The following are headlines from some stories from today’s news:
- Ransomware rises as a national security threat as bigger targets fall
- FDA advisory panel recommends Moderna booster for many adults
- Sir David Amess: Conservative MP stabbed to death
- Queen 'irritated' by climate change inaction in COP26 build-up
- Covid infection rate in England rises again to one in 60 people
- Walker rescued after surviving two ‘shivering’ nights in Scottish Highlands
- Australian government to adopt international group’s definition of antisemitism
- Let her finish: interruptions of female justices led to new supreme court rules
- France remembers Paris massacre amid tensions with Algeria
- Guatemala’s growing palm oil industry fuels Indigenous land fight
- Germany has ditched free COVID tests: Has it worked?
- Lebanon: Day of mourning in Beirut as world powers call for calm after clashes
- PM hails arrival of Russell Crowe, film crew
- Outrage Grows Over Jailing of Children as Tennessee University Cuts Ties With Judge Involved
- Apple fires #AppleToo leader as part of leak probe. She says it's retaliation
- La Niña is coming. Here's what that means for winter weather in the U.S.
This is an open thread where everyone is welcome, especially night owls and early birds, to share and discuss the happenings of the day. Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
C/NET
Cybercriminals are getting more sophisticated and brazen in ransomware attacks, freezing computer systems at school districts, major universities, police departments and hospitals. Now the US government is stepping up its approach to fighting computer crimes.
Earlier this week, the White House convened an international counter-ransomware event. Representatives from more than 30 countries, including big US allies like the UK, Canada and Japan, participated in the virtual gathering. Notably absent: Russia, which the US and other countries blame for harboring and possibly encouraging the groups behind the attacks.
C/NET
An advisory panel to the US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday voted to recommend a booster shot of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for many Americans, at least six months after their second dose.
The panel unanimously voted yes on a half-dose shot for people 65 and older, people 18 and older at high risk of severe COVID-19, and people 18 and older whose jobs put them at risk of COVID-19 infection. These are the same groups that became eligible for a Pfizer booster last month.
The COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective in preventing hospitalization and death. Over the summer, as the delta variant took hold in the US, the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 surged. Those who are unvaccinated have accounted for nearly all the hospitalizations and deaths -- over 97% as of July.
While the US already is offering a booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine to some people, just 2.5% of people living in low-income countries have received at least one vaccine dose.
BBC
Conservative MP Sir David Amess has died after being stabbed multiple times at his constituency surgery in Essex.
Police said a 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder after the attack at a church in Leigh-on-Sea.
They recovered a knife and are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. A counter terrorism team will lead the investigation.
Boris Johnson has spoken of his shock and sadness at the loss of "one of the kindest" people in politics.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has asked all police forces to review security arrangements for MPs "with immediate effect", a Home Office spokesman said.
Sir David, 69, had been an MP since 1983 and was married with five children. He is the second serving MP to be killed in the past five years, following the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox in 2016.
BBC
The Queen has appeared to suggest she is irritated by people who "talk" but "don't do", ahead of next month's climate change summit.
Her reported remarks were overheard during the opening of the Welsh parliament on Thursday.
The monarch, who is due to attend the UN's COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, said she did not know who was coming to the event.
Prince Charles and Prince William have also spoken of their climate concerns.
Global leaders are meeting in Glasgow between 31 October and 12 November to negotiate a new deal to stall rising global temperatures.
The Guardian, UK Edition
About one in 60 people in England had Covid-19 last week, according to estimates published on Friday.
The prevalence of infection was up for a third straight week, having been at about one in 70 the previous week, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
At the peak of the second wave in early January, about one in 50 people were estimated to have coronavirus. The latest estimate of one in 60 equates to about 890,000 people.
While the government has continued to insist it will rely on vaccines rather than lockdowns to navigate a difficult winter, some experts have expressed concern about the rise.
The Guardian, UK Edition
A hiker has been rescued after surviving two nights lost and alone in the Scottish Highlands, having become separated from his walking partner.
David Wightman, from near Southend-on-Sea in Essex, found himself in an increasingly desperate situation on the walk he had started on with his companion Colin Marshall.
The pair were hiking in the area of Ben Macdui – about 60 miles inland of Aberdeen – and were heading to Corrour bothy when they lost touch amid difficult weather conditions on Friday.
Marshall managed to raise the alarm and a search and rescue operation was launched. Wightman, who managed to find some shelter, was eventually found by students who had heard he was lost.
The Guardian, Australian Edition
An international definition of antisemitism, to be formally endorsed by the Australian government, will help stop hate speech and violence, some Jewish advocacy groups say.
But others argue the broad definition could be used to shut down legitimate criticism of the state of Israel.
In a pre-recorded message from Canberra the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, told an international forum on combating antisemitism that Australia, “as a people, and as a nation”, would adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.
“Antisemitism has no place in Australia,” Morrison told the forum. “It has no place anywhere in the world. And we must work together, resolutely and as a global community to reject any word or any act that supports antisemitism towards individuals, towards communities or religious facilities.”
The Guardian, US Edition
Justice Sonia Sotomayor has revealed that changes have been made in the supreme court’s structure of oral arguments following studies confirming what women on the court have long noticed – that female justices were more prone to being interrupted by male justices and attorneys.
Speaking at a New York University School of Law event on Wednesday, Sotomayor said the new format now allows justices to ask questions individually, in order of seniority, after an attorney’s time is up.
The improvement has had an “enormous impact”, she said, as first reported by CNN.
“I … found that my colleagues are much more sensitive than they were before. You’ll see us, even now, when we’re speaking, a judge will say, ‘I’m sorry, did I interrupt you?’” Sotomayor said, adding: “That did not happen as much before.”
Al Jazeera
Paris, France – Sixty years ago, Algerians in Paris were arrested, killed, and drowned in the Seine by French police. They were peacefully demonstrating against a curfew on them months before the end of the Algerian war.
Archives estimate that between 100 and 300 people were killed, but there is no exact figure.
Historian Fabrice Riceputi says this is because what happened on October 17, 1961, in central Paris was a “colonial massacre”. “One of the characteristics of all colonial massacres in history is that it is impossible to make precise assessments,” he told Al Jazeera.
Widely regarded by historians as the most violent repression of a protest in post-war Western Europe, many in France still refuse to confront it.
Al Jazeera
Chinebal, Guatemala – Anibal Agurtia blows into the conch shell tied to a red string around his hand, calling people to the clearing.
Already, a few dozen members of the Indigenous Maya Q’eqchi’ community of Chinebal have gathered to discuss an escalating land struggle in this remote area of eastern Guatemala.
Community members accuse a Guatemalan company of planting oil palm on their traditional lands, and they have built homes to reclaim the disputed tract – spurring an eviction notice, several police operations, and a day of deadly violence that remains ever-present in the memory of the settlement’s more than 500 residents.
“[Police] just killed him and took him away,” Matilde Ac told Al Jazeera about her husband, Jose Chaman, who was killed last year during a police operation related to the conflict with the palm oil company, NaturAceites. “I want it to be investigated.”
DW News
The small blue-and-white testing center on the sidewalk stands out on Berlin's Tor Street, known for its lively nightlife. The center looks like a gatehouse, and that is essentially what it has become. Beyond it are all the bars, restaurants and cinemas where only people who have recovered, been vaccinated or tested negative are allowed to go.
You can already tell that the COVID-19 rapid tests are no longer free, employee Hassan Ghazin said. He estimates the number of customers to be about "half as many" as previously, though there are still some people who don't have to pay. "That's about a third," he said.
Minors, people with low incomes and people who must be tested to end quarantine are exempt from fees, as are people who have to go to the doctor because they have symptoms.
Germany's new COVID-19 testing rules came into force on October 11. They are focused on the unvaccinated, who until now could take a free test and with a negative result go to a restaurant or other restricted area. A spokeswoman for the German Health Ministry emphasized that everything should stay "fair." This means that now "that everyone has the opportunity to be vaccinated, the general public should no longer be paying for free tests."
DW News
A day after sectarian clashes erupted in central Beirut, Lebanon's presidency declared a day of mourning. Banks, schools and government offices were closed, and Lebanese Army armored personnel carriers patrolled the streets. Barbed wire festooned the entrance to some areas one day after seven Shiite Muslims were killed.
The Hezbollah and Amal Shiite movements turned their attention to burying victims in cemeteries around Beirut. At a cemetery in a southern suburb, the Associated Press reported Hezbollah members in military uniforms paid their respects, standing before three coffins draped with the group's yellow flag and covered with white roses.
In Beirut's Tayouneh area, where the gun battles erupted, residents Friday were sweeping up broken glass in front of stores and apartment buildings.
The state-run National News Agency has reported that 19 people have been arrested by police so far in connection with the clashes, which are considered Lebanese's worst sectarian violence in a decade.
Bangkok Post
The arrival of Hollywood star Russell Crowe to make a movie in Thailand, and his tweeted pictures and messages about Thais, the food and scenery brought pride to the nation, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha declared on Friday.
Crowe has shared complimentary pictures and messages about his experience during his stay in quarantine in Phuket ahead of filming a Vietnam War era movie called The Greatest Beer Run Ever.
Speaking during a visit to Ubon Ratchathani, Gen Prayut said Thai people should be proud and all officials, business operators, vendors and people who contributed to the success of the Phuket Sandbox reopening project should take credit.
ProPublica
In the days after ProPublica’s investigation of the juvenile justice system in Rutherford County, Tennessee, one state lawmaker wrote that she was “horrified.” Another called it a “nightmare.” A third labeled it “unchecked barbarism.” A former Tennessee congressman posted the story about the unlawful jailing of kids and tweeted, “The most sickening and unAmerican thing I’ve read about in some time.” The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund called for a federal civil rights investigation. A pastor, in his Sunday sermon in Nashville, said: “We can’t allow this madness to continue. These are our babies.”
And on Tuesday evening, four days after the story published, the president of Middle Tennessee State University notified faculty and staff that Donna Scott Davenport, a juvenile court judge at the heart of the investigation, “is no longer affiliated with the University.” Davenport had been an adjunct instructor at the school, which is based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. For many years, she taught a course on juvenile justice. In 2015, she was one of the university’s commencement speakers.
NPR
Apple has fired a lead organizer of the #AppleToo movement, as the company investigates multiple employees suspected of leaking internal documents to the media.
Janneke Parrish, a program manager who had been with the company for more than five years, told NPR that she was fired on Thursday. Apple claimed she had deleted files and apps from her company phone amid an investigation into how details of a company meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook leaked to the press, Parrish said.
"This is retaliation. I have been one of the most visible members of #AppleToo. I know the risk of doing that," she said. "I see a consistent pattern when each of the members of #AppleToo are subjected to investigations or Apple leadership approaches them. There has been a pattern established."
#AppleToo has been spearheaded by Parrish and another Apple employee, Cher Scarlett, who is still at Apple but on medical leave and would not comment to NPR. The effort gathered hundreds of anonymous accounts from Apple employees who highlighted alleged verbal abuse, sexual harassment, pay equity issues and other forms of workplace mistreatment.
NPR
La Niña will most likely be joining us for the winter again, according to federal forecasters.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center announced on Thursday that La Niña conditions have developed and are expected to continue, with an 87% chance that they will be in place from December to February.
La Niña (translated from Spanish as "little girl") is not a storm, but a climate pattern that occurs in the Pacific Ocean every few years and can impact weather around the world.
The U.S. is expected to feel its effects on temperature and precipitation, which could in turn have consequences for things such as hurricanes, tornadoes and droughts.v
The crew of the Overnight News Digest consists of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Rise above the swamp, 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.