(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Overnight News Digest [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-09-05
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 via the BBC, and from The Guardian (wildlife), as well as pictures of the day from The Guardian.
We begin with a review that I hope will make everyone happy, from The Guardian:
‘Our songs last three minutes but they feel like an hour’: the return of Spinal Tap – an exclusive that goes up to 11! Michael Hann Over 40 years since This Is Spinal Tap was mistaken for a comedy, its hard-rocking subjects are back for a legally obligated final gig. Our writer smells the glove Spinal Tap are remembering the old days. It was 1966, and the young beat group from Squatney in east London – still, at that point, the Thamesmen – were honing their act in the tough clubs of the Benelux circuit. A young band from Britain could learn a lot, facing up to riotous crowds of Dutch, Flemings, Walloons and Luxembourgers. What lessons did Tap take from that year? “If you speak really loudly, it’s all right if you don’t have any of the local language,” says David St Hubbins, Tap’s leonine lead singer.
Even though the team draw/pairings will not be announced until December, some readers may be interested in this story from Playing for 90:
Morocco is about to shock World Cup 2026 and Africa may never be the same The Atlas Lions can secure a historic early ticket on Friday, while Egypt and South Africa chase dramatic turns in the qualifiers By Izabelle Franca might still feel a long way off, but this Friday Africa could already have its first team officially booked for the tournament. And it’s not just any squad. We’re talking about , the surprise semifinalist in Qatar back in 2022, a team that stopped being just a nice story and proved it belongs at the top. The mathematics is simple: beat Niger at home, and as long as Tanzania does not beat Congo at home on the same day, the ticket belongs to them. Even a draw will do if Tanzania makes the mistake. And if so, Morocco will be the first African nation to have ensured themselves a place at the World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The 2026 World Cup might still feel a long way off, but this Friday Africa could already have its first team officially booked for the tournament. And it’s not just any squad. We’re talking about Morocco , the surprise semifinalist in Qatar back in 2022, a team that stopped being just a nice story and proved it belongs at the top. The mathematics is simple: beat Niger at home, and as long as Tanzania does not beat Congo at home on the same day, the ticket belongs to them. Even a draw will do if Tanzania makes the mistake. And if so, Morocco will be the first African nation to have ensured themselves a place at the World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
(and yes, Kansas City is hosting the games this coming year — we are all excited)
From Archaeology News:
9,000-year-old workshop discovery in Senegal reveals life of West Africa’s last hunter-gatherers by Dario Radley Archaeologists have found rare remains of West Africa’s last hunter-gatherer communities, offering a new glimpse into the lives and sustenance of these people and their circumstances from 9,000 years ago. The discovery, at the Ravin Blanc X site in Senegal’s Falémé Valley, sheds light on early Holocene stone tool production, a period that followed nearly 10,000 years of drought. Compared to Europe, Asia, and parts of southern and eastern Africa, prehistoric West Africa has long remained enigmatic. Harsh climatic and geological conditions have destroyed much of the stratified remains in the region, which are essential for the interpretation of settlement patterns and cultural change.
From birdlife.org:
How We are Saving Africa’s Vultures By Vincent Otieno Often viewed as sinister, signifying bad tidings, or even death, vultures are arguably the most misunderstood scavengers. The vital role that vultures play in the environment is irreplaceable. Acting as nature’s own clean-up crew, these endangered birds remove carcasses, which when accumulated in the environment, would have a negative impact on environmental and human health. However, these majestic birds are now faced with extinction, with some species for the continent seeing a decline of up to 97% over the last 50 years. Today, 6 out of 11 African vulture species are threatened with extinction due to various threats. Poisoning is the major cause of vulture mortalities accounting for more than 60% of vulture deaths on the continent. In some instances, poachers lace carcasses with poison to kill vultures, as they alert authorities of poaching activities. In other cases, vultures are killed unintentionally, when herders lace carcasses with poison to kill predators in retaliatory killings, and vultures die after feeding on these carcasses.
From NPR:
Greetings from Guhagar, India, where newly hatched turtles get some help into the sea Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world. India has some pretty successful efforts to protect the olive ridley sea turtle, a vulnerable species which nests on the country's long coastlines. Every nesting season, thousands of females dig holes on the seashore with their flippers, and each one lays dozens of eggs inside. To keep them safe from threats like dogs and poachers, activists collect the eggs and incubate them in protected hatcheries.
And a rather sad story to end our cheery news section, from The Guardian:
The Guardian view on In Our Time: Melvyn Bragg has proved that media can be both serious and popular Editorial After 27 years, the presenter is leaving one of BBC Radio’s finest programmes. He never talked down, and never dumbed down either Over the years, a select few BBC radio programmes have carved out distinctive niches in the nation’s affections. High on many people’s lists of such radio treasures are probably programmes like the Archers, Desert Island Discs and, now into its second century, the Shipping Forecast. Another shoo-in member of this small and exclusive club – broadcasting’s equivalent of the Order of Merit – is surely Melvyn Bragg’s long-running Radio 4 programme In Our Time. In Our Time embodies something fundamental to media. It is living proof that it is possible to be both serious and popular. So good was the programme, right from the start, that Lord Bragg and his guests managed to turn one of radio’s traditional “graveyard” slots – the hour after 9am on a weekday – into one of the BBC’s most enduring jewels. They did it by the simple expedient of talking interestingly about important and sometimes difficult subjects. Who would have guessed?
From NPR:
The world's oldest and largest iceberg will soon be no more It's been a long and unusual journey for the world's largest iceberg, known as A23a, but it's ending in a relatively usual way: breaking apart and melting in the warmer waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, just like icebergs have done for millions of years before. The iceberg — which at one time was around the same size as the Hawaiian island of Oahu — is "rapidly breaking up" into several "very large chunks," according to scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), which has been tracking its movements.
From The Guardian:
Japanese man becomes oldest person to reach Mount Fuji summit at 102 Kokichi Akuzawa climbed with 70-year-old daughter to break record for oldest person to make ascent – a second time Kokichi Akuzawa has become the oldest person to climb to the top of Mount Fuji at the age of 102 – despite almost giving up during his trek. “I was really tempted to give up halfway through,” Akuzawa said. “Reaching the summit was tough, but my friends encouraged me, and it turned out well. I managed to get through it because so many people supported me.”
From Al Jazeera:
Indonesia in chaos: Five Indonesians give views on why and how to fix it A cost-of living crisis and a government apparently impervious to the struggles of everyday people has ignited public rage. Demonstrations have gripped Indonesia since late August when anger at a faltering economy erupted into full-blown violence following reports that politicians received a $3,000 housing allowance on top of their salaries – a perk equal to between 10 and 20 times Indonesia’s monthly minimum wage. It was not the first time that Indonesians have taken to the streets this year. In February and March, students turned out to protest against a range of unpopular government policies, including cuts to the national budget and a proposed new law expanding the role of the military in political affairs.
From The Guardian:
From the Associated Press:
Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin makes surprise departure ahead of a risky court ruling By GRANT PECK BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra made a sudden and surprising departure from the country Thursday, just five days before a court ruling that could open him up to a new prison sentence. His exit came a week after the Constitutional Court removed his daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, from her position as prime minister. The court found her guilty of an ethics violation for a politically compromising phone call with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen.
From Al Jazeera:
Has India ‘weaponised water’ to deliberately flood Pakistan? Pakistan blames India for floods that have killed hundreds, but experts urge focus on climate change. India, they say, would need to flood itself to flood Pakistan. By Abid Hussain Islamabad, Pakistan – For the second time in three years, catastrophic monsoon floods have carved a path of destruction across Pakistan’s north and central regions, particularly in its Punjab province, submerging villages, drowning farmland, displacing millions and killing hundreds. This year, India – Pakistan’s archrival and a nuclear-armed neighbour – is also reeling. Its northern states, including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Indian Punjab, have seen widespread flooding as heavy monsoon rains swell rivers on both sides of the border.
From Hindustan Times:
‘No skin contact with males’: Afghan women left under earthquake rubble. Courtesy - Gender rules Nayanika Sengupta Edited by Scores of women remain trapped and neglected after earthquake as male rescuers prioritise men and children owing to the “no skin-contact” rule in Afghanistan. Centuries-old customs that have long held women back in Afghanistan are now ensuring they are among the last to be rescued or not rescued at all after the deadly earthquake and massive aftershocks that reduced scores of buildings to rubble and killed at least 2,200 people. In the absence of female rescuers, many women survivors trapped under debris are not being pulled out, while the bodies of the dead are dragged out by their clothes because of prohibitions on men touching women.
From CNN:
From The Guardian:
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/5/2342069/-Overnight-News-Digest?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
