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.
BBC
Tesla cuts prices in major markets as sales fall
Tesla has the cut its prices again in a number of major markets - including the US, China and Germany - as the electric car giant run by multi-billionaire Elon Musk faces falling sales.
The move comes after it reported a sharp fall in its global vehicle deliveries in the first three months of this year.
A price war has been intensifying between electric vehicle (EV) makers, with particularly fierce competition coming from Chinese firms.
Tesla is due to report financial results for the first quarter of 2024 after the US market close on Tuesday.
In a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Mr Musk said "Tesla prices must change frequently in order to match production with demand".
In China, the firm cut the starting price of the revamped Model 3 in China by 14,000 yuan ($1,934; £1,562) to 231,900 yuan.
Prices of the Model Y, Model X and Model S vehicles in the US were cut by $2,000 (£1,616) on Friday.
BBC
Borsen fire: Denmark endures its own Notre Dame devastation
Alarm bells first rang out early on Tuesday morning as fire ripped through Copenhagen's historic former stock exchange building, Borsen.
In no time the inferno had gutted large parts of the 400-year-old structure and toppled the ornate spire known for its distinctive dragons.
Brian Mikkelsen, who heads the Danish Chamber of Commerce which owns Borsen, has vowed that it will be rebuilt "no matter what".
Comparisons have been drawn with France's Notre-Dame cathedral, which was devastated by fire in 2019.
Together with colleagues and emergency workers, he ran into the burning building multiple times to rescue some of the hundreds of centuries-old artworks stored inside.
Except for a bust of King Christian IV of Denmark that weighed two tonnes, most of the historic items were recovered.
The Guardian
Global defence budget jumps to record high of $2440bn
Global military expenditure has reached a record high of $2440bn (£1970bn) after the largest annual rise in government spending on arms in over a decade, according to a report.
The 6.8% increase between 2022 and 2023 was the steepest since 2009, pushing spending to the highest recorded by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) in its 60-year history.
For the first time, analysts at the thinktank recorded a rise in military outlay in all five geographical regions: Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania and the Americas.
“States are prioritising military strength, but they risk an action-reaction spiral in the increasingly volatile geopolitical and security landscape.”
The two largest spenders – the United States (37%) and China (12%) – made up around half of global military spending, increasing their expenditure by 2.3% and 6% respectively.
NPR
Israeli strikes on southern Gaza city of Rafah kill 22, including 18 children
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight killed 22 people, including 18 children, health officials said Sunday, as the United States was on track to approve billions of dollars of additional military aid to its close ally.
Israel has carried out near-daily air raids on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million has sought refuge from fighting elsewhere. It has also vowed to expand its ground offensive to the city on the border with Egypt despite international calls for restraint, including from the U.S.
The second strike killed 17 children and two women, all from the same extended family, according to hospital records. First responders were still searching the rubble. An airstrike in Rafah the night before killed nine people, including six children.
NPR
At least 2 killed, many injured in shooting at Memphis block party, police say
(If you want to carry a gun openly or concealed in public in Tennessee, you don't need a permit. As of July 1, 2021, Tennessee is a permit-less carry state)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Eight people were shot including two men who were killed at an unsanctioned public party in a Memphis city park Saturday night, police said.
The Memphis Police Department initially reported there were 16 people shot but revised the number as the investigation continued, noting in a social media post that the error appeared to have been a result of "several victims being reported multiple times."
Officers responded at 7:19 p.m. to a reported shooting, Chief Cerelyn Davis said during a news conference at the scene.
Two men were pronounced dead at the scene and one person was in critical condition, Davis said.
Reuters
Massive river flooding expected in China's Guangdong, threatening millions
BEIJING, April 21 (Reuters) - Major rivers, waterways and reservoirs in China's Guangdong province are threatening to unleash dangerous floods, forcing the government on Sunday to enact emergency response plans to protect more than 127 million people.
Calling the situation "grim", local weather officials said sections of rivers and tributaries at the Xijiang and Beijiang river basins are hitting water levels in a rare spike that only has a one-in-50 chance of happening in any given year, state broadcaster CCTV news said on Sunday.
China's water resource ministry issued an emergency advisory, CCTV reported.
Guangdong officials urged departments in all localities and municipalities to begin emergency planning to avert natural disasters and promptly disperse disaster relief funds and materials to ensure affected people have food, clothing, water and somewhere to stay.
The province, a major exporter and one of China's main commercial and trading centres, has seen major downpours and strong winds for several days, in a weather pattern which has also affected other parts of China.
Reuters
Five rockets fired from Iraq towards U.S. military base in Syria
MOSUL, Iraq, April 21 (Reuters) - At least five rockets were launched from Iraq's town of Zummar towards a U.S. military base in northeastern Syria on Sunday, two Iraqi security sources and a U.S. official told Reuters.
The attack against U.S. forces is the first since early February when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq stopped their attacks against U.S. troops.
It comes a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani returned from a visit to the United States, where he met with President Joe Biden at the White House.
A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said more than five rockets were fired from Iraq towards troops at a coalition base in Rumalyn, Syria, but no U.S. personnel were injured.
Deutsche Welle
Copernicus report: A year of weather extremes in Europe
As the world increasingly feels the impacts of fossil fuel emissions, the climate in Europe is also changing. Last year, the continent experienced a host of contrasting weather extremes, according to the latest European State of the Climate report.
"In 2023, Europe witnessed the largest wildfire ever recorded, one of the wettest years, severe marine heatwaves and widespread devastating flooding," said Carlo Buontempo, director of the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), which authored the report alongside the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
The three warmest years in Europe have all occurred since 2020 and the 10 warmest since 2007.
In 2023, Europe saw 7% more precipitation than average. A third of rivers surpassed the "high" flood threshold, with some experiencing severe flooding.
Flooding hit some 1.6 million people on the continent, killing at least 40, according to the International Disaster Database. Storms claimed 63 lives, while 44 died in wildfires. Weather and climate-related events caused around €13.4 billion ($14.3 billion) in damages — more than 80% of which were linked to flooding.
"The climate crisis is the biggest challenge of our generation. The cost of climate action may seem high, but the cost of inaction is much higher," said Celeste Saulo, WMO secretary general.
Al Jazeera
Ecuadoreans vote on anticrime measures in referendum amid soaring violence
Ecuadoreans have begun voting in a referendum on proposed tougher measures to fight gang-related crime as the country faces rising violence that has seen two mayors killed in a week.
The majority of 11 questions posed to voters on Sunday focus on tightening security measures. Proposals include deploying the army in the fight against the gangs, loosening obstacles to extradition of accused criminals and lengthening prison sentences for convicted drug traffickers.
The rising insecurity in Ecuador has been blamed on gangs with links to transnational cartels using its ports to ship drugs to the United States and Europe.
The results of Sunday’s referendum “will define the course and the state policy that we will take in order to face the challenge of fighting against violence and organized crime”, said President Daniel Noboa as voting began at the Electoral Council in the capital Quito.
S F Chronicle
S.F. prioritized building homes for the ‘missing middle.’ 80% of units sit empty
For years, San Francisco politicians and housing advocates have fought for the creation of “missing middle” housing for workers with incomes high enough to be middle class in most markets, but who are often priced out of the famously expensive city.
But developers who have recently built apartments aimed at moderate-income families in San Francisco have discovered a harsh reality: The missing middle seems to have gone missing.
Of 216 recently completed units targeting households earning between 100% and 150% of area median income, known as AMI — a range of about $130,000 to $195,000 for a three-person household — 182 are sitting vacant. Just 15% of those units have found takers, according to data from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development.
Developers who are sitting on the vacant below-market-rate units, or BMRs in housing industry jargon, blame a combination of a depressed rental market that gives middle-income renters plenty of options and a city bureaucracy so convoluted that qualifying for an apartment involves a tortured and time-consuming process with as much paperwork as it would take to buy a home.