These are some of the stories for tonight’s digest:
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HPD chief: Video shows Christina Nance getting into van where her body was found
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Merkel: ‘very hard work’ ahead to achieve EU climate goals
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FDA panel endorses lower-dose Moderna COVID shot for booster
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Bill Clinton in hospital for non-COVID-related infection
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Missouri gov slams paper for uncovering data security flaw
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US to restore full pension of FBI official fired under Trump
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Bird Strike Forces 'Unhealthy' Sounding Plane Full of Passengers to Make Emergency Landing
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At least 6 killed, dozens wounded in gunfire near Beirut protest
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Landmark studies bring elusive snow leopards back into limelight
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'They Are My Heroes': Paulding Students Save Bus Driver's Life
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Banned By Alaska Airlines Over Masks, Lawmaker Now COVID Positive
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Michigan governor orders urgent response to lead crisis in Benton Harbor
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A meteorite slammed into her house, barely missing grandmother's head while she slept
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Minnesota Teen Builds Free Wheelchairs for Disabled Dogs and Cats – And Soon a Duck
Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame and jck. 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.
News 19
HPD chief: Video shows Christina Nance getting into van where her body was found
One week after the body of 29-year-old Christina Nance was found inside a Huntsville Police Department van, the department’s leader says they have surveillance footage of her getting into the van on her own.
Thursday, Huntsville Police Chief Mark McMurray told News 19 the department tracked down video from a nearby building that showed Nance “somewhat disoriented” and “alone” getting into the van.
McMurray would not say what date the footage was from. It’s still unclear how long Nance was in the van before she died or before her body was found.
AP News
Merkel: ‘very hard work’ ahead to achieve EU climate goals
German Chancellor Angela Merkel predicted Thursday that achieving European Union targets for slashing emissions that cause global warming will be “very hard work.”
The so-called European Green Deal, agreed last December, provides a blueprint for cutting gas emissions by 55% over this decade and becoming carbon-neutral in the 27-nation bloc by 2050.
“I predict that it will be very hard work to adopt this Green Deal,” Merkel said, as she received a European prize at a ceremony in Spain.
She remains in office in a caretaker capacity until a new German government is formed following last month’s elections.
“I won’t be there anymore but will watch closely how far the ability to compromise goes,” she told an audience in Cáceres, where she received the Carlos V European Award from King Felipe VI.
US unemployment claims fall to lowest level since pandemic
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to its lowest level since the pandemic began, a sign the job market is still improving even as hiring has slowed in the past two months.
Unemployment claims dropped 36,000 to 293,000 last week, the second straight drop, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s the smallest number of people to apply for benefits since the week of March 14, 2020, when the pandemic intensified, and the first time claims have dipped below 300,000. Applications for jobless aid, which generally track the pace of layoffs, have fallen steadily since last spring as many businesses, struggling to fill jobs, have held onto their workers.
The decline in layoffs comes amid an otherwise unusual job market. Hiring has slowed in the past two months, even as companies and other employers have posted a near-record number of open jobs. Businesses are struggling to find workers as about three million people who lost jobs and stopped looking for work since the pandemic have yet to resume their job searches. Economists hoped more people would find work in September as schools reopened, easing child care constraints, and enhanced unemployment aid ended nationwide.
Bill Clinton in hospital for non-COVID-related infection
Former President Bill Clinton was admitted to a Southern California hospital Tuesday with an infection but he is “on the mend,” his spokesman said Thursday.
Clinton, 75, was admitted to the University of California Irvine Medical Center on Tuesday evening for a non-COVID-related infection, Angel Ureña said in a statement.
“He is on the mend, in good spirits and is incredibly thankful to the doctors, nurses, and staff providing him with excellent care,” Ureña said.
A second statement from Clinton’s spokesman quoted physicians Dr. Alpesh Amin and Dr. Lisa Bardack, who said the former president has been “administered IV antibiotics and fluids.”
Hearing set abruptly in 2018 Florida school massacre case
A last-minute court hearing is set Friday in Florida for Nikolas Cruz, the man police said has confessed to the 2018 massacre of 17 people at a suburban high school.
The hearing in Broward County Circuit Court was scheduled abruptly Thursday and does not describe the purpose. But WSVN-TV reported without citing sources by name that Cruz would plead guilty to all 17 murder counts against him. Cruz’s attorneys did not respond to calls, texts and emails from The Associated Press.
Cruz also would plead guilty to 17 counts of attempted murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, according to the report. The hearing is before Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, court records show. No trial date had been set.
FDA panel endorses lower-dose Moderna COVID shot for booster
U.S. health advisers said Thursday that some Americans who received Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine at least six months ago should get a half-dose booster to rev up protection against the coronavirus.
The panel of outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously to recommend a booster shot for seniors, as well as younger adults with other health problems, jobs or living situations that put them at increased risk from COVID-19.
The recommendation is non-binding but it’s a key step toward expanding the U.S. booster campaign to millions more Americans. Many people who got their initial Pfizer shots at least six months ago are already getting a booster after the FDA authorized their use last month — and those are the same high-risk groups that FDA’s advisers said should get a Moderna booster.
But there’s no evidence that it’s time to open booster doses of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine to everybody, the panel stressed — despite initial Biden administration plans to eventually do that.
Jan. 6 panel moves against Bannon, sets contempt vote
A congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection moved aggressively against close Trump adviser Steve Bannon on Thursday, swiftly scheduling a vote to recommend criminal contempt charges against the former White House aide after he defied a subpoena.
The chairman of the special committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the panel will vote Tuesday to recommend charges against Bannon, an adviser to Donald Trump for years who was in touch with the president ahead of the most serious assault on Congress in two centuries.
“The Select Committee will not tolerate defiance of our subpoenas,” Thompson said in a statement. Bannon, he said, is “hiding behind the former president’s insufficient, blanket and vague statements regarding privileges he has purported to invoke. We reject his position entirely.”
Missouri gov slams paper for uncovering data security flaw
Republican Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday condemned one of Missouri’s largest newspapers for exposing a flaw in a state database that allowed public access to thousands of teachers’ Social Security numbers, even though the paper held off from reporting about the flaw until after the state could fix it.
Parson told reporters outside his Capitol office that the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s digital forensic unit will be conducting an investigation “of all of those involved” and that his administration had spoken to the prosecutor in Cole County, which includes the state capital, Jefferson City. He didn’t elaborate as to what he meant by “involved” or whether investigators would be looking into whether the St. Louis Post-Dispatch broke the law during the course of its reporting on the data vulnerability.
The Post-Dispatch broke the news about the security flaw on Wednesday. The newspaper said it discovered the vulnerability in a web application that allowed the public to search teacher certifications and credentials.
US to restore full pension of FBI official fired under Trump
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has won back his full pension as part of a settlement of his lawsuit arising from his firing during the Trump administration more than three years ago, his lawyers announced Thursday.
McCabe, a frequent target of then-President Donald Trump’s ire, was fired in March 2018 by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the Justice Department’s inspector general determined he had misled internal investigators about his involvement in a news media leak. The termination came hours before he was to have retired, denying him his pension.
McCabe has denied intentionally deceiving anyone, was never criminally charged and blasted his firing as politically motivated.
He sued in 2019, saying his firing was part of an effort by Trump to purge the FBI of officials he perceived as disloyal. McCabe became acting director of the FBI after Trump fired James Comey, who was leading an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
From condiments to condoms: new California laws bring change
California Gov. Gavin Newsom spent the summer campaigning to keep his job and, with a landslide victory in hand, he’s continued pushing progressive California further left.
In the four weeks after beating back a recall attempt, the Democrat signed laws that require gender-neutral displays of children’s toys and toothbrushes in large department stores, made it illegal to remove a condom without consent during intercourse and cleared the way for a nation’s first ban on the sale of new gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers.
He also made it illegal to film someone near an abortion clinic for the purpose of intimidation, banned secret employment settlements involving harassment or discrimination and limited the use of rubber bullets by police during protests. He even prohibited restaurants from handing out ketchup packets and other disposable condiments unless customers ask for them.
Seattle Times
Dutch climate scientist Geert Jan van Oldenborgh dies at 59
Respected Dutch climate scientist Geert Jan van Oldenborgh, co-founder of a group that rapidly analyzes the possible effects of climate change on extreme weather events, has died at age 59, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute said Thursday.
Van Oldenborgh’s pioneering work with the World Weather Attribution network led to his recognition last month, along with co-founder Friederike Otto, as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2021.
The magazine lauded them for building a global team of researchers capable of swiftly analyzing data around extreme weather.
Van Oldenborgh continued his work after being diagnosed eight years ago with Kahler’s disease, or multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. He died Tuesday, the Dutch meteorological institute said.
MSN.com News
Bird Strike Forces 'Unhealthy' Sounding Plane Full of Passengers to Make Emergency Landing
When a bird flew into a Ryanair plane's engine during takeoff, pilots diverted the flight for an emergency landing at Liverpool John Lennon Airport Wednesday morning.
The plane, which took off from Manchester, England was meant to fly to Lanzarote before the bird flew into its engine. It landed in Liverpool, approximately 35 miles from where it originally took off from.
"The aircraft landed normally, and customers were transferred to a replacement aircraft which departed to Lanzarote following a short delay of approximately one hour," a statement sent to Newsweek read.
Al Jazeera News
At least 6 killed, dozens wounded in gunfire near Beirut protest
At least six people have been killed and dozens of others wounded when gunfire erupted as Hezbollah supporters gathered to protest against the judge investigating the Beirut port explosion.
Hundreds of Hezbollah supporters and allies wearing black gathered at the Beirut Justice Palace on Thursday, calling for the removal of Judge Tarek Bitar from the Beirut Port explosion probe, accusing him of bias.
Bursts of gunfire were heard coming from the nearby Tayyoune neighbourhood, scattering the angry protesters.
At least six people were killed and more than 30 others were wounded by gunfire, the Lebanese Red Cross told Al Jazeera. The identities and affiliations of the shooters were not immediately clear. The army deployed heavily to the area and sent troops to search for the gunmen. It urged civilians to leave the area around the incident.
Pakistan Airlines suspends Afghanistan flights amid Taliban row
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has suspended flights to Kabul after what it called heavy-handed interference by Taliban authorities.
The suspension on Thursday took place as the Taliban government ordered the airline, the only international carrier operating regularly out of the Afghan capital, to cut ticket prices to the levels of before the fall of the Western-backed Afghan government in August.
“Our flights frequently faced undue delays because of the unprofessional attitude of the Kabul aviation authorities,” Abdullah Hafeez Khan, the PIA spokesman told the AFP news agency.
The route will remain suspended until “the situation becomes conducive,” he added.
Alarm, disbelief as Duterte’s ex-drug enforcer runs for president
In June of 2019, police officers in the Philippines conducted an undercover operation against two suspected drug dealers in the suburb of Manila.
In the course of the operation, authorities claimed the suspects engaged them in a gunfight, shooting one officer in the neck and killing him. The two suspects were also killed.
A three-year-old child, the daughter of one of the suspects, was caught in the crossfire. She was hit in the head and later died in the hospital. Police said she was used as a “human shield” by her father. But the child’s mother disputed the report, saying her family was already asleep when police started shooting, and that her husband was unarmed. She later filed murder charges against the police.
Landmark studies bring elusive snow leopards back into limelight
At the end of 1973, after two months spent roaming the wild Dolpo region in the Tibetan Plateau, American naturalist and writer Peter Matthiessen realised it was time to hang up his blood-soaked boots.
Exhausted, he abandoned zoologist George Schaller alone in the mountains, giving up his dream of seeing a snow leopard (Panthera uncia) in the wild.
Matthiessen wrote the story of that gruelling expedition in 1978 in The Snow Leopard, capturing the world’s imagination at a time when scientists still knew next to nothing about these elusive creatures.
Palestine olive harvest: Campaign begins to protect farmers
As olive harvest season sets in Palestine, a 10-day campaign to aid and protect farmers has been launched in areas considered to be at high risk of Israeli settler attacks.
Dozens of Palestinian volunteers, young and old, arrived on Wednesday morning to the village of Jalud, on the southern outskirts of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, to help landowners harvest their olive trees – as quickly as possible.
Another group of volunteers worked simultaneously with landowners in the next-door village of Qaryout.
The campaign, organised by the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), will cover 12 villages, mainly across southern Nablus, but also in the Ramallah and Bethlehem areas. It will bring together more than 250 volunteers including university students, farming committees, local councils, and residents of the villages.
Patch.com News
'They Are My Heroes': Paulding Students Save Bus Driver's Life
For the last two years, bus driver Julie Sargent-Williamson has been driving around the same group of Paulding County Schools students to and from school every single weekday. She knows them, loves them and calls them "her kids."
So when she grabbed her keys for another normal day two weeks ago, she certainly didn't expect what happened next.
Williamson picked up the last kid for the morning route to school and pulled out of the subdivision, when she suddenly felt extremely dizzy. A hot sensation washed over her body — one she said she's never felt before in her life.
27 Pups Pile Onto Plane To Avoid Doggie Death Row
Talk about precious cargo. Cassandra Bergeron took this viral TikTok video of the nonprofit group, Alabama Puppy Rescue Flights, transporting 27 dogs and puppies from Alabama to Orlando on a four-passenger plane.
The dogs were scheduled to be euthanized.
Following Hurricane Ida, which struck the Gulf Coast Aug. 31, shelters in Alabama and Louisiana have been inundated with homeless animals, many of which have been placed on doggie death row.
Bergeron was determined that these dogs wouldn't meet that fate, so she contacted pilot Michael Young, founder of Alabama Puppy Rescue Flights and a University of Central Florida professor, and she and two friends volunteered to help.
Banned By Alaska Airlines Over Masks, Lawmaker Now COVID Positive
An Alaskan state lawmaker who made headlines over her refusal to wear masks aboard airline flights has now tested positive for COVID-19, according to several reports.
In April, Alaska Airlines released a statement saying it had banned Alaska state Sen. Lora Reinbold (R-Eagle River) from their flights "for her continued refusal to comply with employee instruction regarding the current mask policy". As the Associated Press reports, the move left Reinbold with no easy access to Juneau, which is only reachable by air or water, forcing her to request an excusal from the state Senate until mid-January.
Now, on top of being unable to fly to Juneau, she's also stuck at home in quarantine, after she and fellow state Sen. David Wilson (R-Wasilla) both tested positive for COVID-19, the Anchorage Daily News reports.
ABC News
FDA unlikely to rule on Merck's COVID pill before December
The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it will ask its outside experts to meet in late November to scrutinize Merck's pill to treat COVID-19.
The Nov. 30 meeting means U.S. regulators almost certainly won't issue a decision on the drug until December, signaling that the agency will conduct a detailed review of the experimental treatment's safety and effectiveness. The panelists are likely to vote on whether Merck's drug should be approved, though the FDA is not required to follow their advice.
It marks the first time the FDA has convened its expert advisers before ruling on a coronavirus treatment. Advisory committee meetings have become a standard part of its process for reviewing vaccines.
The agency decided to convene the meeting to help inform its decision-making, its top drug regulator said in a statement.
NBC News
Michigan governor orders urgent response to lead crisis in Benton Harbor
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday ordered a “whole-of-government” response to elevated levels of lead in tap water in the southwestern Michigan city of Benton Harbor and vowed to accelerate the replacement of its lead pipes.
Her directive that state agencies ensure Benton Harbor residents have safe tap water came about a week after her administration — amid criticism of state and local officials’ handling of the response — urged people to use only bottled water for cooking and drinking. The Democratic governor on Thursday also committed to replacing lead pipes within 18 months, accelerating what had been a five-year timeline announced more than a month ago.
"This whole-of-government response will proceed with the urgency and haste this threat demands," Whitmer wrote in the order, which mandates that residents receive free or low-cost lead-related services, including health care.
USA Today
A meteorite slammed into her house, barely missing grandmother's head while she slept
A Canadian woman was sleeping in her bed when she heard a loud noise and her dog barking. She looked up and saw a hole in her wall, and after looking around, found a strange gray object laying on her bed.
It turned out to be a meteorite.
Ruth Hamilton told the New York Times that the incident occurred in her home in Golden, British Columbia, around 162 miles west of Calgary, on Oct. 3. The meteorite, which weighed nearly 3 pounds and about the size of a large fist, just missed Hamilton's head while she slept.
"It just seems surreal," Hamilton told the outlet. "Then I’ll go in and look in the room and, yep, there’s still a hole in my ceiling. Yep, that happened."
Good News Network
Minnesota Teen Builds Free Wheelchairs for Disabled Dogs and Cats – And Soon a Duck
A Minnesota high schooler with a passion for disabled animals has made giving them mobility her mission. Two years ago, after studying some YouTube tutorials followed by a process of trial and error, 16-year-old Shaine Kilyun embarked on the enterprise of making hand-crafted pet wheelchairs for animals in need.
More than mere creature comfort, the mobility devices Kilyun manufactures in her spare time are changing furry lives for the better, and even saving animals that might otherwise be put down.
“I just love animals, and I wanted to make a difference somehow,” Kilyun told FOX-9. she said. “I’ve saved a few lives, and I really hope to save more.”
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