(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Overnight News Digest February 19, 2023 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-19 NPR An activist group is spreading misinformation to stop solar projects in rural America An energy company offered to lease Houser's property in rural Page County to build a solar plant that could power about 25,000 homes. It was a good offer, Houser says. More money than he could make growing hay and selling cattle. "The idea of being able to keep the land as one parcel and not have it split up was very attractive," Houser says. "To have some passive income for retirement was good. And then the main thing was the electricity it would generate and the good it would do made it feel good all the way around." But soon after he got the offer, organized opposition began a four-year battle against solar development in the county. A group of locals eventually joined forces with a nonprofit called Citizens for Responsible Solar to stop the project on Houser's land and pass restrictions effectively banning big solar plants from being built in the area. Citizens for Responsible Solar was founded in an exurb of Washington, D.C., by a longtime political operative named Susan Ralston who worked in the White House under President George W. Bush and still has deep ties to power players in conservative politics. NPR After a year of war in Ukraine, all signs point to more misery with no end in sight Nearly a year since Russian forces rolled into Ukraine, there are no real signs of a way out of the conflict. Neither side appears primed for an outright military victory, and progress at the negotiating table seems just as unlikely. Neither side has released figures lately, but analysts estimate that about 200,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in the war so far. By comparison, Ukraine has seen some 100,000 killed or wounded in action, and 30,000 civilian deaths. Meanwhile, neither Russian leader Vladimir Putin nor Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shows any signs of backing down and abandoning one of the largest military conflicts since the end of World War II. For the civilians caught in the crossfire, that means the bloodshed and suffering brought on by the war has no discernible end. "Animosity between Russia and Ukraine could sustain this conflict for a long time," says Samuel Charap, a senior political scientist at the Rand Corp. Al Jazeera Russia again accuses Ukraine of planning ‘false flag’ attack Ukraine is planning to stage a nuclear incident on its territory to pin the blame on Moscow ahead of a key United Nations meeting, Russia has alleged without providing evidence. Radioactive substances have been transported to Ukraine from an unnamed European country and Kyiv was preparing a large-scale “provocation”, Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement on Sunday. “The aim of the provocation is to accuse Russia’s army of allegedly carrying out indiscriminate strikes on hazardous radioactive facilities in Ukraine, leading to the leakage of radioactive substances and contamination of the area,” it said. Russia has repeatedly accused Kyiv of planning “false flag” operations with non-conventional weapons using biological or radioactive materials. No such attack has materialised. Ukraine and its allies have dismissed such accusations as cynical attempts to spread disinformation, and have accused Moscow of planning incidents itself in a bid to blame Ukraine. Al Jazeera Thousands missing a week after Cyclone Gabrielle hits New Zealand At least 11 people have died and thousands are missing in New Zealand after Cyclone Gabrielle hit the North Island last week. The cyclone hit the northern part of the island on February 12 and tracked down the east coast, inflicting widespread devastation. On Sunday, police reported two more cyclone-related deaths in hard-hit Hawke’s Bay. More fatalities are possible, Hipkins told reporters in the capital, Wellington because more than 6,400 people are missing. Lives had been “turned upside down” and recovery was a “steep mountain ahead”, he said, pointing to disrupted telecommunications, shortages of freshwater and damaged roads still restricting access to some areas. The Guardian Could Alzheimer’s be caused by an infection? [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/19/2153933/-Overnight-News-Digest-February-19-2023 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/