Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Doctor RJ, Magnifico, annetteboardman and Man Oh Man. Alumni editors include (but are not limited to) palantir, wader, 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).
There is a lot of environmental news from Asia this evening, so that is where we will start. First up, a photo essay (with text) from The Diplomat:
Almost Human: Orangutans in Indonesia
Life in the Orangutan Conservation Center in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
The iconic orangutan prints on the green 500 rupiah bills in Indonesia are forever etched in my memory. During my childhood, we used the bills to joke with friends, comparing them with the picture of the primate. It was only later that I came to see the great apes as something more — symbols of the urgent need to preserve both the orangutan species and the forests where they live; natural shelters of biodiversity.
This photo essay aims to display daily life inside the Orangutan Conservation Center. Here, the relationship between orangutans and the keepers varies. At times, it is much akin to surrogacy; at other times, it is more like the bond between sheep and shepherds. Consisting mostly of young enthusiasts, the keepers venture deep into the forest every day. This is the “forest school,” where they prepare the big bipedal red-furred primates for their release into a natural habitat. The keepers follow the orangutans, monitoring and checking on them.
From aljazeera.com:
Bali meeting tackles ocean pollution by plastic
UNEP and Indonesia launch campaign to solve global issue of massive amounts of plastic ending up in oceans.
Taylor Denny
Bali, Indonesia - The sun is peeking from over the horizon, greeting early morning beach-dwellers to the sounds of crashing waves, the feel of tropical humidity and the sight of an entire beach covered in trash.
While seemingly idyllic, the coastline of Kuta is in reality cluttered with plastic bottles, packaging, straws, cans, old shoes and plastic bags.
Tourists who flew in from across the globe to visit the tourist paradise walk or jog through the harmful waste as it washes in with the waves from the ocean.
On the same island, on Friday, scientists, CEOs, entrepreneurs and leaders from public and private sectors began gathering for a conference on the ocean.
From The Indian Express:
Kolkata: Two held for smuggling leopard skin
Shankar Das and Raja Tamanke reportedly brought the leopard skin, which is about 10 feet long, from Assam to Siliguri via Bhutan to sell it to a smuggler from Sikkim.
Two alleged poachers were arrested for smuggling a leopard skin in Jalpaiguri on Friday. Shankar Das and Raja Tamanke reportedly brought the leopard skin, which is about 10 feet long, from Assam to Siliguri via Bhutan to sell it to a smuggler from Sikkim, said a forest department official. The skin was supposed to be taken to Nepal.
From Denver’s 5280 magazine:
Athletes Go Live To Gain Attention
Colorado athletes are using live-streaming capabilities to take viewers on epic adventures.
Last May, alpinist and professional photographer Cory Richards, who was a resident of Boulder at the time, shared his ascent of Mt. Everest live via Snapchat. His stream, titled #EverestNoFilter, introduced hundreds of thousands of viewers to vertiginous peaks and stunning vistas—as well as some of the climb’s more unsavory aspects (e.g., packing out poop). It marked the first time anyone has provided a live, unedited look at what it’s like to climb the world’s tallest mountain on what’s become one of the fastest-growing social media platforms.
Richards’ broadcast is just one example of how Colorado athletes are flocking to real-time feeds as a new outlet to reach their fans. Aspen resident and big-mountain skier Chris Davenport jump-started the trend in November 2015 when he became the first person to use Facebook Live from Antarctica. Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram all have invested significant dollars in live-streaming capabilities since then, making it easier than ever for followers to watch your moves as they happen. (Snap Inc.’s version of Google Glass, called Spectacles, launched in November.) “It’s kind of like how reality television took off in the ’90s,” Davenport says. “Only this is reality internet.”
There is other news from South Asia. From the Deccan Chronicle:
68 per cent urban Indians don't practice preventive healthcare: study
49 per cent of the people considered supplements and Ayurveda products as effective preventive wellness measures.
New Delhi: As many as 68 per cent of urban Indians do not practice preventive healthcare at an early stage, when they do not suffer from lifestyle disorders, a new study has found.
The first survey to understand wellness trends in India revealed that less than a third urban Indians take steps to proactively adopt preventive wellness. The survey was conducted to bring out the trends and perceptions about 'wellness' amongst urban adults in three key markets - Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.
From The Indian Express:
Mahashivratri: One million devotees at Nepal’s Pashupatinath temple
Police are keeping a close watch on illegal trade of marijuana, hashish and alcohol as possession, sale, distribution and smuggling of narcotics are punishable.
Nearly one million devotees from India and Nepal today thronged the famous 5th century Pashupatinath temple here to observe Maha Shivaratri festival. Security has been beefed up with the deployment of 6,000 security personnel in the vicinity of the temple situated on the banks of Bagmati river for the annual Maha Shivaratri festival to be observed tomorrow.
Police are keeping a close watch on illegal trade of marijuana, hashish and alcohol as possession, sale, distribution and smuggling of narcotics are punishable.
Another tale of religion, this from The Deccan Herald (article originally from the International New York Times):
Pakistan's vulnerable, embattled shrines
Fatima Bhutto
The sufi shrines of Pakistan, sanctuaries for the poor and the weak, are being attacked by the extremists
Last Thursday, a suicide bomber affiliated with the Islamic State attacked Sehwan Sharif, one of the most revered Sufi shrines, in the southern Sindh Province of Pakistan, killing more than 80 people, including 24 children, and wounding more than 250.
Why the terrorists hate Sehwan is why we love it. The saint and his shrine at Sehwan belong to everyone, to Sunnis and Shiites, to Hindus and Muslims, transgender devotees, to believers and questioners alike. The inclusiveness, the rituals and music born of syncretic roots make shrines like Sehwan Sharif targets in the extremist interpretations of the IS and other radical Wahhabi militants.
Three tales of air travel/transport, the first from the BBC:
Pakistan airline admits taking extra passengers in aisle
By M Ilyas Khan
Pakistan International Airlines is investigating how seven extra passengers were allowed to stand in the aisles on a flight to Saudi Arabia, a spokesman told the BBC.
The passengers were allowed on the 20 January flight to Medina despite every seat being filled, the airline said.
Details of the flight have only emerged now because of extensive investigations by Dawn newspaper.
Staff had issued additional handwritten boarding passes, the paper reported.
And the second from the Premium Times (Nigeria):
Heroin, transported from Pakistan, abandoned at Lagos airport
Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have discovered 6.158 kilogrammes of heroin abandoned at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The consignment, which originated from Pakistan, was left unclaimed on the conveyor belt at the arrival hall during the inward screening of passengers on Etihad Airways flight.
Two suspected drug traffickers were also apprehendeded at the airport while attempting to smuggle 2.035kg of cocaine concealed in cassava flour to Nairobi, Kenya and 2.485kg of cannabis to Qatar, the NDLEA said in a statement on Friday.
The NDLEA commander at the airport, Ahmadu Garba, said the abandoned heroin was hidden inside a bag of clothes.
And the last from The Jakarta Post:
459 tons equipment brought along on Saudi Arabia's King's visit to Indonesia
Airfreight service provider PT Jasa Angkasa Semesta (JAS) said that it was handling 459 tons of cargo containing equipment carried by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud during his visit to Indonesia March 1 to 9.
JAS president director Adji Gunawan said of the cargo, 63 tons would be unloaded at the Halim Perdanakusuma airport in East Jakarta, while the remaining 396 tons would be brought to the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali.
“We have been officially appointed to handle all [cargo] belonging to the king’s entourage aircraft,” Adji was quoted by Antara.
Among the special cargo were two units of Mercedes-Benz S600, which arrived in Denpasar on Feb. 18, one electric lift that arrived in Halim on Feb. 21, another electric lift that arrived in Denpasar on Feb. 22 along with other equipment.
King’s entourage of 620 people would be arriving in Indonesia from Feb. 15-28.
African news from The Washington Post (Democracy Dies in Darkness):
In South Africa, a surge in xenophobia leads to violence
NAIROBI — Ask Mario Khumalo to explain South Africa’s crime rate or its economic troubles, and he has an answer that sounds like a Donald Trump talking point: There are too many foreigners.
“We have allowed in criminals and former child soldiers. The government has failed to protect its own people,” the 37-year-old said in a phone interview. Khumalo has launched a new political party called South Africa First, promising mass deportations of immigrants and “strict vetting.”
In recent days, with a rise in xenophobic violence and demonstrations, it appears his platform has found broader appeal.
From The Huffington Post (Australia):
Africa's Flamingos Are Not In The Pink And Could Have Less Than 100 Years Left
They are as delicate as they are elegant.
An incessant honking permeates the warm, thick, sulphur-smelling air. Monotone calls echo across the lake while thousands of lesser flamingos create a vibrant sea of pink in the alkaline waters of Bogoria.
Millions of years ago, in the wake of volcanic activity that tore up a large part of Africa, beautiful depressions, highlands and valleys were created, forming what has become the picturesque Rift Valley today. This undulating terrain runs from Jordan River to Mozambique, and is so prominent that it's visible from space. During the creation of this dramatic landscape, a chain of alkaline lakes was formed and has since become home to 75 percent of the world's population of the lesser flamingo.
From Standard Media (Kenya):
WHO and Catholic Church headed for fresh clash over tetanus vaccination
By Gatonye Gathura
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued new guidelines on tetanus vaccination, which could set off another round of controversy with the Catholic Church leadership in Kenya.
The WHO has proposed new mass vaccinations for women and girls in Kenya to kick off by June.
WHO termed concerns raised by the church over the vaccine in 2014 as unjustified rumours.
A calendar prepared by an expert group of the WHO, for high risk countries plans to have Kenya declare elimination status by next year. It also indicates funds for the exercise are fully available.
The calendar proposes that the country adopts mass vaccination campaign and routine immunisation strategies. However, the Catholic church leadership is opposed to the former. After what has been a stuttering global tetanus elimination campaign, including Kenya’s controversy in 2014, last year the WHO had engaged an expert group to review the matter.
From Arab News (Agence France Presse):
KOLOFATA, Cameroon: Homeless and hungry, Fadi is a young widow from Cameroon who was forced by Boko Haram’s brutal insurgency to flee her village near the Nigerian border.
But despite all she has suffered, and even in the relative safety of a camp for displaced people, she does not have enough food.
“We just want to eat. If you can please help us,” begs the 17-year-old, after surviving Boko Haram’s violence in the Lake Chad region — the focus of a donor conference in Norway on Friday.
Fadi’s husband was murdered last year in a militant attack on their village, Grea, near Nigeria.
“They broke into our house, they killed him and they left,” she said, adding that she did not know why he had been executed. “After burying him, we fled.”
And now for some odd news from Europe. The first is from The Washington Post:
There’s a new push to make Obama president again. This time, of France.
In just a couple of months, French voters will go to the polls to elect their next president. It's already turning into a divisive campaign, with the onetime conservative front-runner François Fillon deeply wounded by a corruption scandal and facing stiff competition from both the far right Marine Le Pen and the upstart “radical centrist” Emmanuel Macron.
In the face of all this, some French voters are apparently hoping another candidate could come in and clean up the mess. The problem, however, is that their proposed president isn't actually French.
From The Daily Mail:
How would you feel if this was YOUR son 770ft up a skyscraper? The mother of the foolhardy teen who last week scaled Canary Wharf tells of her stomach churning terror and, bizarrely, her pride
By Helen Weathers
Amanda Gallagher will never forget the first time she took her young son, Harry, to Legoland.
Nothing could induce him to go on a roundabout, let alone one of the theme park’s more thrilling rides.
He was too frightened, she says, remembering him clinging to her legs.
Amanda worried that five-year-old Harry would turn out to be one of those boys too timid to try anything new.
Fast forward 14 years and it’s a terrifyingly different story. Every time Harry, 19, leaves the house, it’s Amanda who is scared, wondering if she will ever see him alive again.
And we finish with Arts news. The first item takes us back to Nigeria, for an article from The Guardian (Nigeria):
With bottle art, NBC tasks young artists on creativity
By Chuks Nwanne
Art represents an important aspect of the culture, history, as well as the socio-economic and political state of any society. Again, the roles that it can play to a society are almost innumerable. From promoting a society’s cultural heritage to creating an identity for that society and interpreting the way we see our immediate environment to the outside world, art also fosters a profound sense of belonging and originality.
Nigeria as a nation is known for her vibrant lane of traditional art and culture and the symbolic creations of her indigenes. Through art works, the history of Nigeria has been documented over the years and the country’s approach to arts has survived the test of time with hundreds of recorded artifacts, art activities including festivals, exhibitions and auctions.
Though Nigerians appreciate arts, it took a while time before the acceptance of art as a noble profession and encouragement of practitioners became common place in Nigeria. Though it later became a subject taught in secondary schools across the country, it was not until recently that works of art started providing much value in terms of commercialisation. These two factors, coupled with many other hindrances faced by the general working populace, especially the lack of basic necessities of livelihood, have ensured the growth of the art industry in Nigeria remains slow.
From Garden City (Kansas) via the Garden City Telegram:
ArtStart project to showcase student art on Main Street
Sunflowers will bloom a little earlier than usual this year with the launch of the ArtStart project, which will feature a slew of sunflower paintings by second-graders from Jennie Wilson Elementary School in its March installation on Main Street.
The project is the result of a collaboration between Downtown Vision and Garden City Arts, and the series is slated for 10 different monthly art installations throughout the year on Main Street, crafted by local elementary, middle and high school students, and potentially older residents who frequent the senior center.
Through the program, local students and residents will paint on 6x6-inch wooden canvases that will be attached to a stake and planted in the flower pots tracing from Fulton and Main streets all the way past Stevens Park on both sides of the street, according to Myca Bunch, executive director of Downtown Vision.
“Throughout the year, we do a banner art walk and banner art project, but that’s all geared toward adults,” she said. “Well, we thought, 'OK, how do we cultivate that and grow artists?' Downtown is beautiful. We’ve got flowers. There are always things blooming, so art needs to bloom down there, as well.”
From the BBC:
Turning pebbles into pictures of the war in Syria
By Faisal Irshaid
The imagery is all too familiar. A family on the move, their meagre belongings carried on their heads; a cluster of frightened children gripping a mother figure; the body of a victim cradled on the ground by a woman.
These are depictions of the war in Syria - but they have been delicately composed with stones. They are the work of 52-year-old Syria-based artist and sculptor Nizar Ali Badr, who publishes pictures of his creations on Facebook.
Each piece tells a story, and the stone scenes seem to come alive.
From KPCC (audio as well as text):
Using art-making to start conversations with kids about social justice
Priska Neely
How can parents talk to young kids about racism and inequality? The Hammer Museum is offering up one answer: to use art.
In partnership with the Los Angeles Public Library, the museum has launched a series of art-making workshops for kids ages five and up. Drawing on library book collections and museum exhibits, the Art Without Walls events encourage kids to grapple with social justice issues by designing art on themes like racism and activism.
"I think we’re really addressing a real desire for adults to talk to young ones about some real challenging issues that are being raised at school and playgrounds, that are being raised on the news," said Theresa Sotto, assistant director of academic programs at the Hammer.