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
Storm Harvey: Up to 2,000 rescued as Houston hit by 'catastrophic floods'
Up to 2,000 people have been rescued from floods in and around Houston, as Tropical Storm Harvey continues to batter Texas with heavy rains.
There are reports of possible deaths in submerged vehicles, but investigations continue, Chief Darryl Coleman of the Harris County Sheriff's Office said.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott told the media he could not confirm storm-related deaths.
The National Weather Service (NWS) says conditions are "unprecedented".
It said there was a "flash flood emergency" across the Houston Metro area, with travel near impossible.
Many shelters have been opened, including in a convention centre.
Governor Abbott said about 250 roads and motorways had been closed in Texas and that he had made a federal disaster declaration for 19 counties that was granted by President Donald Trump.
"We are dealing with a triangle of ongoing rain, including Houston, Victoria and Corpus Christi cities," Mr Abbott said.
Reuters
U.S. gasoline prices jump as Hurricane Harvey knocks out Texas refineries
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gasoline prices hit two-year highs on Monday as massive floods caused by Hurricane Harvey forced refineries across the U.S. Gulf Coast to shut down.
In crude oil markets, Brent futures LCOc1 were pushed up by pipeline blockades in Libya, but U.S. crude futures eased.
Harvey came ashore over the weekend as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years, killing at least two people, causing large-scale flooding, and forcing the closure of Houston port as well as several refineries.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Monday that Harvey was moving away from the Texas coast but was expected to linger close to the shore through Tuesday, resulting in ongoing strong rainfall and flooding.
Spot prices for U.S. gasoline futures RBc1 surged 7 percent to a peak of $1.7799 per gallon, the highest level since late July 2015.
Al Jazeera
Floods kill over 1,200 in India, Nepal and Bangladesh
The death toll from monsoon floods in India, Bangladesh and Nepal has climbed above 1,200, as rescue workers scramble to provide aid to millions of people stranded by the worst such disaster in years.
All three countries suffer frequent flooding during the June-September monsoon season, but international aid agencies say things are worse this year with thousands of villages cut off and people deprived of food and clean water for days.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted an aerial survey of flood-hit Bihar state on Saturday and has pledged a relief fund of $78m
Government officials in India's eastern state of Bihar told Reuters news agency on Friday that at least 379 people had been killed over the past few days, with thousands sheltered in relief camps away from their inundated homes.
"This year farming has collapsed due to floods and we will witness a sharp rise in unemployment," said Anirudh Kumar, a disaster management official in Patna - the capital of poor Bihar state known for mass migration to cities in search of jobs.
BBC
Myanmar Rakhine: Thousands flee to Bangladesh border
Thousands of people have fled their homes following two days of violence in a deepening crisis in the state of Rakhine in Myanmar.
Members of the Muslim Rohingya minority escaped to the border with Bangladesh but Bangladeshi border guards are turning them back.
Fighting erupted when Rohingya fighters attacked 30 police stations on Friday and clashes continued on Saturday.
Pope Francis has appealed for an end to persecution of the Rohingya people.
They face severe restrictions inside mainly Buddhist Myanmar, where tensions with the majority population have been rumbling for years.
Tens of thousands of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh previously, accusing the Myanmar authorities of ethnic persecution.
Rakhine, the poorest region in Myanmar, is home to more than a million Rohingya. Extremism among them has grown out of the restrictions the group faces, the BBC's regional editor for Asia/Pacific, Michael Bristow, says.
Al Jazeera
Hobby Lobby funds Israeli settlement archaeology
Washington, DC - Hobby Lobby, the US-based arts-and-crafts retailer recently fined for buying Iraqi artefacts on the black market, gave $25,000 to organisations based in Israeli settlements - including archaeological groups plundering Palestine's cultural heritage.
The payments were made by the Museum of the Bible (MB), Hobby Lobby's non-profit museum set to open in Washington, DC in November.
The information comes from tax documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service, the US body responsible for collecting taxes.
Non-profit organisations are required by law to file these tax forms, which are then made publicly available.
Ahmed Rjoob, director-general of the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, told Al Jazeera Israel's theft of Palestine's cultural heritage "significantly impacts Palestinian social, economic, and cultural sustainability".
"Israeli archaeological activities significantly impact the ability of Palestinians to access, use and develop their lands and habitats," he said.
Al Jazeera
Palestinian Museum highlights Jerusalem's isolation
Birzeit, Occupied West Bank - Outside the white-walled facade of the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit, a cacophony of sharp, demanding voices disturbed the quiet.
"Ramallah! Ramallah! Ramallah!" cried one voice. Others followed, booming from the loudspeakers placed across the museum car park, enticing potential travellers to destinations including Gaza, Beirut and Damascus.
The sound installation, Untitled (Servees) by Emily Jacir, brought a chaotic urban scene to a sleepy hilltop in the occupied West Bank for the launch of Jerusalem Lives, the inaugural exhibition at the Palestinian Museum. The museum's formal opening was set for Sunday evening.
"Emily did this work in 2008 in Jerusalem at Damascus Gate," said Reem Fadda, curator of Jerusalem Lives. "She asked the taxi drivers to recreate the emotion that was there when they used to take travellers all across the cities of Palestine, from Lyd to Ramle to Ramallah and across the borders into Arab cities. They used to go to Damascus, Beirut and it was all connected.”
The Guardian
USS John S McCain: bodies of 10 sailors recovered after collision with tanker
Divers have recovered the remains of all 10 sailors who went missing after the USS John S McCain and an oil tanker collided near Singapore last week, the US Navy said Monday.
Navy and Marine Corps divers had been searching in flooded compartments of the destroyer after the damaged ship docked in Singapore. The cause of the 21 August collision is under investigation.
The crash ripped a gash in the McCain’s hull, flooding crew berths and machinery and communications rooms.
The commander of the navy’s Japan-based 7th Fleet was fired last week after a series of accidents this year raised questions about its operations.
The firing of Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, a three-star admiral, was a rare dismissal of a high-ranking officer for operational reasons.
The navy also ordered an operational pause for its fleets worldwide to make sure all steps are being taken to ensure safe and effective operations.
The Guardian
Iraqi forces retake most of Tal Afar from Islamic State
Iraqi forces have retaken almost all of Tal Afar, Islamic State’s stronghold in the north-west of the country, the military has said.
Fighting was ongoing in al-Ayadiya, a small area just outside the city. Iraqi forces were waiting to retake the city’s surrounding areas to declare a complete victory.
The US-backed operation comes just over a month after Mosul was retaken from the terror group, ending its three-year rule over Iraq’s second city and confining the extremists to ever-shrinking pockets of the country, stretching to the Syrian border. It was from Mosul that Isis declared its self-proclaimed caliphate over parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
On Saturday Iraqi counter-terrorism units said they had taken control of the centre of Tal Afar, including its historic Ottoman citadel. “They raised the Iraqi flag on the citadel,” said General Abdulamir Yarallah, commander of military operations in the battle.
Iraqi forces now hold “94% of the city, 27 out of 29” districts including the centre and citadel, according to the Joint Operations Command (JOC), which coordinates the anti-Isis operation in Iraq.
N Y Times
Trump Forges Ahead on Costly Nuclear Overhaul
During his speech last week about Afghanistan, President Trump slipped in a line that had little to do with fighting the Taliban: “Vast amounts” are being spent on “our nuclear arsenal and missile defense,” he said, as the administration builds up the military.
The president is doing exactly that. Last week, the Air Force announced major new contracts for an overhaul of the American nuclear force: $1.8 billion for initial development of a highly stealthy nuclear cruise missile, and nearly $700 million to begin replacing the 40-year-old Minuteman missiles in silos across the United States.
While both programs were developed during the Obama years, the Trump administration has seized on them, with only passing nods to the debate about whether either is necessary or wise. They are the first steps in a broader remaking of the nuclear arsenal — and the bombers, submarines and missiles that deliver the weapons — that the government estimated during Mr. Obama’s tenure would ultimately cost $1 trillion or more.
Even as his administration nurtured the programs, Mr. Obama argued that by making nuclear weapons safer and more reliable, their numbers could be reduced, setting the world on a path to one day eliminating them. Some of Mr. Obama’s national security aides, believing that Hillary Clinton would win the presidential election, expected deep cutbacks in the $1 trillion plan.
N Y Times
Drug Aimed at Inflammation May Lower Risk of Heart Disease and Cancer
A drug that fights inflammation can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and possibly lung cancer, in people who have already had one heart attack and are at high risk for another, a new study finds.
Researchers outside the study say the findings represent a major milestone — proof of a biologic concept that opens the door to new ways of treating and preventing cardiovascular disease in people who are still at risk despite standard therapies.
“This is fantastic,” said Dr. David J. Maron, the director of preventive cardiology at Stanford University School of Medicine. “The green light just went on for full-fledged investigation and development of effective and cost-effective new therapies.”
But experts also cautioned that potentially fatal side effects of the drug, as well as its high cost, mean it is unlikely to be widely used. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and in the United States, where it killed nearly 634,000 people in 2015. Globally, it killed 15 million.
N Y Times
Does Trump Represent U.S. Values? ‘The President Speaks for Himself,’ Tillerson Says
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, addressing President Trump’s blaming of “both sides” in the racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Va., declined to say on Sunday whether Mr. Trump’s response represented “American values.”
“The president speaks for himself,” Mr. Tillerson said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Asked by the host, Chris Wallace, about a United Nations statement condemning the president’s words, Mr. Tillerson said that “I don’t believe anyone doubts the American people’s values” or the government’s commitment to them.
Mr. Wallace then inquired about Mr. Trump’s own values. After Mr. Tillerson’s pointed response, Mr. Wallace asked whether he was separating himself from the president on the issue.
Mr. Tillerson answered: “I have spoken. I have made my own comments as to our values as well in a speech I gave to the State Department this past week.”
C/Net (Autoplay)
New find means Italians made wine 5,000 years ago
People have been sipping on Italian wine for thousands of years longer than anyone thought, and the revelation comes courtesy of ancient pottery more than 5,000 years old found still soaked in the stuff.
Researchers conducted chemical analysis on large storage jars found in a cave in Monte Kronio, Sicily, that date to the Copper Age(early 4th millennium BC) and found they tested positive for wine residue.
The discovery has been published in Microchemical Journal and represents the earliest discovery of that deliciously rotten, pounded grape juice on the Italian peninsula.
The find also pushes the assumed start of wine drinking -- and wine headaches -- there back by a few thousand years.
Generally it's been thought that wine production didn't get started in Italy until more recently, probably the Middle Bronze Age, or around 1300 to 1100 B.C.