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, annetteboardman and Man Oh Man with guest editor Chitown Kev and Magnifico. 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 12:00 AM Eastern Time (or if it is Friday night and the editor is me, a bit later).
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
The big story in the outside world, of course, is the start of the Olympics. From The Washington Post:
Rio brings its samba style to the opening ceremony of the Summer OlympicsBy Joshua Partlow and Chico Harlan
RIO DE JANEIRO — The Summer Olympic Games kicked off Friday night in an opening ceremony with a gutted budget but a soaring feel, as a stadium nestled here below a hillside pulsed with lights, fireworks, circus-like acrobats and a samba singalong typical of this nation’s partying style.
Brazil, the first South American country to host the Olympics, used the start of the Games to tell a version of the country’s history — from slavery to mega-cities — that comes as hard economic times are testing its fun-loving style.
The celebration featured a 12-year-old rapper, a supermodel, and beams of light used to dazzling effect — part of what Daniela Thomas, one of the event’s co-directors, called “MacGyver” ingenuity, in reference to the stripped-down budget.
From the BBC:
Rio 2016: Venues deal with some unusual visitors
By Fernando Duarte and Felipe Souza
Alligators, sloths, capybaras and snakes are some of the unexpected visitors showing up at Olympic venues built in areas surrounded by lagoons and vegetation.
The venues have teams responsible for identifying the animals and sending them back to their natural habitat, says Tania Braga, responsible for Sustainability in Rio 2016.
"Around 25% of Rio has original forests," she told BBC Brasil.
"We don't want to hide the animals, we want to show that we can live side by side. It's a privilege to have such diversity to show."
Around the golf course in Barra da Tijuca, the western district of the city where the main Olympic infra-structure has been built, there are about 230 different types of animals including a threatened species of alligator.
And in an associated story, also from The Washington Post:
Moroccan boxer at the Olympics arrested for alleged sexual assault RIO DE JANEIRO — A Moroccan boxer in town for the Olympics was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting two Brazilian maids in the Olympic Village, police said Friday morning.Hassan Saada was taken into custody Friday, the day before his first boxing match, and it seems likely he’ll miss the Games, as he’s expected to be jailed for 15 days during the investigation, police said.
The alleged assault took place Wednesday in the Athletes' Village, a collection of high-rise apartment towers in the western Rio where some 10,000 athletes, coaches and staff are staying.
More international news below the fold.