deep hostilities that marked their ties during the group’s first stint in power.
Since the Taliban stormed Kabul in August four years ago, taking over from the government of then-President Ashraf Ghani, several nations – including some that have historically viewed the group as enemies – have reached out to them. Yet until Thursday, no one has formally recognised the Taliban.
From The Guardian:
Lawyer claims families falsely told they would not get compensation unless they completed complicated forms
The lawyer representing families whose loved ones died in the Air India flight 171 crash has said he is “angered and appalled” by the airline’s “ethically outrageous” behaviour towards bereaved relatives.
Air India said the claims, which they take “incredibly seriously”, are “unsubstantiated and inaccurate”.
Another from Al Jazeera:
Using loopholes and fraud, brokers turn desperate poverty in Bangladesh and a surging demand for transplants in India into a booming business.
Joypurhat/Dhaka, Bangladesh, and New Delhi/Kolkata, India – Under the mild afternoon sun, 45-year-old Safiruddin sits outside his incomplete brick-walled house in Baiguni village of Kalai Upazila in Bangladesh, nursing a dull ache in his side.
In the summer of 2024, he sold his kidney in India for 3.5 lakh taka ($2,900), hoping to lift his family out of poverty and build a house for his three children – two daughters, aged five and seven, and an older 10-year-old son. That money is long gone, the house remains unfinished, and the pain in his body is a constant reminder of the price he paid.
From The Guardian:
Amy Hawkins visits one of the many bars popping up across Chinese cities offering drinks, snacks and a vision of the future
In the age of self-help, self-improvement and self-obsession, there have never been more places to look to for guidance. Where the anxious and the uncertain might have once consulted a search engine for answers, now we can engage in a seemingly meaningful discussion about our problems with ChatGPT. Or, if you’re in China, DeepSeek.
To some, though, it feels as if our ancestors knew more about life than we do. Or at least, they knew how to look for them. And so it is that scores of young Chinese are turning to ancient forms of divination to find out what the future holds. In the past couple of years, fortune-telling bars have been popping up in China’s cities, offering drinks and snacks alongside xuanxue, or spiritualism. The trend makes sense: China’s economy is struggling, and although consumers are saving their pennies, going out for a drink is cheaper than other forms of retail therapy or an actual therapist. With a deep-rooted culture of mysticism that blends Daoist, Buddhist and folk practices, which have defied decades of the government trying to stamp out superstitious beliefs, for many Chinese people, turning to the unseen makes perfect sense.
From the AP:
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An unidentified North Korean man crossed the heavily fortified land border separating the two Koreas and is in South Korean custody, the South’s military said Friday.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military identified and tracked the individual near the central-west section of the military demarcation line and conducted a “guiding operation” before taking the person into custody Thursday night.
From CNN:
By Laura Sharman and Nina Avramova
South Korea has recently been hit by another surge of lovebugs.
But romance is certainly not in the air for residents of Seoul and neighboring Incheon city, who have been plagued by these pesky insects in recent weeks, as rising temperatures due to climate change spur their spread.
On Friday, dozens of government workers were sent to Gyeyangsan, a mountain west of the capital, to manage an “extremely severe outbreak,” the country’s environment ministry said in a statement.
From Time:
Earthquakes can’t be predicted. Scientists agree that precise predictions of a time, place, and magnitude is not possible with current technologies.
Yet a years-old Japanese manga that claims a “megaquake”—those above a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale—will strike on July 5 has generated panic and deterred some inbound travelers for the past several months.
The 2021 reprint of The Future I Saw by Ryo Tatsuki, a retired mangaka in her 70s, warns that a “huge” tsunami “three times the size” of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake will wash over countries in the Pacific Ocean. The first edition of the manga, published in 1999, had referred to a “great disaster” in March 2011 that coincided with the earthquake that killed more than 18,000 people and caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster.
From The Daily Beast:
A local coroner in Bali, Indonesia, said the 26-year-old Brazilian suffered a series of traumatic injuries.
Emell Derra Adolphus
The 26-year-old Brazilian tourist who fell during a steep volcano hike in Bali, Indonesia, died from a fatal mix of traumatic injuries, according to a local coroner. Juliana Marins was ascending the more than 12,000-foot Mount Rinjani on the morning of June 21 when she reportedly tumbled off the trail on the Indonesian island of Lombok. Marins’ body was found on June 24 after a multi-day search. Marins “died of internal bleeding caused by damage to organs and bone fractures,” the coroner announced at the Bali Mandara Hospital, where her body was examined. Marins is believed to have died less than 20 minutes after the bleeding began, the coroner said, and she had “no signs of hypothermia or prolonged suffering after the injury.” Marins’ family, who created an Instagram account to track recovery efforts, made it known that they would be seeking justice in her death, accusing the hiking and rescue team of negligence. “Juliana suffered great negligence on the part of the rescue team,” the family wrote in a translated statement on Instagram. “If the team had reached her within the estimated time of 7 hours Juliana would still be alive.”
From The Guardian:
Police allege a man entered the grounds at about 8pm on Friday and poured a flammable liquid on the front door
Anthony Albanese has pledged federal support for Victorian authorities after police reported a suspicious fire was lit at a synagogue in East Melbourne on Friday night.
Victoria police alleged an unknown man entered the grounds of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation on Albert Street at about 8pm on Friday and poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire.
Also from The Guardian:
The campaign to ban kangaroo products is ‘muddled’ and not based on knowledge, wildlife experts say
Warning: Graphic content
The bill, introduced into the US Senate last month, came with plenty of emotive and uncompromising language.
“The mass killing of millions of kangaroos to make commercial products is needless and inhumane,” said the Democratic senator Tammy Duckworth, as she introduced the Kangaroo Protection Act to ban the sale and manufacture of kangaroo products in the US.
From CBS News:
Emily Mae Czachor
An American teenager was detained on an Antarctic island while attempting to pilot his small plane to every continent, said Chilean authorities, who have charged him for allegedly submitting a false flight plan.
Ethan Guo, 19, gained an online following by documenting his trip around the world, which lasted well over 100 days and had already taken him to six continents prior to the Antarctic voyage, according to his website and social media posts.
From The Guardian:
Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, 71, will run unopposed as one of the poorest countries in the region eyes billions of dollars
Suriname is expected to elect its first female president this Sunday, the congresswoman and physician Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, 71, who will run unopposed after the ruling party decided not to field a candidate.
Geerlings-Simons will succeed current president Chandrikapersad Santokhi, 66, who has been in office since 2020 and was eligible for re-election – but whose party failed to secure the two-thirds parliamentary majority required in the country’s indirect voting system.
From the Associated Press:
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promising continued trade and investment in
Trinidad and Tobago on Friday in an address to the nation’s parliament.
“It’s time for us to work together to give the global south its rightful seat at the table,” Modi said. “For us there are no limits to our cooperation with you.”
