Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame, jck and Rise above the swamp. 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.
Since 2007 the OND has been 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.
Some stories for tonight:
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Russia won't use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, says ambassador to UK
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Port Harcourt: Nigeria church crush leaves 31 dead
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After Uvalde, mass shootings continue over the weekend across the U.S.
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UN human rights chief asks China to rethink Uyghur policies
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Thirty-five dead as heavy rainfall lashes north-eastern Brazil
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Sievierodonetsk bombing so intense, casualties cannot be assessed, officials say
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Hurricane Agatha expected to hit Mexico on Monday. Is it a threat to the US?
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Nepal says missing plane with 22 on board crashed
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Court jails Egyptian former presidential candidate for 15 years
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Texas Dems demand special session to raise the age to buy AR-15s and require background checks: report
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‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Lands Triumphantly on Opening Weekend
BBC
Russia won't use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, says ambassador to UK
Russia's ambassador to Britain has told the BBC he does not believe his country will use tactical nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine.
Andrei Kelin said that according to Russian military rules, such weapons are not used in conflicts like this.
He also described allegations of war crimes in the town of Bucha as "a fabrication".
And he called UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss "very belligerent" and inexperienced.
On the use of nuclear weapons, Mr Kelin said Russia has very strict rules for their use, mainly when the state's existence is threatened.
"It has nothing to do with the current operation," he told BBC One's Sunday Morning.
When Vladimir Putin put his nuclear forces on high alert in late February, soon after the invasion, it was widely perceived as a warning.
Mr Putin blamed the development on aggression by the West and Nato. But the UK's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace branded it an attempt to distract people from "what's going wrong in Ukraine", saying Russia was behind schedule on its invasion after just a few days, and trying to "remind the world" it had a deterrent.
BBC
Port Harcourt: Nigeria church crush leaves 31 dead
Nigerian police say they have launched an investigation after 31 people died in a crush in the southern city of Port Harcourt.
It happened in a sports field on Saturday morning where a church was handing out food to the poor, some of whom had waited there overnight.
The crowd "became tumultuous and uncontrollable" and organisers failed to calm the situation, police say.
Many of those who died in the crush were women and children.
Witnesses told the AFP news agency there was frantic pushing and some were trampled underfoot when people trying to reach the entrance were forced back.
"They were telling people 'Go back, go back, go back,'" Chisom Nwachukwu said. "Some people that were pushing from backwards were marching on those people."
Security and emergency services were called to the scene to try to bring the situation under control. Some of the injured are being treated at Port Harcourt's military hospital.
NPR
After Uvalde, mass shootings continue over the weekend across the U.S.
At least eight mass shootings took place across the U.S. over the weekend following Tuesday's mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Another three occurred between Wednesday and Friday.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, an independent organization that collects data from over 7,500 sources, eight people have been killed and another 45 injured in the five days following the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.
A mass shooting, defined by the Gun Violence Archive, is an incident in which four or more individuals are shot and either injured or killed, excluding the gunman.
NPR
UN human rights chief asks China to rethink Uyghur policies
BEIJING — The top U.N. human rights official said Saturday that she raised concerns with Chinese officials about the impact of the broad application of counterterrorism and deradicalization measures on the rights of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim groups in China's Xinjiang region.
Michelle Bachelet, who visited the northwestern region as part of a six-day trip to China, said the visit was not an investigation but a chance to have direct talks with senior Chinese leaders and pave the way for more regular interactions to support China in fulfilling its obligations under international human rights law.
"It provides an opportunity for me to better understand the situation in China, but also for the authorities in China to better understand our concerns and to potentially rethink policies that we believe may impact negatively on human rights," she said in a video news conference before leaving the country.
Bachelet's measured words, while expected, did not satisfy activists and likely will not sit well with governments such as the United States, which have been critical of her decision to visit Xinjiang.
The Guardian
Thirty-five dead as heavy rainfall lashes north-eastern Brazil
At least 35 people have died amid heavy rainfall in north-eastern Brazil on Friday and Saturday, as downpours lashed two major cities on the Atlantic coast, in what is the South American nation’s fourth major flooding event in five months.
In the state of Pernambuco, at least 33 people had died as of Saturday afternoon, as rains caused landslides that wiped away hillside urban neighbourhoods, according to the state’s official Twitter account. Another 765 people were forced to leave their homes, at least temporarily, according to the state government.
Authorities in the neighbouring state of Alagoas had registered two deaths, according to Brazil’s federal emergency service.
The Guardian
Sievierodonetsk bombing so intense, casualties cannot be assessed, officials say
Officials in eastern Ukraine say Russian shelling of Sievierodonetsk has been so intense that it has not been possible to assess casualties and damage, as Moscow closes in on the largest city still held by Ukraine in the Donbas.
“The situation has extremely escalated,” Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk region, said on Sunday. Witnesses said the city was being bombed “200 times an hour” as Russian forces try to cut off reinforcement lines and surround its remaining defenders.
Ukrainian authorities have described conditions in Sievierodonetsk as reminiscent of Mariupol, the southern port city that fell on 20 May after almost three months of relentless assault.
The intensified fighting came as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, visited Ukrainian troops on the front lines in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, in his first official appearance outside the Kyiv area since the start of the war.
“You risk your lives for us all and for our country,” Zelenskiy told soldiers there.
He added that Russian shelling has destroyed “the entire critical infrastructure of the city” and more than two-thirds of its housing stock. Taking Sievierodonetsk was Russia’s “principal aim” right now, the president said.
USA Today
Hurricane Agatha expected to hit Mexico on Monday. Is it a threat to the US?
Agatha, the first named storm of the eastern Pacific season, became a hurricane Sunday morning and was "rapidly intensifying," the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm is expected to make landfall along the southern coast of Mexico on Monday and then "quickly weaken and dissipate as it crosses Mexico," the center said.
It's "way too early to tell what, if anything," Hurricane Agatha means for the U.S., meteorologist Craig Setzer wrote on Twitter on Saturday. "Right now we're just going to be watching," he said.
AccuWeather meteorologists noted they will be closely monitoring the "leftover energy" from Agatha as it crosses Mexico and enters the Bay of Campeche. "Here, there is a chance it could redevelop into the Atlantic basin's first named storm," the outlet reported.
The hurricane comes as federal forecasters expect yet another busy Atlantic hurricane season in 2022: As many as 10 hurricanes could form, meteorologists said last week.
Reuters
Nepal says missing plane with 22 on board crashed
KATHMANDU, May 30 (Reuters) - Nepal's army said on Monday it had located the crash site of a plane that went missing with 22 people on board during cloudy weather on Sunday.
"Search and rescue troops have physically located the plane crash site," army spokesperson Narayan Silwal said on Twitter, posting a picture of the wreckage with the plane's tail number clearly visible and parts of the aircraft shown scattered on the edge of a mountain.
Four Indians, two Germans and 16 Nepalis were on board the plane, a De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter operated by privately owned Tara Air, according to the airline and government officials.
The aircraft was on a 20-minute flight before losing contact with the control tower.
Reuters
Court jails Egyptian former presidential candidate for 15 years
CAIRO, May 29 (Reuters) - An Egyptian court sentenced former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh and several prominent figures from the banned Muslim Brotherhood to lengthy jail terms on Sunday on accusations including plotting to overthrow the state.
Aboul Fotouh, who is in his early 70s and according to his family suffers from several medical conditions, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, subject to appeal, the court ruling said.
Rights groups say thousands of politicians, activists and journalists are detained in Egypt after unfair trials or without legal basis.
Aboul Fotouh quit the Muslim Brotherhood in 2011 after disagreements over the role of religion in politics and founded the more centrist Strong Egypt party, launching an independent bid for the presidency in 2012.
Raw Story
Texas Dems demand special session to raise the age to buy AR-15s and require background checks: report
The Texas Senate Democratic Caucus is urging Gov. Greg Abbott to call an emergency special legislative session to consider a variety of gun restrictions and safety measures in the wake of a mass school shooting in Uvalde that left 19 children and two adults dead this week.
In a letter released Saturday morning, all 13 Senate Democrats demanded lawmakers pass legislation that raises the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21 years old. The Uvalde gunman was 18 and had purchased two AR-style rifles which he used in the attack.
The caucus is also calling for universal background checks for all firearm sales, “red flag” laws that allow a judge to temporarily remove firearms from people who are considered an imminent threat to themselves or others, a “cooling off period” for the purchase of a firearm and regulations on high capacity magazines for citizens.
“Texas has suffered more mass shootings over the past decade than any other state. In Sutherland Springs, 26 people died. At Santa Fe High School outside Houston, 10 people died. In El Paso, 23 people died at a Walmart. Seven people died in Midland-Odessa,” the letter reads. “After each of these mass killings, you have held press conferences and roundtables promising things would change.
New York Times
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Lands Triumphantly on Opening Weekend
LOS ANGELES — “Top Gun: Maverick” finds Tom Cruise called back into service by a rattled Navy. A new threat has emerged, one that a younger generation of pilots can’t crack on its own.
This job requires a battle-tested veteran.
It was a similar scenario in real life over the weekend, as Hollywood — still struggling to jolt moviegoing out of its pandemic slumber — looked to “Top Gun: Maverick,” a sequel to a 36-year-old film, and Cruise, perhaps the last old-fashioned movie star, for a solution. The result was a defining moment for the film industry’s box office recovery, analysts said, with estimated ticket sales of $151 million in North America from Thursday night through Monday. That means more than 11 million people will have pried themselves away from in-home streaming services, according to EntTelligence, a research firm.
Add in overseas ticket sales, and the global opening total for “Top Gun: Maverick” over that period will approach $300 million.