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, 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.
Cheerier news above the fold, the rest below it. We begin with Deutsche Welle:
One of Germany's more colorful, if less significant, recurring political questions has its annual answer: Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder's conspicuously detailed Carnival costume for 2024 is Otto von Bismarck.
Bavaria is one of the parts of Germany that can take Carnival — a word to the wise, call it "Fasching" if you do find yourself down south — extremely seriously each year.
Many people go to great lengths to participate in the revelry, primarily during February, and many of them will dress up in elaborate costumes.
For years, this has famously been the case for the conservative CSU politician Markus Söder, now the party leader and state premier.
From The Guardian:
Research shows the statue held by Tasmania’s Maritime Museum was created in the 1830s, likely as a satirical depiction of George Arthur, the fourth governor of Van Diemen’s Land
A surprise discovery in Tasmania of a historic sculpture may also be the country’s first example of political – and quite rude – protest art.
Tasmania’s Maritime Museum has released images of a 1.3-metre sandstone statue of a well-dressed colonial gentleman, apparently designed as part of a fountain to show him behaving in a decidedly ungentlemanly way.
From the BBC:
By Nadine Yousif & Eloise Alanna
A mysterious shipwreck that washed up on shore in Newfoundland, Canada, has captured the imagination of locals.
Wanda Blackmore said her son was out sea duck hunting when he stumbled upon the 24-metre long, wooden ship that likely dates back to the 19th Century.
"On his way home, he saw a dark object out in the water," she said.
Locals think the wreck could be a vital piece of Newfoundland history, and experts now intend to uncover what it was before it met its watery grave.
From the BBC as well:
Police in Washington state say an old rusted rocket found in a local man's garage is an inert nuclear missile.
On Wednesday, a military museum in Ohio called police in the city of Bellevue to report an offer of a rather unusual donation.
The police then sent a bomb squad to the potential donor's home.
More below the fold.
As often, there have been several stories about AfricaWE begin with The Guardian:
Children’s parents and those who performed the procedure are in police custody, according to local reports
Police in Sierra Leone are investigating the deaths of three girls who underwent female genital mutilation (FGM).
Adamsay Sesay, 12; Salamatu Jalloh, 13; and Kadiatu Bangura, 17, died during initiation ceremonies in the country’s North West province last month, according to local reports.
From The Guardian (Agence France-Presse):
Police launch investigation after attack on home of Oba Aremu Olusegun Cole in south-western Kwara state
Gunmen killed a Nigerian traditional monarch and kidnapped his wife after raiding his palace, police said, as outrage grows over a spate of abductions across the country.
Attackers stormed the palace of Oba Aremu Olusegun Cole in south-western Kwara state, shot him dead and abducted his wife and another person on Thursday.
From Al Jazeera:
The World Food Programme has called on Sudan’s warring sides to provide immediate security guarantees to deliver aid.
The United Nations food agency says it is receiving reports of people dying of starvation in Sudan and the number of hungry people has doubled over the past year as the ongoing war cuts civilians off from aid.
“The situation in Sudan today is nothing short of catastrophic,” said Eddie Rowe, the World Food Programme’s (WFP’s) Sudan representative and country director.
From CBS News:
A vehicle loaded with gas exploded and set off an inferno that burned homes and warehouses in Kenya's capital early Friday, injuring more than 270 people and killing at least three, with the toll expected to rise.
A number of residents were probably in their homes when the fire reached the houses late in the night, government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said.
From Deutsche Welle:
Drought, conflict, graft: the reasons for Ethiopia's hunger crisis are varied, and some could have been avoided. As Ethiopians go to bed hungry, the distribution of food aid is suffering setbacks.
In 1985, musician and activist Bob Geldof organized the now-legendary Live Aid benefit concerts in London and Philadelphia to raise money in response to the devastating two-year famine in Ethiopia.
Nearly four decades later, Geldof might need to come out of retirement to plan another event of such proportions if the latest predictions and calculations by experts specializing in hunger in Ethiopia become a reality.
Also in the south of the planet comes news from Australia. This comes from The Guardian:
Boy was bitten at campsite of western side of K’gari, also known as Fraser Island, and taken to Hervey Bay hospital
A young boy has become the fourth victim of a dingo bite on the Queensland island of K’gari in as many weeks.
The boy was bitten at a campsite on the western side of K’gari, also known as Fraser Island, and was taken to the Hervey Bay hospital on Saturday.
From IFLScience:
The disease is called Lorikeet Paralysis Syndrome and as yet the cause is unknown.
More things than you would think fall out of the sky at seemingly random intervals. Pieces of meteorite in Germany and frozen igunanas have all hit the deck in the not-too-distant past. Now, however, 200 parrots have dropped from the skies, and scientists aren’t quite sure why.
In northern New South Wales, Australia, around 200 rainbow lorikeets (Trichoglossus moluccanus) dropped from the skies near Grafton. The birds were swiftly rescued and taken to wildlife centers to be cared for; however it is thought that 40 percent of the birds won’t survive their illness.
Moving on to Latin America, we begin with this from USA Today:
A man who cooked and ate a poisonous pufferfish that was gifted to him fell into a coma and died 35 days later, according to reports.
Magno Sergio Gomes, 46, died in a hospital in Espirito Santos, Brazil, after suffering seizures and being paralyzed by toxins from a pufferfish that are 1,000 times deadlier than cyanide. According to the New York Post, his sister, Myriam Gomes Lopes, spoke with Newsflash about what happened.
From The Guardian (Reuters):
Far-right president’s measures aimed at tackling the country’s severe economic problems passed easily despite public protests
Argentina’s lower chamber of deputies has given overall approval to libertarian president Javier Milei’s sweeping “omnibus” reform bill in a vote on Friday after days of debate, paving the way for a decisive vote in the Senate.
The controversial reform package was approved on a vote of 144 votes in favour and 109 against.
From the New York Times: