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:
Bangladesh fire: Over 40 killed, hundreds injured in depot blast
Ukraine war: UK to send Ukraine M270 multiple-launch rocket systems
Wheat: Why India's export ban matters to the world
Up to 15,000 may join largest ever migrant caravan to walk through Mexico to US
Mass shootings across the U.S. leave dozens killed or wounded this weekend
Afghanistan dominates global opium production. The Taliban is shutting that down
Firefighters still working to put out deadly Bangladesh container blaze
Germany faces 5 billion euros a year hit from Russian gas sanctions, Welt am Sonntag reports
Scientists think they have found a major cure: 'The first time this has happened in the history of cancer’
Russia Seeks Buyers for Plundered Ukraine Grain, U.S. Warns
Christo before Christo: Paris exhibition reveals artist’s earlier works
BBC
Bangladesh fire: Over 40 killed, hundreds injured in depot blast
A fire and a huge explosion have killed at least 49 people and injured hundreds more at a storage depot near the city of Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Hundreds of people had arrived to tackle the fire when a number of shipping containers exploded at the site in Sitakunda.
It is thought that chemicals were stored in some of the containers.
Industrial fires are common in Bangladesh, and are often blamed on poor safety regulations.
Many of the injured are said to be in a critical condition and the number of people killed is expected to rise.
Hospitals in the area are overwhelmed, with crowds of people waiting in hallways for treatment. Medics have appealed for blood donations and some of the injured have been airlifted to the capital, Dhaka.
BBC
Ukraine war: UK to send Ukraine M270 multiple-launch rocket systems
The UK is sending its first long-range missiles to Ukraine, the defence secretary has said, despite a threat from Russia to the West.
Ben Wallace said the M270 multiple-launch rocket system will help Ukraine defend itself against Russia.
The UK government has not confirmed how many weapons will be sent, but the BBC understands it will be three initially.
The decision was co-ordinated with the US, which announced last week it was also supplying a rocket system.
Tough shit, pootie.
BBC
Wheat: Why India's export ban matters to the world
India has defended its decision to ban wheat exports after criticism that it could worsen the global food supply situation in the wake of the Ukraine war.
"If everyone starts to impose export restrictions... that would worsen the crisis," German Food and Agriculture Minister Cem Ozdemir said after the ban was announced in May.
But India's Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal, says the export ban should not affect global markets because it is not a major wheat exporter.
So what has been the impact of India's move?
India's ban was announced on 13 May, after unseasonably hot weather affected the wheat crop, sending local prices soaring.
The prices of some of the main types of wheat rose for several days, peaking on 17 to 18 May.
The Guardian
Up to 15,000 may join largest ever migrant caravan to walk through Mexico to US
Comeja has joined about 11,000 others who on Monday will leave Tapachula, a sweltering city on the Mexico-Guatemala border, and head north for the United States. It will depart as leaders from across the hemisphere gather in Los Angeles for the Summit of the Americas.
“Whenever I get discouraged, Mia calms me down,” Comeja said. When they arrive at the US border, Comeja plans to cross the Rio Grande on foot.
This is not the first migrant caravan to leave Tapachula, but it may be the largest ever recorded in Mexico: its numbers are expected to swell in the coming days, and may reach 15,000 people – plus Mia the chihuahua.“This is the largest mass human migration I have seen in at least the past 10 years,” said Luís Villagrán, an organizer of the caravan and director of the non-profit Center for Human Dignification.
NPR
Mass shootings across the U.S. leave dozens killed or wounded this weekend
A string of shootings left at least 15 people dead and more than 60 others wounded in eight states this weekend, a spasm of gun violence that came as the nation continues mourning the lives lost in mass shootings last month in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas.
In Pennsylvania, police say multiple shooters fired into a crowd late Saturday night on South Street, a famous Philadelphia drag known for its nightlife, character and vibrancy. Authorities said three people were killed by the gunfire, and at least 11 others were wounded. Police said multiple handguns were recovered at the scene, but no arrests have been made. In Chattanooga, Tenn., police responded early Sunday to a shooting near a nightclub. Three people were killed and 14 others were injured, according to police chief Celeste Murphy.
Meanwhile, in South Carolina, at least eight people were shot at a graduation party in what authorities in Clarendon County described as a suspected drive-by shooting. A 32-year-old woman was killed, while seven others were wounded. Six of the seven injured were age 17 or younger, authorities said.
NPR
Afghanistan dominates global opium production. The Taliban is shutting that down
WASHIR, Afghanistan — Afghanistan's Taliban rulers have begun a campaign to eradicate poppy cultivation, aiming to wipe out the country's massive production of opium and heroin, even as farmers fear their livelihoods will be ruined at a time of growing poverty.
On a recent day in Washir district in southern Helmand province, armed Taliban fighters stood guard as a tractor tore up a field of poppies. The field's owner stood nearby, watching.
The Taliban, who took power in Afghanistan more than nine months ago, issued an edict in early April banning poppy cultivation throughout the country.
Those violating the ban "will be arrested and tried according to Sharia laws in relevant courts," the Taliban deputy interior minister for counternarcotics, Mullah Abdul Haq Akhund, told The Associated Press in Helmand's provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.
Afghanistan is the world's biggest opium producer and a major source for heroin in Europe and Asia. Production spiraled over the past 20 years despite billions of dollars spent by the U.S.
Reuters
Firefighters still working to put out deadly Bangladesh container blaze
DHAKA, June 5 (Reuters) - Firefighters worked for a second day on Sunday to extinguish a massive blaze that killed at least 49 people at a container depot in southeast Bangladesh, the latest incident highlighting the country's poor industrial safety track record.
The fire that also injured more than 200 broke out at the shipping container facility on Saturday night at Sitakunda, 40 km (25 miles) from the port city of Chittagong, triggering a huge blast and multiple container explosions, officials said.
Chemical-filled containers were still exploding on Sunday as firefighters attempted to douse the fire and officials said the army had joined the mission. Drone footage showed thick columns of smoke and rows of burnt-out containers.
Reuters
Germany faces 5 billion euros a year hit from Russian gas sanctions, Welt am Sonntag reports
BERLIN, June 5 (Reuters) - Russia's sanctions against Gazprom Germania and its subsidiaries could cost German taxpayers and gas users an extra 5 billion euros ($5.4 billion) a year to pay for replacement gas, the Welt am Sonntag weekly reported, citing industry representatives.
In May, Russia decided to stop supplying Gazprom Germania, which had been the German subsidiary of Gazprom, after Berlin put the company under trustee management due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. read more
Since then, the Bundesnetzagentur energy regulator, acting as trustee, has had to buy replacement gas on the market to fulfil supply contracts with German municipal utilities and regional suppliers.
The economy ministry estimates an extra 10 million cubic meters per day are required, said a ministry spokesperson, confirming a number cited by the newspaper.
Raw Story
Scientists think they have found a major cure: 'The first time this has happened in the history of cancer'
New findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Sunday that found all rectal cancer patients given a certain pill were cancer-free.
The New York Times reported the findings, noting that the sample size was incredibly small, with just 18 people but the results were unbelievable.
“I believe this is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer,” said Dr. Luis A. Diaz Jr. of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
The project was paid for by GlaxoSmithKline, which crafted the new drug and it's unclear when the next trial will be with a larger group. For the 18, however, each has gone into remission. It's the first time Dr. Diaz has ever seen it in his entire professional career.
N Y Times
Russia Seeks Buyers for Plundered Ukraine Grain, U.S. Warns
NAIROBI, Kenya — Russia has bombed, blockaded and plundered the grain production capacity of Ukraine, which accounts for one-tenth of global wheat exports, resulting in dire forecasts of increased hunger and of spiking food prices around the world.
Now, the United States has warned that the Kremlin is trying to profit from that plunder by selling stolen wheat to drought-stricken countries in Africa, some facing possible famine.
In mid-May, the United States sent an alert to 14 countries, mostly in Africa, that Russian cargo vessels were leaving ports near Ukraine laden with what a State Department cable described as “stolen Ukrainian grain.” The cable identified by name three Russian cargo vessels it said were suspected of transporting it.
The American alert about the grain has only sharpened the dilemma for African countries, many already feeling trapped between East and West, as they potentially face a hard choice between, on one hand, benefiting from possible war crimes and displeasing a powerful Western ally, and on the other, refusing cheap food at a time when wheat prices are soaring and hundreds of thousands of people are starving.
The Guardian
Christo before Christo: Paris exhibition reveals artist’s earlier works
Exhibition to show items the artist experimented with before larger wrapped pieces that defined him
Long before scaling the heights of the Reichstag in Berlin or the Pont Neuf in Paris, the artist known as Christo started on a much smaller scale.
Having fled communist Bulgaria for Paris and working in a maid’s room, the impoverished refugee began creating his first wrapped sculptures using everyday objects such as cans, bottles and – when he found a bigger studio – old oil barrels.
Today, two years after his death, some of the rare and rarely seen works, many of them creative experiments that would later find expression in far larger projects – including the
wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe last October – feature in a new exhibition in Paris.
The event, at the Gagosian gallery, a short walk from the artist’s first studio, will display 25 artworks created by Christo before his collaboration with his wife, Jeanne-Claude, between 1958 and 1963.