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.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
Chicago Sun-Times: Fewer people shot, killed in city this year — but summer looms by Tom Schuba and Andy Boyle
Following Chicago’s deadliest year in decades, the number of people shot and killed in the 15 communities targeted in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s signature anti-violence plan has fallen by 26% ahead of the historically brutal summer months — a pivotal stretch in what she has described as a “make-or-break year” for lowering crime.
This year’s drop marks a promising trend and accounts for much of an overall citywide reduction in shootings and homicides, though the city has experienced jarring spates of violence when the weather has warmed. Lightfoot and members of her administration have nevertheless begun touting and taking credit for the downtick, which experts believe is premature.
Launched in the summer of 2020, the “Our City Our Safety” initiative looks to flood the most dangerous communities with new resources, from violence intervention programs to help with jobs, housing and health. The mayor has framed it as an “all-hands-on-deck” approach to violence prevention, with the city taking cues from its COVID-19 response by pulling together various agencies and outside partners to deliver services.
Guardian: Revealed: 93% of districts in major US cities unaffordable to Black residents by Sam Levin
More than 90% of neighborhoods in America’s major cities were unaffordable to the majority of local Black residents at the start of the pandemic, according to a new study on the worsening housing crisis in urban regions across the US.
The National Equity Atlas, a research initiative focused on racial and economic equity, compared rents and wages in the 100 most populous American metropolitan regions in 2019 and examined whether the majority of households of different racial groups made enough income to afford median market rents in their neighborhoods.
The findings, published on Tuesday and shared exclusively with the Guardian, paint a bleak picture of both severe racial inequality and a growing shortage of affordable housing in cities across the US. The authors found that:
-
Only 7% of zip codes in the top 100 metro areas had rents that were affordable to Black residents of those cities in 2019, while 69% of zip codes were affordable to white households.
-
Forty-eight metro areas in the list had no zip codes at all that were affordable to Black residents.
-
Only 16% of zip codes in the list had rents that were affordable to Latinx households.
-
Twelve metro areas had zero zip codes with affordable rents for Latinx households, including Los Angeles, Orlando and Miami, cities with large Latinx populations.
Mother Jones: Still in Contempt, Trump Now Owes New York $150,000 by Russ Choma
Former President Donald Trump now owes at least $150,000 in fines for contempt of court stemming from his failure to cooperate with New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil fraud investigation into his business practices—and there’s still no indication of when the financial penalties will stop increasing.
Trump has been trying to fend off James’ investigation for nearly two years now, though his lawyers have done little to contest the evidence that James says she has turned up. Instead, they have mainly fought back with procedural obstacles and delays. Back in December, James’ office served Trump personally with a subpoena for records relating to his possible involvement in a series of asset valuations, and his attorneys have seemingly dragged their feet on the request ever since. Back on April 25, Trump was found to be personally in contempt of the court for failing to properly comply with the subpoena. New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron agreed with James’ request to fine Trump $10,000 per day. On the one hand, that’s not a terribly large sum for a billionaire. But it is a figure that, day after day, has really begun to add up.
Washington Post: Inside the Republican campaign to take down Madison Cawthorn by Issac Arnsdorf
Last November, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) texted his state’s junior senator, Thom Tillis, about a tweet from the senator’s wife. Cawthorn had just announced that he was planning to switch districts, and Susan Tillis took to Twitter to criticize the move.
“Why is your wife attacking me on Twitter?” the House freshman demanded in his text exchange obtained by The Washington Post.
The senator replied that he hadn’t seen his wife’s tweet, but suggested Cawthorn didn’t need to look far for a possible reason.
“Just spit ballin here,” Tillis wrote, “but maybe because you’ve attacked her husband?”
“I don’t feel like I’ve attacked you that much,” Cawthorn replied. “I think I’ve said I don’t think your conservative enough, did not realize that made us enemies.”
New York Times: Ukraine War’s Geographic Reality: Russia Has Seized Much of the East by Michael Schwirtz, Marc Santora, and Michael Levenson
POKROVSK, Ukraine — Russia’s nearly three-month-old invasion of neighboring Ukraine has been punctuated by flawed planning, poor intelligence, barbarity and wanton destruction. But obscured in the daily fighting is the geographic reality that Russia has made gains on the ground.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that its forces in eastern Ukraine had advanced to the border between Donetsk and Luhansk, the two Russian-speaking provinces where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukraine’s army for eight years.
The ministry’s assertion, if confirmed, strengthens the prospect that Russia could soon gain complete control over the region, known as the Donbas, compared with just a third of it before the Feb. 24 invasion.
That is a far cry from what appeared to be the grand ambitions of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia when he launched the invasion: quick and easy seizure of vast swaths of Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv, the overthrow of a hostile government and a replacement with unquestioned fealty that would ensure Ukraine’s subservience.
BBC News: Philippines election: Bongbong Marcos poised to win presidency by Gareth Evans
Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr, the son of a former Philippines' dictator, has asked to be judged on his actions not his ancestors after dominating the country's presidential election.
With more than 98% of an initial count completed, the 64-year-old senator has a seemingly unassailable lead with double the votes of his nearest rival.
An official result is expected later.
A victory would seal a remarkable return to power for the Marcos family, who fled into exile 36 years ago.
Mr Marcos' father led the country from 1965 until 1986, imposing martial law and presiding over a period of widespread human rights abuses, corruption and poverty.
A mass uprising in 1986 saw millions of people take to the streets and the Marcos family - including a 28-year-old Bongbong - fled the country for Hawaii.
Le Monde in English: Jean-Luc Mélenchon's long road to becoming leader of the left by Abel Mestre and Julie Carriat
On Saturday, May 7, as he made his speech in Aubervilliers, Jean-Luc Mélenchon turned his head towards Socialist leader Olivier Faure to say he was taking the liberty of borrowing one a declaration: "Emmanuel Macron has no mandate". Behind these courtesies lied a renewed dialog between the ex-Socialist and his old party, now forced to recognize that its most vocal dissident has succeeded.
Thirteen years ago, Jean-Luc Mélenchon left the Parti Socialiste (PS). His supporters, who love metaphors, keep repeating that when the weather is stormy, the wind can change quickly. Who would have thought, indeed, that the PS would end up allied with Mr. Mélenchon? There is another saying: What matters is to be the last ones standing when everyone else is collapsing. You have to hold on so that everyone can join together in the end. The fact that Mr. Mélenchon crushed his competitors in the first round of the presidential election allowed the new alliance to be founded.
Everyone have a great evening!