Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Interceptor7, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame and jck. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) 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.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
Subbing for Chitown Kev tonight.
BBC
Coronavirus: UK becomes first country in Europe to pass 30,000 deaths
The UK has become the first country in Europe to pass 30,000 coronavirus deaths, according to the latest government figures.
A total of 30,076 people have now died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for the virus, up by 649 from Tuesday.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said they were "heartbreaking losses".
On Tuesday, the number of deaths recorded in the UK passed Italy's total,becoming the highest in Europe.
The latest total for Italy, which also records deaths of those who have tested positive for the virus, stands at 29,684.
The UK now has the second-highest number of recorded coronavirus deaths in the world, behind the United States which has more than 70,000.
Experts have warned that it could be months before full global comparisons can be made.
BBC
New Zealand coronavirus: Massive car heist under cover of lockdown
It must have looked like the heist of their dreams. A whole yard full of well-maintained rental vehicles, all lined up, unlocked and ready to go - with the keys inside.
So, under cover of New Zealand's exceptionally strict virus lockdown, a group of thieves went to work.
They cut through the fence of local rental company Jucy in Auckland, lifted the gate from its hinges and began driving out the cars.
New Zealand was at a virtual standstill under the coronavirus lockdown making the theft easy. In fact, so easy it was a temptation too far - and the thieves came back for a second helping. And another.
A total of 97 vehicles were spirited away.
Over several days on a long weekend, they drove the cars in batches from the site and down the deserted roads of Auckland.
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In the end, the lockdown which made the whole theft possible in the first place also became its undoing. The police say the country's standstill actually made it easier to track down the cars and those who stole them.
One by one, most of the cars were tracked down and returned to Jucy. So far, 85 of the missing vehicles have been recovered and 29 people have been arrested in connection with the heist.
The Guardian
Millions predicted to develop tuberculosis as result of Covid-19 lockdown
The head of a global partnership to end tuberculosis (TB) said she is “sickened” by research that revealed millions more people are expected to contract the disease as a result of Covid-19 restrictions.
Up to 6.3 million more people are predicted to develop TB between now and 2025 and 1.4 million more people are expected to die as cases go undiagnosed and untreated during lockdown. This will set back global efforts to end TB by five to eight years.
“I have to say we look from the TB community in a sort of puzzled way because TB has been around for thousands of years,” Ditiu said. “For 100 years we have had a vaccine and we have two or three potential vaccines in the pipeline. We need around half a billion [people] to get the vaccine by 2027 and we look in amazement on a disease that … is 120 days old and it has 100 vaccine candidates in the pipeline. So I think this world, sorry for my French, is really fucked up,” she said.
Deutsche Welle
German city issues coronavirus pigeon-feeding permits
The city of Cologne, in western Germany, has issued special pigeon-feeding permits to 25 animal rights activists after they raised concerns that the birds could starve during the coronavirus lockdown.
The activists will now be allowed to feed the pigeons at designated "pigeon hotspots" around the city, including in front of its iconic cathedral.
Under normal circumstances, feeding pigeons is banned in Cologne. Breaking the rules carries a fine of up to €1,000 ($1,080). But in March, German animal rights charity, German Animal Welfare Association, raised concerns that pigeons were being adversely affected by the coronavirus restrictions. The birds usually feast on tiny leftovers dropped by residents leaving cafes and takeaways, but with these closed the birds were going hungry, said the charity.
The local environmental authority listened to concerns raised by the activists, agreeing that the birds must be fed.
NPR
The Pandemic Emptied American Roads. But Driving Is Picking Back Up
America is starting its engines again.
Freeways and city streets have been remarkably empty for weeks. The coronavirus pandemic caused an unprecedented drop in U.S. traffic — total miles driven dropped by more than 40% in the last two weeks of March, according to data collected by Arity.
In some states, mileage eventually dropped more than 60% below what would be expected without a pandemic.
But for several weeks now, the same data shows that miles driven are starting to climb again. Driving remains well below normal levels, but is rising consistently. The decline in driving began well before states imposed stay-at-home orders, and the increase similarly began before those orders started to be lifted.
New York Times
The European Union Is Facing Its Worst Recession Ever. Watch Out, World.
BRUSSELS — The good news for Europe is that the worst of the pandemic is beginning to ease. This week deaths in Italy hit a nearly two-month low. And the German leader Angela Merkel announced that schools, day care centers and restaurants would reopen in the next few days.
But the relief could be short-lived.
The European Commission released projections on Wednesday that Europe’s economy will shrink by 7.4 percent this year. A top official told residents of the European Union, first formed in the aftermath of the Second World War, to expect the “deepest economic recession in its history.”
To put this figure in perspective, the 27-nation bloc’s economy had been predicted to grow by 1.2 percent this year. In 2009, at the back of the global financial crisis, it shrank by 4.5 percent.
It’s a grim reminder that even if the virus dissipates, the economic fallout could pressure the world economy for months, if not years.
Reuters
Supreme Court's Ginsburg discharged from hospital
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, at 87 the U.S. Supreme Court’s oldest member, was discharged on Wednesday from hospital where she was treated for a benign gall bladder condition and took part remotely in arguments in two cases.
In a statement released on Wednesday evening, court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said Ginsburg is “doing well and glad to be home” after being discharged from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Earlier in the day, her participation in two arguments, conducted by teleconference amid the coronavirus pandemic, marked the latest instance in which the liberal justice withstood a health scare and returned swiftly to her duties on the court, where she has served since 1993. Ginsburg asked a number of questions and her voice sounded hesitant at times but largely remained firm.
New York Times
The Trump Administration Is Reversing Nearly 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s the Full List.
After three years in office, the Trump administration has dismantled most of the major climate and environmental policies the president promised to undo.
Calling the rules unnecessary and burdensome to the fossil fuel industry and other businesses, his administration has weakened Obama-era limits on planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and from cars and trucks, and rolled back many more rules governing clean air, water and toxic chemicals. Several major reversals have been finalized in recent weeks as the country has struggled to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.
In all, a New York Times analysis, based on research from Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School and other sources, counts more than 60 environmental rules and regulations officially reversed, revoked or otherwise rolled back under Mr. Trump. An additional 34 rollbacks are still in progress.
Deutsche Welle
Phosphorus in our pee — the new gold?
Phosphorus is essential for growing crops, but global reserves are shrinking fast. Now researchers are looking for ways to recycle the valuable mineral — by harvesting human urine.
It's hard to imagine tennis fans fertilizing the pristine lawns at Wimbledon with urine, or soccer supporters slipping off at half time to donate their pee to green the grounds of Bayern Munich's home stadium. Yet such scenarios could become reality as a result of a Swiss invention called the "Urine Express."
The novel mobile treatment plant can be set up next to grass sports fields to recycle urine and collect phosphorus and other valuable minerals that would otherwise be swallowed into the sewage system.
"We want to use it as a way to make a contribution to saving resources," Bastian Etter, one of the project's founders, told DW. "We usually use 100 liters of water to flush away a single liter of urine.”
The Guardian
Millie Small obituary
With international sales of 5m copies in 1964, the year of its release, the hit single My Boy Lollipop, sung by Millie, who has died aged 72, “opened the door for Jamaican music to the world,” said the producer Chris Blackwell. He had flown the 16-year-old Millie Small from Kingston to London to manage her career. Millie’s shrill, joyful vocals, married to a galloping ska rhythm in Olympic Studios in London in an arrangement by the Jamaican master guitarist Ernest Ranglin, were beamed out all that summer from the new pirate radio stations, such as Caroline, that were instrumental in helping promote the record. In May 1964, two months after the release of My Boy Lollipop, Millie was given a guest appearance on the ITV special Around the Beatles.