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, planter, JML9999, 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.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
BBC
Syria conflict: Government regains full control of Homs
The Syrian government says its forces have regained total control of the central city of Homs after rebels left the last district under their control.
About 700 rebels and their families, a total of nearly 3,000 people, were evacuated on buses from al-Wair district, government officials say.
"The city of Homs is completely clear of weapons and militants," provincial governor Talal Barazi said.
Many fighters were going to the rebel-held Idlib province, in the north-west.
Some were heading to Jarablus, an area in northern Syria controlled by rebels backed by Turkey.
Reuters
Brooding Iran hardliners say they must still be heard after Rouhani win
Iranian hardliners indignant at President Hassan Rouhani's re-election vowed on Sunday to press their conservative agenda, with some saying his caustic campaign trail attacks on their candidate would bring a backlash.
Rouhani won decisively with 57 percent of the vote on Friday, with promises of more engagement with the outside world, more economic opportunities for Iran’s youth, as well as social justice, individual freedoms and political tolerance.
The president, known for decades as a conciliatory figure, remade himself on the campaign trail as a reformist political street fighter, accusing hardliners of brutality and corruption in language that frequently strained at the boundaries of what is permitted in Iran. At one point, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called rhetoric in a TV debate "unworthy".
In his victory speech, Rouhani continued to sound his defiant note, saying the nation had chosen "the path of interaction with the world, away from violence and extremism.”
N Y Times
Erdogan Says He Will Extend His Sweeping Rule Over Turkey
ISTANBUL — In a signal that Turkey faces indefinite rule by decree, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Sunday that a state of emergency, introduced as a temporary measure after last year’s failed coup, would continue until the country achieved “welfare and peace.”
The state of emergency allows Mr. Erdogan and his cabinet to issue sweeping decrees without parliamentary oversight or review by the constitutional court, giving him an almost untrammeled grip on power.
So far, the decrees have allowed Mr. Erdogan to jail more than 40,000 people accused of plotting a failed coup, fire or suspend more than 140,000 additional people, shut down about 1,500 civil groups, arrest at least 120 journalists and close more than 150 news media outlets.
In late April, a decree issued under the state of emergency was used to block access to Wikipedia.
Despite international criticism of these measures, Mr. Erdogan said on Sunday that the state of emergency “will not be lifted,” according toAnadolu Agency, a state-owned news wire. “Until when? Until the situation reaches welfare and peace.”
BBC
North Korea confirms 'successful' new ballistic missile test
North Korea has confirmed it "successfully" launched another medium-range ballistic missile on Sunday.
The state-run KCNA news agency said the weapon was now ready to be deployed for military action.
The White House said the missile had a shorter range than those used in North Korea's last three tests.
It comes a week after North Korea tested what it said was a new type of rocket capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead.
Last Monday, the UN Security Council again demanded that Pyongyang conduct no further such tests.
It stressed the importance of North Korea "immediately showing sincere commitment to denuclearisation through concrete action".
The Council is now scheduled to meet behind closed doors on Tuesday - a meeting requested by the US, South Korea and Japan.
BBC
China crippled CIA by killing US sources, says New York Times (Take note, trump)
Up to 20 CIA informants were killed or imprisoned by the Chinese government between 2010 and 2012, the New York Times reports, damaging US information-gathering in the country for years.
It is not clear whether the CIA was hacked or whether a mole helped the Chinese to identify the agents, officials told the paper.
They said one of the informants was shot in the courtyard of a government building as a warning to others.
The CIA did not comment on the report.
Four former CIA officials spoke to the paper, telling it that information from sources deep inside the Chinese government bureaucracy started to dry up in 2010. Informants began to disappear in early 2011.
The CIA and FBI teamed up to investigate the events in an operation one source said was codenamed Honey Badger.
The Guardian
Venezuela: 50th day of protests brings central Caracas to a standstill
Masses of protesters with white shirts, homemade gas masks and flags draped around their shoulders shut down a main road in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, in a continuation of near-daily street protests.
Soldiers closed access to the centre of the city and officials closed at least 10 metro stations in anticipation of Saturday’s protest, which was part of demonstrations across the country by hundreds of thousands of people. The protests marked 50 days of protests against the government of President Nicolás Maduro, with unrest gaining momentum despite a rising death toll and chaotic scenes of night-time looting.
State security forces have consistently prevented protesters from reaching the city centre, home to the presidential palace, supreme court and electoral authority.
Raw Story
‘He’s been neutered’: Trump supporters melt down after president calls Islam ‘one of world’s great faiths’
As President Donald Trump is getting hammered on the left for not using the expression “radical Islamic terrorism” during his speech in Saudi Arabia, he is also taking heat from his avid supporters who were drawn to him due to his anti-Mulsim rhetoric when he is in the U.S.
His crime?
Calling Islam “one of the world’s great faiths.”
That double hit — ducking “Islamic terrorism” while praising the religion — was not received very well on Twitter.
Trump’s latest troubles come following a night when Trump confidante Roger Stone tweeted “This makes me want to puke,” under a picture of Trump bowing before the Saudi king.
NPR
NPR/Ipsos Poll: Americans Aren't So Hot On 'America First'
As President Trump begins his first overseas trip, Americans have widely differing views of his approach to foreign policy. But a majority of both Republicans and Democrats want the U.S. to continue its robust engagement with the rest of the world.
More than half the people surveyed in a new NPR/Ipsos poll said America's foreign policy should focus on maintaining the current global order — with the U.S. at the center. Less than a quarter said the country's foreign policy should look out for Americans, even if it harms people in other countries
"Overall, Americans believe the U.S. should be and is a force for good in the world," said pollster Clifford Young, president of Ipsos Public Affairs. But there are partisan differences in how the country should exercise that leadership."
Most Americans (70 percent) believe the U.S. should be the moral leader of the world. But there's a 10-point drop when people are asked if the U.S. is that moral leader. The change is due to Democrats and independents. With Trump as president, Democrats drop off 14 points, independents 17.
The Guardian
Tuscan archives yield up secrets of Leonardo’s mystery mother
The identity of Leonardo da Vinci’s mother has always been a mystery. Art historians have struggled to find information about the woman whose illegitimate son became the artistic genius who painted Mona Lisa. With only a possible first name – Caterina – there has been speculation that she was a peasant or even a slave from north Africa. Beyond that, there is little to go on.
Now, almost six centuries later, one of the world’s leading authorities on Leonardo has given a far fuller account of her story, piecing together her son’s world using previously overlooked documents.
According to Professor Martin Kemp, emeritus professor of art history at Oxford University, Leonardo’s mother was Caterina di Meo Lippi, a poor and vulnerable orphan, and only 15 when she was seduced by a lawyer. She had been living with her grandmother in a decrepit farmhouse, about a mile from Vinci in the Tuscan hills.
Kemp makes his claims in a book out next month, Mona Lisa: The People and the Painting, written with Dr Giuseppe Pallanti, an economist and art researcher. Newly unearthed documents also cast light on the portrait’s famed sitter, Lisa del Giocondo, and her husband, Francesco.
N Y Times
‘Alien: Covenant’ Is a Ho-Hum No. 1 at the Box Office
LOS ANGELES — Meh. The eighth chapter in 20th Century Fox’s “Alien” series arrived to an estimated $36 million in ticket sales in North America — far from a flop, far from a sizzling hit. “Alien: Covenant,” as the latest film is titled, cost roughly $100 million to make, and has taken in an additional $30.3 million overseas.
Unless strong word-of-mouth propels “Alien: Covenant” to big ticket sales in the weeks to come, the film may become the latest example of audience pushback on long-in-the-tooth film franchises.
The domestic opening total was the third highest for the “Alien” series, which first thrilled moviegoers in 1979 with its surrealist central creature and sense of escalating dread. “Prometheus,” a 2012 prequel, arrived to $55.1 million, after adjusting for inflation. “Alien vs. Predator” had $50.6 million in 2004.
The R-rated “Alien: Covenant,” directed by Ridley Scott, who also directed the first “Alien” and “Prometheus,” received mostly positive reviews. Ticket buyers gave it a B grade in CinemaScore exit polls.
For the weekend, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” (Disney) was a close second, taking in $35.1 million, for a three-week domestic total of $301.8 million, according to comScore, which compiles box office data.
C/Net
Twitter's co-founder is sorry if the site helped elect Trump
A co-founder of Twitter says he's sorry if the social networking site helped elect Donald Trump, as the president has suggested.
Evan Williams called Twitter's role in Trump's popularity "a very bad thing" during an interview with The New York Times. The president has said he believes Twitter helped put him in the White House.
"Let me tell you about Twitter," Trump told Fox News in March, "I think that maybe I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Twitter, because I get such a fake press, such a dishonest press."
Williams also called the internet "broken" because it rewards extremes.
When asked about Trump's claim, Williams said, "If it's true that he wouldn't be president if it weren't for Twitter, then yeah, I'm sorry."
The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.