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, perhaps a bit later).
To begin with pictures of the week, these are the world pics from the BBC, and the pics of the week from NBC news.
As is usual, there are headlines this evening that are ambiguous enough you have to read further into the article to figure out what it is about. This from aldianews.com:
With the ceremony of installation of the Constituent Assembly in Venezuela this Friday, the unconstitutionality and arrogance of the Chavez regime condemn the country to international political isolation.
After months of fighting in the streets, an unsustainable humanitarian crisis and inflation with no sign of lowering, the government of Nicolás Maduro insisted on holding elections for a Constituent Assembly, whose results were manipulated by the government, as the digital company that conducted the count stated.
The National Electoral Council condemned the accusations of the company Smartmatic as "irresponsible" and has continued with the swearing-in ceremony of the board of an Assembly that will amend the 1999 constitution.
And one more about Venezuela and its leader, this column from the Miami Herald:
In light of the tragic events in Venezuela, it’s time for us in the media to start calling things by their names, and refer to Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro as what he is — a dictator.
Most media organizations still refer to Maduro as “Venezuelan President,” “Venezuelan leader” or “Venezuela’s head of state.” That’s OK for a first reference, but it puts Maduro at the same level as Germany’s Angela Merkel, or — even if you consider him a disastrous president, like I do — Donald Trump.
And about another embattled leader, this from Haaretz:
Yossi Verter
Netanyahu suspected of bribery and fraud, police tells court
Opinion Netanyahu Jr. refuses to pick up dog poop, then claws at his critics
Profile Netanyahu’s trusted aide, now possibly his worst enemy
About half a year ago, as his legal situation worsened, Ari Harow, Benjamin Netanyahu’s former chief of staff, told friends that he might be left with no choice other than to turn state’s witness in two cases involving the prime minister, in order to save his skin. That option simmered for a long time on a low burner.
And from CNN:
(CNN)Prince Henrik of Denmark looks set to launch an eternal protest after announcing he does not wish to be buried next to his wife, Queen Margrethe, over the refusal to name him king.
The 83-year-old prince has been unhappy with his title since being named prince consort -- rather than king consort -- upon the couple's marriage in 1967.
You may have heard about the fire in Dubai today, but you probably missed the news about the fire in Japan, discussed here by Reuters:
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese police and fire investigators sifted through the charred wreckage of parts of the world's largest fish market, a day after fire tore through seven buildings at the popular Tokyo tourist site.
The 80-year-old Tsukiji market draws tens of thousands of visitors a year to its warren of stalls laden with exotic species of fish and fresh sushi.
No people were injured in the fire that broke out late on Thursday and sent gray smoke billowing over the city, but 935 square meters of shops and restaurants in seven buildings were destroyed, a Tokyo Fire Department spokesman said.
Also from Japan (via Deutsche Welle):
South Korea occupies the rocky and remote islands of Dokdo, but Japan calls them Takeshima and claims they are an integral part of its territory. And as neither side is backing down, relations continue to deteriorate.
The discovery of a map drawn in 1861 may reignite a simmering territorial row between South Korea and Japan, and further damage bilateral relations that are already strained. The map was drawn by Korean cartographer and geologist Kim Jeong-ho and clearly marks the rocky islets that are known in South Korea today as Dokdo as being part of the kingdom of Korea.
The map covers the Korean Peninsula and has Dokdo close to the island of Ulleung, off the east coast. Japan, however, has long disputed South Korean control over the inhospitable islands and insists they are an integral part of the Japanese archipelago. Tokyo says the islands should be known as Takeshima.
From Radio Free Asia:
Authorities in the northern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia have detained more than a dozen people after herders in an Evenk ethnic area staged a sit-in in protest over a grazing ban on local grasslands.
Eyewitnesses said police moved in to break up the protest with force after more than 100 Evenk herders gathered with their livestock on traditional grazing lands in Hulunbuir.
Photos of the aftermath of the clashes, which took place in the early hours of Friday, showed dozens of people sitting on a paved area with injuries they said were inflicted by police batons.
A more positive story about democracy comes from Rappler:
Timor-Leste deserves ASEAN support for its efforts to further integrate and engage with the wider region
AINARO, TIMOR LESTE – Bright blue election boxes and indelibly-inked index fingers. These are just some of the vivid colors of democracy that come to mind as I think back to something momentous that just happened in Southeast Asia.
When contemplating the future of the vibrant Southeast Asian region, the tiny island nation of Timor-Leste is unlikely to be top-of-mind among Tokyo officials or of the top diplomats who have gathered in Manila this week for the 50th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
Yet this small country of some 1.2 million people is a remarkable testament to the transformative power of democracy in a once-turbulent region, and provides a powerful model for an Asia and Pacific that has encountered some worrying backsliding in recent years when it comes to democracy.
In health news, VOA has this about Myanmar:
Myanmar’s government has repeatedly appealed for calm in recent weeks as the death toll from an outbreak of swine flu, or H1N1 influenza, has risen to 14 since the first cases were reported last month.
Officials have pointed to the fact that the strain of the virus, which was part of a global pandemic in 2009 that originated in pigs, is now considered a normal seasonal flu, and infections – if not deaths – have occurred in the country as recently as last year.
But a lack of faith in the Myanmar government’s ability to handle a health crisis and a seemingly slow initial response have nevertheless created a disconnect, allowing an atmosphere of mistrust to prevail and pushing many to take matters into their own hands.
And again from Myanmar, this item from Radio Freee Asia:
Myanmar’s home affairs ministry signaled its willingness on Friday to “take action” against nationalist monks and their supporters who are staging sit-ins in two large cities to protest against the National League for Democracy government.
A group of hard-liners set up camps in front of historic pagodas in Mandalay and Yangon on Wednesday, calling for the overthrow of the 16-month-old administration of de facto national leader Aung San Suu Kyi for what they say are policies that undermine the country’s majority Burman nationality and the predominant Buddhist religion.
From central Asia now, with an article from the BBC:
By Sherie Ryder
A controversial advertising campaign for a Kazakhstan travel company has created a buzz today, generating a lot of reaction across social media.
The short clip which aims to promote flights on a travel website has been shared on Facebook more than 71,000 times and viewed more than 31,000 times on YouTube in the past two days.
The video begins with a close-up of cap-wearing female flight attendants, shown only from the neck upwards, and then widens out to reveal quite a bit more, the women's modesty being protected only by a banner across the screen and a small hat.
As expected many have commented that the ad is "tasteless" and "unpleasant".
Speaking of tasteless...:
By Ayeshea Perera
An Indian company has launched something which seems almost mad in its lack of appeal - a pickle flavoured condom.
The latest offering by Manforce condoms is the latest gimmick to hit a surprisingly crowded novelty condom market.
Durex alone already has an aubergine flavoured offering in India, along with the more "traditional" strawberry, banana and so on.
But though pickle or "achaari" has a special place in Indian cuisine, with every region having its own variant, it's not widely considered synonymous with romance.
So predictably, a lot of people had a lot to say about it on social media:
One other food story, from the Conde Nast Traveler:
It's a summertime miracle!
The future is now, folks: Japanese scientists have discovered a completely organic way to make ice cream retain its shape and not melt for several hours. Your taste buds won't notice, unless you have the patience and willpower to observe rather than eat your frozen treats this summer.
According to the Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese daily newspaper, scientists at Biotherapy Development Research Center Co. in Kanazawa stumbled upon the miracle-working method by accident earlier this year. Researchers had reportedly asked a pastry chef to create a dessert using polyphenol liquid, extracted from strawberries, in an effort to help out strawberry farmers whose crops were suffering after the earthquake and tsunami in eastern Japan in 2011. The frustrated chef told scientists that "dairy cream solidified instantly when strawberry polyphenol was added," and although he believed there was "something suspicious" about the polyphenol, one researcher at the center immediately realized the natural compound's potential for greatness.
Now let’s move on to art, as it is a Friday night. We begin with an item from The Daily Beast:
It was October 8, 1967, a Sunday, after 9 pm, which meant that The Ed Sullivan Show had ended on CBS and it was time for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Tom and Dick Smothers—yes, their real name conveniently rhymed with “brothers”—were a folk music/stand-up comedy duo who first gained popularity on the nightclub circuit in the wake of the 1950s folk boom. Their shtick was to start an old folk song, Tommy on guitar and Dick on upright bass, and sing a few bars; then Tom would stop playing and start the comedy routine, which often ended with Tom, the clown, shouting at straight-man Dick, “Mom always liked you best!”
They were good musicians, and they were funny. They were also very political, and very opposed to the Vietnam War.
So here they were, barely a month into their primetime television careers, inheriting the huge audience that the immensely popular Sullivan gave them, when they came back from a commercial break and Tom turned to the camera and said solemnly that the next act would be performing a song that was “a moving tribute to those who die without knowing why.”
And from NPR’s Morning Edition:
Christos Tsirogiannis, a forensic archaeologist, explains to Ailsa Chang how he persuaded U.S. authorities to seize an ancient Italian vase from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Last week, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art surrendered a 2,300-year-old Roman vase to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Prosecutors say the vase was looted from a grave in Italy in the 1970s. Dr. Christos Tsirogiannis is the man who identified the vase. He's a forensic archaeologist and a lecturer with the Association for Research into Crimes against Art. He spoke with our guest host Ailsa Chang on Skype.
From the Palm Beach Daily News:
By Jan Sjostrom
For the most part, teens only visit the museum on school tours. A few volunteer to fulfill community-service requirements.
“There’s been nothing specifically geared for youth — until now,” said Yimarie Rivera, associate curator of education.
She’s referring to the Norton’s first Teen Advisory Squad, 15 teenagers who meet weekly for eight weeks to learn about art and museum operations while providing the Norton with valuable feedback about how to connect with their age group. More than 90 teenagers applied for the program, which pays a stipend.
From the Minneapolis StarTribune:
By JENNA ROSS
Arts groups describe the grants as critical — a key piece of flexible, stable funding. Except that this summer, that funding took a surprise dip.
In July, the Minnesota State Arts Board awarded 176 arts organizations $13.1 million in operating grants, about 12 percent less than last year. Most grants shrunk, with some big arts centers and small publishers seeing declines of over 20 percent. The Minnesota Opera nabbed about $350,000, compared with $450,000 last year. The Walker Art Center’s grant shrank by 22 percent. Milkweed Editions got 22 percent less, as well.
“Oftentimes an organization will say, ‘What did we do wrong?’ ” said Sue Gens, the arts board’s executive director. “It’s not anything they did wrong. We have less money.”
From the Portland (ME) Press Herald:
Some fear two paintings will land in private hands as the Pittsfield, Mass., facility seeks to raise $60 million.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Members of Norman Rockwell’s family are the latest to speak out against a Massachusetts museum’s plan to sell the illustrator’s works.
The family in a letter published in Friday’s print edition of The Berkshire Eagle asked the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield not to auction “Shuffleton’s Barbershop.”
The museum is selling 40 artworks, including two by Rockwell, to build endowment funds and finance renovations.