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Overnight News Digest: December 31, 2024: New Year's Eve Edition [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2024-12-31
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.
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.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
Chicago Sun-Times: Illinois hourly workers will get another pay bump in 2025 by Amy Yee
Illinois will raise its minimum wage by $1 on Wednesday to $15 per hour, joining more than 20 states increasing minimum hourly wages in 2025. The minimum wage for tipped workers such as restaurant servers will increase from $8.40 to $9 per hour, and workers under age 18 will be paid $13 per hour, up from $12. The move marks the seventh and final hike of the state’s minimum wage, as part of legislation Gov. JB Pritzker signed in 2019 that scheduled increases from $9.25 per hour in 2020 to $15 in 2025. “Since day one of my administration, I’ve made it my mission to build an economy that works for everyone, and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour fulfills that promise to our working families,” Pritzker said in a December statement. “This increase honors the workers who power our state and ensures they can better support their families, bringing us closer to a stronger, more equitable economy for all.”
The New York Times: Chief Justice Roberts Condemns Threats to Judicial Independence by Adam Liptak
Judicial independence is under grave threat on several fronts, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote on Tuesday in an unusually urgent and somber year-end report on the state of the federal judiciary. “Violence, intimidation and defiance directed at judges because of their work undermine our Republic, and are wholly unacceptable,” he wrote. The report, which arrived in the wake of questions about the court’s ethical standards and a drop in its approval ratings, said some criticism of judges’ work is healthy, warranted and welcome. “Unfortunately, not all actors engage in ‘informed criticism’ or anything remotely resembling it,” he wrote. “I feel compelled to address four areas of illegitimate activity that, in my view, do threaten the independence of judges on which the rule of law depends.”
CNN: Norovirus cases are surging. A doctor explains what to look for by Katia Hetter
A common stomach bug is surging, according to new data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the week of December 5, there were 91 outbreaks of norovirus reported, up from 69 the previous week. In the same period in recent years, there generally were 65 or less outbreaks per week. (It might not seem like a lot, but many more cases probably go unreported.) With cases on the rise, more people may want to know how norovirus is spread, what symptoms to expect and how long they can expect to be sick. What should they do if they think they may have it? At what point should they go to the doctor? What food safety tips can reduce the risk of spreading norovirus? And what else can be done to prevent the spread of it and other foodborne illnesses? To help with these questions, I spoke with CNN wellness expert Dr. Leana Wen. Wen is an emergency physician and clinical associate professor at George Washington University. She previously was Baltimore’s health commissioner, with responsibilities that included overseeing infectious diseases as well as food safety.
NBC News: Much of Puerto Rico remains in the dark after massive New Year's Eve power outage by Dennis Romero, Patrick Smith, Daniella Silva, and Michelle Acevado
Puerto Rico suffered the latest in a string of widespread power outages Tuesday that at one point had nearly 1.3 million businesses or homes — most of the island — in the dark. An infrastructure problem at a power plant on the island's southern coast left more than 1 million energy customers without power across the U.S. territory at 5:30 a.m., energy company Luma said in an update on X Tuesday morning. Miosotis Corretjer, a San Juan resident, said that the situation was “totally frustrating” and that the government wasn’t doing enough. “The people say that we don’t want Luma because it’s the worst service of electricity that we have in the history of our country,” she said. “It’s sad that in this day, the last day of the year, that impacts our holiday traditions, our Navidad, everything is so sad for the people of Puerto Rico.”
Guardian: Ecuador confirms incinerated bodies belong to missing ‘Guayaquil Four’ boys by Tiago Rogero
Ecuador’s attorney general’s office has confirmed that incinerated bodies found on Christmas Eve belong to the four children missing since early December, in a case posing a severe challenge to President Daniel Noboa’s “war on drugs”. The four boys – all black, aged between 11 and 15, and residents of Las Malvinas, a poor area in the country’s largest city, Guayaquil – were returning from a football game on 8 December when they were apprehended by 16 air force soldiers. They have become known as the “Guayaquil Four”. The bodies were found on Christmas Eve in the Taura region, where the military allegedly released them near an air force base. DNA testing was required to identify the bodies.
BBC News: Ukraine to end transit of Russian gas to EU by Laura Gozzi
Russian gas supplies to EU states via Ukraine are to end on Wednesday, when a five-year deal between Ukraine's gas transit operator Naftogaz and Russia's Gazprom expires. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country would not allow Russia to "earn additional billions on our blood" and had given the EU a year to prepare. The European Commission said the continent's gas system was "resilient and flexible" and that it had sufficient capacity to cope with the end of transit via Ukraine. Russia will still be able to send gas to Hungary, as well as Turkey and Serbia, through the TurkStream pipeline across the Black Sea. The EU has significantly reduced imports of gas from Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but a number of eastern member states still depend largely on the supplies, making Russia about €5bn ($5.2bn; £4.2bn) a year.
AlJazeera: Thousands march in Bangladesh calling for prosecution of overthrown PM
Thousands of people have rallied in Bangladesh’s capital to demand the prosecution of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and those responsible for hundreds of deaths in a mass uprising against her government in July. The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement organised what it called the March for Unity on Tuesday at the Central Shaheed Minar, a national monument in Dhaka. Protesters chanted slogans calling for Hasina’s trial and the banning of her Awami League party. Hasina fled to India on August 5 after weeks of violence in which authorities said hundreds of people were killed and thousands more injured on the orders of her government. The uprising ended the 15-year rule of the country’s longest-serving prime minister, who began a fourth consecutive term in January after elections boycotted by opposition parties. Last week, Bangladesh sent a formal request to India to extradite Hasina. She faces many court cases over the deaths of protesters, including some on charges of crimes against humanity.
Detroit Free Press: Michigan defense suffocates Alabama for 19-13 upset in 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl: 'That was awesome' by Tony Garcia
As the skies opened and the deluge of rain began Tuesday afternoon, the Alabama sideline stood and stared while those on Michigan football's bench waved towels, jumped up and down and all but formed a mosh pit. The water seemed to nurture the Wolverines while it drenched the Tide. U-M forced three turnovers during the first-quarter rain and used that to set up short fields, get out to an early lead and ultimately hold on to finish 2024 the same way it began: with a postseason win over Alabama, this time 19-13 in the ReliaQuest Bowlat Raymond James Stadium. Michigan (8-5) became the first program in history to defeat Alabama twice in a calendar year. “A lot of people doubted us going into this game and going into next season as well,” Derrick Moore told the Free Press walking off the field. “We just told the world no matter who we got, we always gone be dogs at the end of the day."
So...Michigan completes its season with a decidedly subpar 8-5 record and beats Ohio State, Alabama, USC, and Michigan State...interesting...future is bright in Ann Arbor, for sure.
Everyone have the best possible evening and a very Happy New Year.
Chitown Kev 8:54 pm CST
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