Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor, Johnston.
Nearly half of the roughly 50,000 migrants who cross from Morocco into Spain over the past
“two days have now returned, and PR's Terry Schultz reports the incident is feeling a political”
uproar across the European Union. Spanish authorities are installing a floating barrier to try to prevent a repeat of the last couple of days, where tens of thousands of migrants rushed by sea or land into the Spanish Enclay of Sahuta. 22 EU Prime Ministers are calling for an emergency video conference of interior ministers
to address what they describe as the threat posed to the shengen system of free movement across borders within the EU by this incident. Italy has blocked open border crossings with Spain for a month, and France said it would step up border checks. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is also asking for the emergency meeting, criticizing those
who want to suspend his country's participation in shengen, calling it a selfish polarizing and unlawful reaction. For impure news, I'm Terry Schultz and Brussels. The Justice Department is Trumping criminal charges against former Olympian David Hurn, who was accused of damaging the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial.
And PR's Tamer Keith reports President Trump had portrayed the incident as vandalism ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary, but the Department now says that wasn't the case. He claimed with vivid detail that there was a gash cut in the waterproof coating, and it was 250 feet long, 350 feet long, 300 yards long. The length of it kept changing, the interior secretary backed him up, arrests were made.
All for the government to then admit in last night's filing that it was, quote, "the result of flawed installation by the contractor at Lantic Industrial Codings." At CMPR's Tamer Keith reporting, the reflecting pool has since been drained for a second time and is undergoing additional repairs. A heat dome is bringing triple-digit temperatures to much of the western US with record
highs expected across at least 12 states.
Nearly 50 million people are under heat alerts and forecasters warn the heat and wind could
spark new wildfires, and PR's Kirk Sigler reports. Oregon is already in the grips of one of its biggest wildfire seasons in history, and now the National Weather Service has implemented new red flag warnings for extreme wildfire risk this weekend across the central and eastern parts of the state and into Idaho, Washington State, and Montana.
Parts of the northwest got a lot of rain earlier this summer in spring and now the high grasses and brush are turning to brittle as triple-digit heat bakes the land. A cold front relatively speaking is blowing in this weekend, which is not expected to bring any rain, but there is a possibility of dry lightning strikes that could ignite more fires. And fire crews are more concerned about the winds causing existing out-of-control wildfires
to spread. Kirk Sigler and PR News, Boisey. This is NPR News. Nearly 200,000 people are returning home in southwestern France after emergency crews contained a massive wildfire that broke out more than a week ago.
New fires have broken out elsewhere in France and Greece as hot dry conditions continue across much of southern Europe.
As jet, Canada's second largest airline has begun grounding planes ahead of a potential strike
by its flight attendants. Dan Carpenshack reports they could walk off the job as early as Sunday morning. WestJet says it continues to bargain with the Union representing the 4400 flight attendants in the hopes of reaching a deal.
“The Canadian Union of Public Employees says unpaid work before and after flights is a key”
issue. Two days ago, the Union issued a 72-hour strike notice WestJet countered with a 72-hour lockout. The workstoppage could occur if no deal is reached by Sunday morning. Some planes are being parked in flights canceled to prevent crews and passengers from being
stranded. Trafflers are being advised to check the status of their flight before heading for the airport, many passengers are already scrambling to make alternate arrangements. WestJet operates more than 600 flights a day including to 18 states in the US and Washington DC.
For NPR News, I'm Dan Carpenshack in Toronto. North Social has started selling early access to President Trump's online posts to investment banks and other institutional clients for $100,000 a month. Former Wall Street regulators say the arrangement raises serious questions about insider trading laws because paying subscribers could receive market moving information before
it's available to the public. This is NPR News in Washington. Dan and Tom Holland are back in Spider-Man brand new day and the movie has a more grounded tone than we've seen from the franchise.
“But does it strike the right balance of fun and darkness?”
We'll talk about it on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. Listen via the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
