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 are 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.
We begin this evening with environmental news from the Pacific and its western edges (i.e. Oceania and East Asia). This first comes from climatechangenews:
Fiji invites Trump to visit climate-hit Pacific islandsOn the final day of climate talks in Marrakech, next year’s host appealed to the US president-elect for solidarity.
By Karl Mathiesen in Marrakech
Pacific island leaders have issued a plea to the incoming president of the United States not to abandon them to the rising ocean.
During the evening hours on Friday the prime minister of Fiji Frank Bainimarama called on Donald Trump to rethink his position on climate change and invited him to come to his islands to see the effects of global warming.
“I again appeal to the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, to show leadership on this issue by abandoning his current position that man-made climate change is a hoax,” said Bainimarama.
From Thomson Reuters Foundation News:
INTERVIEW-Pacific island poet marshals youth against climate threats“I recognise poetry is a weird thing to have in this climate world, but it seems to work. And I want to do more of what works.”
By Laurie Goering
MARRAKESH, Morocco, Nov 18 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - To help protect her low-lying island home from climate change, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner is building an unusual army.
The poet, performance artist and teacher at the College of the Marshall Islands, working in her spare time, is seeking out promising young people in the Pacific nation's villages, and training them to apply for grant money that can help families cope with worsening extreme weather and rising seas, and find innovative ways to protect their communities and threatened culture.
"Our big concern is the loss of culture. We're so rooted in our land. We could point at a reef and know the story behind it, the fishes there. If we lose the reef, we lose all the stories, all the knowledge," she said. "This programme is about safeguarding that knowledge and preserving it for the future."
(I thought about including that in the arts news at the end of the diary, but it fits here so I wanted to put it here. More arts news is at the end. But there are some other interesting stories in the news from abroad, so I will make you wait a bit.)
From the Pacific Standard:
Was Borneo Once a Land of Tigers?Local indigenous peoples insist that it was. Should scientists pay them more attention?
By Taufik Wijaya
Palangkaraya, Indonesia — One recent morning I paid a visit to Iber Djamal, a leader of the Dayak Ngaju indigenous people. He had invited us to see his mandau, a traditional Dayak weapon.
When I saw the mandau, which is a kind of machete, my attention focused not on the blade but on the fangs adorning it.
What surprised me was that they were said to be tiger fangs.
From The Hill:
After the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a perspective from VietnamPresident Obama has announced that he will no longer seek passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Congress, leaving the fate of the treaty in the hands of President-elect Trump and the Congressional Republican leadership.
Alongside GATT and the WTO, the TPP was one of the three most significant trade and investment pacts ever negotiated by the United States in the post-war era. It involves the United States, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Peru and Brunei, an 800 million person free trade zone with a gross domestic product of $28 trillion, roughly 40% of the global economy. It eliminates 18,000 foreign taxes on American-made goods and services and would thereby greatly increase the flow of US exports and investment to Asia. The United States already exports over $700 billion annually to these eleven Pacific nations, and the elimination of taxes on American exports under the TPP would drive this number significantly higher into the future.
The Washington Post has a video on North Korea’s economy:
Economy of deceit: How North Korea funds its nuclear weapons program | LoopholesNovember 18, 2016 4:32 PM EST - Kim Jong Un has tested nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate since he came into power. Yet, the country is under some of the toughest sanctions ever. This is how the regime is able to funnel billions of dollars into its nuclear program.
Radio Free Asia on the Dalai Lama’s visit to Mongolia:
Mongolia Welcomes Dalai Lama Over China’s Objections Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrived in Mongolia on Friday to begin a four-day visit despite strong objections by Beijing, which views the exiled former national leader of Tibet as an international troublemaker bent on separating Tibet from Chinese control. Following his arrival from Japan at about 4:30 p.m. local time, the Dalai Lama was welcomed at the airport by government representatives, by senior monks of Mongolian monasteries, and by the Indian ambassador. He was then escorted with his entourage to a government guesthouse. From the AP, via the Bonner County Daily Bee: CHINA ASTRONAUTS RETURN FROM MONTHLONG SPACE STATION STAY BEIJING (AP) — Two Chinese astronauts returned Friday from a monthlong stay aboard the country's space station, China's sixth and longest crewed mission and a sign of the growing ambitions of its rapidly advancing space program.Veteran mission commander Jing Haipeng and first-time space traveler Chen Dong were reported in good health after their Shenzhou 11 return vehicle landed on the frozen steppes of Inner Mongolia.
They spent 30 days aboard the Tiangong 2 station conducting experiments and testing equipment in preparation for the launching of the station's core module in 2018. A fully functioning, permanently crewed space station is on course to begin operations six years from now and is slated to run for at least a decade.
Moving on to Central Asia, for some of the news you might have missed. This comes from Hurriyet Daily News (Turkey):
Turkish leader calls for renewed ties with UzbekistanPresident Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Nov. 18 that ties between Turkey and Uzbekistan should be developed further after the Central Asian country’s presidential election is held on Dec. 4. “In this new period, we must work to improve our relations in all areas,” state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Erdoğan as saying during a meeting with Uzbekistan’s acting President and Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Samarkand.
From the Mirror (UK):
Revealed: Where you can buy the cheapest pint in the world (and it's a lot less than Britain)British beer drinkers will be left feeling bitter after a survey found the price of a pint is almost 12 times more
The world’s cheapest pint costs just 30p.Drinkers in Tajikistan in central Asia enjoy the world’s cheapest pint, costing just 30p.
But boozers in Greenland fork out nearly 24 times more, with a tipple setting them back £7.19.
From the Irish Times:
Ukraine suspects Kremlin behind prank call to presidentKyrgyzstan says one person detained over embarrassing hoax by well-known Russian duo
Daniel McLaughlin in KievUkraine has blamed the Kremlin and Russia’s security services for a bizarre prank call to its president, Petro Poroshenko.
Mr Poroshenko’s administration released a statement on November 2nd saying he had held a telephone conversation with Kyrgyz counterpart Almazbek Atambayev and discussed bilateral relations, trade and other issues.
Kyrgyz officials denied any such discussion had taken place, however.
Two well-known Russian pranksters who earlier denied making the call admitted responsibility on Thursday and put a recording of the conversation online.
“Now I understand why the so-called pranksters waited so long. They were doctoring the conversation and had to wait even longer for approval from their supervisors in the Kremlin and the FSB,” said Mr Poroshenko’s spokesman Svyatoslav Tsegolko, using the acronym for Russia’s security services.
From the Saudi Gazette:
Ride the Flag By Roger Harrison The thunder of nearly 100 gleaming motorcycles in strict formation rolled through the streets of Ras Al Khaimah on Friday 4 November as the UAE Bikers Club honoured Flag Day.“It is very heartening to see so many bikers, some from other Emirates, gather here in RAK to honour the flag,” said Mohamed Al Belooshi, ride organiser. “Today is a moment of national pride, and we are honoured to express it in this very public way.”
From Khaleej Times (Dubai):
UAE resident girl among peace prize finalistsA 16-year-old UAE resident has been named as one of three finalists for the International Children's Peace Prize 2016, for having improved the rights and position of children in unique and tangible ways.
Kehkashan Basu began campaigning to protect the environment at an early age. At the age of just eight, she organised an awareness campaign for recycling of waste in her Dubai neighbourhood. In 2012, Basu founded Green Hope - which collects wastes, cleans beaches and holds awareness events - which is now active in ten countries and boasts more than 1,000 volunteers.
Moving on to Europe. This first one comes from CNBC:
Germany waking up to Trump agenda Elizabeth Schulze German business leaders caught off guard by the election of Donald Trump are facing the prospect of a new U.S-German trade relationship.As uncertainty looms over President-elect Trump's White House priorities, German companies are holding out hope free trade will win over protectionist policies in the West Wing. Businesses expressed skepticism over Trump's anti-globalization rhetoric on the campaign trail, saying the future president is more likely to take a balanced approach to trade relations with Germany, its crucial economic and political ally. But some worried Trump's "America-first" promise could infiltrate the alliance.
From Newsmax:
Sweden Mansplaining Hotline Helps Women Cope With Conversation GripesBy Jen Krausz
It’s a one week only deal: Sweden trade union Unionen has opened a mansplaining hotline for women (or men) to vent their frustrations about mansplainers in their lives.
Created as a gender equality initiative, the hotline has received hundreds of calls since its opening on Nov. 14. Mansplaining is when a man explains something obvious or over-explains it, often in a condescending way that assumes the woman is ignorant, according to Public Radio International.
From The Wall Street Journal:
High Court Allows Scotland, Wales to Join Brexit CaseChief legal authorities from both will be co-parties when panel hears arguments next month
By ALEXIS FLYNN
LONDON—The U.K. Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Scottish and Welsh governments to join the case to determine how Brexit can be carried out under British law, adding further complexity to a legal battle that could disrupt government plans to leave the European Union.
The case, due to be heard next month, is an appeal by U.K. Prime MinisterTheresa May’s administration against a High Court decision that Parliament should be given a vote on Britain’s departure from the 28-nation bloc. If the ruling is upheld, lawmakers would have a chance to pressure Mrs. May to soften her terms in breakup negotiations with the EU. They could delay the process or even halt it.
AND now for the Arts news. I find it a nice antidote to the week. From the NYTimes: Buckingham Palace, With Its 775 Rooms, Will Be RenovatedBy Stephen Castle
LONDON — The boilers are shot, the water pipes sag and the 60-year-old cabling is a fire hazard.
Buckingham Palace, home to Queen Elizabeth II, may not exactly be falling down, but it badly needs refurbishing, the British government said on Friday, citing “a serious risk of fire, flood and damage.” Renovations on the building will start in April and will take a decade to complete, at a cost of £369 million ($456 million).
The announcement adds to the list of prestigious structures in Britain that need work, including the crumbling Palace of Westminster, home of the British Parliament.
The building that would become Buckingham Palace was built in the early 1700s and became a royal residence when George III bought it in 1761. The queen carries out most of her official ceremonial and diplomatic duties as head of state in the palace. She would not have to move out while the work was in progress, officials said.
From ET: Disney’s ‘Moana’ Undergoes Name Change In Italy, Avoiding Confusion With Much-Loved Porn StarBy SYLVIA OGWENG.
Disney is hoping to avoid a potential PR nightmare as it releases “Moana” in Italy days before Christmas.
The studio has changed the name of their upcoming film to “Oceania”, with many Italians believing it is due to possible confusion with the country’s beloved porn star, Moana Pozzi.
From The Guardian:
Germany buys California home where writer Thomas Mann lived in exileNobel prize-winning author built Pacific Palisades home in Los Angeles after fleeing 1930s Germany during Hitler’s rise to power
Claire Armitstead
Germany has bought the California home that once belonged to the Nobel prize-winning author Thomas Mann and plans to turn it into a “centre for transatlantic dialogue”, after fears it was being sold off as a “teardown” – of value only for the land on which it stands – caused outrage among German fans of the author.
Three thousand curators and writers – including Nobel laureate Herta Müller – signed an online petition for the house to be saved after it went on the market at an asking price of $15m.
The sale was secured earlier this week after a period of hard bargaining, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, told the paper the building had been a “home for many Germans who worked toward a better future for their country, paved the way for an open society and laid the foundations for common transatlantic values”.
From Hurriyet Daily News:
Paris-based Turkish artist: We have to fight our own demonsİZMİR - Nazlan Ertan
Three decades ago, in the wake of 1980 military coup, İsmail Yıldırım left Turkey to go to Paris, via Lebanon. He also helped his friend and prison-mate Yılmaz Güney, the award-winning Turkish director and actor, to escape. Despite Yıldırım’s flight, however, his mind and his paintings remained firmly on Turkey and Turkish issues. “We all fight our own demons,” he said at the opening of an exhibition of his paintings at Galeri A in İzmir in western Turkey. “I am in Paris and likely to remain there. But most of my paintings, what I read and what I draw, are about Turkey.” The paintings on the walls of the gallery, an old Greek house that somehow escaped the Great Fire of Izmir in 1923 and the brutal replacement of old houses with seven-storey apartments, confirm his words. Paintings with faces and figures against a dark background, with slashes of red and orange, are part of a series titled “Sivas” – in reference to the brutal burning of 35 people, mostly Alevi intellectuals, who had gathered for a cultural festival in Sivas, by a fanatic mob in 1993.
From arynews (originally from Agence France Presse):
The portrait of Russia’s last tsar was hidden for 100 yearsBy AFP
SAINT PETERSBURG: Russian art restorers on Friday unveiled a recently discovered portrait of the last Tsar Nicholas II, almost a century after it was hidden behind a giant painting of his Bolshevik foe Lenin.
A team of art restorers led by Tatiana Potseluyeva painstakingly uncovered the tsar’s image over the last three years.
The portrait of Nicholas — shot by the Bolsheviks in 1918 — was hidden under a layer of water-soluble paint, suggesting it was meant to be preserved and eventually found.
“The ceremonial portrait painted by Ilya Galkin in 1896 was hidden for almost 90 years on the back of another portrait — depicting Lenin,” Potseluyeva told AFP.
These last two fall more under the Art(?) category but why not?
From NBC Los Angeles (I am not vouching for the authenticity of the reporter’s name):
At Auction: 'Stretching' Haunted Mansion PortraitThe hand-painted rarity is on the block at Van Eaton Galleries.
A Haunted Mansion Original Stretching Portrait is up for auction at Van Eaton Galleries on Saturday, Nov. 19. (pictured: two details)
If you were raised in Southern California, chances are good that A) avocados were some of your earliest snacks and B) you could give freeway directions long before you could drive and C) you knew the Haunted Mansion's Stretching Room spiel as well as any common nursery rhyme.
The beloved Disneyland attraction debuted in August 1969, and with quite the amazing-then, amazing-now opener: A shadowy octagonal space that appears to lengthen upwards as you stand inside it.
And from cincinnati.com:
Penguins paint at Newport Aquarium Shauna Steigerwald Eight African penguins waddle around a room, waiting.The Newport Aquarium residents know that the appearance of Alle Barber and her supply cart means that it's painting day.
Yes, these penguins paint. Often. As in typically once a week. Barber, who serves as conservation manager of the WAVE Foundation, the aquarium's conservation, education and volunteer wing, explains that it's an enrichment activity for the endangered birds.
"Penguins are very visual," she said. "They do see color. And it's something different."