Friday morning news: December 16, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kristen Flavin. 

Russia warns of consequences if missiles sent » Russia on Thursday threatened “consequences” for the United States if it delivers Patriot missile systems to Ukraine.

The Pentagon is reportedly planning to send the advanced missile defense systems soon. Moscow said that would be—quote—“another provocative move by the U.S.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre fired back …

PIERRE: The provocative moves are being made by Russia. Russia is the aggressor here, and we should never forget that.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded to reports that Washington will send Kyiv the most advanced surface-to-air missiles it has shared to date. She said “the U.S. has effectively become a party” to the war in Ukraine.

She added that delivering the systems “would mean even broader involvement of military personnel in the hostilities and could entail possible consequences.” She did not explain what those consequences might be.

Iranian soccer player to be executed » Authorities in Tehran have sentenced an Iranian soccer player to death by hanging after his arrest for joining nationwide protests. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Iranian police arrested Amir Reza Nasr Azadani last month after he joined protesters in the streets condemning the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody.

The government claims he was connected to the deaths of three security personnel during protests.

Human rights groups say he’s being put to death simply for speaking out against a tyrannical government.

Azadani is one of more than two dozen protesters set to be executed in Iran.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Spending down » Retail sales dropped last month at the start of the holiday shopping season.

Americans have kept their spending steady ever since inflation first spiked almost 18 months ago. But that may be changing.

Prices rose more than 7 percent in November from a year ago.

And the government reports that sales fell 0.6% from October to November after rising in October.

Senate bans TikTok on fed devices » Lawmakers in the Senate have passed a bill that would ban the social media app TikTok on all government devices.

The app is owned by a Chinese company. GOP Senator Marco Rubio says it’s basically a subsidiary company of the Chinese Communist Party.

RUBIO: We shouldn’t have the Communist Party of China having access to a treasure trove of American data that they can use to try to influence and divide us at the same time as they collect valuable information now and for the future.

The Senate bill passed unanimously.

Numerous states have already banned TikTok from government devices—most recently, North Dakota and Georgia.

DOJ suing Arizona » The Biden administration is suing Arizona for stacking shipping containers at the southern border as a makeshift wall.

The administration says Arizona has no right to place the containers on federal property. And the administration wants a court to force the state to remove them.

Illegal border crossings are surging. National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd:

JUDD: When you look at a typical month, we should be apprehending somewhere between 1,000 to 1,500 a day. We’re already at 8,000.

And with the pandemic-era Title 42 rule set to end on Tuesday, Judd predicts 10,000-12,000 migrant encounters daily by January with numbers possibly even higher after that.

Death toll rises in floods in Congo capital » In the Congo, the death toll continues to rise from widespread floods and landslides. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has that story.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: More than 140 people are now confirmed dead in Congo’s capital city of Kinshasa.

At least 12 others are still missing and presumed dead.

The country’s minister of health said, “There is no hope of finding survivors.”

Heavy rains starting Monday night triggered the flooding, damaging nearly 40,000 homes. Some 12 million people live in the devastated areas.

At least one main road into the capital was cut off, and much of the city is still submerged.

For WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

And I’m Kristen Flavin. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.