Wednesday morning news - June 30, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Top US general says security in Afghanistan deteriorating » The top U.S. general in Afghanistan painted a sobering picture Tuesday of conditions on the ground as U.S. troops pull out.

Gen. Austin Miller said conditions are deteriorating quickly as the Taliban continues to capture districts around the country. He told ABC News...

MILLER: The loss of terrain and the rapidity of that loss of terrain has to be concerning. We’re starting to create conditions here that won’t look good for Afghanistan here if there’s a push for a military takeover.

And he said the Taliban is pushing to take over.

He also said he can’t forget what happened after the U.S. military pullout in Iraq, when ISIS filled the power vacuum.

MILLER: I mean that’s on—that’s on everybody’s mind.

Right now, he said the U.S. military is still able to provide significant support to Afgahn forces, but he couldn’t say what that support might look like in the future.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday...

PSAKI: The president met with the leaders of Afghanistan just last Friday, and he reiterated our commitment to working with them not just on humanitarian assistance but security assistance and our commitment to continue to have a presence on the ground.

Pentagon officials have said U.S. troops will be out of Afghanistan by July 4th, though by some accounts, the pullout is ahead of schedule.

Search for survivors continues in condo rubble as Biden prepares to visit » In South Florida, the search for survivors continues in the rubble of a collapsed condo building.

Miami-Dade County Fire Chief Alan Cominsky...

COMINSKY: We’re moving debri piece by piece and searching through. We’ve over approximately 3 million pounds of concrete.

County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jose Diaz said authorities still consider this a rescue effort rather than a recovery operation. They remain hopeful that survivors are still trapped inside.

DIAZ: They hear some types of noises, clapping noises and stuff like that. What that noise actually is, they haven’t really stated, but I do know that they have that hope.

President Biden plans to visit the scene tomorrow. He’ll meet with first responders and spend time with families of the dead and the missing. At least 11 are confirmed dead. More than 150 people are still unaccounted for.

High court: Non-legal immigrants not entitled to hearing, possible release while court weighs legal claims » The Supreme Court issued a major ruling Tuesday about the legal claims of some immigrants to the United States. WORLD Radio’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The high court ruled 6-3 that immigrants are not entitled to a hearing about whether they should be released while the government evaluates their claims. The court’s three liberal justices dissented.

The case involves people who had been previously deported. They were detained after re-entering the United States illegally and claimed they would be persecuted if sent back.

Determining the validity of such claims can take months or even years.

Justice Alito wrote for the majority that “Although the statute does not specify a time limit on how long DHS may detain an alien,” Tuesday’s ruling does not mean the government can hold a person indefinitely.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Heat wave shatters records in Northwest » A sweltering heat wave is shattering records in the Northwestern United States this week and triggering blackouts amid heavy power demands.

Many parts of the region that usually see high temperatures in the 70s during the summer hit triple digits, including Seattle.

Samantha Borth with the National Weather Service said Tuesday…

BORTH: We broke our all-time record yesterday for much of the area, including Seatac Airport, which ended up reaching 108 degrees.

Seattle and Portland hit triple digits and broke high temperature records on consecutive days.

And meteorologist Clint Rockey said further inland in Oregon, it was even hotter.

ROCKEY: Temperatures over most of the northern half of the state were above 110, again, 115 to 117.

More than 8,000 utility customers lost power in Spokane, Washington Monday as utilities warned of more rolling blackouts.

Federal court tosses antitrust cases against Facebook » A federal judge sided with Facebook in a major antitrust case on Tuesday. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has that story.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: The Federal Trade Commission failed to demonstrate that Facebook holds more than 60 percent of the social media market. That was the ruling from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Monday. He also wasn’t convinced by the FTC’s argument that Facebook wrongfully acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.

The FTC has 30 days to file a new complaint, but Boasberg said the 48 state attorneys general who also sued cannot re-file.

While the FTC initially allowed the company to purchase Instagram and Whatsapp, its lawsuit claimed those buyouts were anticompetitive.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pushing for legislative fixes to reign in the power of Big Tech companies like Facebook.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

I'm Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org.

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Top US general says security in Afghanistan deteriorating » The top U.S. general in Afghanistan painted a sobering picture Tuesday of conditions on the ground as U.S. troops pull out.

Gen. Austin Miller said conditions are deteriorating quickly as the Taliban continues to capture districts around the country. He told ABC News...

MILLER: The loss of terrain and the rapidity of that loss of terrain has to be concerning. We’re starting to create conditions here that won’t look good for Afghanistan here if there’s a push for a military takeover.

And he said the Taliban is pushing to take over.

He also said he can’t forget what happened after the U.S. military pullout in Iraq, when ISIS filled the power vacuum.

MILLER: I mean that’s on—that’s on everybody’s mind.

Right now, he said the U.S. military is still able to provide significant support to Afgahn forces, but he couldn’t say what that support might look like in the future.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday...

PSAKI: The president met with the leaders of Afghanistan just last Friday, and he reiterated our commitment to working with them not just on humanitarian assistance but security assistance and our commitment to continue to have a presence on the ground.

Pentagon officials have said U.S. troops will be out of Afghanistan by July 4th, though by some accounts, the pullout is ahead of schedule.

Search for survivors continues in condo rubble as Biden prepares to visit » In South Florida, the search for survivors continues in the rubble of a collapsed condo building.

Miami-Dade County Fire Chief Alan Cominsky...

COMINSKY: We’re moving debri piece by piece and searching through. We’ve over approximately 3 million pounds of concrete.

County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jose Diaz said authorities still consider this a rescue effort rather than a recovery operation. They remain hopeful that survivors are still trapped inside.

DIAZ: They hear some types of noises, clapping noises and stuff like that. What that noise actually is, they haven’t really stated, but I do know that they have that hope.

President Biden plans to visit the scene tomorrow. He’ll meet with first responders and spend time with families of the dead and the missing. At least 11 are confirmed dead. More than 150 people are still unaccounted for.

High court: Non-legal immigrants not entitled to hearing, possible release while court weighs legal claims » The Supreme Court issued a major ruling Tuesday about the legal claims of some immigrants to the United States. WORLD Radio’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The high court ruled 6-3 that immigrants are not entitled to a hearing about whether they should be released while the government evaluates their claims. The court’s three liberal justices dissented.

The case involves people who had been previously deported. They were detained after re-entering the United States illegally and claimed they would be persecuted if sent back.

Determining the validity of such claims can take months or even years.

Justice Alito wrote for the majority that “Although the statute does not specify a time limit on how long DHS may detain an alien,” Tuesday’s ruling does not mean the government can hold a person indefinitely.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Heat wave shatters records in Northwest » A sweltering heat wave is shattering records in the Northwestern United States this week and triggering blackouts amid heavy power demands.

Many parts of the region that usually see high temperatures in the 70s during the summer hit triple digits, including Seattle.

Samantha Borth with the National Weather Service said Tuesday…

BORTH: We broke our all-time record yesterday for much of the area, including Seatac Airport, which ended up reaching 108 degrees.

Seattle and Portland hit triple digits and broke high temperature records on consecutive days.

And meteorologist Clint Rockey said further inland in Oregon, it was even hotter.

ROCKEY: Temperatures over most of the northern half of the state were above 110, again, 115 to 117.

More than 8,000 utility customers lost power in Spokane, Washington Monday as utilities warned of more rolling blackouts.

Federal court tosses antitrust cases against Facebook » A federal judge sided with Facebook in a major antitrust case on Tuesday. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has that story.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: The Federal Trade Commission failed to demonstrate that Facebook holds more than 60 percent of the social media market. That was the ruling from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Monday. He also wasn’t convinced by the FTC’s argument that Facebook wrongfully acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.

The FTC has 30 days to file a new complaint, but Boasberg said the 48 state attorneys general who also sued cannot re-file.

While the FTC initially allowed the company to purchase Instagram and Whatsapp, its lawsuit claimed those buyouts were anticompetitive.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pushing for legislative fixes to reign in the power of Big Tech companies like Facebook.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

I'm Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org.

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