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 Rise above the swamp. 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.
Since 2007 the OND has been 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.
- Some stories for tonight:
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Spain heatwave brings record May temperatures
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Canada storms: Nearly a million homes lose power in high winds
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Floods in Bangladesh and India affect millions
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Abbott CEO apologizes for the formula shortage as the first overseas shipment arrives
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UN denounces ‘homophobic and racist’ reporting on monkeypox spread
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Number of displaced people passes 100m for the first time, says UN
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Iran denies ‘compromise’ in nuclear deal negotiations
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Exclusive: India considering spending additional $26 billion to fight inflation
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Olaf Scholz: Germany will work to restart Ukrainian grain exports to Africa
BBC
Spain heatwave brings record May temperatures
Parts of Spain are experiencing their hottest May ever with temperatures of more than 40C in some places, according to the state weather agency, AEMET.
The agency issued heat warnings in 10 regions for Saturday, saying it could be "one of the most intense" heatwaves in years.
The city of Jaén in southern Spain recorded its highest ever May temperature of 40C on Friday.
Climate change is making heatwaves more frequent and more intense.
Spain's unseasonably warm spring weather is a result of hot air coming from North Africa, causing temperatures to rise by up to 15C above average for this time of year.
The worst-hit regions are Andalusia in the south, Extremadura in the south-west, Madrid and Castilla La Mancha in the centre and Aragon in the north-east.
Spain's health ministry urged residents to drink plenty of water and to stay in cool places when possible. It also advised people to reduce physical activity.
BBC
Canada storms: Nearly a million homes lose power in high winds
Nearly 900,000 homes in southern Canada were left without power on Saturday after a severe storm hit the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
Four people were killed by falling trees and a woman died when a boat capsized in the Ottawa River.
Wind gusts reached 82 mph (132km/h) during the storm, according to Environment Canada.
Power company Hydro One, which covers Ontario, said it would take several days to reconnect every home.
Meanwhile, Hydro Quebec said 550,000 homes there lost power, with nearly 400,000 still suffering outages as of 14:00 GMT (10:00 local time) on Sunday.
The powerful thunderstorm, which lasted more than two hours, felled many trees, disrupted traffic, damaged homes and saw emergency services inundated with calls for help.
BBC
Floods in Bangladesh and India affect millions
Days of flooding and landslides in parts of Bangladesh and eastern India, have affected millions of people and left more than 50 people dead.
Bangladesh's north-east region has seen some of the worst flooding for nearly two decades.
The two countries are prone to flooding and experts say that climate change is increasing the likelihood of events like this around the world.
NPR
Abbott CEO apologizes for the formula shortage as the first overseas shipment arrives
The CEO of Abbott, the company whose voluntary recall of several widely sold baby formula brands helped trigger a nationwide formula shortage, has apologized for the crisis, as the first overseas shipment of formula approved by President Biden arrived in the U.S. Sunday.
"We're sorry to every family we've let down since our voluntary recall exacerbated our nation's baby formula shortage," wrote CEO Robert Ford in an op-ed published Saturday in the Washington Post.
The nationwide shortage has roots in supply chain disruptions and a market characterized by limited competition, exclusive contracts and few large suppliers.
But it was kicked into overdrive in February when Abbott, the nation's largest manufacturer of baby formula, voluntarily closed a large plant in Michigan after four children fell sick with bacterial infections.
The Guardian
UN denounces ‘homophobic and racist’ reporting on monkeypox spread
The United Nations’ Aids agency has called some reporting on the monkeypox virus racist and homophobic, warning of exacerbating stigma and undermining the response to the growing outbreak.
UNAIDS said “a significant proportion” of recent monkeypox cases have been identified among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.
But transmission was most likely via close physical contact with a monkeypox sufferer and could affect anyone, it added, saying some portrayals of Africans and LGBTI people “reinforce homophobic and racist stereotypes and exacerbate stigma”.
Argentina’s health ministry said on Sunday it had detected a suspected case of monkeypox in Buenos Aires, amid growing global alarm over rising cases in Europe and elsewhere of the viral infection more common to west and central Africa.
The Guardian
Number of displaced people passes 100m for the first time, says UN
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has said the global number of forcibly displaced people has passed 100 million for the first time, describing it as a “staggering milestone”.
The UN high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, said the grim new statistic should act as a wake-up call for the international community and that more action is needed internationally to address the root causes of forced displacement around the world.
Officials said that the number of people forced to flee conflict, violence, human rights violations and persecution had risen to an unprecedented level due to the war in Ukraine along with other deadly conflicts.“One hundred million is a stark figure – sobering and alarming in equal measure,” said Grandi. “This must serve as a wake-up call to resolve and prevent destructive conflicts, end persecution and address the underlying causes that force innocent people to flee their homes.”
Al Jazeera
Iran denies ‘compromise’ in nuclear deal negotiations
Tehran, Iran – Iran’s foreign ministry has rejected reports of the country’s willingness to “compromise” its stance in ongoing indirect negotiations with the United States to restore its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said late Saturday that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made no mention of compromise to Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, when they met in Tehran earlier this month.
Khamenei told the emir “we have always said the negotiations must yield results, not waste time”, and “the Americans know what they need to do regarding this”, Khatibzadeh told the semi-official Tasnim news website.
“It is very clear from the context of the leader’s remarks that the ball is in the US court, which must make wise political decisions to fulfill its obligations,” he said.
Reuters
Exclusive: India considering spending additional $26 billion to fight inflation
NEW DELHI, May 22 (Reuters) - The Indian government is considering spending an additional 2 trillion rupees ($26 billion) in the 2022/23 fiscal year to cushion consumers from rising prices and fight multi-year high inflation, two government officials told Reuters.
The new measures will be double the 1 trillion rupees hit government revenues could take from tax cuts on petrol and diesel the finance minister announced on Saturday, both the officials said.
India’s retail inflation rose to an eight-year high in April, while wholesale inflation rose to at least a 17-year high, posing a major headache for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government ahead of elections to several state assemblies this year.
Deutsche Welle
Olaf Scholz: Germany will work to restart Ukrainian grain exports to Africa
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday said Berlin will actively work to push for the restart of grain exports to Africa from Ukraine that have been halted as a result of Russia's invasion.
He also spoke of the need to ensure the steady transfer of fertilizers out of Africa.
Scholz was speaking in Dakar ahead of a meeting with Senegalese President Macky Sall at the beginning of a three-day trip to Africa — his first since taking office six months ago.
Ahead of Scholz's visit, the former German ambassador to Moscow said Russian President Vladimir Putin is deliberately aiming to trigger a famine in the Middle East and Africa.
The Kremlin's goal is to destabilize Europe through a massive refugee influx, Rüdiger von Fritsch told Sunday's edition of the Tagesspiegel newspaper.