Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Interceptor7, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame and jck. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck, 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.
ProPublica: New Data Shows the Use of Seclusion and Restraint Increased in Illinois Schools During the 2017-18 School Year by Jennifer Richards Smith (Chicago Tribune) and Jodi S. Cohen (ProPublica)
Illinois schools reported putting students into seclusion at least 10,776 times in the 2017-18 school year — up more than 50% from the last time districts sent seclusion data to the federal government, two years earlier.
The number of school districts that reported using seclusion, the practice of forcibly isolating a student in a small room or other space, also increased to 138 from 133, underscoring how entrenched the practice has been in the state.
The U.S. Department of Education also collects data on the use of physical restraint, and 286 Illinois school districts reported restraining their students, also up from the 2015-16 school year. The figures include only public school districts and regional special education cooperatives, not private schools.
Reuters: New York City schools halt in-person classes as U.S. COVID cases top quarter-million by Gabriella Borter and Brenden O’Brien
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City’s public school system, the nation’s largest, called a halt to in-classroom instruction on Wednesday, citing a jump in coronavirus infection rates, as the U.S. death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic surpassed a grim new milestone of 250,000 lives lost.
The decision to shutter schools and revert exclusively to at-home learning, starting on Thursday, came as state and local officials nationwide reimposed restrictions on social and economic life to tamp down a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations heading into winter.
The action by New York schools, announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio via Twitter, doubtless came as a relief to some teachers, many of whom have expressed fear of being placed at increased risk of exposure to the highly contagious respiratory virus.
But it will bring renewed hardship for working parents forced to make childcare arrangements once more.
Roll Call: White House signals acceptance of omnibus spending package by Jennifer Shutt
The Trump administration appears ready to accept a $1.4 trillion, full-year omnibus appropriations bill rather than a simple short-term government funding extension, according to top Republicans.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard C. Shelby met separately on Wednesday with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to talk about year-end legislative priorities. Meadows also had lunch with GOP senators on Wednesday.
"It's our hope, and I think this is [Speaker Nancy Pelosi's] view as well, that we can come together on an omnibus and pass it," McConnell told reporters. "I believe that that's the preference of the White House as well."
Shelby, R-Ala., said after his meeting with Meadows that the Trump administration will support an omnibus.
Buzzfeed: ICE Arrested More Than 180 Immigrants In A Nationwide Sweep by Hamed Aleaziz
More than 180 immigrants across the US were arrested in recent weeks as part of an operation targeting those who officials say had promised to leave but did not, according to an internal document obtained by BuzzFeed News.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are expected to announce the results of Operation Broken Promise on Thursday.
The operation comes on the heels of nationwide sweeps last month that targeted areas like California that have enacted so-called sanctuary policies.
This time, ICE officials say they targeted people who had been granted voluntary departure, a policy that allows undocumented immigrants to leave the country on their own accord rather than be deported.
CNN previously reported that ICE was planning the operation, which former agency officials said raises questions about its necessity.
“It’s a waste of resources,” said John Sandweg, a former acting director of ICE under the Obama administration. “When you’re targeting on immigration status alone and not on criminal history, you’re wasting resources.”
CNN: Current and former Trump officials quietly reach out to Biden team by Evan Perez, Jeff Zeleny, and Vivian Salama
Washington (CNN) A handful of current Trump administration officials, as well as some political appointees who left in recent months, have quietly started to reach out to members of President-elect Joe Biden's transition team, according to people briefed on the matter.
The outreach is a sign that
President Donald Trump's refusal to concede the election and the continued obstruction from the White House is beginning to frustrate even those affiliated with the administration. The General Services Administration still
has yet to acknowledge Biden's victory and begin the formal transition. As a result, Biden and his team remain locked out of access to contacts with the federal agencies, funding to help ramp up government hiring for the new administration and access to classified intelligence briefings.
One former Trump official told CNN they're viewing the outreach effort as putting duty to the country over partisan considerations. The conversations are not as detailed as formal briefings that would take place under the officially sanctioned transition, sources said, but they at least could help incoming Biden transition members have a sense of the issues they might have to deal with upon taking office.
Another former White House official who left the administration a few months ago said that he personally emailed someone who he expects will be back in the Biden administration in a similar role to his and offered to help.
AlJazeera: US senators seek to halt Trump’s $23bn UAE arms sale
Three United States senators on Wednesday said they would introduce legislation seeking to halt the Trump administration’s effort to sell more than $23bn of drones and other weapons systems to the United Arab Emirates, a showdown with the president two months before he is due to leave office.
Democratic Senators Bob Menendez and Chris Murphy and Republican Senator Rand Paul announced they would introduce four separate resolutions of disapproval of President Donald Trump’s plan to sell billions of dollars’ worth of Reaper drones and other munitions, F-35 fighter aircraft and air-to-air missiles to the UAE.
The lawmakers said the Trump administration, seeking to rush the sale of the sophisticated weaponry, circumvented the normal congressional review process.
They said the US State and Defense Departments also refused to respond to inquiries about how the administration would deal with national security risks associated with the proposed sales.
Murphy was also concerned with the UAE’s “behaviour” in the region, according to a joint statement he and Menendez released on Wednesday.
DW: Australia inquiry finds troops 'unlawfully killed' dozens of Afghans
General Angus Campbell, Australia's top military official, acknowledged on Thursday that there was credible evidence that Australian soldiers had unlawfully killed at least 39 civilians and non-combatants in Afghanistan.
"To the people of Afghanistan, on behalf of the Australian defense force I sincerely and unreservedly apologize for any wrongdoing by Australian soldiers," Campbell said, revealing the first results of a four-year inquiry into the Afghan conflict.
The inspector-general of the Australian Defence Force has been investigating allegations of war crimes carried out by the Australian military in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
Campbell concluded that the findings of the inquiry "allege the most serious breaches of military conduct and professional values."
He suggested that the next step would be to prosecute those responsible for war crimes.
BBC News: Hong Kong: UK and allies express 'serious concern' over China's policies by James Landale
The UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand have accused China of a concerted campaign to silence critical voices in Hong Kong in breach of its international obligations.
Their foreign ministers urged Beijing to reinstate elected members of the territory's legislature who were arbitrarily dismissed last week.
As China tightens its grip on Hong Kong, international unease is growing.
The UK and its four allies voiced "serious concern" at China's new rules.
These rules disqualify some elected members of Hong Kong's Legislative Council.
The foreign ministers say this is a clear breach of China's legally binding commitments to protect the territory's freedoms and autonomy.
Vanity Fair: The Crown: Yes, Princess Diana’s “Uptown Girl” Performance Really Happened by Julie Miller
Hell hath no fury like Prince Charles realizing that he’s been upstaged (again!) by his glamorous young wife, Princess Diana. The penultimate episode of The Crown’s fourth season, “Avalanche,” opens with a wild scene: Charles (Josh O’Connor) is having a perfectly splendid time at the Royal Opera House when Diana (Emma Corrin) slips away and ruins it…by appearing onstage in a silk negligee and doing a surprise choreographed dance to Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl.” As if that is not punishment enough for Prince Charles—seeing his wife desecrate his beloved high culture with a Billy Joel stadium anthem—the audience loves it.
Viewers might think that series creator Peter Morgan went a bit too far with this scene. It seems impossible, doesn’t it, that Diana misunderstood her husband so much that she actually thought Charles would enjoy her hijacking the stage at a ballet benefit and dancing around to lyrics about a working-class downtown man. But, dear readers, it did happen—and the real-life story is even more incredible than what was shown onscreen.
Some bad news first: Criminally, there is no video of this real-life performance. The closest you will get is the video below of Diana’s partner in the prank, ballet dancer Wayne Sleep, onstage in 2017, giddily recreating the performance as best he could—both his and her parts, complete with high kicks. (Honestly, Sleep brings enough enthusiasm to the reenactment that the video is worth at least one watch.)