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.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
Chicago Sun-Times: Unmasked transit: Pritzker ends mask mandates in public transportation, airports by Sophie Sherry, Mitchell Armentrout, Fran Spielman, and Tina Sfondeles
The state will no longer require masks on public transportation or in airports, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday afternoon.
The decision to revise Illinois’ executive order came after a federal judge in Florida struck down the national mask mandate on public transportation.
Pritzker’s changes to his executive order will lift mask mandates on public transit, in public transit hubs and at airports for the state.
Local governments will still have the right to institute their own mask restrictions, according to a statement from the governor’s office.
A spokesperson for Mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted masks will no longer be required on the CTA or inside of O’Hare or Midway airports.
Metra immediately announced masks will no longer be required onboard trains but asked that people be “courteous and kind toward your fellow riders and understanding of their needs and choices.”
It’s good to see Tina Sfondeles back at the Sun-Times; I did follow her work at POLITICO and she didn’t seem to be a good fit for POLITICO.
New York Times: Man Charged in Fatal Subway Push Deemed Unfit for Trial by Andy Newman
Martial Simon, the schizophrenic man accused of fatally shoving a woman in front of a subway train in January, will be sent to a locked psychiatric facility indefinitely, after prosecutors agreed Tuesday not to contest a finding that he is unfit to stand trial.
Mr. Simon, 61, was declared unfit by Bellevue Hospital Center psychiatrists last month, said his lawyer, H. Mitchell Schuman. Mr. Simon had been held at Bellevue since his arrest Jan. 15. He was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Michelle Alyssa Go, 40, who lived on the Upper West Side and worked at the consulting firm Deloitte.
The brief hearing Tuesday at a Manhattan courthouse, at which Mr. Simon did not appear, puts his criminal case into suspension, the district attorney’s office said. If he is ever fit to stand trial, the case will resume. Mr. Simon will probably be sent either to Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center on Wards Island off Manhattan or to Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center, about an hour northwest of New York City, Mr. Schuman said.
Mr. Simon, a former cabby and parking-lot manager who started showing signs of schizophrenia in his 30s, spent decades bouncing from hospitals to jails to outpatient programs to the streets without ever being stabilized for long.
Washington Post: Biden administration gives more borrowers chance of debt cancellation by Danielle Douglas-Gabriel
People who have been paying down their student loans for decades will get a better chance at debt cancellation, as the Biden administration temporarily relaxes the rules of certain repayment plans.
On Tuesday, the Education Department said it will grant federal student loan borrowers additional credit toward loan forgiveness under what is known as income-driven repayment plans. The move will bring more than 3.6 million people closer to debt cancellation, including 40,000 who will be immediately eligible, according to the department.
About half of the more than $1 trillion in outstanding student loans made directly by the federal government is being repaid through one of the four income-driven plans. The plans cap monthly payments at a given percentage of earnings, with the promise that the balance will be forgiven after 20 or 25 years of payments.
NBC News: A new version of omicron is gaining a foothold in the U.S., CDC finds by Berkeley Lovelace Jr.
Another omicron subvariant is gaining traction in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.
The subvariant, called BA.2.12.1, is an offshoot of the BA.2 version of omicron. While BA.2 remains the dominant variant in the U.S., BA.2.12.1 now accounts for roughly 1 in 5 new cases nationwide.
The majority of cases in the U.S. — around 75 percent — are still caused by BA.2., which has been the country's dominant variant since late March.
But BA.2.12.1, along with another version of omicron, called BA.2.12, is said to be responsible for the recent spike in Covid cases seen in upstate New York, the State Department of Health said last week.
State health officials estimated the latest variant to be 23 to 27 percent more transmissible than BA.2, which itself was more transmissible than the original omicron variant. However, there's currently no evidence to suggest that BA.2.12.1 causes more severe disease.
Guardian: Russia deploys up to 20,000 mercenaries in battle for Ukraine’s Donbas region by Julian Borger
Russia has deployed up to 20,000 mercenaries from Syria, Libya and elsewhere in its new offensive in Ukraine’s Donbas region, sent into battle with no heavy equipment or armoured vehicles, according to a European official.
The official said the estimates of mercenary involvement on the ground in eastern Ukraine range from 10,000 to 20,000 and that it was hard to break down that figure between Syrians, Libyans and other fighters recruited by the Russian mercenary company, the Wagner Group.
“What I can tell you is that we did see some transfer from these areas, Syria and
Libya, to the eastern Donbas region, and these guys are mainly used as a mass against the Ukrainian resistance,” the official said. “It’s infantry. They don’t have any heavy equipment or vehicles.”
Syrian ex-soldiers have been offered monthly salaries of between $600 and $3,000, depending on rank and experience, to fight in Ukraine. Wagner is reported to have moved most of its soldiers who had been fighting in Libya to Ukraine, and last month Ukrainian military intelligence claim that Russia had made a deal with the Moscow-backed Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar to send Libyan fighters.
France 24: Macron, Le Pen accused of vetoing 'tenacious' reporter from moderating high-stakes debate by Benjamin Dodman
A pivotal moment in the race for the Élysée Palace, Wednesday’s televised debate between President Emmanuel Macron and his far-right challenger Marine Le Pen has been shrouded in controversy over the choice of mediator, with both camps accused of vetoing a journalist known for her pugnacious interviews.
Macron and Le Pen face off in a presidential run-off on April 24, which polls suggest will be a much tighter race than the contest Macron handily won against Le Pen five years ago. The two finalists will once again spar in a televised debate on Wednesday, with Le Pen hoping to erase memories of the embarrassing flop that ended her hopes of pulling off an upset in 2017.
Throughout the campaign, the far-right candidate has toned down her rhetoric and sought to convey an image of calm and composure. She is expected to play by the same rulebook during Wednesday’s debate, ditching the mercurial belligerence of five years ago in favour of a more “presidential” pitch.
Le Pen, who blamed her 2017 fiasco on fatigue, has cleared her schedule this week to prepare for the make-or-break debate. To avoid being unsettled, she has made sure she will not be facing the news anchor who has repeatedly rattled her in the past: Anne-Sophie Lapix, the star presenter for France’s main public broadcaster, France 2.
It helped that the incumbent president had no greater desire to face Lapix, whom he has studiously avoided throughout the campaign.
DW: Why are tensions rising on the Korean Peninsula? by Julian Ryall
Tensions are once again ratcheting up on the Korean Peninsula, with experts concerned that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is inching closer to a dramatic demonstration of his military power — either an underground nuclear test or the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
North Korean media reported on Sunday that Kim was on hand the previous day to watch the successful test-firing of a new tactical guided rocket system that is "of great significance in drastically improving the firepower of the front-line artillery units and enhancing the efficiency of the operation of tactical nuclear weapons," the North's official KCNA news agency reported.
Meanwhile, the launch of two projectiles was monitored by the South Korean military, which determined that they reached a maximum altitude of 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) and traveled 110 kilometers at a speed of Mach 4 before crashing into the Sea of Japan.
BBC News: Kabul blasts kill six and wound 20 at boys' school
Two bomb blasts at a boys' school in the Afghan capital Kabul have killed at least six people and wounded more than 20, officials say.
The blasts happened at the Abdul Rahim Shahid high school in the Shia-dominated west of the city. The number of dead and wounded is likely to rise.
A nearby tuition centre was also targeted in a grenade attack.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Islamic State militants have attacked the area in the past.
Initial reports suggested Abdul Rahim Shahid pupils and staff may have been targeted by suicide bombers, but Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said improvised explosive devices had been left outside the school, killing six people.
"These are preliminary figures. We are at the site and waiting for more details," he said.
Everyone have a great evening!