Category Archives: Texas

Mexican truckers blockade border crossings over Texas inspection delays

Posted on by

Business groups warn of supply chain disruptions after Governor Greg Abbott orders checks for people and contraband smuggling

Mexican truck drivers have blockaded bridges at the border with the United States for a second day to protest against an order by the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, to increase safety inspections that has snarled traffic at ports of entry and led business groups to warn of supply chain disruptions.

“Yesterday it took me 17 hours to cross into the United States and return,” said Raymundo Galicia, a Mexican driver participating in a protest at the Santa Teresa bridge connecting San Jerónimo, Chihuahua, to Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

Continue reading...

Texas woman, 26, charged with murder over ‘self-induced abortion’

Posted on by

Law enforcement official confirms arrest and charge but police do not say under which law Lizelle Herrera charged

A 26-year-old woman has been charged with murder in Texas after authorities said she caused “the death of an individual by self-induced abortion”, in a state that has the most restrictive abortion laws in the US.

It was unclear whether Lizelle Herrera was accused of having an abortion or whether she helped someone else get an abortion.

Continue reading...

Biden ends Trump-era asylum curbs amid border-region Democrat backlash

Posted on by

Administration signals end of Title 42 immigration restrictions – ostensibly to fight Covid – but some fear electoral consequences

Joe Biden will next month end a controversial pandemic-related expulsion policy that effectively closed America’s asylum system at its border with Mexico, it was announced on Friday.

The decision to lift the Title 42 public health order, which will take effect on 23 May, is seen as long overdue by immigration advocates who regard the order as inhumane. But it was seized on by Republicans and some electorally vulnerable Democrats, who warned of chaos at the border.

Continue reading...

Texas attorney general says school district’s Pride week ‘breaks state law’

Posted on by

Ken Paxton called district’s Pride week ‘sex education’ and claimed without parental consent it is against law

The attorney general of Texas has declared a school district’s celebration of LGBTQ+ students “sex education” and in violation of Texas law.

For the past eight years, students in the Austin Independent school district have held a district-wide Pride week as a chance to celebrate LGBTQ+ students, staff and families in the district, according to the district’s website.

Continue reading...

Tornado hits New Orleans causing damage, power outages and reports of one death

Posted on by

Tornado occurred as major storm system tore through parts of the US south, killing another person in Texas and injuring more than two dozen

A large tornado touched down in New Orleans on Tuesday evening, causing damage and destruction to the city’s lower ninth ward, before traveling east into the neighboring parish of St Bernard, where officials reported multiple injuries and one death.

The tornado occurred as a major storm system continued to tear through parts of the US south, killing another person in Texas and injuring more than two dozen.

Continue reading...

Texas wildfires: approaching storm could bring rain but also high winds

Posted on by

Fires have caused two deaths, including one in Oklahoma, as largest blaze is 30% contained after burning nearly 85 square miles

Wildfires continued to scorch parts of Texas on Monday while a storm system moving through could bring much-needed rain but also strong winds, forecasters said.

The Eastland Complex, which comprises several fires in one place, had burned nearly 85 square miles in an area about 120 miles west of Dallas and was 30% contained as of Monday morning.

Continue reading...

West Texas fires: crews make progress against giant blaze complex

Posted on by

Governor declares disaster in 11 counties as experts warn of fires in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska

Fire crews in Texas made progress on Saturday against a massive complex of wildfires that killed a deputy sheriff and burned at least 50 homes, officials said.

“Progress has been made but fire activity has picked up with rising temperatures and lower humidity,” said Matt Ford, spokesperson for Texas A&M Forest Services. He said about 25% of the flames were contained, up from about 4% late on Friday as the fire burned thick brush and grass fields.

Continue reading...

Winds and dry conditions fuel multiple Texas wildfires as hundreds evacuate

Posted on by

Gusty conditions were expected to complicate containment efforts and ‘support wildfire activity’ in the Eastland Complex fire

Low humidity and gusty winds fueled multiple wildfires on Friday in Texas, burning homes and other buildings and prompting hundreds to evacuate .

Fueled by strong winds through dangerously dry brush and grass fields, the wildfires merged to form what fire officials call a “complex” that was burning near Eastland, about 120 miles (195 km) west of Dallas. As of Friday morning, fires in the area had burned roughly 52,700 acres (21,300 hectares), according to Texas A&M forest service, including the 45,383-acre (18,365-hectare) Eastland Complex fire that was only 4% contained.

Continue reading...

Beto O’Rourke calls Texas governor Greg Abbott an ‘authoritarian’ and ‘thug’

Posted on by

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate compared his Republican opponent to the Russian president Vladimir Putin

Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic candidate for Texas governor, has likened his Republican opponent to the Russian president Vladimir Putin, calling Greg Abbott an “authoritarian” and a “thug”.

As governor, Abbott has presided over draconian laws on issues including abortion, LGBTQ+ rights and voting rights. In February 2021, on his watch, a failure of the state energy grid during cold weather contributed to hundreds of deaths.

Continue reading...

Success for progressives in Texas while Trump ally suffers major blow

Posted on by

Attorney general Ken Paxton heads to nomination runoff against Jeb Bush’s son while progressive Jessica Cisneros celebrates runoff

Progressive Democrats notched victories in two of Texas’s congressional primary races on Tuesday while Ken Paxton, one of the most prominent Republicans in the state and Donald Trump ally, suffered a major blow.

In the most closely watched congressional primary, Jessica Cisneros, a progressive Democrat, forced a runoff against Henry Cuellar, a nine-term congressman who is one of the most conservative Democrats in the US House. (Texas races go to a runoff if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote.)

Continue reading...

Lawsuit aims to stop Texas investigating parents seeking care for trans children

Posted on by

Lawsuit filed after state’s governor and attorney general called medically necessary gender-affirming care ‘child abuse’

America’s largest civil rights non-profit has filed a lawsuit asking a Texas state court to block officials from investigating parents who seek medically necessary gender-affirming care for their children.

The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Texas and Lambda Legal, named the Republican governor, Greg Abbott, as a defendant, along with the Texas department of family and protective services (DFPS) and its commissioner, Jaime Masters.

Continue reading...

Austin: 19 officers charged with aggravated assault over 2020 protests

Posted on by

Police tactics used against protesters following murder of George Floyd widely condemned

A Texas grand jury has indicted 19 Austin police officers on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, for actions during 2020 protests over racial injustice following the murder of George Floyd.

The president of the Austin Police Association, Ken Casaday, confirmed 19 officers faced charges.

Continue reading...

Wanted lost species: blind salamander, tap-dancing spider and ‘fat’ catfish

Posted on by

A Texas-based group has drawn up a new list of as part of its quest to find species lost to science and possibly extinct

A blind salamander, a tap-dancing spider and a “fat” catfish that has been likened to the Michelin man are among a list of vanished species that one US-based conservation group is aiming to rediscover in the wild and help protect.

The Texas-based group, called Re:wild, has drawn up a new list of the “25 most wanted lost species” as part of its quest to find species lost to science and possibly extinct.

This article was amended on 9 February 2022 to clarify that a fungus is not a type of plant.

Continue reading...

Trump pardon promise for Capitol rioters ‘stuff of dictators’ – Nixon aide

Posted on by
  • Trump makes promise at rally in Texas on Saturday
  • John Dean: ‘Failure to confront tyrant encourages bad behavior’

Donald Trump’s promise to pardon supporters who attacked the US Capitol on January 6 2021 was “the stuff of dictators”, Richard Nixon’s White House counsel warned.

Trump made the promise at a rally in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday.

Continue reading...

MI5 investigated Texas synagogue hostage-taker in 2020

Posted on by

UK intelligence officers concluded Malik Faisal Akram posed no threat, which allowed him to travel to US and buy gun

The British man who took hostages at a Texas synagogue had been under investigation by MI5 as a possible Islamist terrorist threat as recently as 2020, Whitehall sources acknowledged on Tuesday morning.

British intelligence closed the investigation, however, after officers had concluded Malik Faisal Akram from Blackburn posed no threat, and as a result he was able to freely travel to the US and purchase a gun.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden says Texas synagogue siege was an ‘act of terror’ – video

Posted on by

The US president said the 10-hour hostage standoff in a Texas synagogue, which ended with an FBI Swat team rushing into the building and the captor's death, was 'an act of terror'. Authorities identified the hostage-taker as a 44-year-old British national, Malik Faisal Akram, who was killed on Saturday night after the last hostages ran out of Congregation Beth Israel at about 9pm. Late on Sunday, police in Manchester in the UK announced that two teenagers were in custody in connection with the standoff

Continue reading...

‘An act of terror’: Biden condemns Texas synagogue siege while FBI names Briton as hostage-taker

Posted on by

All four hostages survived unharmed while Malik Faisal Akram, 44, was killed when FBI stormed synagogue after 11-hour standoff

US president Joe Biden has condemned a tense 11-hour hostage standoff at a synagogue in Texas on Saturday as “an act of terror”, as the FBI named the armed assailant as Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old British national.

Akram was pronounced dead after the FBI stormed the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in the Dallas suburb of Colleyville on Saturday evening. All four hostages survived the siege and were unharmed, according to local police.

Continue reading...

Texas synagogue siege: all four hostages released following 10-hour standoff

Posted on by

Officials say suspect was killed hours after taking the people, including a rabbi, captive during services that were being livestreamed

All four hostages have been released and the hostage-taker reportedly killed after he took them captive at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, during services that were being livestreamed.

“Prayers answered. All hostages are out alive and safe,” the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, tweeted on Saturday night, more than 10 hours after the four people were taken hostage at Congregation Beth Israel.

Continue reading...

Texas scientists’ new Covid-19 vaccine is cheaper, easier to make and patent-free

Posted on by

Dr Maria Bottazzi says their vaccine, called Corbevax, is unique because they do not intend to patent it

A new Covid-19 vaccine is being developed by Texas scientists using a decades-old conventional method that will make the production and distribution cheaper and more accessible for countries most affected by the pandemic and where new variants are likely to originate due to low inoculation rates.

The team, led by Drs Peter Hotez and Maria Bottazzi from the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development at Baylor College of Medicine, has been developing vaccine prototypes for Sars and Mers since 2011, which they reconstructed to create the new Covid vaccine, dubbed Corbevax, or “the world’s Covid-19 vaccine”.

Continue reading...

Trump’s border wall and the slow decay of American soil | Carlos Sanchez

Posted on by

The ‘big, beautiful wall’ has kept US citizens away from the no man’s land it created – and in effect ceded territory to Mexico

Several miles south of the small town of San Juan, Texas, beyond acres of onion fields, orange groves and other cash crops sits a historic cemetery and the site of the beginning of a slow decay of American soil.

I hadn’t been to this area for more than a year because of the pandemic, and I was startled at how different this remote part of Texas had become. The most obvious change is the steel 18ft-high bollard fencing, among the last vestiges of Donald Trump’s glorious border wall with Mexico.

Continue reading...