(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Overnight News Digest December 15, 2024 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-12-15 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 JeremyBloom. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Interceptor 7, Man Oh Man (RIP), wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), rfall, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw. OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos since 2007, 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. Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments. BBC Several hundred feared dead after Mayotte cyclone Hundreds, and possibly thousands, of people are feared dead in Mayotte after the French Indian Ocean territory was devastated by a powerful cyclone. Rescue workers are still attempting to reach some communities as they search for survivors. Entire settlements were flattened when Cyclone Chido brought wind speeds of more than 225km/h (140mph), with the poorest living in makeshift shelters particularly hard hit. Some of Mayotte's population of 320,000 have said they are struggling with severe shortages of food, water and shelter. One resident of the capital city, Mamoudzou, waiting in line for supplies said: "We've had no water for three days now, so it's starting to be a lot. BBC Royal Mail takeover by Czech billionaire approved The sale of Royal Mail's parent company to a Czech billionaire has been approved by the government. The £3.6 billion takeover by Daniel Kretinsky's EP Group will be announced on Monday morning, the BBC understands. The government will retain a so called "golden share" that will require it to approve any major changes to Royal Mail's ownership, HQ location and tax residency. Other commitments to unions include workers getting a 10% share of any dividends paid out to Kretinsky, as well as the formation of a workers group that will meet monthly with the directors of Royal Mail to give employees a bigger voice on how it is run. In addition to owning 27% of West Ham United football club and 10% of Sainsbury, Mr Kretinsky's companies also own a gas transmission service which still pipes much reduced levels of Russian gas to Europe, paid for and with the consent of the EU. The takeover was called in for review under national security laws as it is considered vital national infrastructure. trump has said he wants to privatize our USPS. They will sell all the real estate to buddies for a penny on the dollar. The Guardian Russian tanker sinks in Black Sea spilling 4,300 tonnes of oil A Russian tanker carrying more than 4,000 tonnes of oil products has sunk in the Black Sea amid stormy conditions while a second has run aground, threatening an ecological disaster. The cargo ship Volgoneft-212 snapped in half on Sunday after being hit by a large wave. Video showed its bow end sticking vertically out of the water. The boat got into difficulties off the east coast of occupied Crimea, 5 miles (8km) from the Kerch strait, Russian media reported. Russian investigators opened two criminal cases to look into possible safety violations after at least one person was killed when the 136-metre tanker, which had 15 people on board, went down. The tanker was carrying 4,300 tonnes of low-grade heavy fuel oil, known as mazut. The Guardian Israel strikes Syria as Netanyahu approves plan to expand Golan Heights settlement Israel struck dozens of sites in Syria overnight with airstrikes, despite the Syrian rebel leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, saying his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group was not interested in conflict with Israel. Jolani’s comments came as Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced on Sunday that he had approved a plan to expand settlement building in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The latest airstrikes follow a statement by Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, that Israeli troops, who seized the Golan Heights buffer zone with Syria last week, would remain for the winter on Mount Hermon – known to Syrians as Jabel Sheikh – in positions they occupied last week. “There are no excuses for any foreign intervention in Syria now after the Iranians have left. We are not in the process of engaging in a conflict with Israel.” The Guardian All eyes on Prince Andrew after alleged Chinese spy controversy The royal family’s Christmas Day walk from Sandringham House to St Mary Magdalene church in Norfolk is a longstanding tradition. But it has also become a barometer of internal pressures. So, all eyes will be on whether the Duke of York is among family members walking alongside the king and queen this Christmas after the alleged Chinese spy controversy. Royal sources have reportedly revealed Charles is still considering the optics, and whether or not to ban his younger brother from this very public part of the royals’ festivities, which attracts crowds of wellwishers. News, released in court documents last week, that an alleged Chinese spy, now banned from the UK, formed links at the heart of the British establishment and previously became close to Andrew. AP News Bitcoin mining is one of the suspected causes of the power outages disrupting life in Iran TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s capital and outlying provinces have faced rolling power blackouts for weeks in October and November, with electricity cuts disrupting people’s lives and businesses. And while several factors are likely involved, some suspect cryptocurrency mining has played a role in the outages. The demand on the grid has not let up, however — even as Iranians stopped using air conditioners as the weather cooled in the fall and before winter months set in, when people fire up their gas heaters. The surge has led some to suspect that organized cryptocurrency mining — sucking away huge amounts of power — has played a part in the outages in Iran. Reuters Macron has a new prime minister but the same old problems PARIS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - When veteran centrist Francois Bayrou, France's new prime minister , was education minister in the 1990s, his plan to increase subsidies for private schools led to nationwide protests. He quickly caved in and would stay in the post for four more years. Three decades later, he will face a different force in the shape of a fractured and fractious parliament where one of his earliest tasks - as President Emmanuel Macron's fourth prime minister of the year - will be to pass a budget for 2025. First, he must name a government which, like that of his predecessor Michel Barnier, will have minority support in parliament and be vulnerable to attack from far-right and left-wing opponents. The ouster of Barnier and his cabinet - the first time France's parliament had voted to remove a government since 1962 - seemed to stun even those behind the move. For now, there is cross-party support for emergency legislation to ensure government funding does not dry up - but then the hard work on a budget for next year will begin. Al Jazeera LIVE: Israel kills 69 in Gaza, plans to expand settlements in Golan Heights Israeli forces killed at least 69 people in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, including in four attacks targeting schools where displaced Palestinians were sheltering, medics say. The victims included Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmed Al-Louh, two other Palestinian journalists and five members of the Palestinian Civil Defence. Israeli authorities also announced plans to double the population of Israeli settlers in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights after Israel’s military seized land in the territory following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 44,976 Palestinians. USA Today Firefighters work to contain Franklin Fire as weather cools: See wildfire map [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/12/15/2292112/-Overnight-News-Digest-December-15-2024?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/