Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, rfall, and JML9999. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Interceptor7, BentLiberal, Oke and jlms qkw. The guest editors are Doctor RJ and annetteboardman.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
BBC
China executes 13 in Xinjiang for 'terrorist attacks'
China has executed 13 people in the western province of Xinjiang for "terrorist attacks", state media say.
The 13 - who reportedly include Muslim ethnic Uighurs - were accused over seven cases including attacks in June 2013 that killed 24 people.
It comes as three other men - who reports say also appear to be Uighurs - were sentenced over a fatal car crash in Beijing last year.
Beijing has blamed Uighur groups for several attacks across the country.
Those executed on Monday had been charged with crimes including "participating in terrorist groups; murder; arson; theft; and illegal manufacture, storage and transportation of explosives", state-run news agency Xinhua said.
The report named three defendants who were convicted of attacking a police station, hotel, government building and other venues in Lukqun, Xinjiang province, on 26 June.
The attack killed 24 police officers and civilians and injured 23 others, Xinhua added.
BBC
Police arrest suspect in Arizona church attack
Police in Arizona have arrested a suspect in the killing of a priest in an attack on a Roman Catholic church.
Gary Michael Moran, 54, is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder, burglary and armed robbery.
Court records indicate Mr Moran served eight years in prison for aggravated assault and was released in April.
The Reverend Kenneth Walker, 28, was shot and killed. The Reverend Joseph Terra, 56, was severely beaten, but gave a description of the attacker.
Moran was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2005 for entering the apartment of a stranger and stabbing the man without provocation.
A requiem Mass was held for Father Walker on Monday
While in prison, Moran was also found guilty of more than a dozen crimes, including drug manufacturing and possession.
Father Terra, who administered Last Rites to Father Walker, called authorities to report a burglary at the Mother of Mercy Mission in Phoenix at about 21:00 local time on Wednesday
.
BBC
Ukraine crisis: Russia halts gas supplies to Kiev
Ukraine says Russia has cut off all gas supplies, in a major escalation of a dispute between the two nations.
"Gas supplies to Ukraine have been reduced to zero," Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said.
Russia's state-owned gas giant Gazprom said Ukraine had to pay upfront for its gas supplies, after Kiev failed to settle its huge debt.
Gazprom had asked Ukraine's state gas firm Naftogaz to pay $1.95bn (£1.15bn) of the $4.5bn it said it was owed.
It said it would continue to supply gas to Europe, although Gazprom chief Alexei Miller warned there now were "significant" risks for gas transit to the EU via Ukraine.
Ukraine has enough reserves to last until December, according to Naftogaz.
Later, the White House urged Moscow to resume talks with Ukraine, saying an EU proposal that Kiev pay $1bn on Monday and the rest in instalments was a "reasonable compromise".
BBC
Argentina dealt double blow over bondholder fight
The US Supreme Court has delivered a double blow to Argentina over its long-running battle with holders of the country's defaulted bonds.
First, the court on Monday rejected Argentina's appeal against an order to pay more than $1.3bn to hedge funds that hold some of the bonds.
Then, bondholders won the right to use US courts to force Argentina to reveal where it owns assets around the world.
The country's main stock market tumbled more than 6% at the start of trading.
The court's decision means that bondholders should find it easier to collect on their debts.
"This realistically is the end of the road for Argentina's decade-long fight," said Anna Gelpern, an expert in sovereign finance at the US-based Georgetown Law School.
The South American country defaulted in 2001 following its economic crisis, and has been in a legal battle with bondholders led by hedge funds NML and Aurelius Capital Management.
Al Jazeera America
An angry mob of Indian workers wielding iron rods and stones beat the CEO of a textile factory to death in a dispute.
An angry mob of Indian workers wielding iron rods and stones beat the CEO of a textile factory to death in a dispute over increasing their working hours, police said Monday after arresting six workers.
The suspects — two detained Monday and four on Sunday — are expected to be charged with murder, vandalism and other crimes allegedly committed when about 200 workers stormed the office of 60-year-old H.K. Maheswari in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, according to Hooghly District Police Superintendent Sunil Chowdhury.
The factory specifically processed jute, a long vegetable fiber that can be used to make strong threads, to be woven into rope, sacks or mats.
Maheswari had denied their earlier request to work and be paid for 40 hours a week at the North Brook Jute Mill, instead of the current norm of 25. He had also proposed shutting down the mill for three days a week to limit mounting financial losses, according to the factory's general manager, Kiranjit Singh.
"The mill workers suddenly resorted to stone pelting while we were busy in a meeting," Kiranjit Singh said. At one point during Sunday's meeting, Maheswari looked out the window at the growing crowd and was struck in the head by two stones. He collapsed, at which point a large group of workers stormed the office, Singh said.
Al Jazeera America
Albanian police storm marijuana village as growers fire RPG.
Hundreds of police, backed by armored vehicles, stormed a village in southern Albania Monday after suspected marijuana growers allegedly fired rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns at officers during a drug raid.
Police said no one was hurt in the hostilities in and around Lazarat, a major marijuana-producing center about 140 miles south of the capital, Tirana.
Police spokeswoman Laura Totraku said officers managed to take control of the village of 5,000 people after exchanging fire with nearly 30 armed men hiding in a four-story building complex. Totraku said the gunmen fled Lazarat and were heading for a nearby mountain, pursued by police.
But more than three hours later, sporadic gunfire was still heard in th
e village. Authorities advised residents to stay at home, while scores of police in body armor guarded the entrances to Lazarat.
Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri urged the gunmen to disarm and surrender.
Gangs based in Lazarat are believed to produce about 900 metric tons of cannabis a year, worth about $6.1 billion — roughly half of the small Balkan country's GDP.
Albania remains Europe's leading cannabis producer, despite efforts by authorities, who claim to destroy between 90,000 and 130,000 cannabis plants every year.
Al Jazeera America
Florida governor signs "Charlotte's Web" medical marijuana bill.
In a historic development for the medical marijuana movement, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill Monday that will allow some patients to use a strain of low-potency marijuana for epilepsy and cancer.
In April, Scott had said he would sign the “Charlotte’s Web” bill,” after the Senate approved it by a 36-3 vote. It passed with strong support in the Florida legislature after lawmakers heard stories of children suffering from seizures who could be helped by the marijuana strain known as Charlotte's Web.
“As a father and grandfather, you never want to see kids suffer,” Scott said in a statement. “The approval of Charlotte’s Web will ensure that children in Florida who suffer from seizures and other debilitating illnesses will have the medication needed to improve their quality of life. I am proud to stand today with families who deserve the ability to provide their children with the best treatment available.”
Charlotte’s Web contains 0.5 percent THC, marijuana’s major psychoactive ingredient. The average content usually found on the market is around 13 percent.
Florida voters in November will consider a more sweeping medical marijuana measure, in the form of constitutional amendment. Amendment 2, which Scott opposes, would legalize all forms of medicinal cannabis in Florida.
With Scott’s signature, Florida becomes the 23rd U.S. state to legalize medical marijuana. Washington D.C. also has legalized the drug for medicinal use.
CNN
Tornadoes pummel Nebraska, one fatality reported amid damage
There's a video at link; might autoplay.
Multiple tornadoes pummeled a region in northeast Nebraska Monday, killing one and causing damage that was still being assessed as the sun went down.
And the severe weather is not letting up. A tornado watch remains in place until early Tuesday morning.
One city, Pilger, has been closed to all but emergency personnel, the state's emergency management agency said Monday night. Severe weather in the area caused damage in at least four towns -- Pilger, Wisner, Stanton and Pender, according to the governor's office.
At least 15 patients were transported to Faith Regional Health Services for treatment, and "many more" were expected to arrive, hospital spokeswoman Jacque Genovese said.
Officials were assessing the damage, trying to determine how many are injured and how much damage has been done.
"We're still digging people out," said Sanford Goshorn, the emergency manager in Stanton County, where Pilger and Stanton are located.
USA Today
Ga. execution would be first since botched Okla. effort
After an unusual six-week lapse in executions in the USA since a botched effort in Oklahoma on April 29, two men could face lethal-injection deaths in Georgia and Missouri Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.
Should the execution of Marcus Wellons go forward at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday in Georgia, it would be that state's first lethal injection using a drug not federally approved. That's the result of a scramble by Georgia and other states in recent months to obtain drugs necessary for executions.
Wellons, 59, was sentenced to death for the 1989 rape and murder of 5-year-old India Roberts, whom he abducted as she was on her way to a school bus.
At 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, Missouri is preparing to execute John Winfield, who blinded the mother of his two children and killed two other women in a 1996 shooting spree. A judge on Thursday issued a stay of execution, but prosecutors are seeking to have it lifted in time for Winfield's execution to proceed.
A third inmate in Florida is slated to be put to death Wednesday evening.
Raw Story
Real-life tawdry tale of wine, wire fraud, hackers and spies grips Switzerland
A bizarre scandal is swirling around one of Switzerland's leading wine producers after he was arrested last week along with a computer hacker, a detective and a spy.
Dominique Giroud, 43, was taken into custody on Wednesday on suspicion of ordering the hacking of computers belonging to journalists who were investigating him over allegations of fraud.
He has been remanded in custody until July 14. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to up to five years behind bars.
A professional hacker, private detective and Swiss intelligence agent have also been arrested in connection with the case, the Geneva prosecutor's office said Friday.
Giroud, whose company Giroud Vins is based in the southwestern canton of Valais -- Switzerland's largest wine-growing region -- has been dogged by scandals for years.
His reputation has been so tarnished that he has even tried to change the business's name to Chateau Constellation, although it was rejected by regional authorities.
Giroud opened a small-scale business in 1995 with reportedly just 1.5 hectares of vineyards to his name and saw that swell to an estate of around 50 hectares over the next 20 years.
His castle-like winery on the outskirts of Sion, Valais' largest town, opened its doors in 2008 and is reportedly valued at around 15 million Swiss francs ($17 million, 12 million euros)
.
Raw Story
University of Texas astronomers discover possible sister to Earth’s sun
A star has been found that may be a sister of our Sun, born in the same cloud of gas and dust in our galaxy, the Milky Way. The Sun, the Earth and the other planets coalesced some 4.54 billion years ago within a such a cloud, probably with thousands of other stars. This age comes from radiometric measures of radioactive isotopes and their decay products in meteorites, the oldest rocks we can handle, while there is plenty of observational evidence for ongoing star formation elsewhere in the galaxy.
Only last week, news emerged of more than 300 previously-unrecognised clusters of young stars, still largely obscured by dust. In time, and usually within a few hundred million years, such stars emerge from their dusty cocoons and drift apart to follow their own orbits about the centre of the galaxy. Being built from the same raw material gives each of the stars precisely the same chemical makeup, while their orbits too can point to a shared origin.
These clues have been used by a team of astronomers led by the University of Texas to identify the Sun’s potential sibling. Still unnamed but known as HD 162826 or by a number of other catalogue designations, it is plainly visible through binoculars high in our summer night sky. Our chart depicts a band of sky more than 50° wide and centred some 70° high in our SSE at midnight at present. Vega in Lyra is by far the most obvious star, though the equally-bright Arcturus in Bootes stands another 15° beyond the chart’s right-hand border.
S F Gate Not the best retirement plan.
Meth lab found at California retirement community
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Police and residents of a retirement community were stunned that a 64-year-old Northern California man arrested during a traffic stop was accused of cooking methamphetamine inside his apartment at the facility for seniors.
"Just shocking someone that age would do that, but actually a perfect place to do it, right? Retirement village, who would suspect it going on there?" Fresno police Lt. Joe Gomez told KFSN-TV (http://abc30.tv/... ) on Sunday, the day after Robert Short of Fresno was taken into custody.
Police pulled over Short in a routine traffic stop in Fresno late Saturday. During the stop, officers learned that Short was on supervised release for selling meth. While conducting a search of Short's car, officers found 4 ounces of crystal meth, plastic bags and an electronic scale, Sgt. Brian Valles said.
Investigators then went to Short's apartment at the California League-Fresno Village. There, they found a half-pound of crystal meth with a street value of about $1,700, some heroin and materials for a small meth lab, Valles said.