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 featureon 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.
Special thanks to JekylinHyde for the OND banner.
New York Times
ATLANTA — With Hurricane Florence swiftly gaining strength and bearing down on the Southeast, Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina on Monday ordered more than a million people living in eight coastal counties to evacuate inland.
“We do not want to risk one South Carolina life in this hurricane,” the governor said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
Evacuations were also ordered in parts of North Carolina as the region braced for a major destructive hurricane projected to make landfall late Thursday or Friday, with damaging winds, torrential rains and a potentially destructive storm surge.
US NEWS
NPR
ed.note: This is an interesting piece from NPR. Racism clearly expressed by Trump. No dog whistles needed for him
President Trump is known for throwing around insults, but his clashes with high-profile African-Americans this summer renewed focus on the language Trump uses to speak to and about black people.
NPR examined Trump's Twitter feed between June 1 and Labor Day. It provided a snapshot of a president who directs venomous tirades at black public figures who bash him, while singling out black celebrities who support him for praise.
During those three months, Trump tweeted almost 900 times about everything from tariffs to North Korea.
Nearly 50 tweets were focused on a black person or black Americans in general, with 20 of those tweets negative in tone.
Athletes and critics
Trump started off his summer clashing with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles over NFL players protesting during the national anthem.
These protests have been mostly carried out by black players with a goal of bringing awareness to police brutality.
Al Jazeera
The United States announced the closure of the Palestinian mission in Washington, DC, in what Palestinian leaders described as "a declaration of war" on peace efforts by the administration of President Donald Trump.
In a statement on Monday, the US State Department said the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) office "has not taken steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel".
"We have permitted the PLO office to conduct operations that support the objective of achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between Israelis and the Palestinians since the expiration of a previous waiver in November 2017," the statement said.
It added the PLO leadership "has condemned a US peace plan they have not yet seen and refused to engage with the US government with respect to peace efforts and otherwise".
Al Jazeera
The United States launched a blistering verbal attack on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and threatened sanctions against its judges if they proceed with a probe into alleged war crimes by Americans in Afghanistan.
President Donald Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, made the announcement in a speech to the Federalist Society, a conservative group, in Washington, DC, on Monday.
"Today, on the eve of September 11th, I want to deliver a clear and unambiguous message on behalf of the president. The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court," Bolton said.
The Guardian
Ron DeSantis, the Republican candidate for governor in Florida, resigned from Congress on Monday.
DeSantis sent a letter to the House speaker, Paul Ryan, announcing his immediate resignation, dated retroactively to 1 September. The north-east Florida politician, who represents a district near Jacksonville, said he would be spending time campaigning and it would therefore be “inappropriate” to accept a salary.
The Republican governor, Rick Scott, is leaving office due to term limits and is running for the US Senate against the Democrat Bill Nelson. DeSantis is locked in a tight battle to replace him, against the Democratic nominee, Andrew Gillum. According to the realclearpolitics.com poll average, the Tallahassee mayor has a 2.5% lead.
Gillum upset several other Democratic nominees in the 28 August primary and has garnered national attention. In the immediate aftermath of his win, he has raised more money than DeSantis.
The Guardian
Donald Trump’s health secretary, who defended the administration’s child separation policy as “charity”, once argued in a private paper that repeat juvenile offenders cannot be rehabilitated and ought to be jailed until they reach middle age, according to a memo obtained by the Guardian.
A 1991 legal memo written by Alex Azar, a former drug industry executive who is now secretary of health and human services (HHS), rejected the notion that a juvenile who committed a crime was a “salvageable human” who could be treated rather than punished.
Instead, the memo, written for a senior attorney at a private law practice, outlined the legal rationale for a criminal justice policy that favoured reducing and deterring crime via mass incarceration.
Azar is closely linked personally and ideologically to Brett Kavanaugh, the Trump administration’s nominee to the supreme court. The two men were among the first young prosecutors hired by Kenneth Starr when he became independent counsel and investigated the Clinton administration. In a tweet following Kavanaugh’s nomination to the high court, Azar said the judge had been a “close friend for 30 years”.
The Guardian
Donald Trump has promised to “write the real book” on his presidency, to correct a record he says is misrepresented by Bob Woodward, veteran author of a highly anticipated work, Fear, that will be published on Tuesday.
“The Woodward book is a Joke,” Trump tweeted on Monday morning. “Just another assault against me, in a barrage of assaults, using now disproven unnamed and anonymous sources. Many have already come forward to say the quotes by them, like the book, are fiction. Dem[ocrat]s can’t stand losing. I’ll write the real book!”
Members of the administration including the defense secretary, James Mattis, (who Woodward says compared Trump to “a fifth- or sixth-grader”) and chief of staff, John Kelly, (who said to have called Trump an “idiot” and working for him “Crazytown”) – have disowned remarks attributed to them by Woodward.
But in the book, a copy of which was obtained by the Guardian, Woodward pre-empts Trump’s charge about anonymous sources. His interviews, he writes, were conducted “under the journalist rule of ‘deep background’. This means that all the information could be used but I would not say who provided it.”
The Guardian
The case against a white Dallas police officer who shot and killed a black neighbor in his home will be presented to a grand jury, which could decide on more serious charges than manslaughter, the district attorney overseeing the case said on Monday.
The Dallas county district attorney, Faith Johnson, said her office would first collect all of the evidence surrounding the fatal shooting last Thursday by Dallas officer Amber Guyger, who told authorities that she had mistaken the neighbor’s apartment for her own.
Guyger was arrested on Sunday night and booked into jail in neighboring Kaufman county before being released on bond. Asked why Guyger was allowed to surrender somewhere other than Dallas county’s jail, Johnson said the decision was made by the Texas Rangers, who are also investigating the case.
Mayor Mike Rawlings said Guyger parked on the wrong floor of the complex’s garage after getting home from work. That was shortly before she shot 26-year-old Botham Jean. The Dallas county medical examiner’s office said on Monday he died of a gunshot wound to the chest. His death was ruled a homicide.
Reuters
A U.S. judge on Monday firmly rejected a bid by accused Russian agent Maria Butina to be released from jail pending trial, calling her a “very real” flight risk, and granted a prosecution request for a gag order in the high-profile case.
BuzzFeed News
A task force will investigate allegations of murder and abuse at a Catholic orphanage in Vermont following a BuzzFeed News report that detailed decades of alleged violent crimes against children.
Burlington officials suggested that murder charges could be possible in connection with at least three reported child killings at St. Joseph's Orphanage.
"There may still be an opportunity to secure justice for some orphanage victims," Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said Monday. He added that homicide does not have a statute of limitations and that those cases will be left open until resolved by city and state authorities.
"If it is possible to make murder charges at this point we will, whether the perpetrators are living or dead," Weinberger said.
Officials urged the survivors of the alleged abuse, as well as their families and friends, to come forward and share their accounts as part of the investigation.
WORLD NEWS
AFP
Violence in northwest Syria has displaced more than 30,000 people this month alone, the United Nations said Monday, warning that a looming assault could create the century's "worst humanitarian catastrophe".
Idlib province and adjacent rural areas form the largest piece of territory still held by Syria's beleaguered rebels, worn down by a succession of government victories in recent months.
President Bashar al-Assad has now set his sights on Idlib, and his forces have stepped up bombardment of the densely populated province since the beginning of the month.
That has prompted an estimated 30,452 people to be displaced within Idlib and parts of adjacent Hama province between September 1 and 9, the UN's humanitarian coordination agency (OCHA) said Monday.
AFP
Sweden faced political deadlock on Monday after the far-right made gains in legislative elections whose result makes it tough to form a functioning government.
The prime minister is usually the leader of the party with the most votes, but Sweden's fragmented political landscape after Sunday's vote makes it impossible to predict who will build the next government, a process likely to take weeks.
As expected, neither Social Democratic Prime Minister Stefan Lofven's centre-left bloc nor the centre-right opposition garnered a majority.
The far-right Sweden Democrats, with roots in the neo-Nazi movement, solidified their position as third-biggest party with 17.6 percent -- up almost five points from the previous election -- though they have yet to shake their pariah status.
Far-right parties have gained strength in several European countries, including Germany and Italy. Far-right leaders in Austria, Italy and France hailed the Sweden Democrats' results.
DW
The small eastern German town of Köthen is preparing for a church service and a far-right demonstration following the death a young man after a fight with two Afghans. Some locals were not pleased to see the press.
The mood in the suburban playground in Köthen on Monday morning was a mixture of sadness, tension, and hostility towards the press. A small number of locals in the town in Saxony-Anhalt came by, some with flowers to add to the pool that had collected around a tree near an empty climbing frame.
This was the spot where a fight broke out on Saturday between two Afghan men and Markus B., which resulted in the 22-year-old German's death in hospital.
But, as Saxony-Anhalt Interior Minister Holger Stahlknecht and Justice Minister Anne-Marie Keding were at pains to point out in a press conference, the injuries he received in the fight had not themselves been life-threatening: Markus B. had "very likely" died of "acute heart failure" brought about by a pre-existing condition. The two suspects are now in custody, being investigated for grievous physical harm resulting in death.
DW
A report suggests Germany's Bundeswehr could soon be called upon to take part in airstrikes on Syria, if another chemical attack were to occur. The controversial move would face resistance in the government.
The German Defense Ministry is reportedly in talks with its US counterpart to hammer out details for the Bundeswehr to join possible airstrikes by US, British and French forces on Syrian targets, Germany's mass-circulation Bild newspaper reported on Monday.
The report suggests Germany's conservative defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen, has responded to a US request, which was followed by a meeting of high-ranking ministry and military officials from both countries.
German tornado jets could take part in combat missions alongside their US, UK and French counterparts, according to the article.
Only in case of a chemical attack
The Bundeswehr would only join air strikes in case of another chemical attack. In April, President Bashar Assad was blamed by Western powers for using chemical weapons in an attack on Douma,which killed more than 70 people.
Al Jazeera
Armed men stormed the headquarters of Libya's National Oil Company in Tripoli, engaging guards in a deadly gun battle with at least one large blast going off in an apparent suicide attack.
At least two of the company's staff were killed and 10 wounded, the health ministry said. Two gunmen also died in the attack on Monday when security forces fought to regain control of the key building in the centre of the Libyan capital.
"The security services are looking for gunmen in the building, but our priority is to evacuate the civilians stuck inside," said Ahmed Ben Salem, a spokesman for the Deterrence Force, a militia that operates as Tripoli's police force.
"The situation is under control," he added.
THE ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE, HEALTH AND TECHNOLOGY
DW
In the hallowed halls of Westminster, the British government has been dreaming up a golden vision of sustainability for British agriculture post-Brexit.
Despite positive hopes for this vision by the Soil Association, which certifies organic food in the United Kingdom and lobbies for sustainability, the group's policy officer Sam Packer is skeptical: "The British government is seeing agriculture as an opportunity to tell a good story about Brexit."
And this happy tale, like everything else to do with Brexit, is still up in the air.
Read more: Will Brexit be bad for biodiversity in Britain?
On the sustainability front, the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales (NFU) has teamed up with Greener UK (a coalition of environmental organizations, including The Soil Association) to make sure that Brexit works for farming and the environment.
With agriculture a powerful force in the UK — farmers manage more than 70 percent of the land area in England and Wales, according to the NFU — such alliances could shift the equation, particularly when trade is on the table.
The Guardian
Elon Musk has said he is ‘neutral’ about a union but former employees blame their firing on their efforts to organize while current workers say a ‘culture of fear’ persists
For two years Dezzimond Vaughn was a well-regarded worker at the Tesla factory in Lathrop, California. Then he became involved in trying to organize a union and suddenly his job was on the line.
“They started changing rules without any remorse,” Vaughn, a 31-year-old former Tesla computer-numeric-controlled (CNC) heavy machinery operator, told the Guardian. He cited a strict attendance policy Tesla implemented and backdated that deducted points from employees every time they clocked in late or were absent. “We started talking about forming a union, because they wouldn’t be able to do the things they’re doing, and they somehow found out I was having meetings at my house.”
Vaughn claims management began to try to push him out of employment once they found out he was helping to lead unionization efforts. “Throughout my last year, we kept bumping heads. I never stopped working, they never had a problem with me as far as the work, but I had a lot of complaints about me. My supervisor said they were trying to fire me.”
The Guardian
Tens of thousands of people took part in marches and other events across the US on Saturday, calling for a swift transition to renewable energy in order to stave off the various perils of climate change.
The Rise for Climate protests was spearheaded by what organizers called the largest ever climate march on the US west coast. The march, which snaked through the heart of San Francisco, came ahead of a climate change summit in the city next week that will gather mayors and business leaders from around the world.
The San Francisco march, which called for California governor Jerry Brown to end fossil fuel extraction in the state, attracted around 30,000 people, organizers said.
An array of activities, including rallies, voter registration drives and vigils, were scheduled to take place across the US, in cities such as Boston, Miami and Portland, Oregon. Events were also planned in Puerto Rico. In New Orleans, protesters planned to agitate for the halt of the Bayou Bridge pipeline, an extension of the controversial Dakota Access project that last year spurred a lengthy standoff at the Standing Rock reservation.
Reuters
California Governor Jerry Brown on Monday signed into a law a mandate requiring the state’s power sector to wean itself off fossil fuels entirely by 2045.
The move comes days before Brown hosts a gathering of local, international and business leaders to highlight the issue of climate change.
The law, passed by the state’s legislature last month, requires the state’s utilities to source 60 percent of their power from renewable energy by the end of 2030, an increase from a prior goal of 50 percent. It also states that by 2045, all of the state’s electricity must come from renewable or other zero-carbon sources.
Decentric — XYO Network (web page link from Reuters)
OK, so we're admittedly biased with this one because a core group of our team is behind XY / XYO Network. But we're not excited about XY for that reason alone. In fact, some of technology's most influential names are more excited about XY than we are!
XY came onto the scene out of nowhere in 2018. And in reality it's still flying a bit under the radar compared to where it could be next year.
Charlie Shrem, tech pioneer and founder of one of its most respected foundations, just recently pledged his support for XY's groundbreaking new cryptographic location network called, "XYO Network" (or "XYO" for short).
CNBC called XYO a perfect enterprise play for Amazon, and just recently they grew even closer to the e-commerce giant by joining Amazon Web Services' (AWS) Partner Network.
Meet the company called "XY". Since 2012 they've been quietly building location technologies that could very well change everything. And now they've hit upon a major breakthrough. Best part? It's not too late to invest.
BBC
There's a 70% chance of a recurrence of the El Niño weather event before the end of this year, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.
The last El Niño occurred in 2015-16 and impacted weather patterns around the world.
Researchers say they are not expecting this new one to be as intense as 2015-16.
According to the WMO, climate change is influencing the traditional dynamics of these weather events.
The El Niño/Southern Oscillation, to give its proper title, is a natural event that involves fluctuating ocean surface temperatures in the Pacific, which influence the weather all over the world.
The 2015-16 El Niño was one of the strongest ever recorded, and had an impact on global temperatures, which saw 2016 enter the record books as the warmest year.
ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS
The Guardian
CBS, the US television and media giant, could end up paying its former chief executive Les Moonves $120m if an internal investigation fails to prove allegations of sexual harassment.
In a regulatory filing published on Monday, the company said that in the next 30 days it will set aside $120m to pay off Moonves, unless “the board determines that the company is entitled to terminate Mr Moonves’s employment for cause under his employment agreement”.
The filing also says $20m will go to “charitable organizations that support the #MeToo movement and equality for women in the workplace”. The organizations have been “designated by Mr Moonves in consultation with the company”.
The possible payout has triggered angry responses. On Twitter, the director Judd Apatow said Moonves should be behind bars.
Vox
During the trophy ceremony for the women’s final of the 2018 US Open on Saturday, the new champion Naomi Osaka began to cry.
Serena Williams, who had just been defeated after a series of penalties she believed a male athlete never would have incurred, put her arm around Osaka. She whispered something in her former adversary’s ear. Beneath Osaka’s visor were the beginnings of a smile.
In that moment, the two showed more grace and respect than many commenting on the match, which became yet another referendum on Williams, whose every move is scrutinized in a way that’s inextricably tied to her gender and her race. Later, as the audience jeeredduring the trophy ceremony, Williams urged the crowd to support Osaka. “Let’s give everyone the credit where credit’s due and let’s not boo anymore,” she said.
The ceremony was an example of what Williams and many other highly visible women, in sports and beyond, have to contend with every day. It’s not enough for Williams to be one of the best athletes in the world, mere months after nearly dying after giving birth to her daughter. She has to deal with sexist and racist judgment of the way she expresses her emotions, while working to manage the emotions of everyone who watches her play.