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.
The New York Times: Nick Reiner Formally Charged With Murdering His Parents by Matt Stevens and Ill Cowan
Prosecutors in Los Angeles on Tuesday formally charged Nick Reiner with murdering his parents, the Hollywood fixtures and Democratic Party heavyweights Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.
The son faces two counts of first-degree murder, with prosecutors requesting they be considered under “special circumstances,” in part because there were multiple murders. Special circumstances can add time to a sentence if convicted.
Nick Reiner, if convicted, could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, although prosecutors have not said whether they would seek the death penalty. (Gov. Gavin Newsom has put a moratorium on executions, but the death penalty still exists in California.) Mr. Reiner has not yet entered a plea.
NBC News: New photo of person of interest in Brown University shooting is released as manhunt enters fourth day by Doha Madani
Rhode Island officials on Tuesday released new images and video of a person of interest as the search continued for the shooter who killed two Brown University students and injured nine others Saturday.
Like previously released images, the new enhanced photo shows a man with a black mask, a beanie and what appears to be a two-toned jacket. The shoulders and sleeves appear to be black or blue, while the torso area of the jacket is brown.
A video of the same person walking on the east side of the city before the shooting was also released.
The Providence police chief, Col. Oscar Perez, asked the public to focus on his body movements to see whether there are any distinguishing factors.
Mother Jones: Susie Wiles Disavows Her Own On-the-Record Admissions Revealing White House Chaos by Alex Nguyen
Hours after a Vanity Fair piece in which President Donald Trump’s chief of staff made a series of damaging, on-the-record remarks about the president, his policies, and allies, Susie Wiles appears to be attempting damage control.
“A disingenuously framed hit piece,” she said on X, claiming that it had been “done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team.
But in disavowing the piece, Wiles did not specify which parts she took issue with. Nor did she deny or refute any of the many, oftentimes disparaging remarks she told Vanity Fair over the course of 11 interviews.
Condé Nast did not immediately respond to Mother Jones‘ request for comment on Wiles’ complaint.
The embarrassing remarks include Wiles’ assessment that Trump, who doesn’t drink and whose older brother died of complications of alcoholism, “has an alcoholic’s personality.”
USA Today: MIT professor found fatally shot at his home, prosecutors say by Thao Nguyen
Authorities said on Dec. 16 that they launched a homicide investigation after a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was fatally shot at his home.
Nuno F.G. Loureiro, a 47-year-old theoretical physicist and fusion scientist from Portugal, was found with "apparent gunshot wounds" at his house in Brookline, Massachusetts, on the night of Dec. 15, according to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office. He was transported to an area hospital and was pronounced dead on Dec. 16.
Massachusetts State Police and the Brookline Police Department responded to the scene after receiving a report of a man shot at his home on Gibbs Street, the district attorney's office said in a statement. Brookline is a wealthy suburb of Boston.
Brookline Police Chief Jennifer Paster stated that the investigation is active and ongoing, adding that patrol vehicles, officers, and unmarked units remained at the scene. No suspects had been taken into custody as of Dec. 16.
The Guardian: Trump orders blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela by Coral Murphy Marcos
Donald Trump has ordered “a total and complete” blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro.
The move comes amid an escalating campaign by the Trump administration against Maduro that has included a ramped-up military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, which have killed dozens of people.
Last week, US forces
seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast that was traveling across the Caribbean. The tanker was thought to be loaded with about 2m barrels of Venezuela’s heavy crude, according to
the New York Times. The Venezuelan government accused the US of “blatant theft” and described the seizure as “an act of international piracy”, further heightening tensions between the two countries.
In a post on social media on Tuesday night announcing the blockade, Trump alleged Venezuela was using oil to fund drug trafficking and other crimes and vowed to escalate the military buildup.
El País in English: Media and political earthquake in Italy over sale of ‘La Repubblica’ and ‘La Stampa’, the two main opposition newspapers by Íñigo Domínguez
The Italian media and political landscape is experiencing a seismic shift with the potential sale of two historic newspapers, La Repubblica and La Stampa, the country’s second and third best-selling newspapers after Corriere della Sera, and currently the two main progressive opposition media outlets to the government of far-right leader Giorgia Meloni. La Repubblicaand other media outlets belonging to the GEDI group, such as the Italian edition of the Huffington Post and three radio stations (M20, Deejay, and Capital), could end up in the hands of the Antenna group, headed by Greek businessman Theodore Kyriakou, a conservative and ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. Kyriakou is also a partner in Greece of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose PIF fund holds a 30% stake in Antenna Greece BV.
The Greek magnate, however, has stated that he is not interested in La Stampa, which would be sold separately, either before or after the transaction, although it is unclear to whom. The two newspapers are the best-known publications of the GEDI group, owned by the Agnelli family, historical owners of FIAT, through the company Exor (which also owns 43% of The Economist), and chaired by John Elkann Agnelli. In total, it has 1,300 employees who now fear staff reductions and a change in editorial line.
Wow! These are two of the biggest establishment newspapers in Italy. I’ve used them both from time to time here and in APR.
Everyone have the best possible evening that you can!
