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
Venezuela crisis: White House 'will respond to threats against diplomats'
The US has warned Venezuela that any threats against American diplomats or opposition leader Juan Guaidó will be met with "a significant response".
National Security Adviser John Bolton said any such "intimidation" would be "a grave assault on the rule of law".
His warning comes days after the US and more than 20 other countries recognised Mr Guaidó as interim president.
Meanwhile, Mr Guaidó has called for anti-government protests on Wednesday and Saturday.
The political crisis in Venezuela now appears to be reaching boiling point amid growing efforts by the opposition to unseat Mr Maduro.
The president was sworn in for a second term earlier this month after an election marred by an opposition boycott and allegations of vote-rigging, triggering large protests.
BBC
Venezuela crisis: Will the US target oil exports?
In its battle against the rule of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the United States has been trying to cripple the government's ability to secure funds and run the country - with sanctions that target officials, some sectors of the economy and its official cryptocurrency.
But so far it has not yet used what many call "the nuclear option" - a full oil embargo, targeting the industry that is responsible for 90% of the government's revenues.
Despite the rhetoric between Nicolás Maduro and President Donald Trump, refineries in the US are still buying Venezuelan petroleum. Venezuela's state company PDVSA even owns refineries in Texas through a subsidiary called CITGO.
But with the crisis escalating after Washington backed opposition leader Juan Guaidó's claim to the presidency last week, a new round of sanctions is expected in the coming days.
The Guardian
Russia denies sending mercenaries to shore up Nicolás Maduro's position
The Russian government has denied that it has sent mercenaries to protect the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, after an opposition leader with backing from the United States declared himself the country’s president.
Russia has thrown its diplomatic weight behind Maduro in recent days, criticising the US for violating Venezuela’s sovereignty by supporting the leadership claim of opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
Reports emerged earlier this week that dozens or hundreds of Russian mercenaries, who have been active in Ukraine and Syria, had been sent to protect Maduro from a possible coup attempt. The move would suggest that Russia was willing to raise the stakes to protect its investment in its closest ally in the western hemisphere.
On a political news show on Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that Russia had sent military personnel to the country. “Fear has a hundred eyes,” he said. He did not make a direct denial, however, because private military contractors do not work for the government.
BBC
Brumadinho dam: 'Very low' hope for hundreds missing in Brazil
Rescue teams searching for some 300 people missing after a dam collapsed in Brazil on Friday say the chances of finding survivors are "very low".
No-one was rescued alive on Sunday near the south-eastern town of Brumadinho as the number of dead rose to 58.
"We've got to have hope," said a woman whose 35-year-old husband was missing.
The cause of the dam burst remains unclear. Amid growing criticism, Vale, which owns the mining complex, said it had followed all safety procedures.
Search operations were suspended for hours on Sunday amid fears that a separate dam, also owned by Vale, was at risk of giving way in the area.
Vale said 305 employees, contractors and residents were still missing. Some 192 people have been rescued alive.
"After 48 hours of work, the chance of finding [someone] alive is very low," Col Eduardo Angelo, who is leading the search operation, told relatives of the missing.
Reuters
Vale suspends dividends, buybacks and bonuses after Brazil dam disaster
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Vale SA, the world’s largest iron ore miner, suspended its planned shareholder dividends, share buybacks and executive bonuses in light of a deadly tailings dam disaster in Brazil, according to a securities filing late on Sunday.
Vale’s board of directors also created independent committees to investigate the causes of the Friday dam burst in the state of Minas Gerais and monitor relief efforts in the devastated town of Brumadinho and surrounding area.
The Guardian
Cape Town: wild fire engulfs Lion's Head mountain and threatens suburbs
A wild fire that swept across Cape Town’s famous Lion’s Head mountain moved towards residential neighbourhoods on Sunday, prompting several people to evacuate their homes.
A Cape Town fire service spokesman told News 24 that 70 firefighters and 20 trucks were fighting the blaze. Local media reported that the firefighting effort was expected to last all night.
Bad wind conditions were complicating efforts to bring the blaze under control, according to Western Cape local government spokesperson James-Brent Styan.
Video and photographs of the fire flooded social media, with some describing the scene as “Armageddon”. Images showed thick black smoke in the sky as the blaze swept close to the affluent neighbourhood of Fresnaye.
The fire was also close to the suburbs of Signal Hill and Seapoint.
The Guardian (Gimmie my 30 pieces of silver)
trump lifts sanctions on firms linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska
The Trump administration has lifted sanctions on three companies, including the aluminum giant Rusal, linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Democrats had led a push in Congress to continue the restrictions.
Earlier this month, Senate Republicans blocked an effort to keep the sanctions on Rusal, En+ Group and JSC EuroSibEnergo.
Some lawmakers from both parties have said it is inappropriate to ease sanctions on companies tied to Deripaska, an ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, while special counsel Robert Mueller investigates whether Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Moscow.
Deripaska had ties with Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager. Manafort pleaded guilty in September 2018 to attempted witness tampering and conspiring against the United States.
Trump administration officials and many Republicans who opposed the effort to keep the sanctions in place said they worried about the impact on the global aluminum industry.
Al Jazeera
Saudi billionaire Mohammed al-Amoudi released from detention
Saudi Arabia has freed Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed al-Amoudi, more than a year after the tycoon was detained under the kingdom's controversial anti-corruption campaign.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed confirmed Amoudi's release on Twitter on Sunday, saying he had raised the issue with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) during a trip to Riyadh last May.
A family office spokesman told Reuters that Amoudi had returned to his home in the western city of Jeddah.
Amoudi was detained at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel in November 2017 along with dozens of princes, officials and businessmen after MBS launched his so-called "anti-corruption purge".
Al Jazeera
Italy vows to sue NGO over migrant rescue boat
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has threatened to take legal action against the crew of a migrant rescue boat stranded off Sicily, accusing it of supporting illegal immigration.
His remarks came as Sicilian prosecutors sought to launch an investigation into Salvini for kidnapping and illegal detention after he refused 177 migrants and refugees permission to disembark from the rescue vessel Diciotti last October, Italian media reported.
Italy on Friday called on the Dutch government to take in the 47 migrants stuck on the Dutch-flagged Sea-Watch 3, which is operated by a German-run charity. The boat is currently stationed off the coast of Sicily as Salvini refuses it permission to reach the shore.
NPR
Michel Legrand, Oscar-Winning Composer Who Lived 'Surrounded by Music', Dies At 86
Three-time Oscar-winning composer, songwriter and pianist Michel Legrand died Saturday at his home in France. He was 86.
The conservatory-trained musician worked across genres but was best known as a prolific composer of film scores, including The Windmills of Your Mind and I Will Wait For You.
Throughout his career, Legrand played jazz piano, sang, conducted, produced records, wrote music for Hollywood films and worked with stars like Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand.
"Ever since I was a boy, my ambition has been to live completely surrounded by music," Legrand said of himself on his website. "My dream is not to miss out on anything. That's why I've never settled on one musical discipline.
Washington Post
The once vast ISIS ‘caliphate’ is now reduced to a pair of villages in Syria
BEIRUT — A pair of dusty villages in the Syrian desert is all that remains of the vast expanse of territory the Islamic State once called its caliphate, and the complete territorial defeat of the militant group appears to be imminent, according to U.S. and Kurdish officials.
A few hundred of the most die-hard Islamic State fighters are making their last stand in the villages of Marashida and Baghuz Fawqani on the banks of the Euphrates River, a few miles from the Iraqi border in southeastern Syria. With the Syrian army on the other side of the river, a group that once controlled an area the size of Britain is pinned down by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in a dot of land measuring six square miles.
It is now only a matter of weeks or even days before the villages are overrun and the Islamic State’s vaunted state-building enterprise in Syria and Iraq is brought to an end, military officials say.
The conclusion of the 4½ -year war will also add urgency to the question of when and how the United States will pull its forces out of Syria, as ordered by President Trump last month. He later said they would remain to finish the fight against the Islamic State, and still no date has been set for their withdrawal.
BBC
The GM chickens that lay eggs with anti-cancer drugs
Researchers have genetically modified chickens that can lay eggs that contain drugs for arthritis and some cancers.
The drugs are 100 times cheaper to produce when laid than when manufactured in factories.
The researchers believe that in time production can be scaled up to produce medicines in commercial quantities.
The chickens do not suffer and are "pampered" compared to farm animals, according to Dr Lissa Herron, of Roslin Technologies in Edinburgh.
"They live in very large pens. They are fed and watered and looked after on a daily basis by highly trained technicians, and live quite a comfortable life.
"As far as the chicken knows, it's just laying a normal egg. It doesn't affect its health in any way, it's just chugging away, laying eggs as normal."
Scientists have previously shown that genetically modified goats, rabbits and chickens can be used to produce protein therapies in their milk or eggs. The researchers say their new approach is more efficient, produces better yields and is more cost-effective than these previous attempts.