In 2.0.11, there isn't light when you're close to the lighting body, probably so you can see it's texture and it doesn't just become one big light, which I think is a good thing.
Yes. This is a new feature in 2.0.11 so that you can see detail when you're close to a star and because the glow made it hard to see planets in very close orbit (or in Chart Mode when they're all lined up).
At large distances, like over many AU's, I think the lighting is too weak though. If the bodies are drawn at their actual size, the Sun disappears in less than 1000 AU's, and you can't see VY Canis Majoris one light year away from it, and Eta Carinae fades away less than 5 ly away. It would be awesome if the light could make up for that.
You're right. I hope to fix this problem in the next release. Stars aren't bright enough when they're really small, where this wasn't a problem in 2.0.10.