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Overnight News Digest January 5, 2025 [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-01-05

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 (RIP), 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 since 2007, 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.

BBC

Millions hit by huge winter storm as seven US states declare state of emergency

More than 60 million Americans across more than 30 states are in the grips of a huge winter storm that could bring the heaviest snowfall and coldest temperatures in over a decade

A polar vortex has brought frigid weather down from the Arcticto the central US, with extreme weather conditions accompanying it

Thousands of flights are delayed or cancelled, many roads cut and schools shut as a result of the storm

Blizzards are expected to bring whiteout conditions to Kansas and Missouri, where a state of emergency has been declared

A state of emergency has also been declared in the states of Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Arkansas and parts of New Jersey

The Guardian

‘We have our country back’: convicted January 6 rioters anticipate Trump pardons

Brandon Fellows, who broke into the US Capitol on January 6 and smoked marijuana in a senator’s office, stood outside the Washington DC jail where he spent part of his three years’ sentence behind bars, thinking about how Donald Trump might soon help him get his life back on track. Having served his prison sentence after being found guilty on a slew of federal charges, the 30-year-old is today on probation under terms that have prevented him from leaving the capital region to start a chimney maintenance business in New Jersey. For all the enthusiasm among Trump’s supporters, a December poll from Monmouth University found that 61% of respondents would disapprove of Trump pardoning people convicted over the Capitol attack. The president-elect has also said he might pass over those who acted violently, telling Time: “I’m going to do case-by-case, and if they were non-violent … I’m going to look if there’s some that really were out of control.”

NPR

As Trump rewrites history, victims of the Jan. 6 riot say they feel 'betrayed'

"My fellow officers and I were punched, kicked, shoved, sprayed with chemical irritants by a violent mob," Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell testified to Congress about his experience in the tunnel on Jan. 6. "I could feel myself losing oxygen and recall thinking to myself: 'this is how I'm going to die - defending this entrance.'" Gonell says his injuries from Jan. 6 were so severe that he needed to undergo two surgeries, and ultimately had to retire from the Capitol Police. He's watched as Republican lawmakers, some of whom he defended from the rioters, have downplayed the severity of the violence. The Justice Department has described the Jan. 6 attack as an act of domestic terrorism that threatened the nation's peaceful transfer of power. Prosecutors estimate that 140 officers suffered injuries that day.

NPR

CNN goes on trial over its report alleging 'black market' for Afghan rescues

After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, many people were desperate to flee the country. CNN reported that a security consultant was among those offering to evacuate them — for a price — as part of an investigation into claims of "black market" rescue operations. CNN's story, which aired on Nov. 11, 2021, showed a photo of Zachary Young, head of Florida-based Nemex Enterprises. The caption below warned of "exorbitant fees" and "no guarantee of safety or success." Young has sued CNN for defamation. In his complaint, his attorneys say CNN gave him just hours to respond to its questions before it first aired that story on The Lead with Jake Tapper. They say Young had, in fact, successfully evacuated dozens of people from Afghanistan. In rebutting those allegations in court, CNN has since cast doubt on Young's claim of the successful evacuations.

NPR

Japanese woman who was the world's oldest person at 116 has died

TOKYO — Tomiko Itooka, a Japanese woman who was the world's oldest person according to Guinness World Records, has died, an Ashiya city official said Saturday. She was 116. Yoshitsugu Nagata, an official in charge of elderly policies, said Itooka died on Dec. 29 at a care home in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, central Japan. Itooka, who loved bananas and a yogurt-flavored Japanese drink called Calpis, was born on May 23, 1908. She became the oldest person last year following the death of 117-year-old Maria Branyas, according to the Gerontology Research Group. When she was told she was at the top of the World Supercentenarian Rankings List, she simply replied, "Thank you."

Al Jazeera

Hamas says it’s ready to free 34 captives under ceasefire deal, reports saywww.aljazeera

Hamas has said it is ready to release 34 captives as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel, the Reuters and AFP news agencies have reported, citing an official with the Palestinian group. The Palestinian group, which governs the Gaza Strip, has approved the release of the captives “as part of the first phase of a prisoner exchange deal”, the AFP reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed Hamas official. The initial swap would include all women, children, elderly people and sick captives being held in Gaza, the AFP reported the official as saying. Reuters cited an unnamed Hamas official as saying a ceasefire deal would depend on Israel agreeing to a permanent ceasefire and its withdrawal from Gaza. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that Hamas had yet to provide a list of captives for potential release.

Al Jazeera

Syria’s foreign minister urges US to lift sanctions during visit to Qatar

Syria’s new Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani has called on the United States to lift crippling sanctions on his country, as he visited Qatar as part of a regional trip to seek support after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Following a meeting with Qatar’s prime minister on Sunday, al-Shaibani told reporters that US sanctions on Syria were an obstacle to the war-torn country’s rapid recovery “These sanctions constitute a barrier and an obstacle to the rapid recovery and development of the Syrian people who await services and partnerships from other countries,” he said. “We reiterate our calls for the United States to lift these sanctions, which have now become against the Syrian people rather than what they previously were: imposed sanctions on the al-Assad regime.”

Deutsche Welle

Should alcoholic drinks carry a warning label?

In the US, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is calling for warning labels to be put on alcoholic beverages, much like with tobacco products. Some are calling the idea revolutionary, but making it a rule could be difficult in Republican-controlled Washington.

See my KTK diary on this subject: HERE

Washington Post

Biden urges Americans not to rewrite, or forget, Jan. 6, 2021

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