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Overnight News Digest: The Rest of the World [1]

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

Date: 2023-10-20  

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, sometimes09OP0az 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.

You have probably read a lot of really good coverage already about Israel/Hamas and Russia/Ukraine, whether on DKos or elsewhere. On Friday nights I try to update you on news from outside the US from places you might not have been following as closely. As usual, the good news/interesting-but-not-disastrous news is above the fold. The more earthshattering stories are below it.

We begin with a story from The Guardian:

Actor reporting on asylum seekers finds brother among arrivals in Canary Islands Thimbo Samb, based in Madrid, was reunited with his older brother who had made boat journey from Senegal Ashifa Kassam A Madrid-based actor who had travelled to the Canary Islands to report on the arrival of a near-record number of asylum seekers was reunited with his brother after finding out that he was among the thousands who have made the treacherous trip from Senegal to Spain in recent weeks. Thimbo Samb and his team had arrived in the archipelago hoping to tell the story of the more than 23,000 asylum seekers who have turned up on its shores so far this year. But the Senegal-born actor’s trip took a different turn after he learned that his older brother was among the many who had recently set off on the risky route.

Another one about Africa, this time from the BBC:

Kelvin Kiptum: From borrowing shoes to breaking world records By Celestine Karoney When Kelvin Kiptum lined up for his first major local competition in 2018, Kenya's new marathon icon did it in borrowed running shoes because he could not afford a pair of his own. At this month's Chicago marathon, as he set an awe-inspiring world record of two hours and 35 seconds, times really were changing as he sported the latest in Nike's array of 'super-shoes' - which some say helped him achieve his feat.

And from the BBC Travel section:

The women paddling the Thames in animal-skin boats By Keridwen Cornelius Experimental archaeologists Theresa Emmerich Kamper and Sarah Day hope their 219km odyssey will reveal more about ancient peoples' lives along the River Thames. Nine days into their quest to paddle the full length of the River Thames, Theresa Emmerich Kamper and Sarah Day watched as a slate grey stormfront swallowed the blue sky. The onrush of rain was moving so fast there was no time to paddle ashore and unload their gear. Their buckskin dresses weren't waterproof. And if their reindeer fur bedding got soaked, it would never dry. So, they draped their leather tent over themselves and huddled inside their cowhide canoe as they were hammered with hail, singing silly songs and bailing water with a wooden cup. A man moored nearby poked his head out of his houseboat. "If you're gonna do it like the Flintstones," he called out, "you're gonna get wet!"

From The Guardian:

Giant tortoise named Frank the Tank seeks new home for next 100 years Tortoise is ‘bigger than the platter you’d use to serve 24 people a Thanksgiving turkey’ and was found abandoned in a spinach patch Leyland Cecco Frank the Tank will chew through drywall and grow to the size of a wheelbarrow. He moves at his own meandering pace and will live for nearly a century – outlasting any prospective caregiver. Caring for a 35lb sulcata tortoise is no small task, which is perhaps why Frank was recently abandoned in a patch of spinach in British Columbia. The plight of the lumbering reptile has prompted widespread sympathy as his new carers try to find him a permanent home.

There are more stories from Africa in the news. We begin with CNN:

Niger junta says it has blocked ousted President Bazoum’s escape bid Nimi Princewill By Niger’s military government said Thursday it foiled a late-night escape attempt by deposed President Mohamed Bazoum to flee to neighboring Nigeria after being held in custody for nearly three months following his ouster in a coup. Bazoum had planned to escape with his family and two domestic staff at around 3:00 am Thursday, the junta said, with the help of some security accomplices who arranged transport for them to be moved to the outskirts of Niger’s capital Niamey, from where they’ll be flown in two helicopters “belonging to a foreign power” to Nigeria, it added in a statement.

From Reuters, via The Guardian:

Guinea-Bissau’s capital has power cut off after government fails to pay electricity bill City of Bissau, which has a population of more than 490,000, had no electricity for one-and-a-half days Power returned to Guinea-Bissau’s capital on Wednesday afternoon after the west African country’s government resumed payments to Turkish company Karpowership, which had plunged the city into darkness due to an unpaid debt of $17m. Karpowership said it cut off electricity supplies to the city of Bissau – which has a population of more than 490,000 – for one and a half days when fuel suppliers paused work after a protracted period of non-payment.

From Al Jazeera:

Sudan facing humanitarian crisis as relief funding dwindles Sudan’s medical sector is on the verge of complete collapse, humanitarian organisations say, along with rising hunger. By Mat Nashed As Sudan’s civil war enters its sixth month, civilians are facing a colossal humanitarian crisis as relief funding dwindles and army-imposed restrictions strangle its delivery, aid groups and activists told Al Jazeera. Duaa Tariq, a Sudanese activist still in the capital Khartoum, told Al Jazeera about the perceptible change as the lack of adequate nutrition sets in, saying that many people can only eat one meal a day. “People’s faces are becoming very pale and the hunger is striking,” she said. “And there is no news of aid [coming]. INGO [international non-governmental organisation] support is also very low and it has killed the spirit of our volunteers.”

From CBS News:

Ecuador's drug lords are building "narco-zoos" as status symbols. The animals are paying the price. A pair of jaguars discovered in a cage on a ranch exposed a cruel new fashion among Ecuador's drug lords. In the style of Colombian cocaine baron Pablo Escobar, they are erecting private, illegal zoos as a status symbol. In May, police came upon the sorry sight of the two endangered felines perched on a log surrounded by iron bars. They were held on a property owned by Wilder Sanchez Farfan — alias "Gato" (The Cat) — a suspected drug lord with ties to Mexico's Jalisco New Generation cartel and wanted in the United States.

And from Deutsche Welle:

Is Argentina on the brink of a radical economic overhaul? This Sunday, people in Argentina will head to the polls to elect a new president. The vote is taking place against the backdrop of a deep economic crisis. Inflation rates of over 100 percent have become the norm - and an increasing share of the population is slipping into poverty.

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From Reuters:

Canadian PM says India's actions making life hard for millions of people OTTAWA, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday the Indian government's crackdown on Canadian diplomats was making normal life difficult for millions of people in both countries. Trudeau spoke a day after Canada said it had withdrawn 41 diplomats following an Indian threat to unilaterally revoke their status. New Delhi is angry that Trudeau last month suggested Indian agents might have been involved in the June murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada. India denies the allegation.

And on the eastern edge of the Eurasian continent, we begin with the Associated Press:

UN nuclear agency team watches Japanese lab workers prepare fish samples from damaged nuclear plant BY MARI YAMAGUCHI ONJUKU, Japan (AP) — Scientists from the U.N. nuclear agency watched Friday as Japanese lab workers prepared samples of fish collected at a seafood market near the Fukushima nuclear plant to test the safety of treated radioactive wastewater released from the damaged plant into the sea. The discharge of wastewater began on Aug. 24 and is expected to continue for decades. It has been strongly opposed by fishing groups and neighboring countries, including China and Russia, which have banned all imports of Japanese seafood.

From the BBC:

Rempang Eco-City: 'We will not leave', say the islanders fighting eviction By Muhammad Irham and Astudestra Ajengrastri Amlah, or Grandma Cuh as the 105-year-old is fondly known, has been living on the Indonesian island of Rempang all her life. The oldest resident of this fishing village, she has married twice, given birth to eight children, and buried four of them. When her time comes, she says, she wants to be laid to rest alongside her parents and late husbands.

From The Guardian:

Undiplomatic impunity: Chinese embassy leaves New Zealand landlord with $900 bill People’s Republic is granted immunity from paying cleaning, rubbish removal and key cutting tab after diplomat vacated Wellington house Daisy Dumas A landlord in New Zealand has run up against an unusual problem while trying to make his tenant pay $900 for rubbish removal: diplomatic immunity. Chandler Investments Limited claimed its tenant, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, left a rented mews house in the capital, Wellington, without covering costs for cleaning, rubbish removal and key cutting.

From the BBC:

Nawaz Sharif: The Pakistan army’s one-time arch-rival returns By Tarhub Asghar and Simon Fraser Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is flying home this weekend from self-imposed exile ahead of general elections. Few, if any, could have scripted the dramatic turnaround for someone who has been a thorn in the side of the powerful military for so much of his long career. When he was last in Pakistan, Mr Sharif was serving time for corruption - but he was allowed to leave jail on health grounds in November 2019.

From CNN:

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni publicly dumps partner over lewd remarks By Barbie Latza Nadeau Italy’s “family-first” prime minister Giorgia Meloni has broken up with her TV journalist boyfriend after lewd comments in which he grabbed his genital area as he propositioned a co-host to a “threesome or foursome,” led to the suspension of his television show. Meloni took to social media Friday to announce the split from Andrea Giambruno who is also the father of their 7-year-old daughter.

From the BBC:

French arrests after bomb scares trigger evacuations at airports and Versailles By Ido Vock At least 18 people have been arrested after a wave of hoax bomb threats prompted evacuations across France. The Palace of Versailles, the Louvre, as well as schools, airports and hospitals have all been targeted. Those behind the disruption are mostly minors, authorities say.

From Reuters:

Britain's Labour deals big by-election blows to PM Sunak By Andrew Macaskill and Elizabeth Piper Summary Opposition Labour Party overturns two large majorities

Defeats piles pressure on PM Sunak

Polls seen as test of public support before national election LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Britain's Labour Party dealt a crushing blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservatives on Friday, winning two previously safe parliamentary seats in victories leader Keir Starmer said showed voters wanted change at the next national election. The double defeat showed a big slump in support for the governing Conservatives, who have won the last four national votes, and suggests Labour is on course to win power for the first time since 2010 at an election expected next year.

From The Guardian:

Cuts could reduce education in England to ‘bare bones’, headteachers say Funding error on top of previous shortfalls may force schools to cut enrichment activities and reduce special educational needs support Sally Weale Education in England is in danger of being reduced to a “barebones, boilerplate model”, headteachers have said, after an embarrassing £370m government bungle forced them to plan for further cuts. Some heads are looking at cutting teaching assistants (TAs), who often work with children with special educational needs (SEN). Others are considering delaying infrastructure projects and reducing pupils’ enrichment activities in order to balance their books.

Another from The Guardian:

Atilla died alone, and seemed to have no family. But a sex shop told a surprisingly different story Mostafa Rachwani The inquest is held in courtroom four at Lidcombe coroner’s court, Sydney, in early August, in an echoey room so empty the coronial advocate assisting, Durand Welsh, asks if I am a family member. Welsh’s voice bounces around the courtroom, addressing the coroner and the four other people present as he outlines what authorities knew of Atilla Demirer, his life, and his death. It was very little.

And yet another from The Guardian:

Cardiff students’ union bans chinos and blue shirts after violence Incident at university clubbing night leads to preppy staples being barred from union premises Richard Adams They may have been preppy fashion championed by Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein but chinos and blue shirts have now been banned by Cardiff University students’ union after being associated with a violent incident at a nightclub. The students’ union announced the ban in a memo sent to all members of Cardiff’s athletic union, the umbrella body representing sporting clubs on campus.

One last story, this time from Axios:

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