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Overnight News Digest: The British Crown and Ukraine dominate the news [1]
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Date: 2022-09-12
x 🧵A new video from @ZelenskyyUa promises Russian soldiers who surrender that they will be treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention. pic.twitter.com/dgDwgKTVcG — E Rosalie (@NoveISci) September 10, 2022
C/NET
AS THE WHALING ship Hope rounded Chile's Cape Horn in September 1840, a tempest stirred. Winds drove the vessel toward a vast field of sea ice. As night fell, the Hope became surrounded by frozen castles rising out of the Southern Ocean, forming an inescapable labyrinth. Thick islands of ice collided with the hull, threatening to ensnare the ship in a wintry grip, crushing it like a boa constrictor around a mouse. It wasn't until dawn the next day, when the cruel winds had died down, that a full accounting of the night's terrors could be made. Miraculously, the Hope had survived. The castles that once surrounded it had fallen, replaced by mere slabs of disintegrating ice. As the ship made its way through the ice, a shout came from the crow's nest: A sailor had spotted a schooner, laid up against an iceberg. Through the spyglass, it was as if the ice had invaded the ship. The Hope approached cautiously. To the crew, it seemed the derelict schooner had been abandoned. The captain of the Hope, a man named Brighton, lowered a boat and sailed toward the berg-bound ship with three sailors. As they rounded the aft, faded lettering came into view: Jenny. They climbed aboard, each step eliciting a wretched groan. The sailors shouted down into its bowels, hoping for signs of life, but received no response. Then they descended.
BBC
Ukrainian forces outnumbered Russians by eight to one in last week's counter-attack in the Kharkiv region, Russia's top occupation official there says. Vitaly Ganchev told Russian TV that Ukraine's army had taken villages in the north and broken through to the Russian border. Ukraine says it has regained control over 3,000 sq km (1,158 sq miles) of territory in a potential breakthrough in the six-month war. The BBC cannot verify these figures. The Ukrainian army says it took back 20 villages in the past 24 hours alone, in its continued counter-offensive in the north-east of the country. It also said its forces have taken control of around 500 sq km in the southern Kherson region of the country. UK defence officials say the Ukrainian army's successes will have "significant implications" for Russia's overall operational design. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was, however, undeterred, saying operations in Ukraine would continue "until all the tasks that were initially set" had been fulfilled.
Al Jazeera
The number of people trapped in forced labour or forced marriage and other crises has swelled by a fifth in recent years to about 50 million on any given day, the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Monday. The study by the UN agencies for labour and migration along with the Walk Free Foundation found that at the end of last year, more than half of those had been forced to work against their will and the rest forced into marriage, the ILO said. That means nearly one out of every 150 people in the world are caught up in modern forms of slavery, the report said. Both came under its definition of modern slavery as they involved people who “cannot refuse or cannot leave because of threats, violence, deception, abuse of power or other forms of coercion”, it added.
Al Jazeera
The head of Israel’s spy agency Mossad said the revival of a nuclear deal with world powers will not give Iran “immunity” from Israeli operations. Israel has long opposed the 2015 nuclear deal, saying it did not go far enough to halt Iran’s nuclear programme and does not address what it sees as hostile Iranian military activity across the Middle East. “We won’t take part in this charade,” David Barnea said in a speech, his first since becoming Mossad’s chief in June. “Even if a deal is signed, it will not provide immunity from Mossad operations.” The spy chief also claimed to have prevented Iran-sponsored attacks around the world. “We thwarted dozens of Iranian terror attacks… It is not the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is the terror republic of Iran,” the Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying.
Deutsche Welle
Russia is struggling to get reinforcements to the front line after the recent Ukrainian counteroffensive and is being "forced to prioritize emergency defensive actions," according to the latest UK military intelligence report. The report said Russia had likely ordered the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from the entirety of Kharkiv Oblast, adding that "Russia is likely struggling to bring sufficient reserves forward across the Dnipro River to the front line" in the south, near Kherson. Ukrainian long-range artillery is reportedly hindering Russia from carrying out repair works on crossings across the Dnipro. The intelligence report added that with the significant success of the Ukrainian counteroffensive Russia has been forced to "prioritize emergency defensive actions," thereby restructuring its overall operation plan. This has also contributed to eroding the troops faith in the military leadership.
Deutsche Welle
German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Monday she believed Germany was obliged to play a leading global role, including in the military sphere, and that the country should not be afraid of the responsibilty. "Germany's size, its geographical situation, its economic power — in short, its clout — makes us a leading power whether or not we want to be one. Militarily as well," she said in a keynote security address in Berlin. Her remarks come as Europe is struggling to come to terms with the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Germany rethinking its defense strategy after decades of major dependence on Washington for its security. "The war in Ukraine has shown everyone, even us Germans who are used to peace, that states need armed forces as a last resort — that is, whenever an enemy is determined to use invasion, destruction, murder and forced displacement" as means to serve its interests, she said.
Le Monde
Two groups of municipal councilors in St. Petersburg and Moscow called on Vladimir Putin on Friday, September 9, to step down from power, against a backdrop of the military fiasco in Ukraine and local elections throughout the country. The scathing reason given by the councilors is that the Russian president has, in their view, failed. The municipal council of Smolninskoye (a district of St. Petersburg) sent an official letter to the Duma, the lower house of parliament, calling for the head of state to be dismissed. The letter states that the war in Ukraine is "damaging the security of Russia and its citizens" as well as the economy, and that they have not succeeded in stopping NATO's advance towards Russia's borders. According to these councilors, the Kremlin leader's actions fall under Article 93 of the constitution, whereby the president can be removed from office for "treason."
Le Monde
After years of disagreements due to the virulent anti-America sentiment of Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan, Islamabad and Washington are now making their newfound friendliness official. It's a strategic shift begun by the country's new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country's military power, triggered by a desire to reduce the country's dependence on China. The United States has since announced increased aid to Pakistan, which is going through a deep economic crisis and historic floods. The two countries have also agreed on more confidential security clauses, a way for the American authorities to try to bring the South Asian heavyweight into the Western camp as the war in Ukraine continues.
Kyiv Independent
Ukraine’s surprise counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast forced Russian soldiers to beat a hasty retreat, abandoning ammunition and equipment to be captured by Ukrainian forces. Since the beginning of the advance on Sept. 7, Ukraine has liberated about 3,000 square kilometers, or over 40 settlements, in Kharkiv Oblast, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov. Ukraine recaptured the strategic city of Izium, which was used as one of Russia’s main logistics bases. Ukrainian forces also took Kupiansk, the railway hub supplying Russia's front lines in northeastern Ukraine. Multiple settlements on the border with Russia, including Kozacha Lopan and Volchansk, have also been returned under Ukrainian control. This push weakened the Russian forces in the Donbas, helping the Ukrainian forces to retake the important towns of Bohorodychne and Sviatohirsk in Donetsk Oblast. When the Russians fled, they left behind stockpiles of mines, grenades, portable rockets and multiple types of fighting vehicles.
The Guardian
Retailers including Aldi, John Lewis, Waitrose, Primark and Homebase are to shut their stores on the day of the Queen’s state funeral – while Morrisons has made its checkout beeps quieter and turned off PA systems. Aldi said as a mark of respect its 970 UK stores would be closed on Monday 19 September “to allow our store colleagues to pay tribute to Her Majesty the Queen”. John Lewis confirmed it would also shut its department stores, along with its sister company, Waitrose, all day for the funeral. Andrew Murphy, the chief operating officer of John Lewis Partnership, said: “We will be closing our stores … as a mark of respect and because we believe this is the right thing to do for our partners and customers.”
The Guardian
An uncrewed rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos’s space company, Blue Origin, failed shortly after launch in Texas on Monday morning, a potential setback for the Amazon founder’s wider ambitions of sending humans into orbit. The malfunction of the New Shepard booster, a type of rocket that is similar to the one Blue Origin has used this year to send three crews of up to six people on suborbital flights, came 1min 4sec after launch and just as the vehicle was reaching its maximum dynamic pressure, known as “max q”. A built-in abort system jettisoned the crew capsule away from the booster at about 5.5 miles (8.8km) altitude and deployed parachutes that dropped it back to earth. The booster is presumed to have been destroyed. “It appears we’ve experienced an anomaly with today’s flight – this was unplanned and we do not have any details yet, but our crew capsule was able to escape successfully,” Erika Wagner, senior director of emerging space markets at Blue Origin, said during the livestream of the launch on the space company’s website.
The Guardian
Sweden’s future is balanced on a knife-edge as the country awaits a final tally of the votes in Sunday’s general election, in which a loose bloc of rightwing parties led by the far-right Sweden Democrats – now the second largest party – holds the slimmest of majorities. With 95% of the vote counted, the right bloc was on 49.7%, while four parties on the left, including the incumbent Social Democrats, stood at 49%. The final picture will come on Wednesday after the votes of Swedish citizens living abroad and those of some who voted early are counted. The vote translates into a majority of just one seat in parliament for the rightwing parties, and in the last election, in 2018, three seats changed hands at the final count. Evidence from past elections showed no pattern in how these late votes may influence the outcome, a researcher told thelocal.se, while the liberal daily Dagens Nyheter said its analysis suggested the right bloc had a “good chance” of maintaining its lead.
The Guardian, Australia
her oath of allegiance after calling the Queen a coloniser – has called on the government to show “ambition” for an Indigenous treaty and a republic in the wake of Elizabeth II’s death. Greens senator Lidia Thorpe – who was forced to retake– has called on the government to show “ambition” for an Indigenous treaty and a republic in the wake of Elizabeth II’s death. The Djab Wurrung, Gunnai and Gunditjmara senator for Victoria said that after the Queen’s death people expected her to “come out ranting and raving to confirm their views of me as a crazy Blak woman” – but she had taken time to reflect. Thorpe said on Monday she had seen “anger and disbelief from First Nations people at the glorification of our oppressor” and she criticised the country’s political leaders for showing “zero regard” for Indigenous people who had “been calling for Day of Mourning for over 80 years”.
Washington Post
EDINBURGH, Scotland — Long before one saw the hearse — and the coffin made of English oak, bedecked with Scottish thistle and heather — you heard the clop of horse hoofs on the cobblestone streets of the Royal Mile. ... There’s no doubt that the British royal family has the closest of ties to Scotland, and the vast majority of people here deeply respected the queen. And yet. Scots hold complicated feelings about the monarchy and whether Scotland should be independent — or even a republic free of hereditary royals. Those feelings were undercurrents here on Monday, as the queen’s coffin traveled from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St. Giles’s Cathedral, and the new king addressed the Scottish Parliament. … But among the thousands who lined the roads in Edinburgh to see the queen’s coffin, there were many who expressed dual loyalties. Sophie Campbell, 63, a retired shop clerk, said she would welcome Scotland becoming an independent nation while also keeping the king. “It would be the best of both worlds,” she said. “Old and new.” Campbell said many Scots have no problem with the monarchy. “They’re part of our history.” But, she explained: “People in Scotland have problems with the English,” with Boris Johnson and the ruling elites in London.
Editor’s note: The following is a long but very interesting article. So you haven't caught COVID yet. Does that mean you're a superdodger? NPR Back in the early 1990s, Nathaniel Landau was a young virologist just starting his career in HIV research. But he and his colleagues were already on the verge of a landmark breakthrough. Several labs around the world were hot on his team's tail. "We were sleeping in the lab, just to keep the work going day and night because there were many labs all racing against each other," Landau says. "Of course, we wanted to be the first to do it. We were totally stressed out. " Other scientists had identified groups of people who appeared to be completely resistant to HIV. "People who knew they had been exposed to HIV multiple times, mainly through unprotected sex, yet they clearly were not infected," Landau explains. And so the race was on to figure out why: "Are these people just lucky or did they really have a mutation in their genes that was protecting them from infection?'" he says. Now 25 years later, scientists all over the world are trying to answer the same question but about a different virus: SARS-CoV-2.
x This is both heartbreaking and infuriating! This falls squarely in Trump's and Minuchin's laps. This was kept hidden and the fund was never notified or received explanation
Trump administration siphoned almost $4 million from 9/11 first responders fund
https://t.co/jtm7o4Rda0 — Marilyn Matthews (@MatthewsMarilyn) September 12, 2022
The crew of the Overnight News Digest consists of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Rise above the swamp, Besame and jck. 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.
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