Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame, jck, and JeremyBloom. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Interceptor 7, Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), rfall, 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.
Chicago Sun-Times: Mayor Brandon Johnson announces new church-city partnership to house migrants by Michael Loria
Staring down a winter with migrants at police stations or tent shelters, the city announced a new partnership with local churches to house migrants Tuesday.
The program — the Unity Initiative — will bring about 20 migrants each to a few local churches for temporary shelter and assistance with services such as legal help, housing and eventually jobs.
“The model fosters a sense of family support,” said the Rev. John Zayas, a pastor who piloted the program independently over the last year. “It’s not just housing, it’s hope.”
The West Side pastor and Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the program at Zayas’ church, Grace and Peace Lutheran in North Austin.
The program’s reach is small, beginning with about 100 migrants who will be moved from police stations to churches Wednesday. Seventeen total churches are enlisted to participate, each sheltering 20 migrants, but several are already housing migrants through Zayas’ earlier initiative.
New York Times: Rosalynn Carter Honored for Her ‘Tireless Dedication’ to Public Service by Peter Baker
Her journey took her from the smallest of small towns in rural Georgia to the majesty of the White House, from the campaign trails of Iowa and New Hampshire to refugee camps in Asia and impoverished villages in Africa.
But in the end, the final chapter of Rosalynn Carter’s story brought her back to Georgia, to a simple but elegant church for a simple but elegant memorial service where presidents and first ladies and governors and senators paid their respects but the only ones who spoke from the pulpit on her behalf were her pastors and her family.
That was Mrs. Carter. She could navigate the currents of big-time American politics and confront foreign dictators, but she never forgot her humble roots and wanted to be remembered not just as a trailblazing first lady but a caregiver for the world’s most vulnerable. What would have meant most to her, relatives agreed, was the presence of former President Jimmy Carter, who emerged from hospice care to bid farewell to his wife of three-quarters of a century.
Washington Post: Sandy Hook families offer Alex Jones a deal to settle $1.5 billion debt by Timothy Bella
The families of victims of the mass killing at Sandy Hook Elementary School have offered Infowars founder Alex Jones a deal to settle the $1.5 billion debt for only about 6 percent of what he owes them for saying the 2012 massacre in Newtown, Conn., was a hoax, according to a new court filing.
The settlement offer, which was filed in Jones’s personal bankruptcy case in Houston last week, calls for the right-wing conspiracy theorist to pay the families at least $85 million over 10 years. Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families wrote that Jones could either liquidate his estate and give the proceeds to creditors, or pay the families at least $8.5 million a year for 10 years — and 50 percent of any income over $9 million a year — to settle his debt.
While lawyers described the proposal as a viable way to help resolve the bankruptcy cases that Jones faces for himself and his company, Free Speech Systems, the attorneys for the victims slammed the Infowars founder for failing to curb his spending, change his “extravagant lifestyle,” or failing to produce financial documents in court. Jones’s personal spending between May and July of this year was $242,219, including more than $93,000 in July alone, according to previous court filings.
CNN: Portland teachers’ union and school district sign tentative deal after weeks-long strike by Melissa Alonso and Joe Sutton
Portland students will return to classrooms Monday after the Portland Association of Teachers signed a tentative agreement with Portland Public Schools on Sunday, ending a weeks-long strike that shut classrooms down, according to statements from both.
“This contract is a watershed moment for Portland students, families, and educators,” union President Angela Bonilla said in a statement. “Educators have secured improvements on all our key issues. These changes will make a huge difference.”
The strike was part of a wave of picketing across the country in recent months as thousands of workers went on strike, including Hollywood writers, nurses, factory workers and autoworkers.
BBC News: Untreated diseases could kill more than bombings in Gaza, WHO warns by David Gritten
Untreated diseases could eventually kill more people in Gaza than bombings if the health system is not restored, the World Health Organization says.
Diarrhoea and respiratory infections are widespread among children in overcrowded UN facilities where almost 1.1 million people are sheltering.
Patients with chronic illnesses like cancer are also receiving no treatment.
The warning comes as a truce between Israel and Hamas entered a fifth day, after a 48-hour extension was agreed.
The deal mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States should see an additional 20 Israeli women and children held hostage in Gaza being released in exchange for 60 Palestinian women and teenagers in Israeli prisons.
El País in English: There’s no extremist wave hitting democracies: it’s a steady undercurrent by Marc Bassets
It’s not a wave: it’s a steady undercurrent. Over the past decade, the advance of ultranationalist, populist or far-right candidates in Europe and the Americas has had its ups and downs. The latest acceleration took place this past week, with Javier Milei winning Argentina’s presidency and Geert Wilders’ party triumphing in the legislative elections in the Netherlands. These victories — just a few days apart from each other — occurred in two very different countries. Yet, they represent a similar trend.
The success of president-elect Milei and Wilders (who will struggle to build a majority to become the Dutch prime minister) comes after the defeat of the nationalist right in countries such as Spain and Poland. And, in the United Kingdom, Labor finds itself at the gates of power, after having been in opposition for 13 years.
The new year, however, will see the elections for the European Parliament, where right-wing advances can be consolidated. Meanwhile, in the United States, Donald Trump — the inspiration and maximum expression of this movement —
could return to the White House.
Guardian: Oscar Pistorius granted parole and will be released from prison in January by Emma Graham-Harrison
South Africa’s parole board has granted early release to Oscar Pistorius, the former athlete jailed for the 2013 murder of Reeva Steenkamp, who was his girlfriend.
Pistorius shot Steenkamp, a law graduate and model, through a bathroom door in their shared home in Pretoria on Valentine’s Day 10 years ago. He claimed he thought there was an intruder in the bathroom when he opened fire.
He will be released on 5 January after a parole board deemed him fit for social reintegration, South Africa’s correctional services department said on Friday. He has served eight and a half years in prison, plus a further eight months under house arrest.
Before Steenkamp’s murder, Pistorius was a national star feted for winning Paralympic medals and going on to become the first double amputee to race in the Olympics.
College Football Playoff Top 10
1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Washington
4. Florida State
5. Oregon
6. Ohio State
7. Texas
8. Alabama
9. Missouri
10. Penn State
Conference Championship Game line-ups are set up:
Pac-12: (Fri.) #3 Washington vs. #5 Oregon
Big-12: #7 Texas vs. #18 Oklahoma State
SEC: #1 Georgia vs. #8 Alabama
ACC: #4 Florida State vs. #14 Louisville
Big-10: #2 Michigan vs. #16 Iowa
Try to have the best possible evening!