Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, rfall, and JML9999. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Interceptor7, BentLiberal, Oke and jlms qkw. The guest editor is annetteboardman.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
Some positive news to begin.
BBC
Nazi looted art 'found in Munich' - German media
A collection of 1,500 artworks confiscated by the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s has been found in the German city of Munich, media reports say.
The trove is believed to include works by Matisse, Picasso and Chagall, the news magazine Focus reports.
Some of the works were declared as degenerate by the Nazis, while others were stolen from or forcibly sold for a pittance by Jewish art collectors.
If confirmed, it would be one of the largest recoveries of looted art.
Investigators put the value of the works at about one billion euros (£846m; $1.35bn), Focus said.
BBC
Tom Baker on Doctor Who: 'It was so much better than real life'
As Doctor Who nears its 50th anniversary, Tom Baker reflects on his seven years as the fourth Doctor. "It was so much better than real life," he says.
Tom Baker is planning to break the habit of a lifetime on 23 November.
The actor says he's never been interested in watching Doctor Who - including his own stories - but he plans to sit down in front of this month's special episode that will mark the show's 50th anniversary.
"I hope it's going to be terrific," he says. "It's such a landmark. It'll be a big, emotional thing, but I don't know what they'll do - I'll make an exception and watch that."
With his long scarf and love of jelly babies, Baker's fourth Doctor remains one of the most instantly recognisable incarnations of the Time Lord. He is also the show's longest-serving star, having played the role from 1974 to 1981.
A slight indulgence; me as the Baker Dr. Who, photoshop by Horsefeathers
BBC
One guy with more courage than all of Congress.
'No clemency' for Edward Snowden - Congress committees
Senior US lawmakers have rejected the idea of any clemency for the fugitive intelligence analyst Edward Snowden.
"Mr Snowden violated US law. He should return to the US and face justice," said White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer.
Mr Snowden asked for international help to persuade the US to drop spying charges against him in a letter given to a German politician.
Mr Snowden, 30, fled to Russia in June after leaking details of far-reaching US telephone and internet espionage.
He was granted temporary asylum, allowing him to live in Russia until July 2014.
In a surprise move last week, a German Green MP met Mr Snowden in Moscow and revealed the former intelligence contractor's readiness to brief the German government on National Security Agency's (NSA) spying.
BBC
Oops
Pakistan says drones killed 67 civilians since 2008
Pakistan has said 67 civilians died in US drones strikes in the country since 2008, a figure much lower than estimates by independent organisations.
It said 317 US drone strikes killed 2,160 militants in Pakistan in the same period.
The Pakistani Defence Ministry provided the figure on Wednesday in a written response to the Senate.
It claimed no civilian had died in a drone strike since the beginning of last year.
The US has defended its drone strikes by insisting that it takes "extraordinary care" to ensure they comply with international law.
BBC Video at link
Rare solar eclipse in America, Europe and Africa
A rare solar eclipse allowing a view of the Sun that is totally or partially blocked by the Moon has taken place.
It was first visible in the southern United States, before sweeping east across the Atlantic Ocean and the African continent.
The US space agency, Nasa, said the greatest total eclipse occurred over the Atlantic Ocean.
One of the best views was in northern Kenya, where tour companies organised trips to view a total blackout.
Local myths there attribute the event to the Moon eating the Sun.
USA Today
Airport security still vulnerable
Despite expensive and inconvenient measures adopted after the 9/11 attacks to make airplanes safer, airports remain as vulnerable as any other public place to someone with a grudge, a weapon and a statement to make.
The Los Angeles International Airport shooting is unlikely to change that, many security experts agree.
Although it's almost impossible to get on a plane with a bomb or gun, there's neither the will nor the funds to similarly protect airport parking lots, curbsides, lobbies, ticket counters and baggage claims.
L A Times
In Rim fire's aftermath, a new worry emerges: water
GROVELAND, Calif. — As autumn turns to winter and rain falls over the charred landscape left behind by the Rim fire, forest rangers and emergency planners have a new worry: water.
Over 90% of the blaze burned in the Tuolumne River watershed, where more than 2,600 miles of streams cut through steep, now-burned slopes of the Sierra Nevada. Those mountains are primed for flooding and debris flows in a big storm.
The 410-square-mile blaze — California's third-largest on record — ignited on Aug. 17 in the Stanislaus National Forest and burned into the northwest part of Yosemite National Park. More than two months later, the fire is fully contained, but some of the most serious hazards are just now presenting themselves.
Trails and roads are at risk of washing away, cutting off access to world-class white-water rapids. Burned trees and debris will almost certainly be flushed downstream, fouling irrigation water supplies.
NPR No more excuses about not being able to grow tomatoes.
As Mirrors Beam Light To Town, Norwegians Share Patch Of Sun
The small town of Rjukan has long had to make do without sunlight during the cold Norwegian winters.
But that changed Wednesday, when the town debuted a system of high-tech mirrors to reflect sunlight from neighboring peaks into the valley below.
Rjukan, originally founded 100 years ago as an industrial outpost for the energy company Norsk Hydro, is nestled between several mountains and does not receive direct sunlight from late September to mid-March — nearly six months out of the year.
"Of course, we notice it when the sun is shining," says Karin Ro, who works for the town's tourism office. "We see the sky is blue, and then we see that down in the valley it's darker — it's like on a cloudy day."
Wednesday, residents of Rjukan received their first dose of winter sun down in the valley: A series of reflective panels on a nearby mountainside were put to use for the very first time.
Shorter than usual due to router problems
