Category Archives: Texas

Texas legislature to end special session without passing new electoral maps

Posted on by

Governor Greg Abbott said he will immediately call another session as Democratic lawmakers signaled return to state

Texas lawmakers will adjourn their first special session without passing new congressional maps on Friday, though Governor Greg Abbott has said he will immediately call another session and Democratic lawmakers signaled they are likely to return to the state.

Abbott has pledged he will call consecutive special sessions until Democrats have returned. More than 50 Democrats left the state last month in order to deny a quorum in the legislature after Republicans announced plans to redraw the state’s congressional maps, at the request of Donald Trump, in order to gain five Republican seats.

Continue reading...

Gavin Newsom says California will move forward with map redrawing plan in response to Texas effort

Posted on by

Governor revealed the election rigging response act to counter Trump’s push to gain five extra seats in Texas in midterm elections

Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, on Thursday said state Democratic lawmakers would move forward with a redistricting plan intended as a direct response to a Republican-led effort in Texas to redraw congressional maps to control of theHouse majority after the midterm elections.

Newsom, joined by congressional Democrats and legislative leaders, unveiled his plan, known as the election rigging response act, to override the state’s independent map-making commission and approve new congressional lines that would aim to “neuter and neutralize” Texas’s proposal.

Continue reading...

Texas redistricting fight with Democrats ‘could last years’, threatens Greg Abbott

Posted on by

Governor warns lawmakers who left to foil redistricting plan that he coould call special session to extend battle

Texas governor, Greg Abbott, has stepped up his war of words with Democratic lawmakers who have left the state to foil an aggressive redistricting plan aimed at giving his Republican party five additional seats in Congress, saying on Sunday that the fight “could literally last years”.

Abbott issued his new threat on Fox News Sunday, saying that he would use his powers to call a special session of the Texas legislature to extend the battle indefinitely. The special session lasts 30 days, he said, “and as soon as this one is over, I’m going to call another one, then another one, then another one, then another one”.

Continue reading...

Bomb scare rattles Democrats who fled Texas amid showdown with governor

Posted on by

Lawmakers had been sheltering in Illinois after denying Texas Republicans quorum for gerrymandering scheme

Texas Democrats who fled the state say they experienced a bomb threat at their Illinois hotel on Wednesday morning amid an ongoing clash with Republicans over their effort to block a new congressional map from going into place.

John Bucy III, a Democrat who represents Austin in the state legislature, confirmed the threat on X on Wednesday and said the lawmakers were evacuated. “This is what happens when Republican state leaders publicly call for us to be ‘hunted down’. Texas Democrats won’t be intimidated,” he said.

Continue reading...

US hunter reportedly killed by buffalo during expedition in South Africa

Posted on by

Asher Watkins, 52, of Texas died while tracking 1.3-ton Cape buffalo on a hunting trip in the country’s Limpopo province

An American game hunter was killed by a buffalo he was stalking during a hunting expedition in South Africa over the weekend, according to multiple reports.

Asher Watkins, 52, of Texas, died on 3 August while tracking a 1.3-ton Cape buffalo in South Africa’s Limpopo province, according to a statement from Coenraad Vermaak Safaris (CV Safaris), the company that organized the hunting trip.

Continue reading...

Texas sues New York official for refusing to take action against abortion provider

Posted on by

Action tees up a state v state battle involving mailing of abortion pills that’s expected to go to US supreme court

Texas has sued a New York official for refusing to take action against an abortion provider, teeing up a state-versus-state battle that is widely expected to end up before the US supreme court.

Ken Paxton, Texas’s attorney general, has petitioned the New York state supreme court to order a county clerk to enforce a fine against Dr Margaret Carpenter, a New York doctor accused of mailing abortion pills across state lines.

Continue reading...

‘It’s really theft’: the Republican plan to redraw Texas maps – and grab more power

Posted on by

Democrats are livid over the governor’s plan to redraw districts at a time when Texas officials are supposed to be focused on recovery from the floods

A plan for Texas to redraw its congressional districts and gain five additional Republican seats barrels through flimsy legal arguments and political norms like a rough-stock rodeo bronco through a broken chute.

But the fiddly process of drawing the maps to Republicans’ advantage for 2026 may require more finesse than cowboy politics can produce.

Continue reading...

Monday briefing: The ‘toxic cocktail’ of climate denial, federal cuts and the Texas floods

Posted on by

In today’s newsletter: Amid at least 129 deaths and billions of dollars of damage, there has been little reckoning about the part global heating and cuts to public services may have played in the disaster

Good morning. The death toll from the catastrophic floods in Texas has climbed to 129, including at least 27 children and counsellors at Camp Mystic in Kerr County.

With more than 160 people still missing, authorities warn that the number of casualties is likely to rise. On Sunday morning, some search operations were cancelled as heavy rain and strong winds battered the state once again.

Israel-Gaza | An Israeli airstrike has killed at least 10 people, including six children, who were waiting to collect water in Gaza, Palestinian health officials have said. Dozens of others were killed in Gaza over the weekend in a separate strike near a food aid distribution site. Meanwhile, former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has said that a proposed “humanitarian city” would be a concentration camp for Palestinians.

Health | Health officials have urged people to come forward for the measles vaccine if they are not up to date with their shots after a child at Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool died from the disease.

UK news | Charlotte Church, veteran peace campaigners, Trade unionists, activists and politicians, are among hundreds who have signed a letter describing the move to ban the group Palestine Action as “a major assault on our freedoms”.

Spain | Several people were hurt in a second night of anti-migrant unrest in the town of Torre Pacheco in south-east Spain after a pensioner was beaten up, authorities said.

NHS | Health secretory Wes Streeting will meet representatives from the British Medical Association this week as he looks to avert five days of strikes by resident doctors.

Continue reading...

Heavy rain in Texas halts rescue efforts as officials warn of further flooding

Posted on by

State authorities believe more than 160 people could still be missing as flash flood warnings remain in Kerr county

More heavy rains in Texas on Sunday paused a weeklong search for victims of catastrophic flooding along the Guadalupe River and led to high-water rescues elsewhere as officials warned that the downpours could again cause waterways to surge.

It was the first time a new round of severe weather had paused the search since the 4 July floods, which killed at least 129 people. Authorities believe more than 160 people may still be missing in Kerr county.

Continue reading...

Texas Hill Country under flood watch as search continues for missing people

Posted on by

‘Locally heavy rainfall’ of 1-3in predicted as death toll from the Fourth of July flood rises to nearly 130 people

Texas Hill Country was back under a flood watch on Saturday, with the National Weather Service warning of “locally heavy rainfall” of 1-3in with isolated amounts close to 6in possible.

The flood watch, which continues through Sunday evening, comes as the death toll from the 4 July flood continues to rise – now at nearly 130 people - and authorities continue their search for the 160 more who are missing.

Continue reading...

Trump to tour Texas flood damage as disaster tests vow to shutter Fema

Posted on by

Since disaster that has killed at least 120 people, Trump has remained quiet about promises to axe relief agency

As Donald Trump heads to Texas on Friday for a firsthand look at the devastation caused by catastrophic flooding, he has remained conspicuously quiet about his previous promises to do away with the federal agency in charge of disaster relief.

The Washington Post reported on Friday that the Trump administration has backed away from plans to abolish the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but administration officials continue to dodge questions about the agency’s future and many are still calling for serious reforms, potentially sending much of its work to the states.

Continue reading...

Sports CEO Timothy Leiweke charged in Texas arena bid-rigging scheme

Posted on by

Leiweke, ex-president of Denver Nuggets and former CEO of MLSE, which owns Toronto’s major sports franchises, indicted over $388m arena

A prominent sports executive has been criminally charged with organising a conspiracy to ensure his own company won the bid to build a $388m sports arena in Texas.

Timothy Leiweke, the former president of the Denver Nuggets basketball team and former CEO of MLSE, which owns Toronto’s major sports franchises including the Leafs and Raptors was charged on Wednesday by a federal grand jury. He resigned as chief executive of the company at the center of the case, Oak View Group (OVG), after the announcement.

Continue reading...

Texas floods: more than 100 people dead and at least 161 still missing

Posted on by

Texas governor Greg Abbott said many people staying in state’s Hill Country still unaccounted for as questions mount over official response to disaster

Rescue crews continued on Tuesday to comb through parts of the Texas Hill Country devastated by catastrophic flash flooding over the Fourth of July weekend, but with more than 100 dead and hope fading for survivors, efforts have increasingly turned to search and recovery.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the death toll across the six affected counties surpassed 100. Most of the deaths were in Kerr county, where officials said 87 bodies had so far been recovered, including 56 adults and 30 children. Identification was pending for 19 adults and seven children with one additional person still unidentified, county sheriff Larry Leitha told a news conference.

Continue reading...

Firefighters from Mexico aid Texas flood search and rescue: ‘There are no borders’

Posted on by

Team of firefighters and first responders volunteer along Guadalupe River after mass flooding in show of solidarity

A contingent of firefighters and first responders from Mexico arrived in Texas over the weekend to aid in search and rescue efforts following the devastating flooding of the Guadalupe River in a show of solidarity with their northern neighbors.

“When it comes to firefighters, there’s no borders,” Ismael Aldaba, founder of Fundación 911, in Acuña, Mexico, told CNN on Tuesday. “There’s nothing that’ll avoid us from helping another firefighter, another family. It doesn’t matter where we’re at in the world. That’s the whole point of our discipline and what we do.”

Continue reading...

Texas flood: stories of survival and pleas for help finding missing loved ones

Posted on by

More than 850 people had been rescued by Saturday, yet scores remain missing with families asking for information

Reports are beginning to emerge of extraordinary stories of survival from the Texas Hill Country floods, even as the official death toll continued mounting, reaching at least 27 on Saturday.

A young woman was dramatically rescued after she was carried 12 miles down the Guadalupe River by raging flood waters, and later pictured clinging to branches of a tree. The woman – who has not been identified publicly – was rescued, News 4 San Antonio reported.

Continue reading...

Texas begins grim flood recovery with at least 27 killed and dozens missing, including children

Posted on by

Two dozen girls still unaccounted for after summer camps swept away as Guadalupe River rises 26ft in 45 minutes

Rescuers by Saturday had begun the grim task of recovering the bodies of children who were swept away in a deadly flash flood in Texas, caused by a powerful storm that killed dozens of people.

The exact number of missing people was not immediately known, but 24 of them were girls who had been attending Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River. Torrential rain caused the river to rise 26ft (8 meters) in just 45 minutes before dawn on Friday, washing away homes and vehicles.

Continue reading...

‘Catastrophic’ flood in Texas kills at least 24, including children, with more missing from summer camp

Posted on by

Up to 10in of rain fell overnight, prompting flash flooding in region west of Austin hit by long drought

Torrential rains unleashed flash floods along the Guadalupe River in Texas on Friday, killing at least 24 people as rescue teams scrambled to save dozens of victims trapped by high water or reported missing in the disaster, local officials said.

Among the missing were 23 to 25 people listed as unaccounted for at an all-girls Christian summer camp located on the banks of the rain-engorged Guadalupe, authorities said.

Continue reading...

US to breed billions of flies and dump them out of aircraft in bid to fight flesh-eating maggot

Posted on by

Program mirrors earlier successful mission to fight new world screwworm fly, whose larvae can infest living tissue

The US government is preparing to breed billions of flies and dump them out of airplanes over Mexico and southern Texas to fight a flesh-eating maggot.

That sounds like the plot of a horror movie, but it is part of the government’s plans for protecting the US from a bug that could devastate its beef industry, decimate wildlife and even kill household pets. This weird science has worked well before.

Continue reading...

Two men found guilty in deaths of 53 migrants in Texas sentenced to life in prison

Posted on by

Felipe Orduna-Torres and Armando Gonzales-Garcia abandoned locked truckload of people in summer heat with no AC in 2022

Two men face spending the rest of their lives in prison after a federal judge sentenced them on Friday for their roles in the deaths of 53 people – including six children – who were found dead in an abandoned tractor-trailer in Texas in 2022.

A federal jury in Texas had found the two men, Felipe Orduna-Torres and Armando Gonzales-Garcia, guilty of various charges at the conclusion of a trial in March. Federal judge Orlando Garcia sentenced Torres to life in prison and Ortega to 83 years of incarceration, essentially a life sentence.

Continue reading...