A list of some of the news I’ve found for tonight’s digest;
- 3 ex-cops convicted of rights violations in Floyd killing
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CDC to significantly ease pandemic mask guidelines Friday
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As ‘stealth omicron’ advances, scientists are learning more
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Whistleblowers say they’re bullied for exposing prison abuse
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Ukraine reclaims airport, orders general mobilization of reserve soldiers
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Florida House passes 'Don't Say Gay' bill
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Number of Americans collecting jobless aid falls to lowest level since 1970
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Deputies Save Boy And Father From Burning Car: Harford Sheriff
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SEC reportedly probes Tesla CEO Elon Musk and brother over recent stock sales
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North Kansas City students stand up against proposed book ban
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This Inuk Woman Is Teaching Her Indigenous Language Online to Help Others Reconnect With Inuit Culture
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.
AP News
3 ex-cops convicted of rights violations in Floyd killing
Three former Minneapolis police officers were convicted Thursday of violating George Floyd’s civil rights.
Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were charged with depriving Floyd of his right to medical care when Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes as the 46-year-old Black man was handcuffed and facedown on the street on May 25, 2020.
Thao and Lane were also charged with failing to intervene to stop Chauvin.
The videotaped killing sparked protests in Minneapolis that spread around the globe as part of reckoning over racial injustice. Chauvin was convicted of murder last year in state court and pleaded guilty in December in the federal case.
Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back, Lane held his legs and Thao kept bystanders back.
Hundreds arrested as shocked Russians protest Ukraine attack
Shocked Russians turned out by the thousands Thursday to decry their country’s invasion of Ukraine as emotional calls for protests grew on social media. Some 1,745 people in 54 Russian cities were detained, at least 957 of them in Moscow.
Hundreds of posts came pouring in condemning Moscow’s most aggressive actions since the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Vladimir Putin called the attack a “special military operation” to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine from “genocide” — a false claim the U.S. had predicted would be a pretext for invasion, and which many Russians roundly rejected.
Tatyana Usmanova, an opposition activist in Moscow, wrote on Facebook that she thought she was dreaming when she awoke at 5:30 a.m. to the news, which she called “a disgrace that will be forever with us now.”
“I want to ask Ukrainians for forgiveness. We didn’t vote for those who unleashed the war,” she said.
I am ½ Russian, I hope these protesters take down Putin, I believe when they see their chance to hit the streets in the 10 of thousands in every city it will topple Putin.
CDC to significantly ease pandemic mask guidelines Friday
The Biden administration will significantly loosen federal mask-wearing guidelines to protect against COVID-19 transmission on Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter, meaning most Americans will no longer be advised to wear masks in indoor public settings.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday will announce a change to the metrics it uses to determine whether to recommend face coverings, shifting from looking at COVID-19 case counts to a more holistic view of risk from the coronavirus to a community. Under current guidelines, masks are recommended for people residing in communities of substantial or high transmission — roughly 95% of U.S. counties, according to the latest data.
The new metrics will still consider caseloads, but also take into account hospitalizations and local hospital capacity, which have been markedly improved during the emergence of the omicron variant. That strain is highly transmissible, but indications are that it is less severe than earlier strains, particularly for people who are fully vaccinated and boosted. Under the new guidelines, the vast majority of Americans will no longer live in areas where indoor masking in public is recommended, based on current data.
As ‘stealth omicron’ advances, scientists are learning more
The coronavirus mutant widely known as “stealth omicron” is now causing more than a third of new omicron cases around the world, but scientists still don’t know how it could affect the future of the pandemic.
Researchers are slowly revealing clues about the strain, a descendant of omicron known as BA.2, while warily watching it become ever more prevalent.
“We’re all keeping an eye on BA.2 just because it has done particularly well in some parts of the world,” including parts of Asia, Africa and Europe, said Dr. Wesley Long, a pathologist at Houston Methodist in Texas.
This week, a technical advisory group for the World Health Organization advised public health authorities to monitor it as a distinct omicron strain.
Early research suggests it spreads faster than the original omicron and in rare cases can sicken people even if they’ve already had an omicron infection. There’s mixed research on whether it causes more severe disease, but vaccines appear just as effective against it.
Parents of teen charged in school shooting to stand trial
A judge on Thursday ordered the parents of a 15-year-old boy charged with killing four students at his Michigan high school to stand trial on involuntary manslaughter charges.
Rochester Hills District Court Judge Julie Nicholson said following the preliminary examination for Jennifer and James Crumbley that she found enough evidence to send their case to circuit court.
They are charged with involuntary manslaughter and accused of making the gun used in the shooting available to the teen. The couple is also accused of failing to intervene when he showed signs of mental distress at home and at school.
Ethan Crumbley is charged as an adult with first-degree murder, assault with intent to murder, terrorism and gun charges in the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High School, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Detroit. In addition to the four students slain, six other students and a teacher were wounded.
Whistleblowers say they’re bullied for exposing prison abuse
As the federal Bureau of Prisons faces increased scrutiny over its latest scandal — allegations staff and even a warden sexually abused inmates at a women’s prison known as the “rape club” — people striving to hold it accountable say they’re being attacked for speaking up.
Whistleblower employees say high-ranking prison officials are bullying them for exposing wrongdoing and threatening to close the women’s lockup if workers keep reporting abuse, and members of Congress say they’re being stonewalled as they seek to bring greater oversight to the beleaguered bureau.
The Bureau of Prisons’ proclivity for silence and secrecy has endured, workers and lawmakers say, even after an Associated Press investigation revealed years of sexual misconduct at the women’s prison — the federal correctional institution in Dublin, California — and detailed a toxic culture that enabled it to continue for years.
Trudeau revokes emergency powers after Canada blockades end
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday he is removing emergency powers police can use after authorities ended the blockades at the borders and the occupation in Ottawa by truckers and others opposed to COVID-19 restrictions.
Trudeau said the “threat continues” but the acute emergency that included entrenched occupations has ended. His government invoked the powers last week and lawmakers affirmed the powers late Monday.
“The situation is no longer an emergency, therefore the federal government will be ending the use of the emergencies act,” Trudeau said. “We are confident that existing laws and bylaws are sufficient.”
The emergencies act allows authorities to declare certain areas as no-go zones. It also allows police to freeze truckers’ personal and corporate bank accounts and compel tow truck companies to haul away vehicles.
ABC News
Ukraine reclaims airport, orders general mobilization of reserve soldiers
Ukrainian officials said they have reclaimed a key military airport on the edge of Kyiv that had been seized by Russian special forces.
The Ukrainian Parliament’s official Telegram account said the Antonov Airport in Hostomel was now "fully under the control" of Ukrainian troops.
Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko also said Ukrainian troops had managed to retake the airport, calling it “the first big victory!”
The move comes as the county prepares to bolster its forces.
NBC News
Florida House passes 'Don't Say Gay' bill
Florida's House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would prohibit "classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity" in the state’s primary schools.
The legislation — titled the Parental Rights in Education bill, but dubbed by critics as the "Don’t Say Gay" bill — will now head to the state's Republican-held Senate, where it is expected to pass. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is running for re-election and is widely considered to be a potential 2024 presidential candidate, has previously signaled his support for the legislation and is expected to sign it into law.
Thursday’s 69-to-47 vote comes after weeks of national outrage over the measure, which has grabbed the attention of international newspapers, Hollywood actors and the White House.
CBS News
Number of Americans collecting jobless aid falls to lowest level since 1970
The number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits fell to a 52-year low after another decline in jobless aid applications last week.
Jobless claims fell by 17,000, from 249,000 to 232,000 for the week ending February 19, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility, fell by 7,250 to 236,250. It was the third straight week of declines after claims rose for five weeks as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus spread, disrupting businesses in many parts of the U.S. First-time applications for jobless aid generally track the pace of layoffs, which are back down to fairly healthy pre-pandemic levels.
Inside climate News
Backed by International Investors, Mining Companies Line Up to Expand in or Near the Amazon’s Indigenous Territories
As of November, nine major mining companies considered key players in the extraction of rare metals for electric vehicle batteries had 225 active applications to expand operations into or near Indigenous territories in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest.
U.S.-based financial institutions are among their top funders, according to a new report by Amazon Watch and the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous People, or APIB. In the past, those mining companies caused environmental damage that sickened Indigenous communities, stirred social discontent and contributed to the “trail of destruction” of the Amazon rainforest.
The report, fourth in a series called “Complicity in Destruction,” focuses on how the mining companies and their international investors violate the rights of Indigenous peoples and “threaten the future of the Amazon.” It examines the ties between mining companies and global financial institutions, based on research conducted by Profundo Research and Advice, a nonprofit research company based in the Netherlands.
BBC News
Government climate advisers say cut fossil fuels to lower energy bills
The best way to ease consumers' pain from high energy prices is to stop using fossil fuels rather than drill for more of them, the government's climate advisers say.
Some Tory MPs want the government to expand production of shale and North Sea gas, saying it would lower bills.
But advisers said UK-produced gas would be sold internationally and barely reduce the consumer price.
They said wind and solar power, as well as home insulation, is a better route.
The report from the Climate Change Committee (CCC) comes at a time when household energy bills are rising quickly. There is also international uncertainty over gas supplies due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
The committee warned that new fossil fuel projects in the North Sea would, in some cases, not deliver gas until 2050.
Yale Environment 360
After a Shaky Start, Airborne Wind Energy Is Slowly Taking Off
Look up over the white sand beaches of Mauritius and you may see a gigantic sail, much like the kind used by paragliders or kite surfers but the size of a three-bedroom apartment, looping figure-eights overhead. The sail isn’t a tourist attraction — it’s creating electricity for the power grid of this island nation off the coast of East Africa.
Launched in December by German company SkySails Power, the massive wing is the world’s first fully autonomous commercial “airborne wind energy” (AWE) system. For the past two months, the company says, it has been delivering a little under its goal of 100 kilowatts —typically enough to power up to 50 homes. That’s just a tiny fraction of the island’s electricity demand, but, SkySails hopes, a sign of the future.
As the world heads towards net-zero emissions, pretty much every pathway for future electricity production foresees a big role for wind. The International Energy Association forecasts wind energy skyrocketing 11-fold by 2050, with wind and solar together accounting for 70 percent of the planet’s electricity demands. Thanks to the expanding number of wind turbines dotting fields and adorning ridgelines worldwide, the cost of wind power has plummeted about 40 percent over the past decade.
Patch.com News
Deputies Save Boy And Father From Burning Car: Harford Sheriff
Deputies with the Harford County Sheriff's Office saved a driver and his baby from a fiery crash on MD 7 recently.
The crash happened around noon on Feb. 16, according to body camera footage released Thursday by the sheriff's office.
A truck and car had crashed on Route 7 near Brass Mill Road, and deputies were the first to arrive.
CNBC News
SEC reportedly probes Tesla CEO Elon Musk and brother over recent stock sales
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether recent stock sales by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his brother Kimbal Musk, who sits on Tesla’s board of directors, violated insider trading rules, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Shares of Tesla dipped momentarily on the news but recovered and were up more than 4% in afternoon trading.
The SEC probe reportedly began last year and focuses on stock sales by Kimbal Musk that occurred one day before Elon Musk asked his tens of millions of followers on Twitter to vote in an informal poll, telling them their vote would determine the future of his Tesla holdings.
KSHB.com News
North Kansas City students stand up against proposed book ban
The new battlefield in American public education is the library.
Parents are confronting school boards about titles on shelves across the country and here at home.
This includes at North Kansas City High School, where students stepped to the front of the line.
"You do not scare us, you do not represent us and you will not take our books," Gracie Cates, a senior at North Kansas City High School, said at a recent board of education meeting.
Good News Network
This Inuk Woman Is Teaching Her Indigenous Language Online to Help Others Reconnect With Inuit Culture
“Allurvik” means “place to take your next step” in the language of Inuktitut. It’s also the name of the first online language tutoring service for those looking to learn the Inuit language in Canada, or wherever they are logging in.
During the tyranny of residential schooling of Indigenous children in Canada, many were forbidden from using their native languages, severing one of the most critical connections between people and their culture.
This impacted the Inuit, of whom there are hundreds of thousands living across Canada, Greenland, and Alaska. Around 65,000 Inuit live in Canada, most in Nunavut, and around 40,000 speak their native language.
Miali Coley-Sudlovenick is a ten-year tutor of Inuktitut, teaching out of Iqaluit, Nunavat. Her mother endured an upbringing in the federal schools, but still retained her knowledge of Inuktitut enough to share with her daughter, even though she was mocked and abused for using it. Together they vowed, according to CTV, to preserve their language and ensure it lasted throughout the centuries.
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