Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Interceptor7, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame and jck. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, 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.
BBC
Canada shooting: Gunman kills at least 16 in rural Canada
A gunman who dressed as a policeman killed at least 16 people, including a female police officer, in the province of Nova Scotia, Canadian police say.
The 12-hour rampage ended in a car chase. The attacker is also dead.
Residents in the rural town of Portapique had been advised to lock themselves indoors after the attack began on Saturday.
Police earlier said the suspect was driving what appeared to be a police car.
The gunman shot people in several locations across Nova Scotia which meant authorities were still trying to establish the final death toll, police said on Sunday.
The police warned that there may be more victims.
BBC Overview:
- the US death toll has surpassed 41,000 and remains by far the highest in the world, but in the country's worst hit state, New York, officials say the outbreak is slowing
- in Australia, some beaches in Sydney have been reopened as officials are encouraged by a drop in new infections
- South Korea has extended its social distancing measures for another 15 days but offered some relief for churches and sporting fixtures
- Pakistan's religious leaders have said prayers at mosques will continue during the Ramadan period but with precautions
- there are encouraging trends in Europe, with Italy, Spain, France and the UKall reporting a drop in the daily death toll although the countries have different plans on when to ease lockdown measures
- the number of infections in Latin America exceeded 100,000, with more than 5,000 deaths reported. Brazil has the highest number of cases and fatalities.
NPR
In South Korea, A Growing Number Of COVID-19 Patients Test Positive After Recovery
A growing number of recovered COVID-19 patients are relapsing in South Korea, raising new questions and concerns among scientists and health authorities after the country successfully flattened the curve.
By Friday, Korean health authorities had identified 163 patients who tested positive again after a full recovery. The number more than doubled in about a week, up from 74 cases on April 9. Those patients — just over 2% of the country's 7,829 recovered patients — are now back in isolation.
According to Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data on Friday, the age and regional distribution of relapse cases are largely in line with that of the total infections.
To find out reasons for relapse, South Korean health authorities are running a range of tests and vetting various scenarios. The World Health Organization said last week that it is investigating the issue. While a fuller analysis will take at least a few weeks, early findings suggest there can be more than one cause.
NPR
Coronavirus Fears Have Produced A Lot Of New Gun Owners — And Safety Concerns
As Americans flock to gun stores in the face of coronavirus fears, many gun dealers report an influx of new customers, taking home a deadly weapon for the first time. In response, long-time gun owners from across the U.S. are stepping up to help these newcomers get some safety training in the age of social distancing.
"I want to be a good ambassador for the Second Amendment and for firearms owners," says Chuck Rossi, co-founder of an online gun rights organization called Open Source Defense.
A few weeks ago, Open Source Defense launched a type of informal, online training called Office Hours, using a shared calendar that allows users to sign up for a 30-minute video conference with a long-time gun owner.
"We have our introductory, 'How're you doing? How're you holding up? Where are you in the process? What are your questions?'" Rossi explains.
Few states require gun buyers to undergo training before purchasing a firearm.
Reuters
Exclusive: Neiman Marcus to file for bankruptcy as soon as this week - sources
(Reuters) - Neiman Marcus Group is preparing to seek bankruptcy protection as soon as this week, becoming the first major U.S. department store operator to succumb to the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, people familiar with the matter said.
The debt-laden Dallas-based company has been left with few options after the pandemic forced it to temporarily shut all 43 of its Neiman Marcus locations, roughly two dozen Last Call stores and its two Bergdorf Goodman stores in New York.
Neiman Marcus is in the final stages of negotiating a loan with its creditors totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, which would sustain some of its operations during bankruptcy proceedings, according to the sources. It has also furloughed many of its roughly 14,000 employees.
The Guardian
Kim Yo-jong: the sister of Kim Jong-un, fast 'becoming his alter ego'
From producing an ashtray during a cigarette break en route to a nuclear summit to issuing a statement in praise of the US president, Kim Yo-jong has become the single most important figure in the North Korean regime after her brother, the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un.
Since representing Kim at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Yo-jong has not only acquired prestigious titles within the ruling Workers’ party. She is rumoured to be the brains behind Kim’s carefully constructed public image, at home and abroad. In return, she enjoys the absolute confidence of her brother, a leader capable of ordering the execution of his own uncle for alleged treason.
As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic – with Pyongyang continuing to insist it has not recorded a single case – Kim Yo-jong’s ascendancy continues.
Last month, she made her first public statement, condemning the South as a “frightened dog barking” after Seoul protested against a live-fire military exercise by the North. And in March, she publicly praised Donald Trump for sending Kim a letter in which he said he hoped to maintain good bilateral relations and offered help in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
Reuters
Trump warns China could face consequences for virus outbreakTrump warns China could face consequences for virus outbreak
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump warned China on Saturday that it should face consequences if it was “knowingly responsible” for the coronavirus pandemic, as he ratcheted up criticism of Beijing over its handling of the outbreak.
“It could have been stopped in China before it started and it wasn’t, and the whole world is suffering because of it,” Trump told a daily White House briefing.
It was the latest U.S. volley in a war of words between the world’s two biggest economies, showing increased strains in relations at a time when experts say an unprecedented level of cooperation is needed to deal with the coronavirus crisis.
“If it was a mistake, a mistake is a mistake. But if they were knowingly responsible, yeah, I mean, then sure there should be consequences,” Trump said. He did not elaborate on what actions the United States might take.
Buzzfeed
Companies That Are Absolutely Not Small Businesses Are Getting Millions Of Dollars In Small Business Loans
A federal crisis fund of $350 billion established to keep small businesses afloat during the coronavirus pandemic ran out this week, leaving thousands of companies waiting desperately for help.
But several giant companies with hundreds of stores, thousands of employees, and whose executives make millions announced they'd received the maximum possible payouts under the small business program.
"Unfortunately, they were in line as soon as the window opened for this program and took a lot of resources away from those small business owners where this was their only option," Holly Wade, director of research with the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) lobby group, told BuzzFeed News.
Sandwich maker Potbelly and Ruth's Chris Steak House successfully obtained loans worth $10 million and $20 million, respectively, according to filings this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Taco Cabana, which has at least 164 stores across the country and is owned by parent company Fiesta Restaurant Group, also received a $10 million loan.
All loans were from JP Morgan bank but will be backed by the US government as part of the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act. The act provided up to $350 billion in loans to businesses with 500 employees or less for payroll purposes.
The Guardian
44 suspected Boko Haram members found dead in Chad prison
A group of 44 suspected members of Boko Haram who had been arrested in Chad during a recent operation against the jihadist group have been found dead in their prison cell, apparently poisoned, Chad’s chief prosecutor has announced. Speaking on national television on Saturday, Youssouf Tom said the prisoners were found dead on Thursday.
Autopsies on four dead prisoners revealed traces of a lethal substance which had caused heart attacks in some victims and severe asphyxiation in others, he said. The dead men were among a group of 58 suspects captured during a major army operation around Lake Chad launched by the president, Idriss Déby Itno, at the end of March.
“Following the fighting around Lake Chad, 58 members of Boko Haram had been taken prisoner and sent to [the capital city] N’Djamena for the purposes of the investigation. On Thursday morning, their jailers told us that 44 prisoners had been found dead in their cell,” Tom said, adding that he had attended the scene. “We have buried 40 bodies and sent four bodies to the medical examiner for autopsy.”
Washington Post
Capital Weather Gang South facing outbreak of tornadoes and severe storms for second straight Sunday
For the second Sunday in a row, the South is in the midst of an outbreak of severe weather, including widespread damaging winds, tornadoes, hail and torrential rainfall.
Multiple waves of severe thunderstorms are underway or anticipated Sunday night from Louisiana to the Atlantic coast of the Carolinas as a strong storm system rolls across the area. Accompanying the potentially vigorous storms is the expectation for flash flooding in some areas.
On Sunday evening, tornado watches stretched from Louisiana to southern Mississippi and Alabama. The watches all mentioned the possibility of a couple “intense tornadoes” as well as “very large hail events” up to 2 to 2.5 inches in diameter.
At 7:23 p.m. central time, the Weather Service warned of “a confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado” just 30 miles south-southwest of the 2.25-mile-wide tornado that struck southern Mississippi one week ago.