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) wader, palantir, JML9999, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Man Oh Man, Doctor RJ, 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
Brexit Secretary David Davis resigns
Brexit Secretary David Davis has resigned from the UK government.
His resignation comes days after Theresa May secured the cabinet's backing for her Brexit plan despite claims from critics that it was "soft".
Mr Davis was appointed to the post in 2016 and was responsible for negotiating the UK's EU withdrawal.
Junior minister Steven Baker quit shortly after Mr Davis - as Mrs May prepares to face MPs and peers on Monday.
In his resignation letter, Mr Davis told Mrs May "the current trend of policy and tactics" was making it "look less and less likely" that the UK would leave the customs union and single market.
He said he was "unpersuaded" that the government's negotiating approach "will not just lead to further demands for concessions" from Brussels.
BBC
Japan floods: Military airlift people to safety from flood waters
Parts of western Japan hit by deadly floods and landslides face unprecedented danger, officials warn, with more downpours expected.
Scores of people have died, while about 1.5 million people have been ordered to leave their homes and three million more advised to do so.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the rescue effort is a "race against the clock".
Flooding and landslides have killed at least 60 people and left dozens missing in western areas of Japan.
Most of the deaths have occurred in Hiroshima prefecture, which has been hit by torrential rain since Thursday. Hundreds of homes have been damaged.
Authorities say it could potentially be the worst weather disaster Japan has seen in decades.
(New totals are now over 100 dead)
BBC
North Korea: Mike Pompeo rejects 'gangster-like' accusation
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has dismissed accusations by North Korea that he engaged in "gangster-like" behaviour during a visit there.
After two days of talks with senior officials, he said efforts to push Pyongyang towards abandoning nuclear weapons had international backing.
He stressed that denuclearisation was a condition for lifting sanctions.
It was Mr Pompeo's first visit to the North since last month's summit between Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump.
The North Korean leader says he is committed to denuclearisation, but how this will be achieved is unclear.
Al Jazeera
Ethiopia and Eritrea agree to normalise ties, reopen embassies
Ethiopia and Eritrea have agreed to restore relations following a landmark meeting between the two countries' leaders in Asmara, aimed at ending decades of diplomatic and armed strife.
The announcement on Sunday capped weeks of whirlwind change, driven by new Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who was welcomed for face-to-face talks in the Eritrean capital by President Isaias Afwerki.
"We agreed that the airlines will start operating, the ports will be accessible, people can move between the two countries and the embassies will be opened," Abiy said at an official dinner.
"We will demolish the wall and, with love, build a bridge between the two countries," Abiy continued.
Al Jazeera
Turkey sacks 18,500 state employees over alleged 'terror' links
Turkish authorities have ordered the dismissal of more than 18,500 state employees over alleged links to "terrorist" organisations, according to an emergency decree published in the country's official legal database.
The Official Gazette said on Sunday that 18,632 people had been sacked as part of a crackdown following a failed military coup two years ago, including 8,998 police officers, 3,077 army soldiers, 1,949 air force personnel and 1,126 from the naval forces.
Some 1,052 civil servants and 199 academics were also among those dismissed, and at least three newspapers, a television channel and 12 associations were shut down.
Reuters
Erdogan assumes new presidential powers, tightening control over Turkey
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan will fulfill a long-held ambition on Monday when he is sworn in as president with sweeping new powers over a country he has dominated and reshaped during his 15-year rule.
Launching the executive presidency which he fought hard to secure, Erdogan will also name a streamlined cabinet he says will push for growth to make Turkey one of the world’s biggest economies.
Erdogan narrowly won a referendum last year to replace his country’s parliamentary democracy with a system featuring an all-powerful presidency, and followed that with a hard-fought election victory last month to the newly strengthened post.
He says the changes, the biggest overhaul of governance since the modern Turkish republic was founded from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire almost a century ago, are needed to drive Turkey’s economic growth and guarantee its security.
His supporters see them as just reward for a leader who has put Islamist values at the core of public life, championed the pious working classes and built airports, hospitals and schools.
Al Jazeera
What's next for Mexico after Lopez Obrador's presidential win?
Mexico City - It took 12 years and three elections, but Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has finally done it.
The veteran leftist politician, who promised that his victory would not represent just a presidential succession, but "regime change", decisively wonSunday's presidential election in Mexico.
Over the last 12 years, during which he has virtually been on a constant campaign, many have accused him of irresponsibly making promises that will be difficult to fulfil because of entrenched political opposition to them.
But now that he's the president-elect, he has a larger mandate to implement his agenda than any president in recent history, some analysts say.
Not only was his margin of victory higher than any Mexican presidential election since 1982, but his brand-new National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) is on track to win a majority in both houses of Mexico's congress.
Raw Story
Europe will remain united if US raises more tariffs: France
The United States can expect a strong and united response from Europe to any further tariff increases, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday, warning a trade war was already underway.
“If tomorrow there is an increase in tariffs, like in the car industry, including on cars, our reaction should be united and strong to show that Europe is a united and sovereign power,” Le Maire said.“The question is no longer whether or not there will be a trade war, the war has already started,” he added, speaking at an economic conference in Aix-en-Provence, in southern France.
Reuters
Syrian state media says air defenses hit Israeli plane, thwart missile strike
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian military air defenses struck an Israeli warplane and shot down Israeli missiles targeting the T4 air base in Homs province in response to an act of “aggression” on Sunday night, Syrian state media said.
Israel has grown deeply alarmed by the expanding clout of its arch enemy Iran during the seven-year war in neighboring Syria. Israel’s air force has struck scores of targets it describes as Iranian deployments or arms transfers to Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Damascus, as well as its allies Iran and Russia, blamed Israel for an April 9 air strike on the same Homs base, an attack that killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) members. Tehran vowed at the time to respond.
Syrian state news agency SANA said the missile attack on Sunday caused only material damage.
Washington Post
They sounded like one of those perfect romantic odd couples at first — the kind you can’t understand how they even hooked up, but they seem so great for each other. The U.S. Postal Service and a half-size replica of the Statue of Liberty — from a Las Vegas hotel, no less.
They met totally by accident. The Postal Service thought she was the real statue and put her picture on one of its most popular stamps. It was like the premise of a rom-com. But the best part was, postal officials wanted to stay with the image even after realizing the mistake.
“We still love the stamp design and would have selected this photograph anyway,” a Postal Service spokesman for told the New York Times in 2011. And the Postal Service went on to feature the Las Vegas knockoff’s sultry lips and retro-modern bangs on billions of stamps for years to come.
“Forever” stamps, the Postal Service called them. As in happily ever after.
But that was before the breakup, and the court fight, and before all the ugly details became public.
And now it’s over. Last week, a federal judge ordered the Postal Service to pay the statue’s creator $3.5 million for exploiting the sculpture without permission or consent.
N Y Times
Saving Turtles in Bali, Egg by Precious Egg
LEGIAN, Indonesia — The people of Bali have long been of two minds about endangered sea turtles. Some want to save them. Some want to eat them.
But increasingly, the desire to save the turtle is winning out, especially among younger Balinese.
By day, Legian Beach is crowded with tourists from around the world who come for the sand and surf. By night, when the beach is dark and nearly deserted, it becomes a critical habitat for turtles.
Alex Unwakoly, a volunteer from the Bali Sea Turtle Society, was patrolling a stretch of beach across from a five-star hotel one recent night when he spotted an olive ridley turtle that had crawled up on the sand to lay its eggs.
So began a rapid operation to save the turtle’s offspring.
He and a colleague kept a handful of tourists at a discreet distance while the turtle — classified as a member of a vulnerable species — laid its eggs. Other rescuers arrived. And as the turtle crawled back to the Indian Ocean, they dug up the 136 eggs, each about the size of a Ping-Pong ball, then put them in a bucket and took them away to hatch in a safer spot.