Overnight News Digest: Over There

Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, wader, Doctor RJ, rfall, JML9999 and Man Oh Man with guest editors annetteboardman and Chitown Kev. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Interceptor7, BentLiberal, Oke 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 12:00AM Eastern Time.  Or, if it is me and it is Friday night, it might be a little later (sorry).

In the Friday night Overnight News Digest, I try to highlight the odd, overlooked, and interesting (and sometimes tragic) news you haven’t heard elsewhere.  

We begin with a lovely FAIL that may sum up the week better than anything else. Here is the article from The Guardian:

Home Office misspells 'language' in English tests announcement

The Home Office has announced new English tests for migrants – but spelled “language” incorrectly.

An item on the department’s website was headed “New English langauge test for family route migrants”. It has since been corrected.

Another article from The Guardian, about an idea that has elicited some feedback (article is by Agence France Presse):

South African district offers student grants to girls who remain virgins Women’s groups attack plan to offer bursaries to girls who remain celibate throughout university – and will face regular virginity tests A South African region has launched a grant scheme for girls who remain virgins throughout their university studies, triggering outrage among human rights groups.

The bursary offered in Uthukela, in the south-east of the country near Durban, is the brainchild of the municipality’s female mayor, Dudu Mazibujo.

Murithi Mutiga writes in The Guardian of good things in the midst of bad:

Defiant Somalis condemn al-Shabaab beach attack Social media campaign launched after assault on popular beachfront restaurant by Islamic militants leaves at least 17 dead

Somalis reacted with grief and defiance on Friday after a bomb and gun assault by al-Shabaab militants on a popular beachfront restaurant in Mogadishu left at least 17 dead and dozens wounded.

The attack on Thursday evening saw a car bomb detonated near the entrance of the Beach View cafe at the Lido beach, a favourite haunt for young Somalis, before up to six gunmen stormed the beach spraying bullets in all directions.

One last story from Africa, or at least about it.  Jesse Weaver Shipley writes in The Hill:

Rising inequality in Ghana

In much of the global south there are increasing income gaps between a small middle class and a growing mass of poor who cannot earn a living wage. Foreign investments in Africa and Latin America often focus on major infrastructure development projects that promise trickle-down development.  But what is this money producing?

Take the example of Ghana, a country that, for years, has been on the receiving end of such aid and investment targeting infrastructure. Yet, in practice, most Ghanaians do not reap the benefits. And, often, the money seems to simply disappear.  In Accra, Ghana’s capital, increasing poverty and lack of basic infrastructure and government services has led to profound and palpable public frustration. While Ghana is still touted as an African success story, the growing struggles of a majority of people show the country is being governed in a manner that is, in fact, increasing unequal.

Moving on to Asia:

From Teo Cheng Wee, in the Straits Times:

China prepares for worst cold snap in decades Emergency workers are on standby, flights have been cancelled and highways closed as China braces itself for blizzards in its worst cold snap in decades this weekend.

Temperatures are forecast to drop by up to 14 deg C today, hitting 25- to-30-year lows in many areas as China enters "da han", or the "great cold" solar term, traditionally the coldest period of the year.

It will be below freezing point in more than 90 per cent of the country, while snowfall as deep as 20cm to 25cm is expected in some areas, according to Chinese media reports. Weather officials say the last time the country experienced a similar cold snap was in 1991.

From Kashmir Watch:

IS claims it will take over Kashmir from 'cow-worshipping Hindus'

Srinagar: In the 13th issue of its online magazine, Dabiq, Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed that it won't be long before Kashmir is run over by the organisation. The claims were made by the ‘emir of Khorasan’, Hafiz Saeed Khan in an interview to the magazine. Khan, also known as Mullah Saeed Orkazai, is an erstwhile commander of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. The TTP is responsible for Peshawar school attack of 2014 that killed 141 people, and the attack on Bacha Khan University earlier this week.

Mike Ives in the New York Times:

Vietnam’s Sacred Turtle Dies at an Awkward, Some Say Ominous, Time

HANOI, Vietnam — A giant turtle, a mythic symbol of Vietnamese independence and longevity that had quietly paddled around Hanoi’s central lake for decades — some say centuries — is dead, official state news media has reported.

The turtle, known as Cu Rua, or Great-Grandfather Turtle, weighed an estimated 360 pounds and was believed to have died of natural causes. Its precise age was unknown.

It would be difficult to overstate Cu Rua’s spiritual and cultural significance in this deeply superstitious and Confucian country, where the news of the turtle’s demise prompted an outpouring of sadness and hand-wringing.

And its timing, as a Communist Party congress opened to choose Vietnam’s top leaders for the next five years, was widely interpreted as a bad omen for both the party and the nation.

Cara Clegg in Japan Today:

An increasing number of pets are being left to fend for themselves as Japan’s population ages

It is a well-known fact that Japan’s population is aging, with the government trying to implement measures to deal with a so-called “silver society” wherein the number of people past retirement age outstrips the number of young people in the workforce. As well as the big, oft-discussed issues of pensions, healthcare and so on, there are a number other smaller, less obvious issues that are sure to impact Japan in other way. One such issue is that of pets, and the number of domestic animals being left behind when their elderly owners die is on the increase.

News from Europe:

John R. Platt writes in takepart.com:

Landfills Have Become Giant Bird Feeders for Europe’s White Storks Garbage provides so much food that some birds have stopped migrating—and that could have profound consequences for the environment.

For Europe’s white storks, landfills have become an all-you-can-eat buffet.

It’s such a tempting supply of ready—if somewhat disgusting—food that some of the storks have stopped migrating. Instead of making their annual journey thousands of miles south to wintering grounds in Africa, the birds are instead opting to stick around the landfills year-round.

Not only that, but the juvenile birds that spend their time in the landfills have a greater survival rate than the birds that fly south for the winter, according to a study published Friday in the journal Science Advances.

Sarah Boseley writes in The Guardian:

Problem drinkers account for most of alcohol industry's sales, figures reveal

Exclusive: Firms claim to support responsible drinking, yet data shows those who consume at risky or harmful levels account for 60% of sales in England

The alcohol industry makes most of its money – an estimated £23.7bn in sales in England alone – from people whose drinking is destroying or risking their health, say experts who accuse the industry of irresponsible pricing and marketing.

While the industry points to the fact that most people in the country are moderate drinkers, 60% of alcohol sales are either to those who are risking their health, or those – labelled harmful drinkers – who are doing themselves potentially lethal damage, figures seen by the Guardian show.

Work by Prof Nick Sheron of Southampton University, co-founder of the Alcohol Health Alliance of more than 40 concerned organisations and colleagues, has established that people who drink dangerously are the industry’s best customers.

Aurelien Breedenjan writes in the New York Times:

France Plans a New Keyboard to Shift Control to Typists

PARIS — Bad spelling? Incorrect grammar? It’s all in the keyboard.

French is a difficult language to write, but writing correctly is “nearly impossible” with existing French keyboards, and the government has decided to do something about it.

The Culture Ministry has called for the creation of a standardized keyboard that would make it easier to use accents, ligatures and special characters that make the French language unique but also frustratingly difficult to type.

Auto-correcting smartphones can do the job. But the Culture Ministry wrote in a statement on Jan. 15 that “it is nearly impossible to correctly write in French with a keyboard” sold in France.

We finish with a couple of articles about art.  I hope they cheer you up.

Joe Miller writes for the BBC:

Partying for Palmyra: A Davos party with a difference

To be thought of as "forward thinking" is a badge of honour at the World Economic Forum, where pundits compete for the most quotable prediction of what the next 12 months will bring.

So getting Davos partygoers to care about centuries old artefacts, some of which are being destroyed thousands of miles away, is not the easiest of tasks.

But for Peter Salovey, the president of Yale University, the conference's obsession with the present, and with mammon, is short-sighted.

After a year in which sites such as Palmyra in Syria and Bhaktapur in Nepal have been destroyed by war and natural disaster, he decided to devote Yale's annual bash at the Belvedere Hotel to the importance of preserving the earth's cultural history.

"They are essentially what documents our humanity," he tells me, moments before opening the doors to a horde of Davos dignitaries - including celebrated cellist Yo Yo Ma.

Finally, from the Guardian, Mark Brown writes about public art:

Postwar public art treasures in need of protection

Works of art designed for ‘brave new world’ after second world war among those listed by Historic England and now on show to highlight their value

A hulking, imperious Guy the gorilla in south London’s Crystal Palace park; a stoic Winston Churchill watching traffic in Woodford Green, north London; a heroic embodiment of British miners originally installed on a roundabout in St Helens, Merseyside – just some ­examples of Britain’s treasured postwar public sculptures.

Others reside on housing estates, shopping centres and university campuses. All aim to bring some life and some sparkle to the often dreary ordinariness of what surrounds them.

Now, on the advice of Historic England, 41 of these artworks are being given the extra protection of a Grade II or Grade II*-listed status.

Roger Bowdler, director of listing at Historic England – the body that took over the listing, heritage protection and grant-making powers of the old English Heritage last year – said they were all works of art that deserved protection. “These sculptures were commissioned and created for everybody and have become a precious national collection of art which we can all share,” he said. “They enrich our lives, bring art to everyone and deserve celebration.”