Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Doctor RJ, Magnifico, annetteboardman and Man Oh Man. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) wader, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Interceptor7, BentLiberal, Oke 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.
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BBC
Syria conflict: Obama 'deeply concerned' about Aleppo
US President Barack Obama has expressed "deep concern" about the situation in rebel-held parts of Aleppo, amid an assault by Syrian government forces.
Medics in the city are struggling to cope with the huge number of casualties caused by the most sustained and intense aerial bombardment in years.
Supplies of medicine and blood are running low, as a three-week siege by the army begins to have an impact.
An air strike on a pumping station has also left many areas without water.
"The planes are not leaving the skies at all," Brita Hagi Hassan, president of the rebel city council, told Reuters news agency. "Life in the city is paralysed.”
BBC
Colombia peace deal: Historic agreement is signed
The Colombian government and left-wing Farc rebels have signed a historic agreement that formally brings an end to 52 years of civil war.
The rebel leader Timoleon Jimenez, known as Timochenko, apologised to "all the victims of the conflict" and was greeted by cheers and applause.
He said: "I would like to ask for forgiveness for all the pain that we have caused during this war."
Guests dressed in white at the ceremony in Cartagena, to symbolise peace.
The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, and leaders of Latin American countries were among those present.
The last of the major Cold War conflicts killed 260,000 people and left six million internally displaced.
BBC
Saudi women file petition to end male guardianship system
A petition signed by more than 14,000 Saudi women calling for an end to the country's male guardianship system is being handed to the government.
Women must have the consent of a male guardian to travel abroad, and often need permission to work or study.
Support for the first large-scale campaign on the issue grew online in response to a trending Twitter hashtag.
Activist Aziza Al-Yousef told the BBC she felt "very proud" of the campaign, but now needed a response.
In the deeply conservative Islamic kingdom, a woman must have permission from her father, brother or other male relative - in the case of a widow, sometimes her son - to obtain a passport, marry or leave the country.
The Guardian
Bunker-buster bomb reports may mark new stage in Russia's Syrian assault
The recent claims by the Syrian opposition and the United Nations that Russia is using bunker-buster bombs in Aleppo would, if proven, confirm that a new, more destructive phase in the Russian assault on rebel forces is under way, and that the diplomatic track is effectively closed.
The bombs – capable of destroying underground shelters and command centres – would also suggest Russia is determined to bring the months-long siege of Aleppo to a speedy end, and that they have high-grade intelligence of the whereabouts of Syrian opposition positions.
Justin Bronk, research fellow at the defence thinktank RUSI, explained that bunker-busters are a very specific kind of destructive precision weaponry. “They show up as very different-shaped craters. They go very deep and explode deep underground so they tend to leave deeper but less wide craters than other bombs.”
He added it was very unlikely Russia would use such specific bombs at random or simply to blitz a city since they are very expensive and require specific targeting intelligence to be worth using. If they hit an underground shelter the number of deaths would be huge, but it would be much lower than other generalised heavy bombs if no specific target had been located.
Al Jazeera
Aleppo civilians pay the price as bombardment continues
Rescue workers in Aleppo struggled to help hundreds of wounded Syrians trapped in a massive Russian-backed government air offensive as the bloody battle to recapture the key city entered its fifth day.
Dozens of air strikes hit rebel-held areas of the northern Syrian city on Monday with the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights saying at least 12 people, including three children, were killed.
More than 280 people have died in the city's rebel-held east since the offensive began on Thursday after a ceasefire ended with at least 400 people wounded - including 61 children - on Sunday alone, a doctors' group said.
The Syrian government offensive to recapture all of Aleppo - with Russian air support and Iranian help on the ground - has been accompanied by bombing that residents describe as unprecedented in its ferocity.
Al Jazeera
Deadly Boko Haram attacks in northeastern Nigeria
Boko Haram has killed at least eight soldiers in two attacks in northeastern Nigeria while more than two dozen fighters also died, according to the military.
The armed group ambushed a convoy late on Sunday near Bama, 70km southeast of Maiduguri, resulting in the deaths of an army officer, three soldiers, and three attackers, an army statement said on Monday.
Earlier in the day gunmen attacked an army position at Logomani, 110km northeast of Maiduguri city, killing four soldiers, it said. The army said at least 22 fighters died in the firefight.
The attacks brought the official death toll of troops killed in the past week to 10 with 24 others wounded.
However, Boko Haram claimed more than 40 soldiers from a multinational army were killed in just one attack last week.
CNN (Autoplay)
Senate to vote Wednesday to override 9/11 lawsuit bill veto
Washington (CNN)The Senate will vote Wednesday to override President Barack Obama's veto of a bill to give victims and families of the 9/11 terrorist attacks the legal right to sue Saudi Arabia for any purported role in the plot, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday.
The measure will need a two-thirds vote of the chamber to succeed -- which is expected -- before going to the House for a similar override vote later this week.
It would be the first time in Obama's nearly eight years in office that one of his vetoes will be overturned.
The President opposes the bill because he says it could open the door to lawsuits against the US for actions taken by military service members, diplomats and others.
N Y Times
Witness Details Origins of Bridge Plot and Links Scheme to Christie Aides
NEWARK — David Wildstein was in the operations center of the George Washington Bridge one morning in March 2011 for a discussion about the number of toll collectors when he noticed there were three lanes leading to the bridge cordoned off where traffic was moving faster than the others.
And at that very moment, he had an idea. An awful, wonderful idea.
He could create a traffic jam that would not soon be forgotten.
On Monday, for the first time in federal court here, Mr. Wildstein explained the origins of the lane closings at the bridge in 2013, a scandal that would help to sink the presidential ambitions of Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey.
He also said Mr. Christie’s former campaign manager, one of the governor’s closest confidants and now a top adviser to Donald J. Trump, knew about the scheme to close the lanes before it occurred and that the plan was meant as political retribution.
[snip]
And when Mr. Wildstein, Ms. Kelly and Mr. Baroni had finally decided to act on the plot and had concocted a story that it had to be done as part of traffic study, Mr. Wildstein testified that he also told a Port Authority commissioner who was seen as “a member of the Christie team,” who “understood” the need to hurt the mayor.
N Y Times
Decline in Oil Prices Lands on Government Workers as Saudi Arabia Cuts Paychecks
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia on Monday announced sudden, drastic cuts to salaries and perks for government employees as part of the kingdom’s struggle to slash spending at a time of low oil prices.
The cuts, unveiled in a series of royal decrees and cabinet statements read aloud on state television, reduced ministers’ salaries by 20 percent, slashed perquisites for members of the consultative assembly and limited overtime pay and vacation for civil servants.
The drop in world petroleum prices since 2014 has caused major financial problems for the Saudi government, which gets most of its income from oil and ran a budget deficit of nearly $100 billion last year.
The new measures came as a shock to many in the country’s bloated public sector, which for decades has served as a vehicle for the royal family to distribute its oil wealth in the form of well-paid jobs that often require little work.
More than two-thirds of employed Saudis work for the government.
C/Net
Palantir alleged to have discriminated against Asian job seekers (Not our palantir)
The US Department of Labor sued data miner Palantir for discriminating against Asian job applicants for software engineering positions, the government said Monday.
The suit alleges Palantir systematically rejected Asian applicants even though they were as qualified as white applicants. Many of the rejections occurred during the resume screening and phone interview stages, according to the complaint, and relies on an employee referral process "that disproportionately excluded Asians."
The lawsuit alleges the practices that cause the discrimination are ongoing.
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