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
Nikki Haley: Top aides 'told ex-UN envoy to undermine Trump'
Nikki Haley, former US ambassador to the UN, has said two top White House aides encouraged her to undermine President Donald Trump.
In a new book, Ms Haley says then-Chief of Staff John Kelly and then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told her to resist some of Mr Trump's demands.
They reportedly told her they were "trying to save the country".
There was no immediate comment from Mr Tillerson. Mr Kelly said he had wanted the president to be fully informed.
"If by 'resistance' and 'stalling' she means putting a staff process in place... to ensure [Mr Trump] knew all the pros and cons of what policy decision he might be contemplating so he could make an informed decision, then guilty as charged," Mr Kelly told US broadcaster CBS.
Al Jazeera
Bolivia's beleaguered President Morales announces resignation
Bolivian President Evo Morales said on Sunday he would resign after the military suggested he step down and allies resigned amid a fierce backlash to a disputed election last month.
"I resign my post as president," Morales said in a televised address, capping a day of fast-moving events in which several ministers and senior officials quit as support for Latin America's longest-serving president crumbled.
"I want to tell you, brothers and sisters, that the fight does not end here. The poor, the social movements, will continue in this fight for equality and peace," he said.
The commander of Bolivia's armed forces earlier called on the embattled Morales to resign.
"After analysing the internal conflict situation, we ask the president of the state to renounce his presidential mandate, allowing for peace to be restored and the maintenance of stability for the good of Bolivia," armed forces commander Williams Kaliman told reporters.
Speaking on national television, General Kaliman also appealed to Bolivians to refrain from violence. He stepped in after Morales agreed earlier in the day to hold a new election.
Al Jazeera
Australia urges evacuations ahead of 'catastrophic' fire threat
Authorities in Australia's eastern states of Queensland and New South Wales declared a state of emergency on Monday as the region prepared for "catastrophic" fire conditions.
People in areas deemed at the greatest risk were urged to evacuate before Tuesday when unprecedented hot and windy conditions are forecast. Officials worry the combination of extreme heat and wind will fan fires already burning.
Three people were killed and more than 150 homes were destroyed over the weekend in bushfires in northern New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland.
Lawmakers said the state of emergency - giving firefighters broad powers to control government resources, force evacuations, close roads and shut down utilities - would remain in place for seven days.
Bushfires are common in Australia’s hot, dry summers but the current outbreak, well before the summer peak, has caught many by surprise.
The Guardian
Cyclone Bulbul: 20 dead and millions displaced as storm hits India and Bangladesh
Twenty people have died and more than two million others have spent a night huddled in storm shelters after Cyclone Bulbul hit the coasts of India and Bangladesh with fierce gales and torrential rain, officials said on Sunday.
The cyclone packed winds of up to 120km/h (75mph) when it hit late on Saturday, forcing the closure of ports and airports in both countries.
Ten people were killed in India’s West Bengal state, the Press Trust of India(PTI) reported, including two after uprooted trees fell on their homes and another after being struck by falling branches in Kolkata. Two others died in nearby Odisha state, PTI reported.
In Bangladesh, eight people were killed – five by falling trees – and at least 20 people were injured.
Five others are missing after a fishing trawler sank in bad weather on the Meghna river near the southern island of Bhola, district administrator Masud Alam Siddiqui said.
NPR
6 Killed And 100 Injured In Latest Security Forces Crackdown In Baghdad Protests
Iraqi security forces launched an aggressive crackdown on anti-government demonstrators on Saturday, killing at least six people and injuring more than 100 others in central Baghdad.
Government authorities used live ammunition, tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters and to retake three bridges that cross the Tigris River to the heavily fortified Green Zone, where the Iraqi parliament is headquartered. The bridges were being occupied by the demonstrators demanding sweeping political reforms and an end of corruption.
Since the clashes started last month, more than 300 protesters have been killed and 15,000 others wounded, according to the Independent High Commission for Human Rights of Iraq.
Reuters
Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard Tyson dies unexpectedly at 60
(Reuters) - Bernard J. Tyson, chairman and chief executive officer of not-for-profit health insurer Kaiser Permanente, died unexpectedly in his sleep on Sunday, aged 60, the company said in a statement.
Tyson, who held the top job since 2013, was Oakland, California-based Kaiser Permanente’s first black chief executive and a strong proponent for affordable and accessible healthcare.
The company did not give a cause of death. A company spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A day earlier on Saturday, the San Francisco native took to Twitter to post about “high-tech and high-touch” healthcare.
Tyson was described by colleagues in a company statement as “an outstanding leader, visionary and champion for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.”
Kaiser’s annual operating revenue as of June was nearly $80 billion, up from about $53 billion in 2013 when Tyson took over as CEO, according to the company’s website.
Reuters
Factbox: The rise of Spain's far-right - Vox becomes third-biggest party
MADRID (Reuters) - Far-right Vox became the third-largest party in Spain’s parliament in a national election on Sunday, winning 52 seats, up from 24 at its debut in April.
The April election was the first time a far-right party won more than one seat since Spain returned to democracy in the 1970s.
Founded in 2013 by former members of the mainstream conservative People’s Party, Vox is anti-Muslim, nationalist, anti-feminist, Eurosceptic, socially conservative, economically liberal, and staunchly pro-Spanish unity.
It got its first foothold in office last December, winning 12 parliamentary seats in a regional election in Andalusia.
Vox is aligned with the broader populist movement that has also risen swiftly in other European countries, notably Austria, Denmark, France, Germany and Italy.
Deutsche Welle
China's Singles' Day sales on course for new record
China's annual online shopping blitz is expected to break sales records despite the country's slowing economy. Organizer Alibaba says sales in the first hour were up 32% on last year's early haul.
China's biggest online shopping festival, Singles' Day, got underway at Sunday midnight local time, with e-commerce giant Alibaba saying 84 billion yuan ($12 billion) worth of goods were sold in the first hour, compared with 69 billion yuan last year.
It took only 63 minutes and 59 seconds for sales to hit 100 billion yuan ($14.3 billion). The first billion yuan was spent in the first 68 seconds, according to Alibaba.
Singles' Day has broken sales records every year in its 10-year history. Total sales last year amounted to more than $30 billion, which beats the revenue taken by US retailers on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.
A new record is expected again this year, despite a slowing economy partly due to the US-China trade war.
OTOH
New York Times
How Bad Is China’s Debt? A City Hospital Is Asking Nurses for Loans
RUZHOU, China — When the call came for local doctors and nurses to step up for their troubled community, the emergency wasn’t medical. It was financial.
Ruzhou, a city of one million people in central China, urgently needed a new hospital, their bosses said. To pay for it, the administrators were asking health care workers for loans. If employees didn’t have the money, they were pointed to banks where they could borrow it and then turn it over to the hospital.
China’s doctors and nurses are paid a small fraction of what medical professionals make in the United States. On message boards online and in the local media, many complained that they felt pressured to pony up thousands of dollars they could not afford to give.
Washington Post
Christina Cassotis used to be asked the same question when she spoke at public events: Why can’t we go hang out at the airport like we did in the old days?
“We would hear people say, ‘I wish I could get over there, I’d like to have dinner, I’d like to shop, I’d like to greet my daughter when she comes off the plane with my new grandson,’ ” says Cassotis, CEO of the Allegheny County Airport Authority, which includes Pittsburgh International Airport. “It was among the top five questions at every single event, bar none. It got to the point where it was like, Why can’t we do that?"
After consulting the Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security Administration, the airport set up “MyPITpass,” a program that makes it possible for people who don’t have a boarding pass to visit shops, restaurants and gates past security checkpoints.