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.
Another workweek staggers to a close.
Millions of Business Listings On Google Maps Are Fake -- and Google Profits
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Wall Street Journal: Google's ubiquitous internet platform shapes what's real and what isn't for more than two billion monthly users. Yet Google Maps is overrun with millions of false business addresses and fake names, according to advertisers, search experts and current and former Google employees. The ruse lures the unsuspecting to what appear to be Google-suggested local businesses, a costly and dangerous deception. Once considered a sleepy, low-margin business by the company and known mostly for giving travel directions, Google Maps in recent months has packed more ads onto its search queries. It is central to Google parent Alphabet's hope to recharge a cresting digital-advertising operation.
Often, Google Maps yields mirages, visible in local business searches of U.S. cities, including Mountain View, Calif., Google's hometown. Of a dozen addresses for personal-injury attorneys on Google Maps during a recent search, only one office was real. A Viennese patisserie was among the businesses at addresses purported to house lawyers. The fakes vanished after inquiries to Google from The Wall Street Journal. The false listings benefit businesses seeking more customer calls by sprinkling made-up branches in various corners of a city. In other cases, as Ms. Carter discovered, calls to listed phone numbers connect to unscrupulous competitors, a misdirection forbidden by Google rules but sporadically policed by the company. Hundreds of thousands of false listings sprout on Google Maps each month, according to experts. Google says it catches many others before they appear.
According to the report, Google Maps is estimated to carry "roughly 11 million falsely listed businesses on any given day," and a majority of the listings "aren't located at their pushpins."
US Beekeepers Lost 40 Percent of Honeybee Colonies Over Past Year, Survey Finds
Beekeepers across the U.S. lost four in 10 of their honeybee colonies over the past year, as the worst winter on record for tracked bee populations raised fresh concerns over the plight of the crucial pollinators. The Guardian reports:
Over the past winter, 37% of honeybee colonies were lost to beekeepers, the worst winter decline recorded in the 13-year history of a nationwide survey aimed at charting bees' fortunes. Overall, 40% of colonies died off over the entire year to April, which is above the 38% average since the survey began. Researchers said the numbers were concerning given the intensive efforts to stem the loss of honeybees, which pollinate an estimated $15 billion in U.S. crops each year, enabling the farming of foods including apples, melons, cherries, almonds and blueberries. The latest survey included data from 4,700 beekeepers from all 50 states, capturing about 12% of the U.S.'s estimated 2.69 million managed colonies. Researchers behind the survey say it's in line with findings from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which keeps data on the remaining colonies.
Facebook Usage Has Collapsed After Privacy Scandals, Data Shows
mrspoonsi shares a report from the Guardian: Facebook usage has plummeted over the last year, according to data seen by the Guardian, though the company says usage by other measures continues to grow. Since April 2018, the first full month after news of the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke in the Observer, actions on Facebook such as likes, shares and posts have dropped by almost 20%, according to the business analytics firm Mixpanel. Taking that month as a baseline, total actions fell by more that 10% within a month, recovered a bit over the summer and then fell again over the autumn and winter of 2018, except for a brief rally over the period of the U.S. midterm elections.
The decline coincided with a series of data, privacy and hate speech scandals. In September the company discovered a breach affecting 50 million accounts, in November it admitted that an executive hired a PR firm to attack the philanthropist George Soros, and it has been repeatedly criticized for allowing its platform to be used to fuel ethnic cleansing in Myanmar. "On top of that, Facebook has continued to lose younger users, who are spreading their time and attention across other social platforms and digital activities," eMarketer said.
Giant explosion rocks largest refinery complex on the East Coast, sends gasoline prices higher
An explosion early Friday tore through a Philadelphia gasoline refinery, the East Coast’s largest, sending shock waves for miles and raining debris on nearby neighborhoods, just as the busy summer driving season was beginning.
No injuries were reported, according to the Philadelphia Fire Department. One employee complained of chest pain and was examined on the scene.
The three-alarm fire at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery was contained but not under control, the fire department said. About 120 firefighters worked to cool off the areas around the fire to keep it from spreading.
Punk-ass dictator wanna-be:
Trump threatens reporter with prison time during interview
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump, in an interview this week and on Twitter Friday morning, again suggested criminal action against American journalists.
During a sit-down interview with Time magazine, Trump showed the reporters a letter from North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. When a photographer tried to take a photograph of the letter, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told him he couldn't.
Later in the interview, the subject turned to special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. A reporter asked about sworn testimony that Trump tried to limit the investigation to only "future election meddling."
Rather than answer, Trump lashed out about the photographer's attempt to take a shot of the letter from Kim, according to a transcript of the interview that Time released Thursday night.
"Well, you can go to prison, instead, because if you use, if you use the photograph you took of the letter that I gave you . . ." Trump started.
What a great thing to do:
David Gilmour puts his guitars up for auction, raises $21.5M
NEW YORK (AP) — An auction of David Gilmour's guitars has raised a lot of "Money" — to combat climate change.
Christie's auction house says it raised $21.5 million Thursday, selling off more than 120 guitars owned by the Pink Floyd guitarist, singer and songwriter. Proceeds went to ClientEarth, a nonprofit fighting climate change.
The items included guitars by Fender, Rickenbacker, Ovation, Gibson, C.F. Martin and Gretsch, including guitar cases, a banjo and amps.
A black Stratocaster — dubbed the "Black Strat" — was the top item and was snatched up for $3,975,000, a new world record for a guitar at auction.
Gilmour tweeted: "We need a civilized world that goes on for all our grandchildren and beyond in which these guitars can be played and songs can be sung."
Somewhat related:
Continental Europe braced for 'potentially dangerous' heatwave
A potentially record-breaking heatwave is forecast to grip much of continental Europe next week, with temperatures in cities from Spain to Germany expected to exceed 32C and climb to more than 38C or even 40C in the hottest areas.
The combination of a storm stalled over the Atlantic and high pressure over central Europe would pull very hot air from Africa northward, leading to a “potentially dangerous heatwave over a large portion of western and central Europe”, forecaster AccuWeather said.
In France, temperatures of between 35C and 40C were expected across most of the country except Brittany from Monday, Météo-France said, and were unlikely to fall below 20C overnight.
“Even though it will be shortlived, this heatwave could be remarkable for its momentum and intensity,” the forecaster said in a bulletin.
Maybe that’s why the fascist have gained seats:
European election voting problems ‘were evident five years ago’
Problems that denied EU citizens their vote in last month’s European elections were evident five years ago, according to a leaked letter from the European commission.
Many EU nationals were unable to vote in the European elections on 23 May, through a series of bureaucratic muddles and mistakes that experts decried as a fiasco that a democracy should not tolerate.
A letter sent on Friday to the constitution minister, Chloe Smith, shows that some of the chaos at polling stations was foreshadowed in previous European elections in 2014.
Mark Field suspended as minister after grabbing activist
Mark Field has been suspended as a Foreign Office minister after grabbing a female Greenpeace activist at a black-tie City dinner.
The MP has apologised for confronting Janet Barker and marching her away as protesters interrupted a speech by Chancellor Philip Hammond.
But he said he had been "genuinely worried" she may have been armed.
Ms Barker told the BBC Mr Field should "reflect on what he did" and suggested he "go to anger management classes".
"He certainly manhandled me in a way in which was very disagreeable," she said, but added that she did not intend to complain to the police.
Georgia and Russia trade blame over unrest as crisis brews
TBILISI/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Georgia and Russia traded blame on Friday for an outbreak of unrest in Tbilisi sparked by the visit of a Russian lawmaker with the Kremlin announcing it would suspend passenger flights between the two countries to protect its citizens.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili had earlier blamed Moscow for the unrest, suggesting a “fifth column” loyal to Moscow had stirred up trouble, an allegation Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev dismissed as a distortion of reality.
Violence flared in the Georgian capital late on Thursday, where police used tear gas and rubber bullets to stop crowds furious about the visit of a Russian delegation from storming parliament.
About time:
U.S. psychoanalysts apologize for labeling homosexuality an illness
(Reuters) - The American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) apologized on Friday for previously treating homosexuality as a mental illness, saying its past errors contributed to discrimination and trauma for LGBTQ people.
It may be the first U.S. medical or mental health organization to issue such an apology. Although psychiatrists declassified homosexuality as a disorder in 1973 and psychoanalysts came around nearly 20 years later, the APsaA says it is unaware of any related professional group that had apologized.”It is long past time to recognize and apologize for our role in the discrimination and trauma caused by our profession and say, ‘We are sorry,’” said a statement by Dr. Lee Jaffe, president of APsaA. The group uses that abbreviation to distinguish it from the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
Jaffe announced the apology on Friday at the opening session of the group’s 109th annual meeting in San Diego, drawing a standing ovation from about 200 people present, witnesses said. Jaffe said his group has long been active in promoting LGBTQ rights but had yet to put its contrition into words.
“It’s hard to admit that one has been so wrong,” Jaffe said.
Soft U.S. factory activity darkens economic outlook
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. manufacturing activity barely grew in early June and the service sector cooled, signs that President Donald Trump’s trade war with China could be weighing on the economy.
Other economic data released on Friday showed a rise in home resales during May, suggesting the Federal Reserve was seeing dividends from its efforts to avert a recession by keeping interest rates low.
While many indicators still point to a healthy economy, Fed policymakers are increasingly concerned that the 10-year economic expansion could be in danger.
Data firm IHS Markit said its U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) declined to a reading of 50.1 in early June, the lowest level since September 2009. A reading above 50 indicates growth in the manufacturing sector, which accounts for about 12% of the U.S. economy.
The data firm’s PMI for the U.S. services sector dropped to 50.7, the lowest since February 2016. Both the manufacturing and the service sector readings were below expectations of analysts polled by Reuters.
“It is likely that the news on trade policy has weighed on business sentiment and activity,” Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan, said in a note to clients.
Missouri orders lone abortion clinic to close; judge keeps it open for now
ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - Missouri health officials on Friday refused to renew the license of the state’s only abortion clinic, but the facility will remain open for now as a judge left in place an injunction blocking its closure.
At a brief state circuit court hearing on Friday, Judge Michael Stelzer said it might be days before the court would come to a decision on whether the state could shut its only abortion clinic, which is operated by women’s healthcare and abortion provider Planned Parenthood.
“I think you guys are expecting an order soon. I don’t know that order is going to be today,” Stelzer said during the hearing, which lasted less than five minutes.
California governor proposes $21 billion wildfire fund: media
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed a fund of up to $21 billion to help utilities pay for future wildfire damage, media reports said on Friday.
The reported proposal by the state’s Democratic governor follows the bankruptcy filing of San Francisco-based utility PG&E Corp, which anticipates $30 billion in liabilities from wildfires in 2017 and 2018 that have been blamed on its equipment.
Newsom has proposed two models for the fund, the media reports said.
One model would place the reserve at $10.5 billion, to be funded by extending a surcharge on electricity bills, and the second model would raise the value to $21 billion by including a multibillion-dollar insurance policy paid for by utilities, the Wall Street Journal reported.
State-issued bonds would be used to securitize the fund, the WSJ said.
Newsom’s office on Friday released a report on the state’s response to wildfires, which included mention of a Wildfire Recovery Fund but did not detail its structure.
Utilities in California would have to spend a combined $3 billion on wildfire safety measures to qualify for aid from the fund, the governor’s report said.
The front-runner:
Police called to disturbance at UK PM candidate Johnson's home
LONDON (Reuters) - British police were called on Friday to investigate concerns for the welfare of a woman after a neighbor of Boris Johnson, the favorite to be the next Prime Minister, heard a loud altercation.
Shortly after midnight on Friday, police were called to an address in south London where Johnson is living with his girlfriend.
“The caller was concerned for the welfare of a female neighbor. Police attended and spoke to all occupants of the address, who were all safe and well,” the police said in a statement.
No charges in Kentucky anti-abortion activist assault case
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky grand jury has declined to indict a Louisville woman accused of attacking an 82-year-old anti-abortion protester while leaving a women’s clinic.
Court records show a grand jury decided against an assault charge on Thursday for 32-year-old Janaya Alyce Gregory, who is accused of knocking Donna Durning down outside Kentucky’s only abortion clinic in April. The longtime anti-abortion activist was hospitalized with a broken femur and cut to her head.
The Courier Journal reports that Durning said she was offering Gregory a card for a crisis pregnancy center when Gregory “charged” at her, bumping her to the ground. Crisis pregnancy centers generally try to persuade women against having abortions.
Hong Kong protests flare anew after demands unmet
HONG KONG (AP) — More than 1,000 protesters blocked Hong Kong police headquarters into the night Friday, while others took over major streets as the tumult over the city’s future showed no signs of abating.
The latest protest came after a deadline passed the previous day for the government to meet demands over highly unpopular extradition bills that many see as eroding the territory’s judicial independence.
Police called for the demonstrators to disperse but did not immediately take firm action to remove them.
While the protest began peacefully, the presence again of demonstrators on busy Harcourt Road and in the lobby of the Revenue Tower raised the possibility of violent confrontations.
Thinking outside the box. Article has pics. Baby duckies!
Firefighter uses YouTube duck calls to rescue ducklings
LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) — A flock of ducklings is safe in suburban Denver after a firefighter used a recording of duck calls to coax some of them from a storm drain.
A video from South Metro Fire Rescue shows how a firefighter was able to scoop out four of the birds in the water at the bottom of the drain on Thursday. Four others, though, were hiding in an adjacent pipe.
The firefighter held up his cellphone to an opening in the pipe and played a YouTube video of duck calls. The ducklings walked toward the sound.
Somehow, I don’t think it will be a big seller:
New drug to boost women’s sex drive approved in US
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. women will soon have another drug option designed to boost low sex drive: a shot they can give themselves in the thigh or abdomen that raises sexual interest for several hours.
The medication OK’d Friday by the Food and Drug Administration is only the second approved to increase sexual desire in a women, a market drugmakers have been trying to cultivate since the blockbuster success of Viagra for men in the late 1990s. The other drug is a daily pill.
The upside of the new drug “is that you only use it when you need it,” said Dr. Julia Johnson, a reproductive specialist at UMass Memorial Medical Center who was not involved in its development. “The downside is that it’s a shot — and some people are very squeamish.”
Go Rocky!
Rocky the escaped African cat spotted again in Virginia
FRANKLIN, Va. (AP) — The exotic African cat that escaped from its owner’s house has been spotted again in Virginia, this time more than 150 miles (240 kilometers) from its North Carolina home.
The cat’s owner previously told news outlets his pet, Rocky, escaped from his coastal North Carolina home in October. Since then, Rocky has been on the move and evading capture, spotted in cities across Virginia — first, in a state park in April, later in rural Chesapeake and just this week near Suffolk.
A Virginia Beach animal control agent told The Virginian-Pilot she has spent hours trying to trap the elusive cat. But African servals are known for their athleticism, both in their ability to travel over 20 miles (32 kilometers) a day, and being able to run 50 mph (80 kph).
The guy whose employees kill themselves:
Foxconn chairman stepping down amid talks of political bid
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The chairman of Foxconn, the world’s largest contract assembler of consumer electronics for companies such as Apple, is stepping down amid speculation he could be planning a presidential run in Taiwan next year.
Terry Gou, 68, made the announcement Friday at the company’s annual shareholders meeting, where he was surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd while exiting the meeting room.
Foxconn board members elected Young Liu, the head of the Foxconn’s semiconductor division, as Gou’s successor.
Heard anything good today?