Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Interceptor7, Magnifico, annetteboardman and Besame. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, 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.
CNN: Puerto Rico releases records of deaths since Hurricane Maria to CNN and another news organization by john D. Sutter
San Juan, Puerto Rico (CNN)The Puerto Rican government on Tuesday released to CNN and another news organization a database of information on all deaths that occurred after Hurricane Maria, which pummeled this US commonwealth on September 20.
Officials had attempted to stall on the delivery of this information, filing a motion on Monday asking a court to vacate a requirement that the data be delivered by Tuesday.
A judge rejected that motion and officials on Tuesday turned over a database containing information on all the thousands of people who died in Puerto Rico after the storm. Additionally, officials said they planned to make 24,000 death certificates available within five business days. They planned to make 1,000 of those death certificates available to journalists on Tuesday.
CNN and the Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI) in Puerto Rico sued the Puerto Rican government in February for death certificates and other records following Hurricane Maria.
CNN plans to use the records to further investigate deaths that followed that storm. The data will include many deaths that occurred after the storm but were unrelated to Hurricane Maria.
Chicago Sun-Times: Emanuel says talk of Madigan’s future misses the point of #MeToo movement by Fran Spielman
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday rose to the defense of embattled Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan — by claiming that the raging debate about whether Madigan should stay or go misses the whole point of the #MeToo movement.
Four instances of sexual harassment and bullying in Madigan’s once-vaunted and impenetrable political organization have prompted calls for the state’s most powerful Democrat to step down as party chairman.
The drumbeat got louder — and even prompted questions about whether Madigan can hold on as speaker — after a new round of sexual harassment and bullying allegations prompted Madigan to force out his trusted chief of staff Tim Mapes. Mapes was also dropped as executive director of the Illinois Democratic Party.
Asked about reports on how Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan has handled sexual harassment claims, the mayor says focusing just on high-profile individuals is not the best way to find a comprehensive solution to the problem.
There is no ‘’comprehensive solution’’ to the problem without accountability.
Cincinnati Enquirer: Weed in Ohio: Medicine now, but that'll change in time by Byron McCauley
On Monday, two local businesses, including one founded by the Rev. Damon Lynch III, were awarded provisional licenses to sell weed derivatives as medicine in Ohio.
Praise the Lord and pass the cannabis oil!
Lynch, the pastor of New Prospect Baptist Church in Roselawn, casts a long shadow as a preacher and as a leader in our community. His group, Green Rx LLC, would operate from a 7,000-square-foot building in Hartwell. Care Med Associates LLC, headed by Jean Gould, would operate in Columbia Township. So, as early as September, patients with qualifying medical prescriptions can buy products like edibles, oils, patching and vaping concentrates.
That Lynch, who happens to be African American, is involved in the medical marijuana dispensary business may be curious to some. But purely from an economic and healthcare standpoint, I get it. Lynch often emphasizes economic empowerment and legacy-building to his congregation.
In February, he told the Enquirer's Randy Tucker: "Other than medical professionals, nobody deals with more sick people than pastors. We're not doing this to help people get high. We're doing this to help people with a prescription from a doctor. If this was recreational, I wouldn't be involved.''
Portland Press Herald: Amid Maine’s first ranked-choice election, LePage declares he ‘probably’ won’t certify results by Edward D. Murphy and Peter McGuire
Gov. Paul LePage said Tuesday he may not certify the results from a historic vote Tuesday because he is opposed to a new way of voting.
But Maine’s secretary of state said the governor doesn’t certify primary elections anyway, and is constitutionally required to proclaim the results of a referendum.
Tuesday was the first time Maine voters statewide used a ranked-choice system, which allows them to submit a ballot that ranks votes for candidates in order of preference. It is being used in both parties’ voting for gubernatorial candidates, a race for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House in the state’s 2nd Congressional District, and a state legislative seat. There is also a referendum question on retaining ranked-choice voting, which is under threat from a measure in the Legislature.
LePage, in an interview with News Center Maine (WCSH/WLBZ), called the voting system “the most horrific thing in the world” and said he “probably” won’t certify the results and instead will “leave it up to the courts to decide.”
Winston-Salem Journal: Attorneys for Edward McCrae's family have viewed bodycam footage by Michael Hewlett
Attorneys representing the family of a Winston-Salem man fatally shot by a police officer have viewed the officer’s body-camera footage.
“I was able to see the video about two weeks ago with my law partner, John Taylor,” John Vermitsky, an attorney representing the family of Edward Van McCrae, said Tuesday.
Vermitsky declined to discuss the content of the video, saying that his law office is continuing to investigate.
Officer Dalton McGuire of the Winston-Salem Police Department shot McCrae, 60, during a traffic stop on March 30 on Bowen Boulevard. The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the circumstances of the shooting. The Winston-Salem Police Department is conducting an internal investigation to determine if McGuire violated any departmental policy or procedure. McGuire is on administrative duty, which is routine in officer-involved shootings.
On Tuesday, Vermitsky said that for now, McCrae’s family has decided not to view the footage.
San Jose Mercury News: This is really happening: Measure to split California into three states qualifies for November ballot by Casey Tolan
For the first time since before the Civil War, voters across California will decide in November on a proposal to split up the Golden State — potentially remaking it into three new states.
An initiative dividing California, pushed by Silicon Valley venture capital investor Tim Draper, received enough signatures to qualify it for the November ballot, the Secretary of State’s office confirmed Tuesday afternoon.
Supporters of the radical plan submitted more than 600,000 signatures, and a random sample projected that enough are valid that the measure can go before voters, setting up a campaign that is sure to attract a carnivalesque atmosphere and only-in-California chuckles from across the country.
While the effort has cleared a major hurdle by getting on the ballot, it will be a tough sell to voters and would require Congressional approval.
Bloomberg: AT&T Judge Quotes Bob Dylan, Slams Government in 172-Page Ruling by Erik Larson and Andrew M. Harris
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington said he and his team "worked mightily" to pen a 172-page opinion on the Justice Department’s challenge to AT&T Inc.’s takeover of Time Warner Inc. before the deal’s June 21 deadline. Quoting Bob Dylan at times and warning that “perfect is the enemy of the good" (in reference to his own ruling) he left no doubt that the government utterly failed to make its case.
- “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows," Leon wrote, describing the changing industry at the center of the case. The judge backed AT&T’s and Time Warner’s view that the deal was justified by "tectonic changes" and a "veritable explosion" of innovation among vertically integrated competitors.
- “If ever there were an antitrust case where the parties had a dramatically different assessment of the current state of the relevant market and a fundamentally different vision of its future, this is the one. Small wonder it had to go to trial!"
Buzzfeed: The FBI Is Not The Only Threat To Reporters' Confidential Sources by Kevin Collier
Lawyers for Elliott Broidy, the disgraced American businessman and Republican fundraiser who claims Qatar hacked his emails to leak them to journalists, have successfully subpoenaed phone records showing that reporters who wrote about him spoke repeatedly with a former lobbyist for the Persian Gulf nation before writing their stories.
Broidy's lawyers revealed they'd received the phone records in a court filing late Monday in which they described the records as “voluminous” and said they linked Nick Muzin, who once was registered as a lobbyist for Qatar with the Justice Department, to reporters who subsequently wrote stories about Broidy. They offered to make the records available in court.
Obtaining records of reporters' communications with sources is a politically charged issue, highlighted most recently with the indictment of a former Senate Intelligence Committee staffer on perjury charges for attempting to conceal his contacts with reporters. That indictment was based in part on the FBI's seizure of email and phone records of a New York Times reporter who once worked for BuzzFeed News.
The Root: #Flint: Mayor Karen Weaver Says State Oversight of Water System is ‘Unwarranted and Unnecessary’ by Monique Judge
As of Tuesday, it has been 1,510 days since the people of Flint, Mich., have had a clean and stable water system. Although experts in the state had flagged the city’s water system as still being “poor,” Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder still pulled the plug on free water-distribution in the city, leaving the residents to fend for themselves as a complete overhaul of the city’s water lines leaves them vulnerable to more lead leaching into the water system. And now Flint Mayor Karen Weaver is fighting back against what she calls “unnecessary and unwarranted” state oversight of the city’s water system.
Remember, it was while Flint was under state control that the lead-contaminated water crisis began. At the end of May, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality put Weaver on notice that the city would receive a proposed administrative consent order (ACO) under which it would be required to correct water system problems that had been identified by the state nine months ago—problems the state says the city has yet to fix.
There were a total of 15 recommendations made by the DEQ in August 2017 for the city to correct deficiencies in the water system, including what were described as “significant deficiencies” in the water distribution system and its management and operations staff. Among other things, the city does not have a manager dedicated to preventing sewage from contaminating drinking water; it does not have a plan to implement a sufficient rate structure that reflects the cost of adequate staffing and laboratory facilities, and the city has not hired a full-time operator to be in charge of the water plant on a permanent or contractual basis to oversee treatment system operations.
Washington Post: House to vote next week on two competing immigration bills after Republican negotiations on a compromise fall short by Mike DeBonis (as of 9:19pm)
A dispute over immigration fueled by renegade GOP moderates was hijacked Tuesday by conservatives who prevented their fellow Republicans from sealing a deal that would have brought legislation to the House floor for the first time in years.
Negotiators left a last-ditch meeting short of an agreement, as conservatives balked at a compromise bill that would have given young undocumented immigrants the means to become U.S. citizens and provided billions for President Trump’s border wall.
“This has been a lot of members trying to creatively work through differences to get to an agreement. We’re going to keep working at it because we’re not there yet,” said House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.).
Moderates and hard-liners have been in talks for weeks, trying to find a compromise that could both give the young immigrants permanent legal protections and guarantee improvements in border security and enforcement demanded by conservatives.
McClatchy: Exclusive: Trump looking to erect tent cities to house unaccompanied children by Franco Ordonez
The Trump administration is looking to build tent cities at military posts around Texas to shelter the increasing number of unaccompanied migrant children being held in detention.
The Department of Health and Human Services will visit Fort Bliss, a sprawling Army base near El Paso in the coming weeks to look at a parcel of land where the administration is considering building a tent city to hold between 1,000 and 5,000 children, according to U.S. officials and other sources familiar with the plans.
HHS officials confirmed that they’re looking at the Fort Bliss site along with Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene and Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo for potential use as temporary shelters.
CBC: Ottawa residents boycott U.S. over Trump tensions by Ashley Burke
Some Canadians are boycotting U.S. products and cancelling their vacations south of the border in light of President Donald Trump's latest attack on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada's economy.
Trump told a news conference in Singapore Tuesday that he was surprised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's closing news conference at the G7 summit, during which Trudeau said Canada would "not be pushed around" on trade.
Trump, who had taken to Twitter over the weekend to call Trudeau "weak" and "dishonest," said that comment was going to cost "a lot of money for the people of Canada."
The U.S. president insists that Canada's supply-managed dairy industry is "hurting our Farmers, killing our Agriculture!" Trudeau has again reiterated his intention to defend the Canadian dairy system during NAFTA negotiations.
There's now a grassroots call to boycott American goods and some people in Ottawa are getting on board.
BBC: Macedonia and Greece: Deal after 27-year row over a name
Greece has reached a deal on the name of its northern neighbour, which called itself Macedonia at the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.
After 27 years of talks - and many protests - they have settled on the name Republic of North Macedonia, or Severna Makedonija in Macedonian.
Greece had objected to the name Macedonia, fearing territorial claims on its eponymous northern region.
It had vetoed the neighbour's bid to join Nato and the European Union.
The new name will now need to be approved by the Macedonian people and Greek parliament.
Hindustan Times: In India’s statement on Donald Trump-Kim Jong Un summit, an oblique reference to Pakistan by Jayanth Jacob
India on Tuesday joined countries around the world in welcoming the epochal summitbetween US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ,who pledged to work towards complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
But, in an oblique reference to Pakistan, a statement by the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said New Delhi’s concerns about Pyongyang’s nuclear proliferation linkages with India’s neighbourhood should be addressed.
“India welcomes the United States-DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) Summit held in Singapore. This is a positive development. India has always supported all efforts to bring about peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and diplomacy,” the MEA said in a statement.
“We hope that the outcomes of the US-DPRK Summit will be implemented, thus paving the way for lasting peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula,” said the MEA.
“We also hope that the resolution of the Korean Peninsula issue will take into account and address our concerns about proliferation linkages extending to India’s neighbourhood,” it added. India has been urging an investigation into the linkages between North Korea’s nuclear programme and the proliferation network in its neighbourhood.
DW: Congo: Jean-Pierre Bemba's ICC acquittal may bode ill for court's future by Bruce Konviser
Friday's acquittal of former Democratic Republic of Congo Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba, by the appellate division of the International Criminal Court (ICC), dealt a significant blow to human rights advocates and those seeking to turn sexual violence into a war crime.
In a 3-2 ruling the divided court overturned Bemba's five-count conviction, which was unanimously handed down in 2016.
The original conviction included two counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of war crimes for a gruesome campaign of rape, murder and pillaging by his troops, known as the Movement for the Liberation of Congo.
Bemba sent his forces into the neighboring Central African Republic (CAR) to aid President Ange-Felix Patasse, who was battling a series of coup attempts in 2002 and 2003. He was eventually overthrown in 2003.
Reuters: Ireland to vote on removing blasphemy as an offense
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland will hold a referendum in October to remove the offense of blasphemy from its constitution, Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan said on Tuesday.
The Irish government has approved preparing a bill to remove blasphemy as part of a commitment to constitutional reforms. The referendum will probably be held on the same day as the presidential election.
Government ministers see last month’s abortion referendum as a milestone on a path to change for a country that was one of Europe’s most socially conservative a few decades ago, and are keen to push forward with other constitutional reforms.
After the blasphemy referendum, a vote on a controversial reference in the constitution to a “woman’s life within the home” is likely.
AlJazeera: Iraqi PM rejects calls for election re-run
"The elections were held, there’s no turning back. We have to move forward in order to form a new government," Abadi said on Tuesday.
Abadi was referring to some calls by Iraqi MPs to cancel the election results and hold new polls after fire in Baghdad's largest warehouse for ballot boxes on Sunday.
Abadi called the fire a deliberate act and said the attorney general would bring charges against those who are trying to undermine the political process.
Hollywood Reporter: Stan Lee's Business Manager Arrested on Suspicion of Filing False Police Report by Ryan Parker and Gary Baum
The man Stan Lee recently said is the only person who represents him in any of his affairs was arrested Monday on suspicion of filing a false police report, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
Keya Morgan was arrested around 1 p.m. and taken in to custody by the LAPD's Hollywood Division. His bail was set at $20,000. Morgan is due back in court July 2. Police did not release the exact details of the arrest, but it may have something to do with a report earlier this month that Lee was allegedly confronted at his home by two gunmen who demanded money from the 95-year-old Marvel icon.
In April, THR exposed that Lee — who co-created such legendary comic characters as Spider-Man, Black Panther, Iron Man, X-Men and the Fantastic Four, among many others — was caught in the middle of a war of words among those closest to him, all of whom were vying for control over Lee's life, seemingly for their own financial gain.
Morgan, who has long been involved in the pop-culture memorabilia scene, was one of the subjects of the lengthy THR investigation. The other parties involved were Lee's 67-year-old daughter J.C., publicist-turned-caretaker Jerry Olivarez and Lee's former road manager Max Anderson.
Lee's wife of 70 years, Joan, died last July.
Guardian: Superfly review – a sleek, swaggering blaxploitation remake by Charles Bramesco
The new remake of blaxploitation staple Superfly starts to feel like a pornographic film somewhere around the shower-set threesome, the steamiest sex scene that a major American studio has allowed in years. But even before that refreshingly indelicate display, Director X adopts pornography’s absolute commitment to the pleasure principle in his fixation on the spectacle of luxury. The first 20 minutes drag the viewer through a neon-lit vortex of raining money, unfathomably expensive cars, zaftig strippers, golden guns and narcotic bricks. This high-gloss take on Gordon Parks Jr’s funky vision of the hustle goes so far into sheer, unabashed rap-video excess that calling it gratuitous would miss the point.
Until it suddenly, brutally isn’t. In a crime saga sampling White Heat, Goodfellas and just about every other classic from the gangster era to the gangsta’s, X reiterates the timeless hood adage that when you live by the gun, you die by it too. Well-to-do pusherman Youngblood Priest (Trevor Jackson) is well aware, fitting squarely into the film’s rigid moral code by virtue of a desire to get out of the game. He knows nobody can escape consequences for long, as X metes out immediate punishment from on high for the cardinal sins of disrespect and disloyalty, and Youngblood would rather quit while he’s ahead. With his right-hand man Eddie (Jason Mitchell), he plots a job without their usual connection, Scatter (karate master Michael K Williams, worth the price of admission alone) and utters the accursed words of One Last Job. Cue recklessness, cue folly in blood, cue all-out war with the rival Snow Patrol gang. No, not that Snow Patrol.
Don’t forget that Meteor Blades is hosting an open thread for night owls tonight.
Everyone have a good evening!