OND Editors OND is a 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 12:00AM Eastern Time.
OND Editors Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, rfall, Doctor RJ and JML9999. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Interceptor7, BentLiberal, Oke and jlms qkw. The guest editor is annetteboardman.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
BBC
Iraqi city of Ramadi 'falls to IS'
The Iraqi city of Ramadi has fallen to Islamic State (IS) after government forces abandoned their positions, officials say.
The police and military made a chaotic retreat after days of intense fighting.
But the US refused to confirm the capture, saying the situation was "fluid and contested" and it was too early to make "definitive statements".
Ramadi is the capital of Iraq's largest province, Anbar, and is just 70 miles (112km) west of Baghdad.
A statement purportedly from IS said its fighters had "purged the entire city". It said IS had taken the 8th Brigade army base, along with tanks and missile launchers left behind by troops.
A very well-placed source in the Anbar governor's office told the BBC Ramadi was now under the full control of Islamic State, and all government troops had withdrawn.
BBC
Egypt executes six convicted Sinai Province militants
Egypt has executed six men convicted of carrying out an attack on soldiers last year, state media report.
The six men, who were hanged, were accused of being members of militant group Sinai Province, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS).
They were found guilty of killing of two officers during a gunfight in March 2014.
However, rights groups had called for a retrial for the six men, arguing that the court process was flawed.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said that three of the men were in custody at that time, and could not have carried out the attack in Arab Sharkas, a village north of Cairo..
Amnesty described the men's trial as "grossly unfair" and said the men said they were tortured into confessing to the charges.
Reuters
Nepal quake death toll becomes highest on record; dozens still missing
The number of people killed in Nepal by two major earthquakes has surpassed 8,500, making the disaster the deadliest to hit the Himalayan country on record, as rescuers on Sunday searched for dozens of people still missing in remote villages.
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on April 25, killing thousands and demolishing more than half a million homes, most of them in rural areas cut off from emergency medical care.
A second major quake struck on Tuesday 76 kilometers (47 miles) east of the capital Kathmandu, just as Nepalis were beginning to recover from the previous earthquake.
The death toll from the two quakes now stands at 8,583, the home ministry said on Sunday.
The previous deadliest earthquake to strike the country - in 1934 - killed at least 8,519 in Nepal, as well as thousands more in neighboring India.
In Dolakha district east of Kathmandu, which was hit hardest by the second quake, dozens of landslides have blocked access to remote villages.
In Singati village, devastated by a landslide, dozens are still missing and rescue workers are yet to remove debris from all of the village to recover bodies, district officials said.
Al Jazeera
Bodies of six U.S. marines, two Nepalese identified in crash
The bodies of six U.S. Marines and two Nepalese soldiers who were aboard a Marine helicopter that crashed during a relief mission in earthquake-hit Nepal have been identified, officials said Sunday.
The wreckage of the UH-1 "Huey" was found Friday following days of intense searching in the mountains northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal's capital. The first three charred bodies were retrieved Friday by Nepalese and U.S. military teams, and the rest were found Saturday.
The U.S. relief mission was deployed after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake hit Nepal on April 25, killing more than 8,200 people. A magnitude-7.3 quake struck the country on Tuesday, killing at least 117 people and injuring about 2,800.
The helicopter went missing Tuesday while delivering rice and tarps in Charikot, the area worst hit by that day's quake. It had dropped off supplies in one location and was en route to a second site when contact was lost.
The U.S. Marines who were killed were Capt. Dustin R. Lukasiewicz, from Nebraska, Capt. Christopher L. Norgren, from Kansas, Sgt. Ward M. Johnson IV, from Florida, Sgt. Eric M. Seaman, from California, Cpl. Sara A. Medina, from Illinois, and Lance Cpl. Jacob A. Hug, from Arizona, according to a statement from the U.S. military joint task force in Okinawa, Japan.
Reuters
Saudi-led alliance resumes air strikes on Yemen
A Saudi Arabian-led coalition resumed air strikes against Yemen's Houthi militia in Aden overnight, hours after the expiry of a truce meant to facilitate badly needed humanitarian aid, a Reuters eyewitness said.
The witness said explosions could be heard near the southern city's airport and the districts of Khor Maksar and Crater shortly the five-day ceasefire expired on Sunday at 4 pm EDT. No further details were immediately available.
Late on Sunday a spokesman for the army, much of which is allied to the Houthis, welcomed a request by the U.N. envoy to Yemen to extend the truce to allow more aid to be delivered to the war-damaged Arabian Peninsula country.
"We welcome the call by the UN envoy to Yemen ... regarding the extension of the truce and the need to deliver humanitarian aid to citizens," Yemen's Houthi-controlled state news agency SABA quoted Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman as saying.
NPR
Indonesian Military Chief Defends 'Virginity Tests' For Female Recruits
Indonesia's top military commander defended a requirement that female recruits undergo an invasive "virginity test" to determine if they are morally suited for the armed forces. His remarks follow a letter from Human Rights Watch condemning the practice.
"So what's the problem? It's a good thing, so why criticize it?" Gen, Moeldoko was quoted by The Jakarta Globe as telling reporters on Friday.
The Globe says Moeldoko "conceded, though, that there was no direct link between a woman being a virgin and her abilities as a member of the armed forces, but insisted that virginity was a gauge of a woman's morality – one of the three key traits he said a woman must have to serve in the [Indonesia Armed Forces], along with high academic aptitude and physical strength."
The virginity test "is a measure of morality. There's no other way" to determine a person's morality, Moeldoko said.
NPR
20 Years After China Seized Boy Monk, Tibetans Call For His Release
Two decades after a 6-year-old boy designated as Tibetan Buddhism's second most important spiritual leader was swept up by Chinese authorities and never heard from again, the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile has renewed a call for his release.
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who would be about 26 years old today, was chosen as the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995 after a lengthy search conducted by senior Tibetan monks determined him to be the reincarnated soul of the post's deceased predecessor.
On May 17, 1995, three days after he was anointed by the Dalai Lama, the boy was detained by Chinese authorities and promptly disappeared. Beijing subsequently named another child, Gyaincain Norbu, to the position.
On the anniversary of Gedhun's disappearance, Penpa Tsering, the speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in Dharamsala, India, appealed to the Chinese government to release him.
"I believe that the efforts of the Chinese government in keeping the Panchen Lama in a secret location is to deprive him of all the religious [training] that he [needs] to undertake so that he can teach to the future generations of Tibetans," Penpa said.
Al Jazeera
Anti-nuclear activist nun Megan Rice to be freed from prison
A federal appeals court has ordered the immediate release of an 85-year-old nun and two fellow Catholic anti-nuclear proliferation activists who vandalized a uranium storage bunker, their attorney said Friday.
The order came a week after the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati overturned the 2013 sabotage convictions of Sister Megan Rice, 66-year-old Michael Walli, and 59-year-old Greg Boertje-Obed, and ordered resentencing on their remaining conviction for injuring government property. The activists have spent two years in prison, and the court said they likely already have served more time than they will receive for the lesser charge.
On Thursday, their attorneys petitioned the court for an emergency release, saying that resentencing would take weeks if normal court procedures were followed. Prosecutors on Friday afternoon responded that they would not oppose the release, if certain conditions were met.
After the close of business on Friday, attorney Bill Quigley said the court had ordered the activists' immediate release. He said he was working to get them out of prison and was hopeful they could be released overnight or on the weekend.
"We would expect the Bureau of Prisons to follow the order of the court and release them as soon as possible," he said.
N Y Times
Surveillance Without Borders
PARIS — Right after Islamist militants attacked Charlie Hebdo and a kosher grocery in January, leaving 17 people dead, we swore we would not fall into the surveillance trap. The few voices in France clamoring for a security overhaul were drowned out by the “we are not afraid” slogans of crowds rallying in defense of free speech. Journalists, lawyers and politicians reminded everyone of the excesses of America’s Patriot Act. This was not the road France would take.
Yet four months later, on May 5, the lower house of Parliament passed a bill giving the nation’s intelligence services sweeping surveillance powers, including the massive collection and analysis of metadata. Next month the bill will go to the Senate, and the measure’s sponsors are confident it will become law by July.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, key provisions of the Patriot Act are set to expire by June 1. But the mood is already shifting: On Wednesday, the House approved a bill changing the Patriot Act to prohibit the government’s mass collection of Americans’ phone records.
Raw Story
Fresno man facing murder charge after shooting a Jehovah’s Witness who refused blood transfusion
Fresno man is facing murder charges in court this week for the shooting death of a Jehovah’s Witness who later died after refusing a blood transfusion.
According to The Fresno Bee, David Quevedo, 26, has been charged with the murder of 36-year-old Omar Silva despite the attorney for Quevedo contention that Silva’s religious beliefs may have cost him his life.
What is not in dispute is that Quevedo shot Silva multiple times on Feb. 3, 2013, following an altercation in the street after an angry Quevedo was kicked out of a party because his favorite team — the San Francisco 49ers — lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl.
According to police, Quevedo and Silva argued over over gang membership with Quevedo returning later in the evening to shoot Silva through the security door at his home.
Silva reportedly told a Fresno police officer “Jehovah, Jehovah, I’m dying, I’m dying,” as he was taken to a hospital where he died during surgery after refusing a blood transfusion because he was a Jehovah’s Witness.
Raw Story
ABC's Karl: Kasich 'Virtually Certain' to Mount Presidential Race
Ohio Gov. John Kasich is edging closer to mounting a race for the GOP presidential nomination, ABC News' Jonathan Karl said Sunday.
"The governor of Ohio is virtually certain to run for president," Karl said during a panel discussion on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" program. "He had a meeting with top aides over last weekend, he told them to go forward and his family is now on board. It is now much more likely than not that Kasich will enter this race."
Reuters
Blanchett denies lesbian affairs as 'Carol' film wows Cannes
Cate Blanchett denied on Sunday a report she'd had affairs with women as the Cannes Film Festival swooned over her portrayal of a wealthy married woman who falls in love with an ambitious New York shopgirl in director Todd Haynes's "Carol".
The film, which has won rave reviews from critics and audiences, shows Blanchett's title character and Rooney Mara as the shopgirl Therese Belivet having an affair that includes making love in a motel "presidential suite".
Blanchett at a news conference was quick to contradict the published version of an interview she gave to the trade publication Variety in which she seemed to say she brought personal experience of affairs with women to the role.
"From memory, the conversation ran, 'Have you had relationships with women?' And I said, 'Yes, many times. If you mean I've had sexual relationships with them, the answer is 'No' -- but that obviously didn't make it to print," the Australian actress and mother of four children said.
"But in 2015, the point should be: Who cares?," she added.