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Overnight News Digest March 25, 2025 [1]

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

Date: 2025-03-25

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: Chicago cops have been making fewer traffic stops, but more are ending in violence by Kade Heather, Tom Schuba, Sophie Sherry, Jonathan Torres, and Wendy Wei

Chicago cops pulled over fewer drivers last year as the fatal shooting of Dexter Reed sent shockwaves through the city and led to promises of reform. But far more of the traffic stops ended in violence, an investigation by the Chicago Sun-Times and the Investigative Project on Race and Equity has found. Officers reported using force 787 times during traffic stops — the most since 2018, which was the first full year cops were subjected to tougher reporting requirements. Meanwhile, more than 200,000 stops apparently went unreported to state officials last year despite a 2003 law that was spearheaded by then-state Sen. Barack Obama. Chicago Police Department leaders have pushed officers to boost their numbers in recent years, leading to stops that put both cops and community members in danger.

The New York Times: Trump Downplays Signal Leak, Backing Waltz and Pointing Finger at Journalist by Tyler Pager and David E. Sanger

President Trump characterized an extraordinary security breach as a minor transgression on Tuesday, insisting that top administration officials had not shared any classified information as they discussed secret military plans in a group chat that included the editor in chief of The Atlantic magazine. “So this was not classified,” Mr. Trump said during a meeting with U.S. ambassadors at the White House. “Now if it’s classified information, it’s probably a little bit different, but I always say, you have to learn from every experience.” Mr. Trump also stood by his national security adviser, Michael Waltz, who had inadvertently added the journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to the chat on the Signal app, which included Vice President JD Vance and others. In the chat, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared information on timing, targets and weapons systems to be used in an attack on Houthi militants in Yemen, according to Mr. Goldberg. “I think it was very unfair the way they attacked Michael,” the president said of Mr. Waltz.

USA Today: Texas prosecutors will no longer pursue the death penalty in 2019 Walmart attack by Aaron Martinez and Adam Powell

Texas prosecutors said Tuesday they will not pursue the death penalty in the case against a man charged with killing 23 people and injuring dozens in a racially-charged shooting at an El Paso Walmart in 2019. Patrick Crucius, 26, is charged with carrying out the mass shooting that ripped through the heart of the Texas border community on Aug. 3, 2019, and gripped the nation’s attention. Federal court documents state the gunmen targeted Hispanic shoppers, who he claimed were invading the U.S. El Paso District Attorney James Montoya explained the decision to reporters Tuesday, a change that marks an about-face in the state’s approach but comes, Montoya said, as many family members of victims said they want to see the case closed, even if that meant foregoing a death sentence.

NBC News: CDC is pulling back $11B in Covid funding sent to health departments across the U.S. by Brandy Zadrozny

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pulling back $11.4 billion in funds allocated in response to the pandemic to state and community health departments, nongovernment organizations and international recipients, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Tuesday. "The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago," HHS Director of Communications Andrew Nixon said in a statement. "HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump’s mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again." HHS oversees 13 agencies, including the CDC, which is tasked with protecting the nation’s health. Notices began going out Monday, and awardees have 30 days to reconcile their expenditures. Figures are subject to change. The funding slash comes on the heels of other cuts under new Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including the canceling of hundreds of millions of dollars in grants for research into vaccine hesitancy, LGBTQ populations and supporting HIV prevention.

Guardian: Russia and Ukraine agree to ‘eliminate the use of force’ in Black Sea by Dan Sabbagh, Pjotr Sauer, and Andrew Roth

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to “eliminate the use of force” in the Black Sea after parallel talks with US negotiators in Saudi Arabia, though the Kremlin said a maritime ceasefire would start only if it received sanctions relief on agricultural exports. Donald Trump said that the US was reviewing the Russian conditions after the Kremlin insisted it had negotiated concessions with the White House that would mark the first major recision of sanctions since the full-scale invasion of 2022. The warring parties also agreed to implement a previously announced 30-day halt on attacks against energy networks and to expand its scope, but resolving fundamental issues, including any division of territory, remains far off.

BBC News: Japan court dissolves controversial 'Moonies' church by Shaimaa Khalil and Kelly Ng

A court in Japan has ordered the disbandment of the controversial Unification Church, which came under scrutiny after the shock killing of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022. The alleged assassin had confessed that he held a grievance against Abe because of the ex-leader's ties with the church - he blamed the church for bankrupting his family. Japan's education and culture ministry sought the church's dissolution and accused it of manipulating followers into making huge donations and other financial sacrifices. But the church, more popularly known as the "Moonies", argued that the donations were part of legitimate religious activities. It can appeal to overturn Tuesday's ruling. The order handed down by a Tokyo district court will strip the church of its tax-exempt status and require it to liquidate its assets, but it will still be allowed to operate in Japan.

DW: Turkey jails journalists, as protesters defy crackdown by Jenipher Camino Gonzalez

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