Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, annetteboardman, jck, Rise above the swamp, and Besame. Alumni editors include (but are not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), ScottyUrb, Interceptor 7, Neon Vincent, 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.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
We begin with an area of the world we don’t talk about too much, the Pacific islands. First up, this from Newsweek:
The Solomon Islands has joined the U.S. Pacific Partnership, despite initially refusing to sign the declaration, in a major blow to China’s ambitions in the region.
A joint statement issued by the White House on Thursday confirmed the pact between 15 states, including the U.S., the Solomon Islands, the Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea and others.
“Today, in the face of a worsening climate crisis and an increasingly complex geopolitical environment, we recommit ourselves to working together in genuine partnership to address the mounting challenges of our time,” the joint statement said.
From the New Zealand Herald:
The Cook Islands government has had to issue a special clarification: Tomorrow is, in fact, not a public holiday. But they would like people to treat it as one.
The week before her funeral, the Prime Minister Mark Brown announced that 30 September would be a one-off public holiday to celebrate the life of Queen Elizabeth II.
Unfortunately, his cabinet were quick to point out, he did not have the power to do so.
From Channel 10 in Rochester (NBC, from the AP):
By LAGIPOIVA CHERELLE JACKSON
APIA, Samoa (AP) — When and if an island nation fully submerges due to rising seas, what happens to the nationalities of its citizens?
This and other related questions are being considered by island nations advocating for changes to international law as climate change threatens their existence.
From The Independent:
The Biden administration will pay for $130 million in new climate initiatives for Pacific Island nations by reallocating money that originally been earmarked for military assistance for Egypt
The Biden administration will pay for $130 million in new climate initiatives for Pacific Island nations by reallocating money that had originally been earmarked for military assistance for Egypt but withheld because of concerns over human rights abuses.
The State Department said it planned to reprogram money allotted for Egypt to pay for the Pacific Islands in a Sept. 29 memo to Vice President Kamala Harris and congressional leaders that was obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.
From Monga Bay:
From Reuters:
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Malaysia said on Friday it will challenge a move by the heirs of a Southeast Asian sultan to seize its Dutch assets as part of the descendents’ efforts to enforce a $15 billion arbitration award against the Malaysian state.
The heirs of the former Sulu sultan on Thursday asked a Dutch court for permission to seize Malaysian assets in the Netherlands, where some of Malaysia’s biggest companies have operations – including state oil firm Petronas (PETR.UL).
From Boing Boing:
From the Washington Post:
Having reclaimed power in Myanmar after a brief period of limited democracy, the military continued to clamp down on the former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who at 77 years old is facing the prospect of spending the rest of her life in jail. She and other civilian leaders have been detained since February 2021 following her party’s emphatic victory in general elections that the military disputed, then annulled. The arrests set off street protests that were met with deadly force. In turn, some of the regime’s opponents have taken up arms. The turmoil has devastated the economy in a country that was already struggling with the Covid-19 pandemic.
From the Voice of America:
KATHMANDU, NEPAL —Nepali tea producers are increasingly worried about a proposal in India’s parliament that could make it much harder for them to sell tea to their giant southern neighbor and most important customer.
The proposal, contained in a June 2022 recommendation from India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce, calls for much stricter standards on the certificates of origin required for all Nepali tea imported into India.
From CNN:
By Masoud Popalzai, Rhea Mogul, Irene Nasser, Alex Stambaugh and Ehsan Popalzai
A suicide bomb attack on an education center in Kabul has killed at least 25 people, most of whom are believed to be young women, in the latest sign of the deteriorating security situation in the Afghan capital.
The explosion took place on Friday at the Kaaj education center, in a predominantly Hazara neighborhood – an ethnic minority group that has long faced oppression.
Students were taking a practice university entrance exam at 7:30 a.m., local time (11 p.m. ET) when the blast first took place, Kabul Police Spokesman Khalid Zadran told CNN.
From CNN:
By Celine Alkhaldi and Artemis Moshtaghian
Iranian security forces arrested a woman after a photo of her and another woman eating at a Tehran restaurant without their head scarves was widely circulated online, her family said Friday. The photo emerged Wednesday showing the two women having breakfast at a cafe that, like most coffeehouses in Iran, is traditionally patronized by men.
One of the women in the photo, Donya Rad, was arrested shortly after the photo was published online. CNN spoke with her sister who said security agencies contacted Donya and summoned her to explain her actions.
From Reuters:
From Newsweek:
By Isabel van Brugen
Mikhail Lazutin, a top propagandist for Russian President Vladimir Putin, was spotted on Thursday near Russia’s border with Georgia, as men continue to flee an ordered partial mobilization.
Footage that appeared to show the pro-Kremlin blogger standing in line at a traffic jam at the border checkpoint in Verkhnii Lars on the Russian-Georgian border, was published on multiple Telegram channels.
From The Guardian:
As a Moscow concert marked Putin’s declaration of the annexation of four regions of Ukraine, the backlash to mobilisation reached fever pitch
A tide of Russians flowed toward Red Square as Vladimir Putin declared his annexation of Ukrainian territory that would herald a shining new era of perpetual war with Ukraine and the west. “Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Russia! Together for ever!” read the banner hanging on Manezh Square by the Kremlin.
There were busloads of tough men from a factory near Moscow alighting by the statue of Karl Marx to celebrate, university teachers passing out invitations to a pop concert to their students, workers lugging armfuls of Russian flags to distribute. Some of the tricolours bore the image of Putin.
From ABC News:
The Finnish-Russia border has been closed to Russians with tourist visas, curtailing one of the last easily accessible routes to Europe for Russians trying to flee a military mobilization
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Finland’s border with Russia was closed to Russians with tourist visas Friday, curtailing one of the last easily accessible routes to Europe for Russians trying to flee a military mobilization aimed at bolstering the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.
Long queues were reported until midnight at the border crossings. Among the last to enter Finland were two cyclists who arrived a little before 11 p.m., Finnish broadcaster YLE reported from Vaalimaa, one of the main border crossings between the Nordic country and Russia. Finland has the longest border with Russia of all European Union member countries.
From Reuters:
Sweden’s Inspectorate of Strategic Products (ISP) said on Friday reversed a ban against exporting military equipment to Turkey, following the Nordic country’s decision to join the NATO military alliance and agreement to overcome Turkish objections.
The Sweden and Finland sought membership to NATO earlier this year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but faced a hurdle as its application needs the approval of all 30 current members, with Turkey raising objections.
From NPR:
BERLIN — A cow herd in Germany has gained an unlikely following, after adopting a lone wild boar piglet.
Farmer Friedrich Stapel told the dpa news agency that he spotted the piglet among the herd in the central German community of Brevoerde about three weeks ago. It had likely lost its group when they crossed a nearby river.
From the BBC:
By Jasmine Andersson
Prince William says online safety for young people should be “a prerequisite, not an afterthought” after an inquest into 14-year-old Molly Russell’s death.
A coroner concluded that the teenager from London died from an act of self-harm while suffering depression and the negative effects of online content.
Molly’s father Ian called for urgent changes to make children safer online.
The prince said: “No parent should ever have to endure what Ian Russell and his family have been through.”
From the Washington Post:
LONDON — King Charles III is depicted uncrowned and facing to the left on the first British coins featuring his image, unveiled by the Royal Mint on Friday.
The first 50-pence coins featuring the king will start appearing in general circulation before Christmas. His portrait will also appear on a new 5-pound commemorative coin, which, on the reverse side, will feature two new portraits of Charles’s mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. That coin range will be released next week.
