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Overnight News Digest: Friday night around the world [1]
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Date: 2025-01-31
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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.
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.
This Sunday marks the 30th anniversary of the first astronomical observations conducted for the search, named Project Phoenix. These observations were done at the Parkes Observatory in Wiradjuri country in the central west of New South Wales, Australia—home to one of the world's largest radio telescopes.
In February 1995, a small research organization known as the SETI Institute launched what was then the most comprehensive search for an answer to a centuries-old question: are we alone in the universe?
The ancient artefacts, which include four terracotta cones and a cuneiform tablet, were presented at a ceremony in Rome attended by police officials and Iraq’s ambassador to Italy.
In just over a decade, India has doubled its tiger population to more than 3,600, accounting for 75% of the world's tigers.
India now hosts the world's largest tiger population, despite having the highest human density and just 18% of global tiger habitat, according to a new study.
Los Angeles has worlds of Southeast Asian cuisines at our feet yet the food of Indonesia, that vast archipelago of islands, isn't as well represented. Could that be because it's a cuisine that shows itself best in homes? Mother and daughter Patricia Tanumihardja and Juliana Evari Suparman aim to entice us into the kitchen with their cookbook, Mortar and Pestle .
They moved under the cover of darkness, hoping to spot the hopping creatures along the slippery rocks.
By Irene Wright In the mountains streams of Indonesia, two new “fanged” creatures were discovered. Ryan 'O' Niel via Unsplash Ducking hanging branches and stepping over stones, researchers in the Meratus mountain range of Indonesia walked through small streams on the hunt for frogs.
This year, Setsubun falls on Sunday, February 2, and there are plenty of events to celebrate it. Enjoy!
Setsubun no Hi (節分の日), celebrated annually on February 2, 3 or 4, is a traditional event marking the official beginning of spring, according to the Japanese lunar calendar. Though not a national holiday, Setsubun is widely celebrated across Japan. It’s a day full of bean-throwing, bean-eating and efforts to scare evil away to welcome good fortune.
“Is there a suburb with a worse reputation that it is fighting? I don’t think there is,” said project architect Joshua Zoeller of Chrofi, whose practice did the redesign of the park.
It has taken 20 kilometres of brightly coloured rope wound around a rainbow python-shaped pavilion to make Mt Druitt’s 50-year-old Dawson Park feel safer by night and cooler by day.
It means Taranaki Maunga [Mt Taranaki] will effectively own itself, with representatives of the local tribes, iwi, and government working together to manage it.
A settlement under which a New Zealand mountain has been granted the same legal right as a person has become law after years of negotiations.
Cheerier stories above the fold, the rest of the news below.
From MSN:
New Zealand’s last war Amanda Gillies It is billed as ‘New Zealand’s last war’. It took place in 1979 and lasted just three minutes, but was considered a pivotal race relations moment for the country. A landmark court case and official inquiry by the Race Relations Conciliator and the Human Rights Commission followed. Then … it was promptly forgotten. From the Sydney Morning Post:
Man allegedly caught drawing Nazi symbols in eastern suburbs crackdown By Sarah McPhee Police patrolling Sydney’s eastern suburbs after an escalation of antisemitic incidents have caught a man allegedly drawing Nazi symbols on a wall. The 37-year-old man was arrested after officers from Strike Force Pearl allegedly witnessed him defacing a wall with a marker pen on Anzac Parade in Kingsford during a high-visibility patrol about 4.30pm on Friday.
From ABC News:
Japanese police arrest Canadian in smuggling of huge amount of stimulants Japanese police say they have arrested a Canadian national on suspicion of smuggling hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine into Japan hidden inside large industrial machinery that he had shipped in a container from the United States TOKYO -- Japanese police said Friday they have arrested a Canadian national on suspicion of smuggling into Japan hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine hidden inside large industrial machinery that he had shipped in a container from the United States. Tokyo metropolitan police said they arrested Vincent Yat Sum Yeung, a 38-year-old company executive and a resident of Yokohama, near Tokyo, on Wednesday.
From Screen Rant:
As Anime Industry Conditions Worsen, Japan Is Launching a Federal Investigation Into the Ordeal Zach Zamora By Questionable practices and work conditions in the anime industry have been an ever-present and ongoing discussion among fan bases of the art form's biggest properties. Towering demands and grueling hours all while working within tight deadlines, those making a living while creating some of the most beloved content in the anime world do not have it easy. Horror stories have arisen from animators and directors on numerous occasions, and as the demand for anime continues to grow, so too do the demands placed on those responsible for the product.
From the Financial Times:
Rice price rise pushes Japan to tap strategic reserves Tokyo seeks to use national stockpile for first time since 2011 tsunami amid fears of shortage Leo Lewis in Tokyo Japan is set to respond to the highest rice prices on record by making it easier to tap its stockpile of the grain at the heart of the nation’s cuisine. In a historic change, the government is for the first time set to loosen the rules on accessing strategic rice reserves. The move is part of a bid to tamp down soaring rice prices, which have contributed to overall inflation, and quell consumer fears of shortages.
From Mehr News Agency:
6.2-magnitude quake hits Indonesia's Aceh A 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck Aceh province in northern Sumatra on Friday evening, shaking buildings and triggering panic among residents still traumatized by the devastating tsunami 20 years ago. The earthquake, which hit at 6:03 p.m. local time, was centered in the southern part of Aceh, approximately 36 kilometers southwest of Aceh Selatan. The tremor had a depth of 29 kilometers beneath the Earth's surface, Jakarta Globe reported.
From the South China Morning Post:
Editorial | Landing ‘Skytopia’ in economic turbulence a challenge for Hong Kong airport Ambitious plans by city’s Airport Authority to transform facility into ‘the landmark of Asia’ rest on attracting investment Following a bumpy take-off in 1998, Hong Kong International Airport has been consistently rated one of the world’s best, and justifiably so. It is now aiming even higher with an ambitious HK$100 billion (US$12.83 billion) makeover to become “the landmark of Asia”, with top tourism, cultural, entertainment and commercial facilities unrivalled by any other aviation centres. Promising as it sounds, the project also is fraught with challenges amid economic headwinds.
From France24:
US funding freeze disrupts Cambodian efforts to clear landmines, Vietnam War bombs US President Donald Trump's decision to abruptly pause all foreign aid has forced Cambodia to scale back its lifesaving campaign to clear the unexploded military ordnance left behind by decades of civil strife and American bombing during the Vietnam War. Cambodia's decades-long effort to clear unexploded munitions has had to partially suspend operations after the United States suddenly halted funding, a minister said Friday, calling on Washington to reverse the order. Cambodia remains littered with unexploded bombs, many of which were dropped by American forces during the Vietnam War.
From MSN:
Dad missing for over a week in Thailand after failing to board flight back to UK Story by Jasper King A British man who went on holiday to Thailand to see his friend has been reported missing after failing to board his flight home. James Sangwine, 33, from Epping, Essex, travelled to Bangkok on January 18 but his partner Katie, 38, has not heard from him since January 20, after he headed to a bar to meet friends.
From the BBC:
Families mourn loved ones who died in Kumbh Mela crush Cherylann Mollan Families of people who were killed in a crush at a major religious festival in northern India this week are grieving their loss and waiting to take bodies of their relatives back home. At least 30 people died in the crush at the Kumbh Mela on Wednesday, which was one of the holiest days of the six-week long Hindu festival.
From Al Jazeera:
Pakistan sacks, blacklists dozens of officials after Mediterranean deaths The crackdown follows recent boat disasters off Greece and Morocco in which dozens of Pakistanis died. But is it enough? Abid Hussain Islamabad, Pakistan – When Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif removed Ahmed Ishaq Jahangir from his position as the chief of the country’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday, he became the highest-profile casualty in a sweeping organisational purge following the deaths of at least 43 Pakistanis off the coast of Morocco earlier in January. The drowning incident came to light on January 15, when Moroccan authorities rescued 36 people after their boat was stranded in the Mediterranean Sea for 13 days. At least 37 others, including several Pakistanis, remain missing.
From France24:
Jailed Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi says 'determined to continue fighting' Jailed Iranian women's rights activist Narges Mohammadi gave an interview to FRANCE 24 while on temporary leave from Tehran's Evin prison. Despite nine trials and facing another 10 years in jail, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate is determined to continue her fight for human rights in Iran. Mohammadi also said the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protest movement is still alive but has taken on "different forms". Granted temporary leave from prison, Mohammadi spoke to FRANCE 24 from her home in Tehran. Despite being tired from a surgical operation, she assured us she is "doing well" psychologically.
From The Guardian:
South Africa and Malaysia to launch campaign to protect international justice Formation of Hague Group comes amid challenges to ICJ and ICC rulings Patrick Wintour South Africa and Malaysia will launch a campaign to protect and uphold the rulings of the international court of justice (ICJ) and the international criminal court (ICC) in the face of what they describe as defiance of ICJ orders and attempts by US Congress to hit the ICC through the use of sanctions. The aim of the nine-nation Hague Group – which includes Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Senegal and Namibia - is to defend the institutions and rulings of the international legal order.
From Al Jazeera:
With France’s military influence in Africa gone, can it rely on soft power? The French language and a CFA currency tying 14 countries to France’s treasury continue to have big effects. By Shola Lawal After more than six decades, French troops completed their withdrawal from Chad this week before a January 31 deadline, the latest blow to France’s shrinking military hold in its former West and Central Africa strongholds. N’Djamena abruptly cut ties with Paris in December and ended a military pact that saw 1,000 French soldiers stationed in the country. The sprawling nation is a prime spot for monitoring and launching missions against the swarm of armed groups operating in the troubled Sahel region, but also for monitoring activities in neighbouring war-wracked Libya.
From CBS News:
U.N. warns escalation in Congo war with M23 rebels bringing "summary executions" and gang rapes Geneva — The United Nations on Friday voiced alarm at rampant violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, as the M23 armed group pushed deeper into the country, warning of summary executions and widespread rapes. The group's capture of most of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, earlier in the week was a dramatic escalation in a region that has seen decades of conflict involving multiple armed groups. The U.N. on Thursday said that it was "deeply concerned" by "credible reports" that the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels were advancing south from Goma to Bukavu — capital of the neighboring South Kivu province.
From the BBC:
Your phone, a rare metal and the war in DR Congo Damian Zane There is a good chance that inside your mobile phone is a miniscule amount of a metal that started its journey buried in the earth of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where a war is currently raging. It may even be directly connected to the M23 rebel group that made global headlines this week.
From IFLScience:
Radioactive Plutonium In Sahara Dust Came From An Unexpected Source The nuclear tests of the Cold War continue to haunt the world. Tom Hale Every now and again, the Sahara Desert in North Africa will kick up a storm and spread dust clouds across Europe and other parts of the world. Remarkably, the sand still carries traces of radioactive isotopes from the atomic bomb tests of the Cold War. In a new study, scientists have investigated whether substantial amounts of radioactive isotopes generated by these tests were transported to Western Europe amid a powerful Saharan dust event in March 2022. They discovered that radiation still lingers in the dust that reached Europe – but not from the source they expected.
From Al Monitor:
Sudan paramilitary chief admits setbacks, vows to expel army from Khartoum Sudan's paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, in a rare video address on Friday, acknowledged setbacks in the capital Khartoum but vowed to expel the army from the city again. The war since April 2023 between Daglo's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the army has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted more than 12 million, according to the United Nations, and pushed millions to the brink of famine.
From the Associated Press:
Turkey dismisses 5 military academy graduates for taking discontinued secular oath ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Five military academy graduates and three of their immediate superiors were dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces for taking a pro-secular oath during their graduation ceremony, the defense ministry announced on Friday The Ministry of National Defense launched a disciplinary inquiry into the graduation ceremony after a video emerged showing about 400 graduates raising their swords and chanting “We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal” — a reference to the secular founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk — after the formal ceremony had ended.
From Iran International:
A young Iranian's plight in Turkey underscores horrors of refugee life Negar Mojtahedi 35-year-old Iranian refugee Sina Rostami, who is detained in a Turkish deportation camp for not having proper documentation, is routinely awakened in the morning with the strike of a jailer's baton. Sina is the portrait of the Iranian youth. Opposed to the theocratic establishment, he dreams of a better life in the West, but what he has experienced in his pursuit of freedom illustrates the grim reality of what many Iranian refugees face.
From The Guardian:
Anger in Romania over theft of national treasures in heist at Dutch museum Revered Helmet of Coțofenești among items from ancient Dacian civilisation stolen while on loan at Drents Museum Ashifa Kassam Hours before the sun rose over the Netherlands, the group crowded around the large external door, appearing to pry it open. Seconds later, the grainy security video appeared to show a powerful explosion, sending plumes of smoke and sparks into the air, and the thieves rush into the museum in the north-eastern city of Assen. Minutes later they were gone. But the mystery of what exactly took place during their few minutes in the Drents Museum – and what came afterwards – has left officials in the Netherlands scrambling for answers, and prompted a row that has stretched to the other side of Europe.
From Reuters:
Greek farmers fear for crops as Bulgaria water deal expires By Karolina Tagaris Deal with Bulgaria over water use expired last year
Deal has provided water for Evros plain
Farmers' worries highlight concern over climate change
Greek farmers protest government inaction on water deal KASTANIES, Greece, Jan 31 (Reuters) - On an unusually balmy January day, Dimitris Marinoglou ploughed his field in northern Greece fearing the worst: that water supplies from neighbouring Bulgaria that have kept his family's crops alive for decades will dry up come summer. Since 1964, water from Bulgaria's mountains has flowed freely along the Arda River into 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares) of the Evros plain in Greece, under a World War Two reparations agreement between the two countries.
From The Guardian:
‘Did they learn nothing?’: Auschwitz survivor to return German honour over AfD vote role Albrecht Weinberg ‘horrified’ that MPs relied on far-right party to pass anti-immigration motion Kate Connolly A 99-year-old Holocaust survivor has said he will return his federal order of merit to the German president in protest over MPs passing an anti-immigration motion in parliament with the support of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland. Albrecht Weinberg, whose parents were murdered in Auschwitz, told the Guardian he was “horrified” on learning that a proposal submitted by the conservative parties had relied on the anti-immigrant, xenophobic AfD to get it over the line.
From Deutsche Welle:
Is Germany's drinking passion waning? Stuart Braun 7 hours ago From Riesling and schnapps to frothing steins of beer, the Germans have long loved alcohol. But they are now drinking less than ever — and not just during Dry January. As Dry January comes to an end, those who took up the challenge of abstaining from alcohol for the first month of the year may be looking forward to their first drink in February. Others might be rethinking their relationship with alcohol altogether. Similarly, a growing number of people in Germany are taking a more conscious approach to drinking. Consuming beer and wine has long been an integral part of culture in the land of Oktoberfest.
Another from DW:
Quran burner Salwan Momika killed in Sweden January 30, 2025 Police in Sweden have reportedly arrested five people after a man who repeatedly burnt the Quran was shot dead. The 2023 book burnings sparked outrage in Muslim countries. Swedish police on Thursday said five people had been arrested over the fatal shooting of an Iraqi man who carried out several Quran burnings. The man had been due to attend Stockholm District Court later in the day for the verdict in a case over "offenses of agitation against an ethnic or national group."
From France24:
‘The flood of the century’: How well prepared is Paris for a natural disaster? It has been more than 100 years since Paris’s last great flood, meaning the city is well overdue another mammoth deluge that authorities predict could leave hundreds of thousands of people without water or electricity. How prepared is the French capital for the next “flood of the century”? The waters will rise slowly when the next great flood comes to Paris. There will be no flash flood that sweeps away infrastructure in an instant. Instead, the River Seine will creep up at a rate of about 2cm per hour. It will take 10-15 days for water to reach the same levels as the capital’s last centennial flood in 1910, during which the river reached a depth of 8.62 metres.
Another from France24:
Olympic cauldron will return to Paris skies every summer until the 2028 LA Games French President Emmanuel Macron announced Friday that the Olympic balloon and cauldron that became an icon of the Paris Games is set to return to the capital every summer until the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. Macron said the balloon would return to the same Tuileries Gardens where it was launched during the Games, near the Louvre museum. The flame-free Olympic balloon tethered to a cauldron that was an iconic symbol of last summer's Games in Paris is to return to the French capital every year up until the next edition in Los Angeles in 2028, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday. "It will return every summer... until the Los Angeles Games," Macron wrote on X above an image of the balloon rising into the Paris night sky last summer, one of the unforgettable sights of the hugely successful 2024 summer Olympics.
From France24:
From kitchen wall to the Louvre: Cimabue show sheds new light on ‘father of Western painting’ A long-lost Cimabue panel discovered on a kitchen wall north of Paris in 2019 is at the heart of a landmark exhibition on the Florentine master, which opens at the Louvre on Wednesday, showcasing restored masterpieces and bringing to light his pioneering role at the dawn of the Renaissance. In the beginning there was Cimabue, “who was to shed the first light on the art of painting” – until he was “eclipsed” by his pupil Giotto. The story, told by Giorgio Vasari in his “Lives of the Painters”, has for centuries been the standard account of the origins of the Renaissance, cementing Cimabue’s role as a transitional figure who paved the way for his more illustrious disciple.
From DW:
Not just the Louvre: How Europe's museums face the future Silke Wünsch 9 hours ago Paris' Louvre is one of the world's most famous museums — and it's in dire need of renovation. But structural changes are not the only measure European museums are undertaking to try and remain attractive to visitors. If you haven't visited the Louvre, then you haven't really seen Paris — this thought may well be shared by the nearly 9 million visitors who descend upon the museum every year to try and catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa through the crowds. The museum itself is 230 years old, and many of its structures are reaching their limits. The walls are moist, putting the artwork at risk, and the entrance under the iconic glass pyramid is far too small for the ever-growing number of visitors.
From France24 (Video):
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