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Overnight News Digest October 8, 2023 [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-10-08  

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

Afghanistan earthquake: Race to rescue victims in Herat Province

Emergency teams in Afghanistan are racing to rescue people from the rubble left by a powerful earthquake that struck the west of the country. More than 1,000 people are feared dead after the 6.3-magnitude quake hit villages in Herat Province on Saturday. With communications down and many roads blocked, rescue workers are struggling to reach remote areas. Hundreds have also been injured. The UN and other organisations have begun to rush in emergency supplies. The earthquake struck about 40km (25 miles) north-west of the city of Herat at around 11:00 local time (06:30 GMT) on Saturday. The worst-affected communities consist of mud structures. "In the very first shake all the houses collapsed," Herat resident Bashir Ahmad, whose family lives in one of the villages, told AFP news agency.

NPR

Dude, where’s my train? Why freight makes Amtrak late

Audrey Lundin of Portland stands on a train platform in Edmonds, Washington, waiting for the southbound Amtrak Cascades. It’s about 45 minutes late. It is Lundin’s fourth trip on the line that runs between Vancouver, Canada, and Eugene, Oregon, and her first major delay. It could be worse: Amtrak’s Empire Builder, inbound from Chicago, is about five hours behind schedule. “I prefer it to driving,” Lundin said. “I do not have to be on the road, navigating traffic and the Seattle roads. And I can read or watch something.” According to the Washington state Department of Transportation, 47% of Amtrak Cascades trains arrived on time in 2022, with on-time performance rising to 56% in the first nine months of 2023. Rail advocates say enticing more passengers to take a train instead of driving or flying — and making a dent in the heavy climate impact of American transportation — will require measures to reduce those delays and boost train travel’s speed and reliability.

USA Today

Battling salt water on the Mississippi, New Orleans region faces its next challenge

For months, Louisiana oyster farmer Mitch Jurisich, Jr. watched the Mississippi as an invisible surge of Gulf of Mexico salt water crept up the tail end of the river, twisting along levees through bayous and marshes toward New Orleans. Since June, the wedge-shaped layer of dense salt water has been pushing upstream at the bottom of a river so weakened by drought that it cannot keep the ocean water at sea. And that has caused three months of woes in Jurisich’s home of Plaquemines Parish. Compromised water plants that draw from the river. Constant trips for bottled water. Shrimp boat docks forced to truck in ice. Salty showers. Health concerns. And worries that it will only further fuel coastal erosion. “It’s been a nightmare,” said Jurisich, 60, who also serves as a parish councilman and operates the Ponderosa Oyster Bar & Grill in the tiny town of Empire, Louisiana. Now, the threat of the saltwater incursion to municipal drinking water in New Orleans has slowed, giving more time to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ and Louisiana officials’ efforts to combat it. Those efforts include installing reverse-osmosis filters and running new pipes that can bring fresher water into New Orleans.

The Guardian

Can Paris clean up the Seine in time for next year’s Olympics?

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