Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, rfall, and JML9999. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Interceptor7, BentLiberal, Oke and jlms qkw. The guest editors are Doctor RJ and annetteboardman.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
BBC
Should US play nice with Syria's Assad?
The murder of US journalist James Foley has gruesomely illustrated just how dangerous the Islamic State (IS) has become. That's led some to wonder if the US must now ally with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
IS has strongholds in much of Syria and Iraq, and is one of the many groups in opposition to Mr Assad's regime.
Former UK chief of the general staff, Richard Dannatt, is one of those considering such an unholy alliance.
He told the BBC's Today programme: "The old saying, 'my enemy's enemy is my friend', has begun to have some resonance with our relationship in Iran, and I think it's going to have some resonance with our relationship with Assad."
It is an idea that has been circulated for several months, mostly theoretically. Writing in the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet (as translated by WordCrunch) Verda Ozer posted an editorial earlier this month arguing that not only is Mr Assad motivated to fight IS, but the group's increasingly brutal presence in the region could give the Syrian president a certain legitimacy.
"With a growing fear of IS, people may settle for living under his rule. The Syrian opposition might also compromise as jihadists gain more and more power."
She also noted the precedent - Iran and the US, usually at odds, have worked together towards stability in Iraq.
BBC
US journalist Theo Curtis released from Syria captivity
American journalist Theo Curtis has been released after being held captive by al-Nusra militants in Syria since 2012, the US has announced.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said he was "relieved and grateful that Theo is coming home".
He added that the US had worked with more than two dozen countries to help secure his release.
Last week, another kidnapped US journalist, James Foley was killed by the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria.
IS published a video of the moments before and after the beheading of Mr Foley, 40, who was seized in 2012. UK secret services are reportedly close to identifying a suspected British jihadist from the footage of the killing.
On Sunday, Mr Kerry welcomed the news of Mr Curtis' release "particularly after a week marked by unspeakable tragedy".
"Over these last two years, the United States reached out to more than two dozen countries asking for urgent help from anyone who might have tools, influence, or leverage to help secure Theo's release and the release of any Americans held hostage in Syria," he said.
BBC
James Foley killing betrays Britain, says Philip Hammond
The killing of a US journalist by an Islamic State militant who could be from the UK is "an utter betrayal of everything the British people stand for", the foreign secretary has said.
Writing in the Sunday Times, Philip Hammond said the government was investing "significant resources" to tackle "a barbaric ideology".
He said the threat from conflicts in Syria and Iraq could last a generation.
It comes as Downing Street said it had appointed a new security envoy to Iraq.
A spokesman said the posting to the Kurdistan region of the country showed the government was "stepping up" its efforts to help Iraq defeat Islamic State (IS) militants operating in the area.
Work is under way to supply "non-lethal equipment" to Kurdish forces who are battling IS in the coming days, including night vision equipment and body armour, the spokesman added.
UK authorities are seeking to identify the jihadist with an English accent who appeared in footage of the killing of journalist James Foley earlier this month.
BBC
'Widespread methane leakage' from ocean floor off US coast
Researchers say they have found more than 500 bubbling methane vents on the seafloor off the US east coast.
The unexpected discovery indicates there are large volumes of the gas contained in a type of sludgy ice called methane hydrate.
There are concerns that these new seeps could be making a hitherto unnoticed contribution to global warming.
The scientists say there could be about 30,000 of these hidden methane vents worldwide.
Previous surveys along the Atlantic seaboard have shown only three seep areas beyond the edge of the US continental shelf.
The team behind the new findings studied what is termed the continental margin, the region of the ocean floor that stands between the coast and the deep ocean.
In an area between North Carolina and Massachusetts, they have now found at least 570 seeps at varying depths between 50m and 1,700m.
Methane hydrate is in the form of a 3D ice structure with natural gas locked inside
The substance looks like white ice, but it does not behave like it
If methane hydrate is either warmed or depressurised, it will break down into water and natural gas.
"It is the first time we have seen this level of seepage outside the Arctic that is not associated with features like oil or gas reservoirs or active tectonic margins," said Prof Adam Skarke from Mississippi State University, who led the study.
Al Jazeera America
Africa's Elon Musk
Ghana's talented but ignored inventors
Accra, Ghana - Imagine having a television set that comes on after an effortless clap or by blowing air; picture yourself in a car that is engineless and starts with a simple push of a button tucked to your dress; or a change-over-machine that speaks and tells you where exactly a fire or electrical fault is in your home.
This is not fiction. It is not magic. It is not happening in Europe or Asia and not even in the United States. These products are being manufactured in the West African nation of Ghana.
The brains behind this is Apostle Dr Kwadwo Safo, owner of the Kantanka Group of Companies. He is naturally gifted. A genius. An inventor and a philanthropist. He has no formal or sophisticated technical background. He imagines, dreams and creates at will. He lives in his own world.
It takes about 45 minutes from Accra, the capital, to reach his "city" at Gomoa Mpota in the central region of Ghana. It is set apart from the hustle and bustle of cosmopolitan Accra. His flag - blue, red, yellow and white stars embossed on the blue hue - constantly flies at a junction on the highway you reach after going past beautiful green landscapes that lead to his location.
Raw Story
Worst Ebola outbreak ever takes heavy toll on west African economies
The worst-ever outbreak of the Ebola virus is taking a heavy toll on west Africa’s economy as crops rot in the fields, mines are abandoned and goods cannot get to market.
The epidemic has ravaged the region since it erupted in the forests in the south of Guinea earlier this year, killing 1,427 people and infecting thousands more.
On Friday health officials said the fever had spread to every corner of Liberia, the worst-hit country in the grip of the epidemic where 624 people have died so far.
But beyond the mounting death toll, the disease is also undermining the region’s economic growth and threatening the long-term development of some of the world’s poorest countries.
“It is a total catastrophe. We are losing lots of money,” said Alhaji Bamogo, who sells clothes in the market in the Liberian capital Monrovia.
“All those who are coming to the market come only to buy food or products for the disinfection of Ebola,” he said
.
Raw Story
6.6-magnitude earthquake jolts central Chile
A strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake jolted central Chile on Saturday, US geologists said, though there were no immediate reports of fatalities or serious damage.
The quake struck at 6:32 pm (2232 GMT) about 108 kilometers (67 miles) northwest of the capital Santiago, at a depth of 32 kilometers.
The national emergency office ONEMI, which put the strength of the quake at magnitude 6.4, said the temblor shook Santiago and five other regions in the South American nation.
More than five million people live in the capital.
Chile is one of the most seismically active countries in the world, and is located in the so-called Ring of Fire area of the Pacific Ocean basin.
An 8.2-magnitude quake in northern Chile in April killed six people and forced a million to leave their homes in the region around Iquique.
Raw Story
Dozens injured as quake rocks California wine country
NAPA Calif. (Reuters) – A 6.0 magnitude earthquake rocked wine country north of San Francisco early on Sunday, injuring dozens of people, two of them seriously, damaging historic buildings, setting some homes on fire and causing power outages around the picturesque town of Napa.
The biggest quake in the region in 25 years jolted many residents out of bed when it hit at 3:20 a.m. local time (1020 GMT), centered 6 miles (10 km) south of the City of Napa, population 77,000.
Two people were seriously injured in the earthquake, Barry Martin, community outreach coordinator for the City of Napa, said by telephone. He said he did not have details on the injuries.
There were no reports of any fatalities, Martin said.
Fire fighters were still trying to put out mobile home fires, he said.
Most damage appeared centered around Napa, a famous wine-producing region and a major tourist destination in northern California.
See also Kossack steveninign's diary
here.
Raw Story‘Heartbreaking’: CNN host upset by ‘hundreds’ of wine bottles broken in Napa quake
CNN host Ana Cabrera said on Sunday that it was “heartbreaking” to see images of broken wine bottles after a magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit Napa, California.
In the aftermath of the quake that injured nearly 90 people in Napa alone, Cabrera invited Silver Oak winery CEO David Duncan to talk about photos of broken wine bottles that he had tweeted.
“We did have some damage, a few barrels — we had three barrels fall, and some wine bottles went down,” Duncan explained. “I tweeted a picture this morning.”
“We’re showing it to our viewers right now,” Cabrera pointed out. “It’s heartbreaking to see that image, especially if you are a wine lover. But also knowing that this impacts your livelihood.”
(snip)
Duncan lamented that the spilled wine was “really a tragedy.”
“There’s no price on those,” he insisted. “They’re completely irreplaceable.”
S F Gate
Man smashed by fish tank survives Napa earthquake
(08-24) 14:43 PDT NAPA -- Steven Smith, a 20-year-old wine cellar worker in Napa, was one of the lucky ones after a big earthquake shook the wine country.
Smith was sleeping on the floor at a friend's house in northern Napa at 3:20 a.m. Sunday when a fish tank - which he estimated held as much as 26 gallons of water and weighed hundreds of pounds - fell from a metal stand and landed on top of his head.
Smith had been sleeping face down. His friends told him that he popped up immediately and started speaking gibberish.
His head and left arm were sliced open.
"I was in shock," he said. "I didn't know what happened. I felt liquid running down my body. I rubbed my head and noticed I had blood on my hand."
A firefighter who patrolled the neighborhood looking for casualties helped bandage Smith's head and hand. Neighbors came by to comfort him before a friend drove him to a hospital.