Since 2007, the Overnight News Digest has been a nightly, community series chronicling the day’s news and the American dystopia. This is an open thread where everyone is welcome, especially night owls and early birds, to share articles, stories, and tweets along with your comments to discuss the happenings of the day.
563,334 PEOPLE HAVE DIED FROM CORONAVIRUS IN THE U.S.
123.9 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE U.S. HAVE RECEIVED A VACCINATION DOSE
NBC News
'It is time to end America's longest war': Biden announces full withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan
President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he plans to fully withdraw troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, ending 20 years of United States military involvement in the country. […]
"I am now the fourth United States president to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats," Biden said. "I will not pass this responsibility onto a fifth."
"It is time to end America’s longest war. It is time for American troops to come home." […]
"We went to Afghanistan because of a horrific attack that happened 20 years ago," Biden said. "That cannot explain why we should remain there in 2021."
Sens. Cruz, Hawley, Lee seek to strip Major League Baseball of antitrust exemption
A trio of Republican lawmakers outlined legislation Tuesday aimed at ending Major League Baseball's antitrust exemption after the All-Star Game was moved out of Georgia in protest of that state's new voting restrictions.
The legislative push from the three conservative senators — Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah and Josh Hawley of Missouri — comes amid growing frustrations among Republicans over corporations and sports leagues embracing causes associated with progressives, such as protecting voting rights.
'He was ours': Daunte Wright's grief-stricken loved ones grapple with a life cut short
It has been only a couple of days, but the nights have been long, and sleep has been nonexistent.
Dallas Bryant, 23, keeps grabbing his phone waiting for his little brother to call, if for nothing else than just to say once more, "I love you."
Inevitably, he admits, it won't happen. "I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I think he's going to hit my phone," Bryant said. "I wish I had more time."
The Washington Post
U.S. Capitol Police officer cleared of wrongdoing in fatal shooting during Capitol attack
A U.S. Capitol Police officer has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing for fatally shooting Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt as she attempted to breach a set of doors deep in the Capitol during the January siege, federal prosecutors in D.C. announced Wednesday.
Authorities determined that there was insufficient evidence to prove Babbitt’s civil rights were violated, and that it was reasonable for the officer to believe he was firing in self-defense or in defense of members of Congress and aides who were fleeing the House chamber. Prosecutors did not identify the officer. […]
Mark E. Schamel, the Capitol Police officer’s attorney, credited his client with showing great restraint.
“His bravery on January 6 was nothing short of heroic,” Schamel said in a statement. “He stopped the rioters from gaining entry into the Speaker’s Lobby and saved the lives of countless members of Congress and the rioters. His heroism should be no surprise to those who know him.”
Trump didn’t bring White working-class voters to the Republican Party. The data suggest he kept them away.
Republican leaders have been hailing a class realignment of the parties… At the end of March, Republicans circulated a strategy memo titled, “Cementing GOP as the Working Class Party,” which argued “… Trump didn’t just shift each party’s role — he caused a paradigm reversal.” […]
The day after the 2016 election, the New York Times declared, “Trump won the presidency by riding an enormous wave of support among white working-class voters.” Again and again over the last four years, pundits have wondered if anything would break Trump’s spell on White working-class voters.
But is any of this true? Did Trump really bring a wave of White working-class voters over to the Republican camp, reshaping his party and American elections? In a new published study, we looked at survey data on voting behavior going back to the 1980s. The answer is no. In fact, our research shows the Trump’s term in office stalled a long-term trend of White working-class voters moving to the Republican Party.
The Guardian
Japanese regulator bans restart at nuclear plant over safety breaches
The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant has been prevented from restarting its only operable atomic facility after a series of safety breaches, dealing a significant blow to Japanese attempts to resume nuclear power generation.
Japan’s nuclear regulator is to issue a “corrective action order” on Wednesday that would ban Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) from transporting new uranium fuel to its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata prefecture or loading fuel rods into its reactors.
Roman site uncovered in Scarborough hailed as first of its kind in UK
The remains of a Roman settlement believed to be the first of its kind discovered in Britain – and possibly the whole Roman empire – has been uncovered near the North Yorkshire seaside town [of Scarborough]. […]
The large complex of buildings – approximately the size of two tennis courts – includes a cylindrical tower structure with a number of rooms leading from it and a bathhouse. As excavations and analysis continue, historians believe the site may have been the estate of a wealthy landowner, which could have later become a religious sanctuary or even a high-end “stately home cum – gentleman’s club”.
Deutsche Welle
NATO allies agree to leave Afghanistan following US move
NATO allies on Wednesday agreed to wind down their operations in Afghanistan, after President Joe Biden's administration announced all US troops would leave the country by September 11. The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks by jihadist organization al-Qaida, with other NATO countries also deploying military forces to the South Asian country.
"NATO allies have decided to start withdrawing Resolute Support forces by May 1, in an orderly, coordinated and deliberate way," NATO Secretary General Jen Stoltenberg announced during a summit in Brussels.
Climate change makes Indian monsoon season stronger and more chaotic
The monsoon rains that batter India each summer, unleashing 80% of the country's yearly rainfall in four months crucial for its farmers, are at the whim of forces far beyond its borders.
Summer dust storms in the Arabian Peninsula and fossil fuels burned in countries across the world are causing heavier seasonal rains in India, according to two separate studies of a precarious climate system upon which more than 1 billion people rely on for food.
Vox
The pandemic’s impact on our world is only just beginning
US intelligence agencies released their unclassified Annual Threat Assessment report on Tuesday, offering views on global challenges ranging from tensions with China to nuclear diplomacy with Iran to the dangers of domestic violent extremism.
But the most troubling part of the 27-page document, which top intelligence officials are presenting to Congress on Wednesday in open and closed sessions, is the section about how the coronavirus pandemic will define our world for years to come. […]
Simply put, it’s a grim picture.
The Atlantic
Welcome to the New Progressive Era
Progressives thought they knew what a Biden presidency would look like. How did they get him so wrong? […]
“He is a politician in the best sense of the word,” [former Labor Secretary Robert] Reich told me. “That is, he sees a parade and he runs and gets in front of it—as long as the parade is not inconsistent with his values.” He added, “The secret here is that he has no strong ideological preconceptions. The interesting thing is he’s very open-minded. He is able to see changes in the operating consensus, the conventional wisdom, and, almost intuitively—I don’t know that it’s conscious—I think he just understands the change and latches onto it.”
Something progressives admire about Biden is that he is a talented “reasonablizer” of their ideas. As Reich told me, “Biden is almost magical in his ability to make progressivism boring. He can say the same thing that Bernie Sanders has or AOC has and say it in a way that causes your eyes to glaze over.” From progressives who are used to even their more modest proposals being tarred as communism, this is a genuine compliment.
The Rural Pandemic Isn’t Ending
[…] In pockets of the country, vaccination rates could stay low, creating little islands where the coronavirus survives and thrives—sickening and killing people for months after the pandemic has ebbed elsewhere. In a worst-case scenario, the virus could mutate, becoming a highly transmissible and much more lethal version of itself. Eventually, the new variant could leak from these islands and spread into the broader population, posing a threat to already-vaccinated people. […]
Right now America is in the simplest stage of its vaccination campaign: getting shots to people who want them. But many Americans are still reluctant to get a vaccine—especially those living in rural areas, who tend to be politically conservative and are among the most fervently opposed to inoculation. Public-health leaders will soon have to refocus their efforts toward the next and more difficult stage of the campaign: persuasion.
The Colorado Sun
A historic San Luis Valley locomotive will tug passengers again thanks to a coal lot of love
When Engine 168 chugs away from the station here in late June with about 60 passengers ensconced in four refurbished 19th century train cars, it will be the culmination of years of dreams, historic preservation work and an investment of nearly $4 million.
And perhaps less visible but surely onboard will be the hearts and souls of those immersed in this project.
“It took four years to restore her,” said Engineer Max Casias, gazing at 168, the hulking black coal-fired steam locomotive that spent 75 years on display in Antlers Park in Colorado Springs and now rests silently in the railway workshop. “We refer to her as a princess.
Businessweek
Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern Tie-Up May Be the Last Big Rail Deal
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. has finally found the right target to realize its vision for railroad consolidation. The company agreed in March to acquire Kansas City Southern for $275 a share, or about $29 billion including debt. If completed, the merger would be the largest between two major North American railroads and the first successful one since the 1990s. Canadian Pacific’s failed attempts in recent years to acquire first CSX Corp. and then Norfolk Southern Corp. underscore why consummation of the Kansas City Southern acquisition is far from a fait accompli. But of all the possible railroad combinations, this is both the most strategically logical and the most likely to receive the blessing of regulators.
The combined tracks will form a “T” that stretches from Kansas City Southern’s routes deep inside Mexico, up through the U.S. Midwest, and along the Canadian border from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It’s a bet that the recently renegotiated
U.S.-Mexico-Canada free-trade agreement and the
supply chain snarls of the pandemic will bolster the appeal of manufacturing products closer to home—which in turn will create fresh revenue opportunities for the only rail network capable of ferrying goods seamlessly between the three countries. The efficiencies offered by the combined railroad could also help lure freight traffic away from trucks, which emit significantly more pollutants as an industry.
Bloomberg
Powell Says U.S. Entering Faster Growth, Though Virus Spike Remains a Risk
The Federal Reserve will likely scale back its bond purchases before considering raising interest rates, Chairman Jerome Powell said, hardening expectations on the sequence of its eventual exit from aggressive policy support. […]
Policy makers will wait until inflation has reached 2% sustainably and the labor-market recovery is complete before considering lifting interest rates, and the combination is unlikely to happen before 2022, he said. Their forecasts last month signaled rates being held near zero through 2023.
World’s Eight Richest People Now Worth $1 Trillion
The rally in tech shares has taken the number of people with fortunes of more than $100 billion to eight.
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin joined the exclusive club last week, entering a group dominated by U.S. tech entrepreneurs, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The world’s eight richest people together hold fortunes of more than $1 trillion and have added $110 billion combined this year.
Minneapolis StarTribune
Officer arrested, charged with second-degree manslaughter in killing of Daunte Wright
Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly A. Potter was arrested late Wednesday morning at the offices of the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the agency said in a statement.
Potter, who resigned from the police department on Tuesday, was charged with second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death on Sunday of Daunte Wright, the Washington County Attorney's Office said. She was booked into Hennepin County jail shortly after noon, jail records show.
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Derek Chauvin trial: Defense expert on stand
[…] Dr. David Fowler, a retired forensic pathologist, said in a lengthy testimony that Floyd’s drug use and underlying medical conditions caused his death. He is the first medical expert to say so during the trial. […
Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell heavily cross-examined Fowler. Blackwell confirmed with Fowler that Fowler is not a cardiologist, pulmonologist or toxicologist, so he is not experts in those fields. Blackwell also confirmed that Fowler does not treat living patients.
Blackwell asked several questions about Fowler’s statements on Floyd possibly having carbon monoxide poisoning. “Cutting even more to the chase, how do you know (the car) was even on?” Blackwell asked. […]
Fowler is currently facing a civil lawsuit filed by the family of Anton Black, a Black teenager who died in police custody, the Baltimore Sun reported.
Boulder Daily Camera
People charged with domestic violence could lose their guns under proposed Colorado law
Colorado law since 2013 has required most people who are charged with domestic violence to relinquish their guns, but prosecutors and court officials acknowledge it’s loosely enforced, sometimes not at all.
Lawmakers got their first look Tuesday at a bill, HB21-1255, that would strengthen compliance, which state analysts say affects thousands per year.
Already, Democrats who control the Colorado legislature have sent two gun bills to Gov. Jared Polis to sign, which he is expected to do soon. One requires secure storage of firearms and the other mandates that lost or stolen firearms be reported, both of which were in the works before the mass shooting at a Boulder King Soopers last month.
HuffPost
Republicans Says Kamala Harris Is MIA On Immigration As She Announces Mexico Trip
House Republican leaders on Wednesday accused Vice President Kamala Harris of being absent on immigration matters ― even showing up to a press conference with a milk carton with Harris’ face on it, declaring her “missing” at the border.
One problem: At the same time, Harris was holding a White House meeting on immigration and announcing her plans to visit Mexico and Guatemala. […]
Harris… was at the White House heading into a meeting with experts on what is driving a surge in migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, a region known as the Northern Triangle. She announced an upcoming trip to the area and clarified that her role in Biden’s immigration policies isn’t border-specific.
The Fulcrum
Arkansas Republicans push through new voting restrictions
Arkansas is positioned to become the next state to tighten rules around voting and election procedures.
This week, the Republican-majority Legislature approved two measures that would implement new restrictions on absentee voting and activities near polling places. Both bills now head to GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is expected to sign them.
Reuters
More than 100 companies sign letter opposing U.S. state voting restrictions
More than 100 U.S. companies including Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Ford Motor Co and Starbucks Corp have declared their opposition to voting curbs that a number of states are considering implementing. […]
"We all should feel a responsibility to defend the right to vote and oppose any discriminatory legislation or measures that restrict or prevent any eligible voter from having an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot," the companies said in a letter published as a two-page advertisement (nyti.ms/3e0fvnL) in Wednesday's New York Times.
Don't play with fire on Taiwan, China warns U.S.
China told the United States on Tuesday to stop playing with fire over Taiwan and lodged a complaint after Washington issued guidelines that will enable U.S. officials to meet more freely with officials from the island that China claims as its own.
The U.S. State Department’s Friday decision to deepen relations with self-ruled Taiwan came amid stepped-up Chinese military activity around the island, including almost daily air force incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone.
Daily Beast
Matt Gaetz’s Wingman Paid Dozens of Young Women—and a 17-Year-Old
As new details emerge about Rep. Matt Gaetz’s role in an alleged sex ring, The Daily Beast has obtained several documents showing that the suspected ringleader of the group, Joel Greenberg, made more than 150 Venmo payments to dozens of young women, and to a girl who was 17 at the time.
The New York Times
Court Vindicates Black Officer Fired for Stopping Colleague’s Chokehold
It was a cold November day in Buffalo when Officer Cariol Horne responded to a call for a colleague in need of help. What she encountered was a white officer who appeared to be “in a rage” punching a handcuffed Black man in the face repeatedly as other officers stood by.
Officer Horne, who is Black, heard the handcuffed man say he could not breathe and saw the white officer put him in a chokehold. At that point, court documents show, she forcibly removed the white officer and began to trade blows with him.
In the altercation’s aftermath, Officer Horne was reassigned, hit with departmental charges and, eventually, fired just one year short of the 20 on the force she needed to collect her full pension. She tried, and failed, more than once to have the decision reversed as unfair.
Los Angeles Times
At climate summit, Biden will try to reassure a skeptical world that the U.S. is back
… as the White House prepares to host virtual climate talks next week, world leaders, American lawmakers and environmental advocates are waiting to see just how ambitious Biden will be.
All eyes are focused on the new goal he sets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 — a goal that may depend on a significant contribution from California — and which is a key step to reenter the agreement. Wherever he lands, this new pledge comes with a series of hard choices for the president and his advisors, who are constrained by Democrats’ slim majority in Congress, yet are determined to prove that fighting climate change is once again at the center of the nation’s international and domestic policy priorities. […]
Biden’s plans to reduce emissions hinge in large part on the fate of the $2.25-trillion infrastructure package he proposed last month.
CNN
Egypt impounds Ever Given ship over $900 million Suez Canal compensation bill
Egyptian authorities have seized a massive cargo ship which blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week last month, amid a dispute over financial damages.
An Egyptian court ordered the vessel's Japanese owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha, to pay $900 million in compensation as a result of losses inflicted when the Panamanian-flagged Ever Given prevented marine traffic from transiting through the vital global trade waterway, the state-run Al Ahram news outlet said on Tuesday.
US is expected to sanction Russia and expel Russian officials in response to hacks and election interference
The Biden administration is expected to announce sanctions as soon as Thursday targeting Russian individuals and entities, in addition to the expulsion of as many as a dozen Russian diplomats from the US in response to the hack of SolarWinds and election interference, according to two sources familiar with the plans. […]
The sanctions will target intelligence and government officials and entities involved in the SolarWinds cyber intrusion, the officials said.
The Hill
Democrats to offer bill to expand Supreme Court
A group of Democrats on Thursday will introduce a bill to expand the Supreme Court as progressives push the White House to advocate for an expansion.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (N.Y.), the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Reps. Mondaire Jones (N.Y.) and Hank Johnson (Ga.) and Sen. Ed Markey (Mass.) will hold a press conference Thursday morning unveiling legislation they say will boost the size of the Supreme Court from nine seats to 13.
NPR News
House Lawmakers Hold Historic Debate On Bill To Form Reparations Commission
A bill that would establish a commission to develop proposals to help repair the lasting effects of slavery is moving closer to a vote in the House — nearly three decades after it was first introduced.
Fresh debate over the issue of reparations for the descendants of enslaved people comes amid a national reckoning over race and justice.
The House Judiciary Committee took up the bill on Wednesday evening, and was expected to vote on the measure for the first time since former Democratic Rep. John Conyers initially introduced it in 1989. This year, the legislation has the support of more than 170 Democratic co-sponsors and key congressional leaders.
Intelligence Chiefs Say China, Russia Are Threats To U.S.
The top U.S. intelligence officials on Wednesday provided their assessment of worldwide threats affecting U.S. interests, focusing on cybersecurity and military concerns posed by Beijing and Moscow, but also the threat of both domestic and international terrorism. […]
The assessment specifically highlighted China's expansive claims and increasingly assertive presence in the South China Sea, saying, "Beijing will continue to intimidate rival claimants and will use growing numbers of air, naval, and maritime law enforcement platforms to signal to Southeast Asian countries that China has effective control over contested areas." […]
Russia was continuing to deploy cyberattacks targeting "critical infrastructure, including underwater cables and industrial control systems, in the United States and in allied and partner countries," the threat assessment said, saying such attacks hones capabilities and demonstrates Moscow's "ability to damage infrastructure during a crisis."
Mother Jones
Far-Right Extremism Has Become One of the Intelligence Community’s Rising Threats
[…] This year’s global threat assessment, which Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines released… the report [, which] identified violent extremists, who [have] “an often overlapping mix of white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and exclusionary cultural-nationalist beliefs,” as posing “an elevated threat to the United States.” […]
FBI Director Christopher Wray, who testified on Wednesday about the intelligence community’s annual threat assessment, had previously told Congress that the insurrection was just one piece of rising extremism nationally. “Unfortunately, January 6 was not an isolated event,” Wray said last month.
AP News
Humanitarian crisis feared in St. Vincent amid eruptions
Ongoing volcanic eruptions have displaced about 20% of people in the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent as a U.N. official on Wednesday warned of a growing humanitarian crisis.
Between 16,000 to 20,000 people were evacuated under government orders before La Soufriere volcano first erupted on Friday, covering the lush green island with ash that continues to blanket communities in St. Vincent as well as Barbados and other nearby islands.
Epic drought means water crisis on Oregon-California border
Hundreds of farmers who rely on a massive irrigation project that spans the Oregon-California border learned Wednesday they will get a tiny fraction of the water they need amid the worst drought in decades, as federal regulators attempt to balance the needs of agriculture against federally threatened and endangered fish species that are central to the heritage of several tribes. […]
“The simple fact is it just hasn’t rained or snowed this year. We all know how dry our fields are, and the rest of the watersheds are in the same boat. ... There is no easy way to say this,” Ben DuVal, president of the Klamath Water Users Association, told several dozen irrigators who gathered in Klamath Falls on Wednesday morning to hear the news.
Ars Technica
Comparing the actual US grid to the one predicted 15 years ago
On Monday, the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley Lab released a report entitled "Halfway to Zero," referring to a goal of a zero-emission US electric grid. The report's headline claim is a bit bogus, in that we've not cut our emissions in half relative to any point in history. Instead, they're down to half of where they were projected to be in a report issued back in 2005.
Still, despite this sleight of hand, the report makes for interesting reading in that it shows how rapidly the energy market has changed and where the trends that are driving those changes might lead us in another 15 years. So while we're not really in a place to be patting ourselves on the back for everything we've accomplished, the report does provide reasons for optimism.