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
Climate change: 'World at crossroads' warning as key talks begin
Four senior figures behind efforts to limit climate change have warned that the planet "is at a crossroads" as key talks opened a day early in Poland.
In a rare move, four former presidents of the United Nations-sponsored talks called for decisive action.
The meeting in Katowice is the most critical on climate change since the 2015 Paris agreement.
Experts say that drastic cuts in emissions will be needed if the world is to reach targets agreed in Paris.
Negotiators at the COP24 conference convened a day early because they are under pressure to make progress.
Meanwhile, the World Bank has announced $200bn in funding over five years to support countries taking action against climate change.
BBC
Yemen war: Wounded Houthis rebels to be evacuated
A UN plane is to evacuate wounded Houthi rebels from Yemen in an effort to build confidence ahead of peace talks, the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the rebels says.
The 50 rebels are due to be flown from the rebel-held capital Sanaa for treatment in Oman later on Monday.
UN-sponsored talks between the rebels and the Saudi-backed government are expected to start in the coming days.
The war has caused the world's worst humanitarian crisis in recent times.
In nearly four years of conflict in Yemen, thousands of people have been killed in fighting and millions have been pushed to the brink of starvation.
[snip]
There has been widespread concern for the plight of thousands of civilians trapped in the rebel-held port of Hudaydah.
At least 6,660 civilians have been killed and 10,560 injured in the fighting, according to the United Nations. Thousands more civilians have died from preventable causes, including malnutrition, disease and poor health.
The World Health Organization warned in October that about 10,000 new suspected cases of cholera were now being reported every week.
The Guardian
Paris riots: PM to meet protest groups after worst unrest in decade
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has instructed his prime minister to hold talks with protest groups after anti-government demonstrations led to the worst violence in central Paris in a decade, with more than 100 people injured as cars and buildings were set alight.
Macron is facing his biggest crisis since taking office 18 months ago after the violence erupted on Saturday following weeks of street protests that began against fuel taxes and have turned into an anti-government movement.
The Élysée and key ministers appeared to rule out imposing any kind of state of emergency after thousands of masked protesters from the gilets jaunes –named for their fluorescent yellow jackets – fought running battles with riot police, torched cars, set fire to banks and houses and burned makeshift barricades.
A presidential source told Reuters that the meeting discussed how to adapt security forces and tactics to contain future protests.
Macron, who had said he would “never accept violence”, instructed the prime minister, Édouard Philippe, to meet what he has called legitimate protest groups and opposition politicians this week in an effort to calm tensions and stop “professional” rioters from infiltrating street demonstrations.
The Guardian
Trump to give Congress formal notice he will 'shortly' terminate Nafta
Donald Trump said on Saturday he will give formal notice to Congress in the near future to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), giving six months for lawmakers to approve a new trade deal signed on Friday.
“I will be formally terminating Nafta shortly,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way home from the G20 summit in Argentina.
“Just so you understand, when I do that – if for any reason we’re unable to make a deal because of Congress then Congress will have a choice” of the new deal or returning to trade rules from before 1994 when Nafta took effect, he said.
Trump told reporters the trade rules before Nafta “work very well”. Nafta allows any country to formally withdraw with six months notice.
Trump, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and outgoing Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto signed a new trade agreement on Friday, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Trump’s decision to set in motion a possible end to largely free trade in North America comes amid some skepticism from Democrats about the new trade deal.
BBC
Asia markets rise after US and China agree to trade truce
Asian markets rose after the presidents of China and the US reached a temporary truce in their trade war.
At the G20 summit, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to halt new trade tariffs for 90 days to allow for talks.
An escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies has weighed on markets generally.
The US and China have imposed billions of dollars of tariffs on one another's goods, posing risks to global trade and the world economy.
In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index and Shanghai Composite were up more than 2% in early trading, while Japan's Nikkei 225 rose more than 1%.
"I do not think market consensus is looking for very significant progress, this is a temporary truce," Masamichi Adachi senior economist at JP Morgan in Japan said.
"Many people suspected that there may be a more disastrous outcome, this is definitely a relief."
The US and China have been embroiled in a trade war this year which has seen the US hit China with tariffs on $250bn (£195.9bn) worth of goods since July, and China retaliate with duties on some $110bn of US goods over the same period.
Reuters
Asia's outlook darkens as factory activity slips, new orders fall
In a sign corporate sentiment was taking a hit from worries over protectionism, manufacturers’ activity slipped in November in countries as varied as Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea the IHS Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index showed on Monday.
While factory activity rose slightly in China, new export orders extended their decline in a further blow to a sector already hurt by Sino-U.S. trade frictions.
The IHS Markit survey results came on the heels of data out earlier on Monday showing a sharp slowdown in Japan’s capital expenditure, which had been considered a key driver of the export-reliant economy.
Asian shares rallied on Monday after U.S. and Chinese leaders meeting at the G20 summit in Argentina agreed on a truce in their trade conflict, offering some reassurance on the global economic outlook.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Asia’s economic prospects looked gloomy as factory activity and export orders weakened across the region in November with analysts expecting no quick rebound amid simmering global trade frictions.
Al Jazeera (This is valuable for understanding the complexity)
Brexit jargon: From backstop to no deal, 17 key terms explained
Much like the questions around the UK's future relationship with the European Union, the terminology thrown up by Brexit is complex, confusing and contentious.
Here is your brief guide to Brexit jargon, with an approximate reading time of five minutes:
Article 50
The exit clause within the Lisbon Treaty, the terms of which form the constitutional basis of the European Union. A member state must invoke the treaty before it can formally and legally leave the bloc. The UK triggered Article 50 on 29 March 2017, becoming the first EU member to do so………………………..
Al Jazeera
Iran vows to continue missile tests despite US sanctions
Iran's top military spokesperson has said his country would continue to carry out missile tests to build up its defence and deterrence capabilities.
"Missile tests ... are carried out for defence and the country's deterrence and we will continue this," General Abolfazl Shekarchi, a senior spokesman for Iran's armed forces, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
His remarks on Sunday came shortly after the United States accused Tehran of carrying out a new missile test. Shekarchi did not confirm or deny that Iran had carried out a new test.
Buzzfeed (Merry Christmas)
Thousands Of US Troops Will Remain At The Mexico Border Through The Holidays
Thousands of US troops deployed to the Mexico border to “harden the points of entry” as a caravan of migrants from Central America approached will remain there until at least Jan. 31, after a request from the Department of Homeland Security.
The active-duty troops had been deployed to the border points of entry in Texas, Arizona, and California, and working with US Customs and Border Protection “in a support role.”
The Department of Homeland Security submitted a request Friday to maintain the troop presence along the border and it was expected to be signed by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
"This request refines support to ensure it remains aligned with the current threat, the nature of the mission, and [US Customs and Border Protection] operational requirements," a Pentagon spokesperson said.
According to the Associated Press, the latest request will cover fewer troops than are currently deployed, and their mission will remain the same. Currently, 5,700 active-duty troops are deployed at the border, and 4,000 are requested to remain through January, the AP reported.
Raw Story
Terrorism expert warns if Trump called for violence — his supporters would make it so
Terrorism and extremism expert J.M. Berger warned in an interview that President Donald Trump has so much power over his supporters that he could call them to violent action.
During an interview with SiriusXMProgress host Dan Obeidallah, Berger explained how extremism is a tool used for authoritarian leaders. All one would have to do is create a crisis to score support.
“If he [Trump] called for violence, there would be violence,” Berger said. “I think that is a pretty easy call. Where that puts him on the spectrum in between extremism and authoritarianism is a little more complicated. I will not make the direct comparison, but if you look at Hitler, he had a very well developed extremist ideology he was advancing. It was very specific … we don’t have that with Trump.”
The concern, however, is that a financial crisis or act of terrorism could give Trump the power over his supporters.
“I think history will probably end up looking at him [Trump] as an authoritarian who attempted to use extremism to his advantage. But there is still a lot that could happen,” he explained.
Washington Post
Kamala Harris to decide on 2020 White House bid ‘over the holiday’
Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) said Saturday that she plans to make the “very serious” decision about a potential 2020 presidential bid in the coming weeks.
“Over the holiday, I will make that decision with my family,” Harris said in an interview with MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski at the Know Your Value conference in San Francisco.
Harris added that if she does decide to run against President Trump, she is prepared for things to get “ugly,” given that her candidacy would be a boundary-breaking one.
“When you break things, it is painful,” she said. “And you get cut. And you bleed.”
Harris is one of dozens of Democrats eyeing bids for the White House in 2020. Others include Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Cory Booker (N.J.), former vice president Joe Biden and billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer.
Washington Post
The Baltic Sea offers a preview of what’s to come with global warming
KIEL, Germany — The herring here — both a symbol of the seaside region and a staple food that locals eat salted, pickled or fried — have plummeted to about a third of their population in the 1990s.
Cod have declined drastically, too. And they are getting smaller and thinner. Scientists have observed fish in their samples whose white fatty underbellies had all but disappeared. “They just looked like they were starving,” marine ecologist Jan Dierking said.
Then came this past summer’s heat wave, which increased Baltic Sea temperatures to an unprecedented 80.6 degrees Fahrenheit, killing starfish and other fragile marine creatures.
It all could be a sign of things to come in a warming world.
The Baltic Sea is a sort of experimental pressure cooker for marine life, a test for how species fare — and whether they can survive at all — in conditions the world’s oceans may soon experience.
“Many of the pressures have hit here much earlier and more intensely than in other world regions,” said Thorsten Reusch, a marine ecologist based here at Germany’s largest ocean research institute.
That is in part due to the Baltic’s small size: It is roughly the size of California, or 1/250th of the Atlantic.