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.
Agence France Presse
Scientists have unveiled the contours of an ancient city north of Rome for the first time, and all they needed was a quad bike and a radar gun.
The splendour of long-buried Falerii Novi in the Tiber River valley was revealed without overturning a single stone.
Instead, researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University of Ghent in Belgium used ground penetrating radars and satellite navigation to create sophisticated 3-D images of the once-lost town.
The results, published Tuesday in the journal Antiquity, shed light on aspects of Roman architecture and urban design about which relatively little was known.
It was also the first time the ground penetrating radar technology -- called GPR -- has been used to map an entire city, Professor Martin Millett, one of the authors of the study, told AFP.
ESPN
Shaquille O’Nealurged the New Orleans Saints last Thursday not to let the media divide them in the wake of Drew Brees' national anthem comments, a source confirmed to ESPN.
"They're going to try to divide you, just like they divided us with the Lakers! Me and Kobe [Bryant], we had a great thing going, but the media divided our team," O'Neal said in the message during a virtual team meeting. "We could have won five more championships! Stay strong. Don't let the media divide you! Don't let social media divide you!"
The Basketball Hall of Famer had been previously scheduled as a guest speaker for the meeting last Thursday. After Brees' comments to Yahoo Finance on Wednesday that he believed players kneeling during the national anthem were disrespecting the flag and the military, the subject of the meeting became a forum for the quarterback to apologize to the team.
BBC
US Democrats in Congress have proposed sweeping legislation to reform American police, following weeks of protests against police brutality and racism.
The bill would make it easier to prosecute police for misconduct, ban chokeholds, and addresses racism.
Its comes as Minneapolis lawmakers vowed to disband the city's police force.
The death of George Floyd at the hands of a white officer there sparked national pressure for change.
However, it was unclear whether Republicans, who control the US Senate, will support the proposed Justice in Policing Act of 2020.
Mr Floyd's brother is expected to testify to the House of Representatives later this week in a hearing on police reform.
BBC
George Floyd is not the first African American whose death in police custody sparked protests.
There were also rallies and calls for change after Tamir Rice, Michael Brown and Eric Garner died.
But this time seems different, with the response more sustained and widespread. There have been demonstrations across the US - in all 50 states and DC - including in cities and rural communities that are predominantly white.
Local governments, sports and businesses appear readier to take a stand this time - most notably with the Minneapolis city council pledging to dismantle the police department.
And the Black Lives Matter protests this time seem more racially diverse - with larger numbers of white protesters, and protesters from other ethnicities, standing with black activists.
BBC
Mayor Marvin Rees said he felt no "sense of loss" after the controversial bronze statue of Edward Colston was pulled down and thrown into the harbour by protesters on Sunday.
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson described it as a "criminal act".
Avon and Somerset Police said a decision was taken not to intervene.
Mr Johnson's official spokesman said: "The PM's view is that in this country, where there is strong opinion, there is a democratic process which should be followed.
"People can campaign for the removal of a statue but what happened yesterday was a criminal act and when the criminal law is broken that is unacceptable and the police will want to hold to account those responsible.
"The PM absolutely understands the strength of feeling, but in this country we settle our differences democratically and if people wanted the removal of the statue there are democratic routes which can be followed."
NPR
Judge Jeannice M. Reding set bail for Derek Chauvin at $1 million with conditions during a court hearing Monday, making the former Minneapolis police officer eligible for supervised release.
Chauvin, who is white, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of George Floyd, a black man. He attended the Hennepin County District Court hearing in Minneapolis via video link.
The former police officer could also be released without conditions at a higher bail amount of $1.25 million.
The conditions for Chauvin's release at the lower amount call for him to abide by all laws, have no contact with Floyd's family and surrender any guns and firearms licenses. He would also be required not to leave the state.
NPR
Before most of it was torn down, artists considered the Berlin Wall one of the largest canvases in the world. On a hill overlooking Berlin's Mauerpark, one of the last surviving sections of the wall is still covered in graffiti art — some of it abstract, some paying homage to celebrities and historical figures.
Now, one of the most prominent sections of the wall bears a portrait of George Floyd.
"I didn't even watch the video, actually," says Jesús Cruz Artiles, a Dominican-born artist better known as Eme Freethinker. "I saw many, many other guys die by the police in my country, like almost for nothing. So I know how it is."
Freethinker, based in Berlin, painted Floyd the day after the video of Floyd's death surfaced and spread on social media. He is well-known in Berlin art circles for his satirical work. He's painted Lord of the Rings character Gollum wearing a face mask, and President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping kissing each other while wearing masks.
NPR
The fight over racial justice that has sparked protests across the country is also upending some of the country's leading newsrooms.
At the New York Times, editorial page editor James Bennet stepped down on Sunday, yielding to hundreds of colleagues who had protested the posting of a column by Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., in which he advocated for the military to help quell civil unrest.
The day before, the Philadelphia Inquirer executive editor Stan Wischnowski resigned. Controversy had erupted both in and outside his newsroom when the paper published the headline "Buildings Matter Too" atop a column on rioting. Reporters there argued it equated property damage to human life.
And at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, rank-and-file journalists are fighting back after editors banned a black reporter from covering local protests. It was retribution for writing a flippant tweet comparing looters to country music fans after a concert.
NPR has learned that a white reporter at the paper who had tweeted a vulgar disparagement of a man accused of looting also received a warning on the same day as his black colleague. But the white reporter kept covering issues related to the protest. He was banned from covering protests two days later, only after the newspaper's union raised the issue of disparate treatment.
Reuters
(Reuters) - The U.S. economy ended its longest expansion in history in February and entered recession as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the private economics research group that acts as the arbiter for determining U.S. business cycles said on Monday.
The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research said in a statement its members “concluded that the unprecedented magnitude of the decline in employment and production, and its broad reach across the entire economy, warrants the designation of this episode as a recession, even if it turns out to be briefer than earlier contractions.”
Reuters
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras on Monday began gradually reopening its economy after almost three months of paralysis during the coronavirus pandemic, even as some doctors warned the healthcare system may be overloaded.
The Central American nation imposed a nationwide curfew in mid-March, closing shops, industries and public offices. So far Honduras has registered 258 deaths caused by virus.
President Juan Orlando Hernandez lamented “thousands” of businesses already shuttered in a pre-recorded television address on Monday.
“The economy could not stay closed any longer,” said Hernandez, adding that a 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. curfew will be maintained.
The Guardian
Ministers are facing a high court legal challenge after they refused to order an urgent investigation into the shortages of personal protective equipmentfaced by NHS staff during the coronavirus pandemic.
Doctors, lawyers and campaigners for older people’s welfare issued proceedings on Monday which they hope will lead to a judicial review of the government’s efforts to ensure that health professionals and social care staff had enough PPE to keep them safe.
They want to compel ministers to hold an independent inquiry into PPE and ensure staff in settings looking after Covid-19 patients will be able to obtain the gowns, masks, eye protection and gloves they need if, as many doctors fear, there is a second wave of the disease.
About 300 UK health workers have so far died of Covid-19, and many NHSstaff groups and families claim inadequate PPE played a key role in exposing them.
The Guardian
Conservationists have warned that the coronavirus pandemic could spark a surge in ocean pollution – adding to a glut of plastic waste that already threatens marine life – after finding disposable masks floating like jellyfish and waterlogged latex gloves scattered across seabeds.
The French non-profit Opération Mer Propre, whose activities include regularly picking up litter along the Côte d’Azur, began sounding the alarm late last month.
Divers had found what Joffrey Peltier of the organisation described as “Covid waste” – dozens of gloves, masks and bottles of hand sanitiser beneath the waves of the Mediterranean, mixed in with the usual litter of disposable cups and aluminium cans.
The quantities of masks and gloves found were far from enormous, said Peltier. But he worried that the discovery hinted at a new kind of pollution, one set to become ubiquitous after millions around the world turned to single-use plastics to combat the coronavirus. “It’s the promise of pollution to come if nothing is done,” said Peltier.
The Guardian
A self-described Ku Klux Klan leader has been charged with assault after driving his car into a group of Black Lives Matter protesters in Virginia.
Harry Rogers, who told officers he was president of the Virginia Ku Klux Klan, has been charged with malicious wounding, assault and battery, and destruction of property after the incident in Henrico county, on the outskirts of Richmond.
Thousands of people have attended protests in Richmond in recent days,
demonstrating against police brutality. They are among nationwide protests against police brutality that have taken place after the killing of George Floyd by a white Minnesota police officer.
According to Richmond’s WTVR news channel, police said Rogers had “revved [the] engine” of his pickup truck before driving through a crowd of protesters. One person was treated at the scene. No one was seriously hurt.
Al Jazeera
The last chance for the public to say goodbye to George Floyd drew thousands of mourners Monday to a church in his native Houston, as his death two weeks ago continues to stoke protests in the US and across the globe and sparked an international debate about racial injustice and police brutality.
They lined up for hours to file through the doors of The Fountain of Praise church, which Floyd attended for most of his life, and past the open gold-coloured coffin where he lay dressed in a brown suit.
Mourners, many wearing masks and T-shirts with the words "I Can't Breathe," stood six feet apart as they paused briefly to view the coffin. Some made the sign of the cross as they passed by. On the stage behind the coffin were two identical murals of Floyd wearing a black cap that read "Houston" and angel wings drawn behind him.
Al Jazeera
At least two civilians have been killed in air raids launched by Russian military jets on several villages in Syria's northwest Idlib province, according to activists and rescuers.
The attacks on Monday were the first since a ceasefire brokered by Turkey and Russia came into effect more than three months ago, helping halt major fighting in Syria's last rebel-held enclave.
The air raids hit a string of villages in Jabal al-Zawiya, southern Idlib, and in towns in Sahl al-Ghab, an area bordering neighbouring Hama province.
Waleed Asslan, a member of the Syrian Civil Defence - also known as the White Helmets, a volunteer search-and-rescue group that operates in rebel-held parts of Syria - said two people were killed after their homes were stuck in the attacks.
Deutsche Welle
Almost every morning, Iyad Halak walked through the small alleyways of East Jerusalem's Old City to the Elwyn El Quds Center — a school for people with special needs. He was a trainee at the institute's kitchen, aspiring to become a chef's assistant. For the 32-year old man with severe autism, walking on his own was important for him to feel independent, his family says. But on the final Saturday of May, it all came to a sudden end.
Shortly before 8 a.m., Israeli police released a statement that a suspect was "neutralized' in the area of Lion's Gate, a description usually used by Israeli security forces to describe the death of a suspect.
The statement added that officers "spotted a suspect with a suspicious object that looked like a pistol." The border police officers "chased after him on foot" after they claimed he failed to obey orders to stop, and opened fire.
One of Halak's teachers, who was nearby, told an Israeli TV channel later that she had tried to alert the officers in Hebrew that he was disabled — but to no avail. Iyad Halak was shot dead behind a garbage bin, where he had apparently sought shelter.
Police later said no weapon was found.
Deutsche Welle
The term "race" should be removed from the German constitution, two leading Green politicians said Monday. In recent weeks, Germany has seen widespread anti-racism protests and dialogue around systemic racism in a German context following the police killing of unarmed black man George Floyd in the US.
"We have to unlearn racism," Green co-chair Robert Habeck and party vice-president for the state of Schleswig-Holstein Aminata Touré wrote in the German daily Taz. "Racism is also a German phenomenon. As a black woman and a white man we are affected differently by this, but it affects us all."
"The word race should be removed from the Basic Law," they added. "There is no such things as race, there are only people."
Read more: Germany struggles to face its own police racism
Germany's Basic Law is the country's constitution, penned in the immediate aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, and so goes to great lengths to forbid the Nazi regime's worst crimes.
Agence France Presse
North Korea will cut military and political communication links to "enemy" South Korea on Tuesday, state media said, after threats over activists sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets over the border.
The threats come with inter-Korean ties at a standstill, despite three summits between the North's Kim Jong Un and the South's President Moon Jae-in in 2018.
Pyongyang "will completely cut off and shut down the liaison line between the authorities of the north and the south, which has been maintained through the north-south joint liaison office," as well as other communication links "from 12:00 on June 9, 2020," the Korean Central News Agency said.