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Overnight News Digest: March 26, 2025 [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-26
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, doomandgloom and FarWestGirl. 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, JeremyBloom, 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.
The Times of India: Gabbard admits mistake
Director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard admitted on Wednesday that a reporter was inadvertently included in a high-level Signal chat regarding planned strikes on the Houthis in Yemen. However, she maintained that no classified information was shared in the conversation. Speaking during a House Intelligence Committee hearing, Gabbard said, "The president and national security adviser (Mike) Waltz held a press conference yesterday with a clear message: it was a mistake that a reporter was inadvertently added to a Signal chat with high-level national security principals having a policy discussion about imminent strikes against the Houthis and the effects of the strike." "The conversation was candid and sensitive, but as the president and national security adviser stated, no classified information was shared. There were no sources, methods, locations, or war plans disclosed," Gabbard reiterated.
However, conflicting accounts have emerged. A US defense official familiar with the operation, along with another source briefed on the matter, claimed that information shared in the chat by secretary of defense Pete Hegseth was highly classified at the time, given that the strike had not yet taken place.
The Times of India: BlackRock-led Panama port deal: Why it is a setback for Xi Jinping and China
On the face of it, it’s a straightforward transaction. CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd plans to sell two of its ports near the Panama Canal as part of a broader $19 billion divestment. But in geopolitics, nothing is just what it seems. With President Donald Trump hailing the sale as a reclamation of American influence over the Panama Canal and China condemning it as a betrayal, what might have been a quietly lucrative exit has become an international flashpoint.
Driving the news CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd, the flagship conglomerate of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, is pressing forward with a high-stakes deal to sell two ports on the Panama Canal to a consortium led by BlackRock Inc — despite growing backlash from Beijing. As per a Bloomberg report, people familiar with the matter say the agreement, part of a broader $19 billion global port sale, remains on track for signing by April 2. Final due diligence, tax and accounting terms are being finalized. The deal will hand over control of 43 ports in 23 countries, including the strategic Balboa and Cristobal terminals in Panama.
Li’s firm has kept ports in mainland China and Hong Kong off the table — a decision that has done little to defuse Beijing’s anger.
The Times of India: In 7 charts: How India's GDP has doubled from $2.1 trillion to $4.2 trillion in just 10 years
India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has doubled in the last 10 years - a huge feat for an economy that is also set to become the world’s third largest in a few years. India’s economic growth has come despite a major economic setback in the form of the Covid pandemic a few years ago. According to latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) data, India’s GDP under the Narendra Modi government has seen 103.1% growth in GDP at current prices or nominal GDP. It has also gone from being the world’s 10th largest economy to the fifth largest. How has India managed to double its GDP in just ten years? What factors have worked to propel the economy, which at one time had been infamously ranked among the ‘Fragile Five’? As India looks set to become the world’s fourth largest economy next year, and the third largest in the later part of this decade, we take a look at 7 charts that show the incredible growth story of India and ask experts about what led to the 100% rise in GDP:
The Guardian: Canada’s ex-spy chief says White House response to Signal leak threatens ‘Five Eyes’ security
Canada’s former spy chief has said the Trump administration’s attempts to downplay the leak of top-secret attack plans is a “very worrying” development, with implications for broader intelligence sharing among US allies. On Wednesday, the Atlantic magazine published new and detailed messages from a group chat, including plans for US bombings, drone launches and targeting information of the assault, including descriptions of weather conditions. Among the recipients of the messages was a prominent journalist, who was inadvertently added to the group. “This is very worrying. Canada needs to think about what this means in practical terms: is the United States prepared to protect our secrets, as we are bound to protect theirs?” said Richard Fadden, the former head of Canada’s intelligence agency. “Every country has experienced leaks, of varying severity. The problem with this one is that it’s being generated at the highest levels of the US government – and they haven’t admitted that it’s a problem.”
The Guardian: Bolsonaro must stand trial over alleged coup attempt, Brazil’s top court rules
Guess accountability isn’t quite dead everywhere yet.
Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro will stand trial for allegedly orchestrating a violent plot to seize power through a military coup, after the country’s supreme court decided he should face criminal prosecution. The ruling leaves the far-right populist, who governed Brazil from 2019 until the end of 2022, facing political oblivion and a possible jail sentence of more than 40 years. The supreme court decided that seven other close allies of the ex-president should also stand trial for crimes including involvement in an armed criminal organization, coup d’état and violently attempting to abolish Brazilian democracy.
The Guardian: Surgeons transplant genetically modified pig liver into Chinese patient
A genetically modified pig liver that was transplanted into a brain-dead patient appeared to function successfully inside their body for 10 days, according to the scientists who performed the groundbreaking procedure. The surgery, at a Chinese hospital last year, is thought to mark the first time a pig liver has been transplanted into a human. It raises the prospect of pig livers serving as a “bridging organ” for patients on the waiting list for a transplant or to support liver function while their own organ regenerates. Prof Lin Wang, who led the trial at Xijing hospital in Xi’an said: “This is the first time we tried to unravel whether the pig liver could work well in the human body and … whether it could replace the original human liver in the future. It is our dream to make this achievement.”
The Guardian: Four US soldiers killed in Lithuania, NATO secretary general says
Four United States army soldiers have been killed in Lithuania during training, the NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte, said while visiting Warsaw on Wednesday. “Whilst I was speaking the news came out about four American soldiers who were killed in an incident in Lithuania,” Rutte told reporters, adding that he did not know any details. Lithuania’s military earlier on Wednesday said they were searching for four US soldiers and a tracked vehicle that had gone missing on Tuesday afternoon. A statement from the US army’s Europe and Africa public affairs office in Wiesbaden, Germany, said the soldiers were conducting scheduled tactical training at the time.
The Guardian: Arizona officers who beat deaf Black man with cerebral palsy are suspended
The Phoenix police department has disciplined three officers who violently used a stun gun on and punched a deaf Black man with cerebral palsy last year. The department’s interim police chief, Michael Sullivan, announced that he had issued 24-hour unpaid suspensions to the officers who were involved in the arrest of Tyron McAlpin last August, which was filmed on video. Two of the officers will also be required to attend de-escalation training, Sullivan said. Sullivan did not name the three police officers, but in the video of McAlpin’s arrest the two officers who were seen assaulting him were identified in media reports as Benjamin Harris and Kyle Sue. The third officer has been identified in media reports as Jorge Acosta.
The Guardian: Aaron Gunches lethally injected in Arizona’s first execution in two years
An Arizona man who kidnapped and murdered his girlfriend’s ex-husband was executed on Wednesday, the second of four prisoners scheduled to be put to death this week in the US. Aaron Brian Gunches, 53, was lethally injected with pentobarbital at the Arizona state prison complex in the town of Florence, John Barcello, the deputy director of the Arizona department of corrections, rehabilitation and re-entry, told news outlets. Gunches was pronounced dead at 10.33am. Gunches fatally shot Ted Price in the desert outside the Phoenix suburb of Mesa in 2002. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in 2007.
Al Jazeera: Istanbul elects Aslan interim mayor amid ongoing protests over Imamoglu
Istanbul’s municipal government has elected Nuri Aslan as interim mayor to replace Ekrem Imamoglu, who has been imprisoned on corruption charges. Local broadcaster NTV and Turkish news outlet Anadolu reported on Wednesday that Aslan, from Imamoglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), was chosen to run the city for the remainder of Imamoglu’s term, as he awaits trial. In the first round of voting, Aslan won 173 votes, while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) candidate, Zeynel Abidin Okul, won 123. In the second round of the election, Aslan received 177 votes, while Okul received 125. As both candidates were unable to win the two-thirds majority required to win the vote, a third round of voting began. In that vote, where candidates would need a simple majority to win, Aslan received 177 votes, Okul received 125 votes, securing Aslan’s election. Speaking at the Istanbul Municipality building in Sarachane, CHP chairman Ozgur Ozel said the interim mayoral election had blocked Erdogan’s push to appoint a trustee at the municipality.
Al Jazeera: South African ambassador expelled by Trump receives hero’s welcome at home
The South African ambassador who was expelled from the United States in a row with US President Donald Trump’s administration has arrived home to a raucous welcome and struck a defiant tone over the decision. Crowds at Cape Town International Airport surrounded Ebrahim Rasool and his wife Rosieda on Sunday as they emerged in the arrivals terminal in their hometown. They needed a police escort to help them navigate their way through the building. “A declaration of persona non grata is meant to humiliate you,” Rasool told supporters as he addressed them with a megaphone. “But when you return to crowds like this, and with warmth … like this, then I will wear my persona non grata as a badge of dignity.” “It was not our choice to come home, but we come home with no regrets.”
Al Jazeera: US lifts $10m reward for major Taliban leader Haqqani
The United States has lifted a $10m reward for information leading to the arrest of a major Taliban leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, an Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs spokesperson says. Despite the announcement on Saturday, the FBI still lists the reward on its website, saying Haqqani was “believed to have coordinated and participated in cross-border attacks against United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan”. The move comes after the Taliban on Thursday released a US citizen who had been kept in captivity for two years. The release of George Glezmann, who was abducted while travelling as a tourist in Afghanistan in December 2022, marks the third time a US detainee has been freed by the Taliban since January.
Phys.org: New water microcleaners self-disperse, capture microplastics and float up for removal
In a new paper, researchers at North Carolina State University show proof of concept for a system that—in a single cycle—actively removes microplastics from water. The findings, described in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, hold the potential for advances in cleansing oceans and other bodies of water of tiny plastics that may harm human health and the environment. "The idea behind this work is: Can we make the cleaning materials in the form of soft particles that self-disperse in water, capture microplastics as they sink, and then return to the surface with the captured microplastic contaminants?" said Orlin Velev, the S. Frank and Doris Culberson Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at NC State and corresponding author of the paper. "We demonstrated how multiple principles can be integrated into a system that works in a single cycle."
Phys.org: The hidden hand of medieval female scribes
A team at the University of Bergen in Norway have determined that a minimum of 1.1% of medieval manuscripts from around 800 to 1626 CE were copied by female scribes, with a probable total exceeding 110,000 texts. This estimate suggests that approximately 8,000 may still exist today. Research on female involvement in manuscript production has often focused on individual monastic scriptoria, regions, or smaller timeframes. Previous work provided compelling evidence of women's roles in such environments yet was not designed to offer broad-scale quantitative assessments. In the study, "How Many Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts Were Copied by Female Scribes? A Bibliometric Analysis Based on Colophons," published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, researchers conducted a bibliometric colophon analysis to quantify women's participation as copyists.
Phys.org: Giant claw unearthed in Mongolia belongs to a new species of two-fingered dinosaur
An international team of paleontologists and Earth scientists has identified fossilized remains as a two-clawed therizinosaur. The fossils were unearthed more than a decade ago in Mongolia. Their paper is published in the journal iScience. In 2012, a team of researchers from the Mongolian Academy of Sciences unearthed the fossilized remains of a therizinosaur—a two-legged dinosaur known for its long claws—in the Gobi desert. For several years, the fossils remained in storage. In this new study, the researchers analyzed the fossils and discovered the largest three-dimensional preserved dinosaur claws ever found. The fossil set included both of the dinosaur's arms, including claws, part of its pelvis and much of its backbone, and they are three-dimensional, not flat outlines in rock. The fossils date to approximately 90 million years ago and belong to a previously unknown dinosaur, thus representing a new species. The researchers gave it the name Duonychus tsogtbaatari. They suggest it likely would have been approximately 3 meters long and weighed approximately 270 kilograms.
Hope everyone has a great evening. :-)
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