(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Overnight News Digest September 24, 2023 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-09-24 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, 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, 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. BBC Osiris-Rex: Nasa confirms return of asteroid Bennu samples Dusty samples from the "most dangerous known rock in the Solar System" have been brought to Earth. The American space agency Nasa landed the materials in a capsule that came down in the West Desert of Utah state. The samples had been scooped up from the surface of asteroid Bennu in 2020 by the Osiris-Rex spacecraft. Nasa wants to learn more about the mountainous object, not least because it has an outside chance of hitting our planet in the next 300 years. But more than this, the samples are likely to provide fresh insights into the formation of the Solar System 4.6 billion years ago and possibly even how life got started on our world. I watched the whole recovery live this morning. Exciting times. NPR Post-tropical cyclone Ophelia unleashes heavy rain across Northeast Ophelia, now downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, still poses a risk of flash flooding along the Mid-Atlantic coast from Washington, D.C., to New York on Sunday. It its final advisory on Ophelia, from 5 a.m. ET Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said it expects some areas in the Mid-Atlantic to southern New England to receive between 1 and 3 inches of rainfall. The swells generated by Ophelia will likely continue to produce life-threatening surf and rip current conditions along the East Coast. As Ophelia weakens, tropical storm Philippe continues to form in the Atlantic. As of Sunday at 5 p.m. ET, the storm was 1,225 miles from the Cabo Verde Islands, traveling west-northwest with maximum winds of 50 mph, thehurricane center said. No watches or warnings related to Philippe have been issued. NPR Israel strikes Gaza for the third straight day as West Bank violence escalates NOUR SHAMS REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank — Israeli airstrikes struck militant sites in Gaza on Sunday for the third straight day, the Israeli military said, after Palestinian militants near the border fence launched incendiary balloons into Israel and threw an explosive at soldiers. The strike came on the heels of an Israeli military raid in the northern West Bank that Palestinian health officials said killed two Palestinians. It was the latest bloodshed in a surge of violence during a sensitive Jewish holiday period. A series of violent escalations on the border between Israel and Gaza over the past week has raised the specter of an escalation for the first time since a brief round of conflict last May between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group. It comes at a fraught time. Jews are set to mark Yom Kippur, the holiest day on their calendar, on Sunday night followed by the weeklong Sukkot festival later in the month. NPR Risk factor for Parkinson's discovered in genes from people of African descent A global effort to make genetic studies more diverse has led to a discovery about Parkinson's disease, a common brain disorder that can impair a person's ability to move and speak. A team that included scientists from Lagos, London and the U.S. found a previously unknown gene variant that can nearly quadruple the risk of Parkinson's for people of African ancestry. The finding, published in August in The Lancet Neurology, suggests that Parkinson's may work differently in people of African, rather than European, descent. It could eventually help scientists develop a treatment specifically for people with this particular gene variant. It also shows why including typically underrepresented populations in genetics studies "should really be the rule and not the exception," says Ekemini Riley, managing director of Aligning Science Across Parkinson's, a research initiative that helped coordinate the effort. Christian Science Monitor Hotter climate leads to big drop in hydropower in China, India Hydropower generation in Asia has plunged at the fastest rate in decades amid sharp declines in China and India, data shows, forcing power regulators battling volatile electricity demand and erratic weather to rely more on fossil fuels. The two countries, which account for about three-fourths of Asia’s power generation and most of its emissions, are also to a lesser extent using renewables to make up for the hydropower shortfall and address rising electricity use. Major Asian economies have faced power shortages in recent years due to extreme weather conditions, including intense heat and lower rainfall over large swathes of northern China and Vietnam, as well as in India’s east and the north. Higher use of polluting fuels such as coal to meet electricity demand spikes and supply shortages underscore the challenges of lowering emissions. Asia’s hydropower output fell 17.9% during the seven months through July, data from energy think tank Ember showed, while fossil fuel-fired power rose 4.5%. The Guardian Poll showing Trump up 10 points over Biden for 2024 election criticized A new Washington Post-ABC poll showing Joe Biden trailing his presidential predecessor Donald Trump by 10 percentage points was excoriated by leading political pollster Larry Sabato. Noting that the pollsters themselves cautioned that their survey was an outlier, Sabato – the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia – called the decision to release it “ridiculous”. “Ignore the Washington Post–ABC poll,” Sabato wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “How could you even publish a poll so absurd on its face? Will be a lingering embarrassment for you.” He added: “Just plain embarrassing – for them.” The New York Times’ chief political analyst Nate Cohn also criticized the poll that said Trump was ahead of Biden in the 2024 White House race. Reuters Inside Vietnam's plans to dent China's rare earths dominance HANOI, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Vietnam plans to restart its biggest rare-earths mine next year with a Western-backed project that could rival the world's largest, according to two companies involved, as part of a broader push to dent China's dominance in a sector that helps power advanced technologies. The move would be a step toward the Southeast Asian country's aim of building up a rare-earths supply chain, including developing its capacity to refine ores into metals used in magnets for electric vehicles, smartphones and wind turbines. As an initial step, Vietnam's government intends to launch tenders for multiple blocks of its Dong Pao mine before the year's end, said Tessa Kutscher, an executive at Australia's Blackstone Minerals Ltd (BSX.AX), which plans to bid for at least one concession. She cited unpublished information from Vietnam's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, which did not respond to requests for comment.The auction's timing could change but the government plans to restart the mine next year, said Luu Anh Tuan, chairman of Vietnam Rare Earth JSC (VTRE), the country's main refiner and Blackstone's partner in the project. Reuters Russia's Tula region under drone attack, RIA reports Sept 25 (Reuters) - Russia's air defence systems were engaged in repelling a drone attack over the Tula region that borders Moscow's region to its north, Russia's RIA news agency reported early Monday. Citing the ministry of regional security, the agency reported that according to preliminary information, there was no damage or injuries as a result of the attack. Two of Moscow's major airports, however, the Vnukovo and Domedovo, limited air traffic, directing flights to other airports, the TASS state news agency reported. Deutsche Welle One year later: Italy's Meloni moves towards the middle Meloni, who was elected one year ago and was sworn in as Italy's first female prime minister a month later, revealed that she only has time to do those things in her private life that "absolutely have to be done." Running an administration made up of three staunchly right-wing parties appears to be tedious but it hasn't changed her, says the leader of the post-fascist, radical right-wing Brothers of Italy party. "Not a day passes when I don't ask myself if I am still the same person I used to be," Meloni confided to the talk show audience assembled in the studio of government-friendly broadcaster, RAI. "I was always scared of not remaining true to myself — but I'm still me." Over the past year, Meloni, 46, hasn't repeated any of the more radical slogans she was so fond of while campaigning. At home in Italy, she is trying to shape domestic policy according to strict conservative family ideals while on the economic front she has more or less carried on with the relatively successful policies of her predecessor, Mario Draghi. Meanwhile at the European level, she has been almost moderate. One doesn't hear acerbic criticism of the EU from her these days and around the world, she seeks out friends and allies. Deutsche Welle Sky Shield: An air defense system for Europe The invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops has brought war back to Europe – and thrown the defensive capabilities of NATO and Europe into the spotlight. Now, rearmament efforts are underway and new defense strategies are being prepared. This includes protection against possible Russian missile attacks in case the war over Ukraine escalates and other European countries could come into confrontation with Moscow. However, NATO's protective shield for Europe has some holes. The air defense system, which Germany launched last October, is intended to close them. At that time, on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels, 15 countries signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a European air defense system. Along with Germany, the signatories were: Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, the UK, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Later, Denmark, Sweeden, Austria and Switzerland also joined the initiative. Al Jazeera France to withdraw ambassador, troops from Niger after coup: Macron [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/24/2195268/-Overnight-News-Digest-September-24-2023 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/