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Overnight News Digest March 18, 2025 [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-18
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. I apologize for missing last week because I was sick. I feel better tonight.
Chicago Sun-Times: WBEZ and 12 other public media stations under investigation by FCC by Bob Chiarito
At a time when its parent company is battling financial hardship, WBEZ is among more than a dozen public media stations being investigated by the Federal Communications Commission for its underwriting practices, an inquiry which may put federal money the station relies on into jeopardy. On Jan. 29, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr sent letters to National Public Radio president and CEO Katherine Maher and PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger advising them that 13 of its member stations, including WBEZ, were under investigation over on-air sponsorships, commonly referred to as “underwriting” by public media stations. WBEZ received a letter on Feb. 28 from the FCC’s enforcement bureau requesting detailed information about underwriting announcements that air on the station, giving them 30 days to respond. The station has until the end of March to provide the appropriate details to the FCC, according to a WBEZ spokesperson. “We can confirm that we received the letter from the FCC’s enforcement bureau requesting detailed information about underwriting announcements that air on WBEZ. We adhere to FCC underwriting guidelines and are confident that any review will demonstrate compliance with these guidelines,” the spokesman said.
The New York Times: Musk’s Role in Dismantling Aid Agency Likely Violated Constitution, Judge Finds by Zach Montague
Efforts by Elon Musk and his team to permanently shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development likely violated the Constitution “in multiple ways” and robbed Congress of its authority to oversee the dissolution of an agency it created, a federal judge found on Tuesday. The ruling, by Judge Theodore D. Chuang of U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, appeared to be the first time a judge has moved to rein in Mr. Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency directly. It was based on the finding that Mr. Musk has acted as a U.S. officer without having been properly appointed to that role by President Trump. Judge Chuang wrote that a group of unnamed aid workers who had sued to stop the demolition of U.S.A.I.D. and its programs was likely to succeed in the lawsuit. He agreed with the workers’ contention that Mr. Musk’s rapid assertion of power over executive agencies was likely in violation of the Constitution’s appointments clause. The judge also ordered that agency operations be partially restored, though that reprieve is likely to be temporary. He orderedMr. Musk’s team to reinstate email access to all U.S.A.I.D. employees, including those on paid leave. He also ordered the team to submit a plan for employees to reoccupy a federal office from which they were evicted last month, and he barred Mr. Musk’s team from engaging in any further work “related to the shutdown of U.S.A.I.D.”
USA Today: Louisiana executes inmate with nitrogen gas method after narrow Supreme Court decision by Amanda Lee Myers
Louisiana on Tuesday executed a death row inmate using nitrogen gas for the first time in state history and only the fifth time in U.S. history. Death row inmate Jessie Hoffman's execution is the first in Louisiana in 15 years after the state struggled to obtain drugs for lethal injections. Hoffman was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. after a "flawless" execution, according to Gary Westcott, secretary of the the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Hoffman, who was convicted of the brutal rape and murder of 28-year-old Molly Elliott in 1996, had been arguing that he shouldn't be executed by nitrogen gas, a controversial and largely untried method, partly because it he said it violated his religious freedom by preventing him from practicing his Buddhist meditative breathing. Last week, a federal judge temporarily halted Hoffman's execution, citing possible "pain and torture" in violation of his constitutional rights. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling on Friday. Hoffman's attorneys appealed and on Tuesday shortly before the execution, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to stop it in a narrow decision.
CNN: Federal judge indefinitely blocks Trump’s ban on transgender service members, saying it’s ‘soaked in animus’ by Devan Cole
A federal judge has indefinitely blocked President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender service members, dealing a major defeat to a controversial policy the president resurrected from his first term. In a scathing ruling, US District Judge Ana Reyes said the administration cannot enforce the ban — which was set to take effect later this month. Reyes, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, wrote that the ban “is soaked in animus and dripping with pretext. Its language is unabashedly demeaning, its policy stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit, and its conclusions bear no relation to fact.” “Indeed, the cruel irony is that thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed – some risking their lives – to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the Military Ban seeks to deny them,” she wrote.
DW: Middle East: Israeli strikes kill hundreds in Gaza
Israel resumed strikes on Gaza for political reasons, according to Yehuda Cohen, the father of Nimrod Cohen, an Israeli soldier who is still being held hostage by Hamas militants. "We already see (the far-right political party of Itamar) Ben-Gvir coming back to the coalition, coming back to Netanyahu," Cohen told DW. "This is the only reason Netanyahu did it. He doesn't care for the hostages, he's only caring for his personal survival, his coalition to survive." Cohen stressed that the release of all the hostages, including his son Nimrod, would only be made possible by implementing the second part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which he said Netanyahu "refused to do for political and personal reasons."
Guardian: Vladimir Putin agrees to 30-day halt to attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid by Pjotr Sauer, Shaun Walker, and David Smith
Vladimir Putin has agreed to a limited ceasefire that would stop Russia targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure after a high-stakes phone call with Donald Trump. But the Russian leader declined to commit to a 30-day full ceasefire, a plan pitched by Trump that Ukraine agreed to last week, denting the US president’s hope of bringing a quick end to hostilities. The Kremlin said Putin demanded that the west halt all military aid to Kyiv before it could implement such a plan. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking after the call, said Ukraine was favourable to the idea of both sides halting attacks on each other’s infrastructure but he was waiting for “details” of what had been agreed first. Trump put a positive spin on the discussion, writing on his Truth Social platform shortly after the call ended that he had had a “very good and productive” conversation with Putin.
El País in English: Heavy rains in southern Spain trigger flooding and evacuations by Nacho Sánchez and Javier Arroyo Ramos
Unrelenting rains in southern Spain have triggered flash floodsand evacuation orders in the Andalusian provinces of Málaga and Córdoba, where 19 waterways are at red level for risk of flooding. One body has been found and at least three more people are reported missing. The risk posed by by the rising waters has also led authorities to close off roads, cancel classes and suspend railroad service on three lines. In the nearby region of Murcia, in southeastern Spain, several passengers were injured after a bus overturned on the A-7 highway, while nine people were trapped inside two cars in Águilas, a popular coastal destination. Parts of Spain have been experiencing persistently rainy weather since early March. There were isolated episodes of flooding earlier this month in the Valencia region, where residents are still recovering from the historic flash floods of late October, which also affected parts of Andalusia.
Everyone try to have the best possible evening!
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