Overnight News Digest: They war-gamed dimming the sun. It went worse than you think.

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Facebook Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window)Bluesky Share on X (Opens in new window)X Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard Save 14 Comments Add Daily Kos to Google Greg Gibson, MD They War-Gamed Dimming the Sun. It Went Even Worse Than You Think

WHEN IT COMES to deciding the fate of the planet, Colleen Golja always thought science and reason would have a seat at the table. That was until one morning last September in London, when the climate researcher took part in the first in a series of war games. The goal: to prevent an uncontrolled global race to develop a technology aimed at cooling the planet but that comes with vast, unknown risks that could reshape life on Earth.

“I thought that would be such an easy thing. Like, we can all agree to do ethical research and make sure it’s for the better of all humans,” she told WIRED. “And boy, was I wrong.”

This is an open thread where everyone is welcome, especially night owls and early birds, to share and discuss the happenings of the day. Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.

A New Anti-Aging Drug Looks to Turn Back the Clock on Skin Age

A WAVE OF biotech companies is looking to prove that it’s possible to slow down the aging process. Mountain View, California–based Rubedo Life Sciences is starting with the most outwardly visible sign: the skin.

The company’s experimental treatment is showing early promise that it may be able to reduce the appearance of aging, according to data the company presented at the Aging Research and Drug Discovery meeting in Boston earlier this month.

In a small clinical trial, Rubedo tested its topical cream on 11 people with atopic dermatitis, an inflammatory skin condition and the most common type of eczema. The drug targets a mechanism of cellular senescence, a biological state in which damaged or stressed cells permanently stop dividing but do not die. These senescent or “zombie” cells accumulate as people age and can release substances that contribute to inflammation and tissue damage, which contributes to disease.

Ukraine war latest: Russian drones strike Kyiv morning and evening, kill woman, injure 14

Russian drone attacks hit Kyiv twice on Oct. 12, killing one person and injuring at least 14 others, city authorities said.

During an evening attack, a Russian drone struck a 25-story residential building in Kyiv’sDarnytskyi District, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration.

A woman was killed in the strike, while 11 people were injured, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.Earlier in the day, Russia launched a drone attack on Kyiv, injuring three people, including an elderly woman.

Klitschko first said at 11:32 a.m. local time that air defenses were operating in the city.

Ukraine moves to speed up privatization of state-owned assets

Ukraine’s privatization agency could see a major boost in the near future after parliament approved the first reading of a bill on Oct. 12 to streamline the auction of thousands of state-owned assets.

If passed, the bill could help alleviate bottlenecks the State Property Fund has repeatedly faced when trying to sell state-owned assets and help shore up funds for the state budget. Privatization is also key condition set by Western partners such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for continued financial support to Ukraine.

Under the current rules, the fund can only privatize assets after other state bodies, such as ministries and local authorities, transfer them. There is also no deadline for those transfers, so assets can sit on the books of government bodies indefinitely with no clear path to privatization.

Marco Rubio is promoting troubling ideas about ‘western civilization’

hey had obviously worked hard on the backdrop – and it was magnificent. On 7 October, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, delivered a major speech in Athens, outdoors, with the Acropolis behind him. The sun was setting, bathing the ancient scene, including the Parthenon, in the light of the golden hour.

The golden hour, but yet not quite the golden age. This was not Pericles defending democracy. Instead, Rubio offered a haunting vision of the choices facing the west, arguing that the US and Europe must rediscover the values of exploration and conquest that once drove centuries of expansion, or face decline and irrelevance.

For long stretches, it was an exercise in nostalgia, lamenting the decline of western civilization as if this were a seminar at Hillsdale College or the Claremont Institute.

In fact, a freshman seminar would have been able to puncture most of the speech’s assumptions. It’s true that the founders read deeply in the literature of ancient Greece and Rome, but they went there to justify their hope to build a democracy of equals – not a civilization of conquest.

Andy Burnham promises ‘serious dialogue’ over UK’s relationship with EU

Andy Burnham has promised a “serious dialogue” over the UK’s future place in Europe, saying the existing relationship is “not good enough” as he framed next month’s Brussels summit as a possible first step to EU membership.

The prime minister said Britain must take a “clear-eyed rational look” at its long-term relationship with the bloc to boost economic growth and control immigration, which needed to go beyond Labour’s existing red lines.

The next “reset” summit will take place on 20 November, ending months of uncertainty, with the two sides seeking to sign deals on food and drink, youth mobility and emissions trading, which Burnham hopes could provide a £10bn-a-year boost to the economy.

One EU diplomat said a deal on the three “significant but modest” issues needed to be approved as a test of the UK’s good faith so both sides could get on with the “real reset” in the longer-term relationship.

Zelenskyy vows to retaliate if Russian strikes on Ukraine’s power grid continue

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed to respond to Russia’s continuing attacks on the Ukrainian power grid as European leaders rally around Kyiv amid a feud with Donald Trump over Ukraine’s strikes on oil refineries.

Speaking to a gathering of European security officials in Warsaw on Monday, the Ukrainian president said Kyiv would retaliate if strikes on its power grid continued: “If Russia does not agree to an energy ceasefire this winter, we will respond.”

On Sunday, Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” between Kyiv and Moscow that Zelenskyy said neither side had agreed to. On Monday, Zelenskyy said he was “surprised” by the post, which went online while Kyiv was being attacked by Russian Shahed drones.

Russia then launched a “targeted attack” on a Kharkiv power station hours later, as much of Kyiv was plunged into darkness. “It’s clear that Putin does not read Truth Social,” Zelenskyy said.

Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia raise fears of wider war

The Saudi-led coalition forces fighting the Houthis in Yemen say they intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the Iran-backed group on Monday.

Information released by the coalition said the missile was headed for the Saudi capital Riyadh.

The interception came after Saudi Arabia earlier issued a “hostile threat” warning.

A Houthi military spokesman said it targeted the airport in Riyadh with a ballistic missile, and a military base in the south of the kingdom with a drone.

There were no immediate reports from the Saudi side of new strikes hitting any targets. 

A Saudi-led military coalition supports Yemen’s government against the Iran-backed Houthis.

NATO Details Plan to Shield Ukraine’s European Allies From Russia

With Russia intensifying efforts to destabilize European nations that support Ukraine, NATO’s top military commander on Monday detailed a blueprint to deter Moscow in the event of outright war, a concept he summarized as “block, blunt and break.”

The commander, Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich of the U.S. Air Force, said the alliance does not view a military confrontation with Russia as “imminent or inevitable,” despite Russian sabotage, arson, cyberattacks and disinformation aimed at rattling European resolve and severing weapons supply lines to Ukraine.

But in that environment, the general said he had made a deliberate decision to publicly disclose the core of NATO’s classified war plan — known as its “theory of victory” — to bolster confidence across 32 allied countries.

Federal agents search Rep. Ilhan Omar’s DC home, DOJ says it approved the warrant

Federal agents searched the Washington, D.C. home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Monday morning.

The Department of Justice said in a statement to NPR that agents with Homeland Security Investigations “executed a judicially authorized search warrant.”

The warrant was approved by the DOJ and is part of an “ongoing federal investigation.” Federal authorities did not give further details on the reason for the probe.

Details about the investigation were confirmed by current and former federal officials with knowledge of the search who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Just thinking about this as the state harasses Ilhan Omar over 40 year old paperwork.

2 Americans win Nobel Prize in economics for work on boom-bust cycles

Two Americans have won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their work on how to smooth boom-and-bust cycles to limit inflation and unemployment.

Robert Hall of Stanford University and Michael Woodford of Columbia University were honored for their focus on how individual households and businesses make decisions on purchases and pricing — work that became the foundation of the “New Keynesian” approach to economics. 

The importance of that work has been underscored in recent years by the pandemic, which pushed millions of people out of work, and the supply shocks that followed, driving up the cost of living.

Saudi warning system stayed silent before deadly airport attacks

RIYADH, Oct 13 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia stopped issuing public warnings of imminent military attacks days before a series of deadly strikes on Riyadh airport that killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 300.

The government has not said why there were no alerts to the public before the four Riyadh attacks in the past week.

The warnings had served to highlight ​the violence undermining the kingdom’s efforts to project an image of calm to its people and the world during its war with Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis.

Trump defends Russia diesel deal as lawmakers from both parties complain

WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Monday defended a diesel oil deal he ​made with Russia as lawmakers from both parties complained the agreement appears to violate US law barring imports of Russian ‌energy until Moscow ends its aggression against Ukraine.

Trump has said the deal to lift sanctions on Russian oil exports would help bring down high fuel prices. However some analysts doubted the amount of diesel Trump has said Russia would provide over the next three months would do much to bring down prices, since it is equal to ​about 12 hours of global consumption of the fuel.

The crew of the Overnight News Digest consists of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, FarWestGirl, eeff, annetteboardman, Besame, and jck. Alumni editors include (but not limited to), Rise above the swamp, DoomandGloom, 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.

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