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 JeremyBloom. 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: Illinois' famously private Michael J. Madigan takes the stand in his own defense by John Seidel and Tina Sfondeles
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, the famously private but powerful Southwest Side Democrat whose record-setting career ended amid scandal, took the witness stand in his own defense Tuesday in his long-running racketeering conspiracy trial.
Madigan began his testimony by repeatedly answering no when his attorney asked if he had ever traded his public office for private gain, ever demanded a thing of value in exchange for an official act, or ever accepted a thing of value in exchange for an official act.
Madigan’s appearance was a stunning development, given his private nature and the mountain of secret FBI recordings that he’ll likely now have to explain.
But the decision rested with Madigan, who might see it as his best move against an aggressive FBI investigation that has led to several separate convictions. Former Chicago Ald. Edward M. Burke, another record-setting old-school politician like Madigan, is now in prison after being convicted at trial a little more than a year ago. Burke did not testify at trial.
Meanwhile, if Madigan is convicted, prosecutors will likely accuse him of committing perjury — something that could be used against him at sentencing.
The New York Times: Judge Cannon Blocks Release of Special Counsel’s Final Report on Trump by Alan Feuer and Charlie Savage
The federal judge who handled President-elect Donald J. Trump’s prosecution on charges of mishandling classified documents temporarily barred the Justice Department on Tuesday from releasing a final report about the case by the special counsel, Jack Smith.
In a brief ruling, Judge Aileen M. Cannon, a Trump appointee who dismissed the documents case in its entirety this summer, enjoined Mr. Smith from sharing his report outside the Justice Department until a federal appeals court in Atlanta, which is now considering a challenge to her dismissal, makes a decision about how to handle the report.
Mr. Smith, who also investigated Mr. Trump’s attempt to overturn his loss in the 2020 election, has said in court filings that his final report will have two volumes: one for each of the indictments he brought against the president-elect. Judge Cannon’s order barring the release of the report did not appear to distinguish between the documents case, which she oversaw, and the election interference case, which Judge Tanya S. Chutkan heard in Washington.
NBC News: Wind-whipped fire in L.A. prompts evacuations in Pacific Palisades by Evan Bush
A fast-moving fire has forced more than 30,000 residents to evacuate from the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles amid "life-threatening and destructive" winds.
The fire, which broke out Tuesday morning at about 10:30 a.m. local time, was burning in the Pacific Palisades Highlands community. In just hours, the blaze grew to more than 1,200 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire). It has been fueled by a combination of dry conditions and powerful winds, which are likely to strengthen further overnight.
Gusts up to 100 mph are expected in the windiest spots.
Kelsey Trainor, an attorney who lives in Pacific Palisades, said she fled her neighborhood around 11:30 a.m., only to get stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Palisades Drive.
"It was all smoke around us, fire everywhere. People are just honking their horns," Trainor said. She said she felt stuck, with flames on both sides of the only road out. "Gridlock – nowhere to go."
Guardian: Meta to get rid of factcheckers and recommend more political content by Robert Booth
Meta will get rid of factcheckers, “dramatically reduce the amount of censorship” and recommend more political content on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Threads, founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced.
In a video message, Zuckerberg vowed to prioritise free speech after the return of Donald Trump to the White House and said that, starting in the US, he would “get rid of factcheckers and replace them with community notes similar to X”.
X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, relies on other users to add caveats and context to contentious posts.
Zuckerberg said Meta’s “factcheckers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they’ve created”.
Factcheckers ascertain (to the best of their ability) what is a fact and what is not a fact across political lines. Now anyone can say any old shit and if people believe it...so fucked up…
CBC News: Trudeau says 'not a snowball's chance in hell' Canada joins U.S. by Rhianna Schmunk
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday dismissed U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's willingness to use "economic force" to absorb Canada into the United States by reiterating what his Canadian government has said for some time: merging countries is not in the realm of possibility.
"There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States," Trudeau wrote on X.
"Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other's biggest trading and security partner."
At a news conference earlier Tuesday, a bombastic Trump said he would consider using "economic force" to join Canada and the United States together.
"That would really be something," he said in Palm Beach, Fla.
This shit is obscene.
BBC News: Search goes into night for survivors of Tibet quake by Laura Bicker, Koh Ewe and Flora Drury
Rescuers searched into the night for survivors after a major earthquake killed at least 126 people and damaged more than 3,000 buildings in a remote part of the Chinese region of Tibet, near Everest.
Another 188 people were injured after the earthquake hit the foothills of the Himalayas at around 09:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Tuesday, according to Chinese state media.
A large-scale rescue operation was launched, with survivors under additional pressure as temperatures were predicted to fall as low as -16C overnight.
Earthquakes are common in the region, which lies on a major geological fault line, but Tuesday's was one of China's deadliest in recent years.
The magnitude 7.1 quake, which struck at a depth of 10 km (six miles), according to data from the US Geological Survey, was also felt in Nepal and parts of India, which neighbour Tibet.
DW: Turkey threatens offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters
Turkey threatened on Tuesday to launch a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria unless they accepted Ankara's conditions for a "bloodless" transition after the demise of President Bashar Assad.
"We will do what's necessary" if the Kurdish-led People's Protection Units (YPG) fail to agree to Turkish demands, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told CNNTurk television.
When asked what that might entail, he said a "military operation."
Turkey considers the YPG, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a terrorist outfit linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been engaged in a decades-old insurgency against the Turkish state.