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.
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A busy night but a joyous night!
Chicago Sun-Times; 4 takeaways from Chicago’s mayoral election between Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson by Lynn Sweet
The runoff found Brandon Johnson galloping toward the center, moving away from his lefty tax-the-rich, defund-the-police pals who are alienating some liberal Democrats who don’t agree with extremist politics.
The runoff showed the more conservative Paul Vallas sprinting away from statements he made about abortion rights while distancing himself from the footsie he played with Republicans.
This Chicago mayoral campaign rivals’ dash to the center is going to be instructive for national Democrats as President Joe Biden seeks a second term and Democrats try to reclaim the House and keep the Senate. Biden’s pragmatic approach to politics and policies is validated — just look at the pivots from the Vallas and Johnson campaigns.
Democrats can use this election as a cautionary case study: Middle-class, older Black voters, whom Democrats absolutely must have to keep the White House and control Congress, are not, writ large, that progressive, especially compared with Chicago’s white voters in the north lakefront wards.
I’m not a fan or anything of Brandon Johnson at all...but...
Wisconsin State Journal: Janet Protasiewicz defeats Dan Kelly in Wisconsin Supreme Court race by Alexander Sher
Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz has defeated Dan Kelly in the most expensive judicial election ever, handing liberals a court majority as Democrats seek to overturn decades of conservative policies.
The race has galvanized Democrats hoping to rewrite Wisconsin's abortion policy and legislative maps on a court that has had a 4-3 conservative majority. But Republicans were also energized by the prospect of losing a majority that has served as a critical backstop to challenges to conservative policy.
Protasiewicz and prominent Democrats have framed the race as a referendum on abortion policy after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a constitutional right to abortion, reactivating a moribund state law that prohibits almost all abortions. They are also hoping to rewrite the state's legislative maps, which heavily favor Republicans.
Kelly ran a markedly different campaign, hinging his candidacy on defending the rule of law and a pledge to uphold the state and U.S. Constitution. He accused Protasiewicz of appealing to partisan values, though in the general election Kelly also stuck to Republican talking points, calling his opponent soft on crime.
In Tuesday’s arraignment of former president Donald Trump, an unusual piece of evidence featured in the prosecution’s presentation to the judge.
Not a bank document. Or an affidavit.
The prosecution invoked a post by Trump on his social networking service, Truth Social, that showed a photo of him holding a baseball bat next to an image of Alvin Bragg, the district attorney in Manhattan who is bringing 34 felony counts against the former president stemming from 2016 hush money payments made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels. Trump pleaded not guilty.
The online post was part of the prosecution’s case that the former president has behaved recklessly in the course of the investigation, creating a threatening environment for parties to the case — and those overseeing it — and warranting special measures to safeguard the process.
The judge in the case, Juan Merchan, stressed the importance of Trump’s rights under the First Amendment, especially because he is a candidate for president. But he disputed the defense’s argument that recent broadsides on social media simply reflect the former president’s frustration.
Tennessee House Republicans on Monday took steps toward expelling three Democratic state representatives after they participated in protests at the state Capitol last Thursday calling for more gun control in the wake of the deadly mass shooting at Nashville’s
Covenant School.
GOP lawmakers filed three resolutions Monday, one each seeking the expulsion of Reps. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis, each of whom was already removed from their committee assignments after last week’s demonstrations. The resolutions were filed by Republican Reps. Bud Hulsey, Gino Bulso and Andrew Farmer.
The three Democratic lawmakers led a protest on the House floor last Thursday, CNN affiliate WSMV reported, using a bullhorn as demonstrators called for lawmakers to do something to prevent further gun violence after three 9-year-olds and three adults were killed in a mass shooting at the private Christian school last week.
CNN has reached out to Johnson, Jones and Pearson.
The 28-year-old shooter was armed with three guns and fired 152 rounds during the attack, police said.
NBC News: Tornadoes return as Midwest, Plains and South brace for powerful spring storm by Dennis Romero
Another round of thunderstorms was taking aim at the same area impacted by severe weather that killed 32 people from the South to the Midwest over the weekend.
Severe storms are expected into the night across an area stretching from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, the National Weather Service said.
"Weather conditions in these areas could be life-threatening at times," it said in a forecast discussion Tuesday.
There were reports on social media of possible tornadoes in Iowa and Illinois on Tuesday night, and the National Weather Service office in Des Moines gave preliminary confirmation of a tornado touching down near Pleasantville, a city of fewer than 2,000 people about 26 miles southeast of Des Moines.
Meteorologist Alexis Jimenez said it would take until at least Wednesday for weather service crews to confirm any tornadoes.
BBC News: Nato's border with Russia doubles as Finland joins by Paul Kirby and Jonathan Beale
Finland has become the 31st member of the Nato security alliance, doubling the length of member states' borders with Russia.
The Finnish foreign minister handed the accession document to the US secretary of state who declared Finland a member.
Then in bright sunshine in front of Nato's gleaming new headquarters, Finland's white-and-blue flag joined a circle of 30 other flags.
Finland's accession is a setback for Russia's Vladimir Putin.
He had repeatedly complained of Nato's expansion before his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said by attacking his neighbour, the Russian leader had triggered exactly what he had sought to prevent.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that Russia would be "watching closely" what happens in Finland, describing Nato's enlargement as a "violation of our security and our national interests".
AlJazeera: India rejects China’s attempt to rename places in disputed areas
India has rejected Chinese attempts to rename places in what New Delhi regards as its eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as part of its territory.
China and India fought a war along parts of their poorly demarcated 3,800km (2,360-mile) frontier in 1962 and clashes in mountainous regions in recent years have seriously strained relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
The latest angry exchange of words was triggered on Sunday when China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs issued a statement in which it said it had “standardised” the names of 11 places, including five mountains, in what China calls its southern Tibet region.
The statement included a map that showed the 11 places renamed by China as being within “Zangnan”, or southern Tibet in Chinese, with Arunachal Pradesh included in southern Tibet and China’s border with India demarcated as just north of the Brahmaputra river.
India’s foreign ministry rejected the move.
Have the best possible evening, everyone!