Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, wader, Doctor RJ, rfall, JML9999 and Man Oh Man. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Interceptor7, 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 12:00AM Eastern Time
BBC
Turkey calls Nato talks on IS and PKK
Turkey has called a special meeting of Nato ambassadors to discuss military operations against the Islamic State (IS) group and PKK Kurdish separatists.
The session is to take place in Brussels on Tuesday.
Turkey launched air attacks against IS militants in Syria and resumed air raids against PKK camps in northern Iraq following recent attacks.
In one attack blamed on IS, 32 people were killed in a suicide bombing near the Syrian border on 20 July.
The PKK killed Turkish police in the wake of the bombing in retaliation for what they saw as Turkey's collaboration with IS.
The raids against Kurdish separatist camps in northern Iraq in effect ended a two-year ceasefire. Turkish fighter jets launched a new wave on Sunday against PKK targets in northern Iraq, according to Turkish state media.
The Guardian
Turkey’s peace with Kurds splinters as car bomb kills soldiers
The fragile peace process between the Turkish government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ party, or PKK, appeared to be on the brink of collapse after two Turkish soldiers were killed and four others were injured in a car bomb attack that Ankara blamed on Kurdish rebels.
The blast came after Turkey launched a second round of air strikes against PKK positions in northern Iraq on Sunday following a similar one on Friday which also targeted Islamic State in Syria, in retaliation for a string of violent attacks last week for which Turkey blames both groups – themselves fierce rivals.
Turkey asked Nato on Sunday night to hold an extraordinary council meeting on Tuesday under article four of the treaty, which invokes consultation but does not automatically trigger military action on the part of fellow Nato members. According to a statement by the Turkish foreign ministry, the meeting aims at informing Turkey’s Nato allies about the ongoing operations against Isis in Syria and the PKK in northern Iraq.
BBC
Syria: President Assad admits army strained by war
The Syrian army has been forced to give up some areas in order to retain others in the war against rebels, now in its fifth year, President Bashar al-Assad has acknowledged.
The Syrian leader also said the army faced a shortage of soldiers.
A day earlier, he declared an amnesty for draft-dodgers and deserters.
The conflict is thought to have left more than 230,000 dead and displaced millions. Vast areas are no longer under government control.
Syria's conscript army was once 300,000 strong, but has been roughly halved by deaths, defections, and a rise in draft-dodging, AFP news agency said.
'Resist and win'
The Syrian leader said the army did not have the manpower to defend the entire country, especially as rebel groups were receiving increased support from outside - a reference to Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar.
Al Jazeera
Clashes erupt at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa on Jewish holiday
Clashes have erupted between Palestinian Muslim worshippers and Israeli Jewish hardliners at Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem after hundreds of Jews tried to enter the mosque complex to mark the Tisha B'Av holiday.
Israeli police stormed the mosque shortly after the skirmishes on Sunday morning and closed the gates of the compound, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the city reported.
In a statement, Israeli police said that they stormed the mosque to root out what they said were Palestinian protesters suspected of stockpiling fireworks and petrol bombs in preparation for a riot.
"Masked rioters fled into the mosque and started to throw stones and blocks at police from inside Al-Aqsa Mosque. They threw fireworks directly at police," a statement said, adding that a number of police were wounded.
The Palestinian news agency meanwhile said Jewish settlers had assaulted a Palestinian child near one of the gates leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque on Saturday, prompting a group of Palestinians to intervene before the police dispersed them.
Al-Aqsa, known to Jews as Temple Mount, is the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam, and is a frequent flashpoint for demonstrations and clashes.
Al Jazeera
West Bank village anxiously awaits demolition
Khirbet Susiya, occupied West Bank - As Palestinians in the West Bank celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday, the end of Ramadan was marred for residents of Khirbet Susiya by fears that demolition orders would be carried out on their homes.
In May, Israel's High Court of Justice lifted a freeze on demolition orders issued against homes in the Palestinian village of Khirbet Susiya, located in the south Hebron Hills.
Rights group B'Tselem warned that, due to settler pressure, Israeli authorities had decided to undertake the demolition of these homes even before the High Court hears a petition by residents scheduled for August 3.
At the hearing, Palestinian residents hope to appeal the rejection of a previous master plan they had drafted, including a proposal for the construction of permanent structures in the village.
The plan was among multiple stifled attempts by Palestinians in the village to obtain permission for legal construction projects in the area. Now, residents face not only these impediments to building, but also the potential demolition of their pre-existing homes.
Al Jazeera
Saudi-led coalition announces temporary cease-fire in Yemen
Saudi-led coalition forces on Saturday announced a five-day humanitarian cease-fire in their military campaign against Houthi fighters in Yemen, according to Saudi state news agency SPA.
The suspension of airstrikes — which will take effect at 11:59 p.m. local time on Sunday — will allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to the war-torn Gulf country, SPA said.
The coalition has been bombing Houthi fighters and army forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh since March 26, aiming to push them back from southern and central areas and reinstate President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Saudi Arabia.
Months of fighting have resulted in a humanitarian crisis and the destruction of vital infrastructure in Yemen. More than 3,200 Yemenis have been killed since the fighting began, and an estimated 13 million people are in dire need of food and aid.
The Saudi statement warned that coalition forces would respond to any violation of the cease-fire by the Houthis. A previous cease-fire agreement in July — which the U.N. hoped would allow the delivery of humanitarian aid — failed to take hold.
The Guardian
Hillary Clinton pledges half a billion solar panels for US if she wins offic
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has announced goals for increasing US reliance on renewable energy, pledging to have more than half a billion solar panels installed nationwide within four years of taking office.
Clinton, the front-runner for her party’s 2016 presidential nomination, also pledged on her website on Sunday that the United States would generate enough clean renewable energy to power every home in the country within 10 years of taking office.
The two goals were the first elements of what she said would be a comprehensive climate-change agenda to be announced over the next few months.
Her campaign said the goals would lead to a 700% increase in the nation’s installed solar capacity from current levels, and eventually could generate at least one third of all electricity from renewable sources.
Clinton’s plans also call for extending federal clean energy tax incentives and making them more cost effective both for taxpayers and clean energy producers, her campaign said.
Also a Daily Kos diary on the plan.
13 Highlights of Hillary's Plan
N Y Times
Republicans Alter Script on Abortion, Seeking to Shift Debate
WASHINGTON — Rick Perry’s voice softens when he talks about the joy he gets from looking at his iPad and seeing “that 20-week picture of my first grandbaby.” Marco Rubio says ultrasounds of his sons and daughters reinforced how “they were children — and they were our children.” Rand Paul recalls watching fetuses suck their thumbs. And Chris Christie says the ultrasound of his first daughter changed his views on abortion.
If they seem to be reading from the same script, they are.
With help from a well-funded, well-researched and invigorated anti-abortion movement, Republican politicians have refined how they are talking about pregnancy and abortion rights, choosing their words in a way they hope puts Democrats on the defensive.
The goal, social conservatives say, is to shift the debate away from the “war on women” paradigm that has proved so harmful to their party’s image.
Democrats were jolted by the latest and perhaps most disruptive effort yet in this line of attack by activists who want to outlaw abortion: surreptitiously recorded video of Planned Parenthood doctors casually discussing how they extract tissue from aborted fetuses.
It took Hillary Rodham Clinton several days to respond to the uproar the videos created. When she finally did late last week, she called the videos part of a deliberate and “concerted attack” on women’s rights, and pointed back to Planned Parenthood, which she said had already apologized for the tone of one of the doctors who were recorded.
L A Times (2nd story down)
Cruz calls McConnell a liar again, to the frustration of Senate colleagues
Forget the filibuster. Ted Cruz showed during Sunday's rare Senate session that a few choice words -- in this case, calling his party leader a liar -- can be a potent tool in raising his campaign profile for president.
In a floor speech that lasted just seven minutes, the Republican senator from Texas doubled down on his earlier criticism of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's decision to allow the Sunday vote to resurrect the Export-Import Bank, portraying it as a betrayal of the leader's word not to do so.
“Speaking the truth,” is what Cruz said he was doing, picking up where he had left off Friday, when he said McConnell told “a simple lie” by insisting there was no backroom deal for the bank that is opposed by the powerful Koch brothers but supported by a bipartisan coalition of business interests, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
“My saying so may be uncomfortable,” Cruz said, “but it is a simple fact.”
BBC
Whitney Houston daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown dies aged 22
Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of late singer Whitney Houston, has died aged 22, a family representative has said.
Kristen Foster said she passed away on Sunday surrounded by her family and was "finally at peace in the arms of God".
Brown was discovered unresponsive in a bathtub on 31 January and placed in a medically induced coma. She never regained consciousness.
She was moved to a hospice in the city of Duluth, Georgia, a month ago after her condition deteriorated.
Brown was the only daughter of Houston and R&B singer Bobby Brown.
Whitney Houston was found dead in a hotel bath in Los Angeles in 2012.
Bobbi Kristina's mother, Whitney Houston, was found dead in a bathtub in Los Angeles
"Bobbi Kristina Brown passed away July 26 2015, surrounded by her family," Ms Foster said.
"She is finally at peace in the arms of God. We want to again thank everyone for their tremendous amount of love and support during these last few months."
C/Net
Iran's ayatollah tweets graphic Obama pic
@Khamenei_Ir is generally regarded as the Supreme Leader's self-expression.
What to make, then, of a tweet emitted by the account on Saturday?
Its words were somewhat somber: "US president has said he could knock out Iran's military. We welcome no war, nor do we initiate any war, but.."
When a tweet contains a "but," one must always be prepared for something stern to follow. And so it was that this tweet had a picture of a man in shadow pointing a gun at his head. The shadow resembled that of President Obama.
This picture had more words inside it: "We welcome no war. But if any war happens the one who will emerge loser will be the aggressive and criminal US."
It might seem odd to some to call someone with whom you've just reached agreement "aggressive and criminal."
But Twitter sometimes demands this sort of language to be heard.