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Overnight News Digest December 29, 2022 [1]

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Date: 2022-12-29

The Guardian

Lula names staunch Amazon defenders as ministers in Brazil

Two internationally celebrated Amazon defenders, Marina Silva and Sônia Guajajara, have been named as ministers in Brazil’s new government in an attempt to contain the intensifying assault on Indigenous territories and the environment. The announcement was made by incoming president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will take office on Sunday after the country’s four years of rainforest-wrecking under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. Silva, 64, will return to her job as environment minister, which she held from 2003 to 2008 – a period when Brazil managed to dramatically cut Amazon deforestation. Guajajara, 48, will lead Brazil’s first-ever ministry for Indigenous peoples, created in response to the wave of violence and land invasions stimulated by Bolsonaro’s dismantling of Indigenous and environmental protections. “[This is] a landmark in our history of struggle and resistance,” said Guajajara. “The creation of the ministry for Indigenous peoples is proof of President Lula’s commitment to safeguarding our autonomy and space to take decisions about our territories, our bodies and our ways of life.”

NPR

What is an atmospheric river, responsible for the heavy rainfall on the West Coast?

As the winter storm pummeling much of the eastern part of the United States begins to let up, a meteorological phenomenon known as an atmospheric river is forecast to bring days of rain and heavy winds to the West. An atmospheric river is a relatively narrow channel of wind, hence the "river," that transports water vapor from the tropics to the West Coast. Powerful rivers that arrive at just the right angle of the coast can carry all the way to the Sierra Nevada. "[Atmospheric rivers are] actually responsible for a good majority of the rainfall during the colder season which is the season when [the West Coast] gets most of the rain," National Weather Service senior forecaster Bob Oravec told NPR's Morning Edition on Wednesday. Atmospheric rivers that contain the largest amounts of water vapor and strongest winds lead to extreme rainfall and flooding, causing damage to property and inducing mudslides, Oravec warned.

Reuters

South Korea to raise electricity prices for Q1 2023 by record amount

SEOUL, Dec 30 (Reuters) - South Korea will raise electricity prices for the first quarter of 2023 by a record amount of 13.1 won per kilowatt-hour, the country's energy minister said on Friday. The amount of increase for the second quarter and beyond will be decided after reviewing trends in global energy prices, domestic inflation conditions and financial standings of public enterprises, Minister Lee Chang-yang said. "The Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) is expected to post a deficit of more than 30 trillion won ($23.73 billion) this year, after a 6 trillion won deficit last year, due to a rise in global energy prices that had not been reflected in domestic prices in a timely manner.”

Reuters

China COVID deaths accelerate to 9,000 a day - UK research firm Airfinity

BEIJING, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Around 9,000 people in China are probably dying each day from COVID-19, UK-based health data firm Airfinity said on Thursday, nearly doubling its estimate from a week ago, as infections ripped across the world's most populous nation. COVID infections started to sweep across China in November, picking up pace this month after Beijing dismantled its zero-COVID policies including regular PCR testing on its population and publication of data on asymptomatic cases. Cumulative deaths in China since Dec. 1 likely reached 100,000 with infections totalling 18.6 million, Airfinity said in a statement. It says it uses modelling based on data from Chinese provinces before the recent changes to reporting cases were implemented. Airfinity expects China's COVID infections to reach their first peak on Jan. 13 with 3.7 million cases a day.

Reuters

New York's first legal recreational marijuana shop opens

NEW YORK, Dec 29 (Reuters) - The first licensed marijuana store in New York opened on Thursday, more than a year after the state legalized the drug and during delays in setting up the legal market to benefit people previously arrested for marijuana crimes. The dispensary was opened in New York City's East Village by Housing Works, a non-profit organization that fights homelessness and AIDS. The non-profit was among the first 36 groups or individuals that the state awarded with a marijuana retail license last month. In legalizing marijuana in March 2021, New York lawmakers required that it could only be sold by licensed retailers to adults over 21 years old, and that the first licenses would be awarded to entrepreneurs with prior marijuana-related arrests or convictions, giving them a toe-hold ahead of corporate retailers in the lucrative market

Deutsche Welle

China and the US: On collision course for war over Taiwan

"We can only avoid a war by preparing for a war," said Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-wen, approaching the end of 2022 with a stern message for her people. "Taiwan needs to strengthen our ability to defend ourselves," Tsai said, announcing that from 2024, compulsory military service would be extended from four months to a full year. "No one wants war," she said. "But, my fellow countrymen, peace will not fall from the sky." The Taiwan dispute has festered since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, when the defeated nationalists fled to the island. The victorious Communists have been determined to take it ever since. Now, the threat of war has seemed closer than at any time in decades. Increasingly, China makes no bones about its goals. "We in mainland China believe that Taiwan is part of China and we have to reunify with Taiwan," said Zhou Bo, a former Senior Colonel in China's military, now at Tsinghua University. "The only question is through what means: whether they will be peaceful or whether we have to use force."

Fox News (sorry)

Coolidge Dam records highest water level in 5 years, a relief for Arizona farmers

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. - While rain might be a problem on roads, it's an amazing sight for Arizona farmers. Six months ago, Caywood Farms in Casa Grande was dusty, dry and brown. Now it's wet, muddy and most importantly - it's green. "Oh yes, we’re happy," laughed Nancy Caywood with Caywood Farms. "It feels great. It’s just so nice." A massively wet monsoon has changed her tune since FOX 10 spoke with Caywood in June. The Caywood Farm has been in the family for five generations, dating back to the 1930s. They have dealt with droughts before, but nothing like this drought, which left parched fields with no crops, and canals filled with tumbleweeds instead of water. Now, the alfalfa is green. She's even planted oats. The canals that lead up to her property are full again thanks to Coolidge Dam, which had dried up in June.

Raw Story

John Dean smacks down Republican's claim that there's not enough to prosecute Trump: They 'have it nailed'

On CNN Thursday, former Nixon White House Counsel John Dean clashed with GOP strategist David Urban after the latter claimed that the evidence isn't there to prosecute former President Donald Trump for his role in the plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election. "I think what the Department of Justice is going to try to do is get convictions," added Urban. "They're not going to be able to do that with the president. They're going to do that with other people." Dean, however, took issue with that claim. "I think an overwhelming case, proof beyond a reasonable doubt is out there against Trump," said Dean. "It's really going to be a question of do we prosecute a former president, not whether we can and have it nailed, which I think they do, they're blowing away all the privileges that are appearing in this report, people like Cipollone and others who now have had to testify in front of the grand jury. Different game in front of the grand jury."

Washington Post

3 ways to tap billions in new money to go green — starting next month

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