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Texas flash floods kill at least 24 people, 23 girl campers missing

Texas flash floods kill at least 24 people, 23 girl campers missing

At least 24 deaths have been confirmed as a result of flash floods along the Guadalupe River in Texas, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said, nearly doubling the death toll reported earlier in the day. “What I can confirm at this point, we’re at about 24 fatalities,” Lethia told an evening press conference on Friday, later confirming 24 people had died. Thunderstorms and torrential rain in the United States triggered deadly flash flooding on along the Guadalupe River in south-central Texas, leaving more than 20 girls from a summer camp missing, according to local authorities. The US National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency for parts of Kerr County, located in south-central Texas Hill Country, about 105km (65 miles) northwest of San Antonio, following heavy downpours measuring up to 300mm (12 inches) of rain. Dalton Rice, city manager for Kerville, the county seat, told reporters the extreme flooding struck before dawn with little or no warning, precluding authorities from issuing any evacuation orders. “This happened very quickly, over a very short period of time that could not be predicted, even with the radar,” Rice said. “This happened within less than a two-hour span.” Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said somewhere between six and 10 bodies had been found so far in the frantic search for victims. During a news conference conducted at the same time as Patrick’s update, Sheriff Leitha reported that there were 13 deaths from the flooding. Patrick said 23 girls were listed as unaccounted for among more than 700 children who were at a summer camp when it was swept by floodwaters at about 4am local time (09:00 GMT). Advertisement “That does not mean they’ve been lost; they could be in a tree, they could be out of communication,” he said. Screengrab shows first responders surveying rising floodwaters of the Guadalupe River after flash flooding in Kerr County, Texas, US, on July 4, 2025 [ABC Affiliate KSAT via Reuters] At least 250mm of rain poured down overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River and leading to desperate pleas for information about the missing. “Some are adults, some are children,” Patrick said during a news conference. “Again, we don’t know where those bodies came from.” Teams conducted dozens of rescues, and emergency responders continued to search for those who were unaccounted for. “I’m asking the people of Texas, do some serious praying this afternoon. On-your-knees kind of praying, that we find these young girls,” Patrick said. He said the Guadalupe River rose 8 metres (26ft) in 45 minutes in the midst of heavy downpours deluging the region. Search teams were flying 14 helicopters and a dozen drones over the area, in addition to hundreds of emergency personnel on the ground conducting rescues from trees and swift-flowing water. “Additional rain is forecast in those areas,” Patrick said. “Even if the rain is light, more flooding can occur in those areas. There is an ongoing threat for possible flash flooding from San Antonio to Waco for the next 24 to 48 hours in addition to the continued risks in west and central Texas.” Patrick read out a message from the director of the summer camp, which had some 750 campers over the long July 4 weekend, reporting that it had “sustained catastrophic level of flooding”. “We have no power, water or Wi-Fi,” the message said. Debris is left behind by a raging Guadalupe River, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas [Eric Gay/AP Photo] State and local officials warned against residents travelling to the area, which includes campgrounds dotted along the river, with dozens of roads “impassable”. Videos on social media showed houses and trees swept away by the overnight flash flood caused by heavy overnight rainfall of 300mm – one-third of Kerr County’s average annual rainfall. Texas Governor Greg Abbott shared a video on X of a victim being plucked from the top of a tree by a rescuer dangling from a helicopter as floodwaters raged below. Personnel from the US Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency were activated to assist local authorities in confronting the crisis, officials said. Advertisement Freeman Martin, director of the state’s public safety department, said the flood was a “mass casualty event”. “The rain has let up, but we know there’s another wave coming,” Martin warned, saying more rain would be hitting areas around San Antonio and Austin. Adblock test (Why?)

Chelsea beat Palmerias to set up Fluminense Club World Cup semi

Chelsea beat Palmerias to set up Fluminense Club World Cup semi

Chelsea beat Palmeiras 2-1 to reach the semifinals of the FIFA Club World Cup where they will face Fluminense. A late own goal off Palmeiras defender Agustin Giay lifted Chelsea to a 2-1 victory in Philadelphia, sending the Premier League side into the Club World Cup semifinals. A shot by Chelsea’s Malo Gusto from the right side deflected off Palmeiras’ Richard Rios and Giay. Goalkeeper Weverton was unable to control the caroming ball before it went into the net. Chelsea will play Fluminense on Tuesday in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Brazilian side defeated Al Hilal 2-1 earlier on Friday. Palmeiras’ Weverton scores Chelsea second with an own goal [Susana Vera/Reuters] Cole Palmer scored his first of the tournament in the 16th minute for Chelsea before Estevao, who will join Chelsea after the tournament, tied it in the 53rd minute. Palmer had been criticised by the Chelsea fans for his lack of production despite leading the team in shots on goal during the tournament. He proved his worth on the goal, taking a pass from Trevoh Chalobah and dribbling from just outside the box to 15 yards out before scoring with a left-footed strike. “I’ve been working on … the shot in training. I just saw the space and went there,” Palmer told DAZN after the match. “The manager just said to keep calm and do lots of passes, and we should be all right.” Chelsea fans didn’t know whether to cheer or cry, however, when Estevao tied it with a brilliant, tight-angle shot for the equaliser. Estevao of Palmeiras scores his team’s first goal past Robert Sanchez of Chelsea during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 quarterfinal [Carl Recine/FIFA via Getty Images] He made a verbal agreement with Chelsea in May 2024 but was not permitted to move to England until he turned 18 on April 24, delaying his transfer to the current window. Advertisement The clubs arranged that he would remain with Palmeiras until their tournament run ended. “You can see he [Estevao] is a top player, so we are excited for him [to join Chelsea after the tournament],” Palmer said of his soon-to-be teammate. Joao Pedro made his Chelsea debut in the 54th minute, two days after his signing from Brighton & Hove Albion of the Premier League was confirmed. The Brazilian had 10 goals and six assists for Brighton last season. Chelsea’s Cole Palmer scores their first goal of the game [Lee Smith/Reuters] Pedro’s new manager at Chelsea, Enzo Maresca, was glowing about all aspects of the win. “It has been a tough game, as we expected,” the Blues boss told DAZN. “We needed lots of energy. At the end, congratulations to the players because they were very good. “I’m happy because we won, and also happy because Estevao scored. The perfect night.” Real Madrid face Borussia Dortmund, while Paris-Saint Germain take on Bayern Munich in the other quarterfinals on Saturday. Adblock test (Why?)

Migrants in US detention lose appeal against deportation to South Sudan

Migrants in US detention lose appeal against deportation to South Sudan

Eight migrants in United States custody have lost a last-ditch attempt to avoid deportation to South Sudan, a country facing ongoing criticism for human rights abuses. On Friday, Judge Brian Murphy of Boston denied the eleventh-hour appeal, which has been the subject of a flurry of legal activity throughout the day. The appeal argued that repeated efforts under President Donald Trump to deport the men to South Sudan was “impermissibly punitive”. It pointed out that the US Constitution bars “cruel and unusual punishment”. In the past, the US Department of State has accused South Sudan of “extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, torture and cases of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment”. It advises no American citizen to travel there due to an ongoing armed conflict. But the US Supreme Court has twice ruled that the Trump administration could indeed deport the men to countries outside of their homelands. Its latest decision was issued on Thursday. The US Department of Justice indicated that the eight men were set to be flown to South Sudan by 7pm US Eastern Time (23:00 GMT) on Friday. They hailed from countries like Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Sudan and Vietnam. The last-ditch appeal was filed on Thursday night, shortly after the Supreme Court rendered its decision. Initially, the case was assigned to US District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington, DC, who signalled he was sympathetic to the deportees’ request. He briefly ordered the deportation to be paused until 4:30pm Eastern Time (20:30 GMT), but ultimately, he decided to transfer the case back to Murphy, the judge whose decisions helped precipitate the Supreme Court’s rulings. Advertisement Murphy had previously issued injunctions against the deportations to South Sudan, leading to successful appeals from the Trump administration. The eight men, meanwhile, had been held at a military base in Djibouti while the courts decided their fate. Before he transferred the case back to Murphy, however, Judge Moss said it was possible the deportees could prove their case that the Trump administration intended to subject them to abuse. “It seems to me almost self-evident that the United States government cannot take human beings and send them to circumstances in which their physical wellbeing is at risk simply either to punish them or send a signal to others,” Moss said during the hearing. Lawyers for the Trump administration, meanwhile, argued that the deportation’s continued delay would strain relations with countries willing to accept migrants from other countries. Murphy, who denied Friday’s request, had previously ruled in favour of the deportees, issuing an injunction against their removal to South Sudan and saying they had a right to contest the deportation based on fears for their safety. The Supreme Court first lifted the injunction on June 23 and clarified its ruling again on Thursday, giving a subtle rebuke to Judge Murphy. The Trump administration has been pushing for rapid removals as part of its campaign of mass deportation, one of President Trump’s signature priorities. Opponents have accused the administration of steamrolling the human rights of undocumented people in order to achieve its aims, including the right to due process under the law. But the Trump administration has framed undocumented migration as an “invasion” that constitutes a national security crisis, and it argued that its strong-armed efforts are needed to expel criminals. The eight migrants slated to be sent to South Sudan, it said, were “barbaric, violent criminal illegal aliens”. It added that they had been found guilty of crimes, including first-degree murder, robbery and sexual assault. “These sickos will be in South Sudan by Independence Day,” Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a news release on Thursday. Adblock test (Why?)

Judge backs Trump admin’s deportation push for 8 illegal migrants after another judge blocks it

Judge backs Trump admin’s deportation push for 8 illegal migrants after another judge blocks it

Eight migrants were denied a request by a Massachusetts federal judge on Friday to have their deportation to South Sudan halted. Justice Department lawyers said the men were scheduled to be flown to South Sudan on Friday at 7 p.m. ET after two courts considered their emergency request on July 4, a day when courts would otherwise be closed, Reuters reported.  The migrants, who are from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Burma, Sudan and Vietnam, filed new claims on Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court clarified that Boston federal Judge Brian Murphy couldn’t require the Department of Homeland Security to hold them. Also on Friday, federal Judge Randolph Moss in Washington paused the Trump administration’s efforts to deport the eight migrants to South Sudan, the latest case testing the legality of the Trump administration’s push to ship illegal immigrants to third countries.  JUDGE STRIKES DOWN TRUMP ORDER PREVENTING ASYLUM REQUESTS, PROTECTIONS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Moss had briefly halted the deportation after lawyers for the migrants filed the new claims in his court and sent the case to Boston, where Murphy denied the claim.   The eight men argued their deportations to South Sudan would violate the Constitution, which prohibits “cruel and unusual” punishment, Reuters reported. They have been convicted of various crimes, with four of them convicted of murder, the Department of Homeland Security has said. They were detained for six weeks on a military base in Djibouti instead of being brought back to the United States. On Thursday, the migrants filed new claims after the Supreme Court said that a federal judge in Boston could no longer require the Department of Homeland Security to hold them, Reuters reported.  TRUMP ADMIN ASK SCOTUS TO AUTHORIZE RAPID MIGRANT DEPORTATIONS TO COUNTRIES OTHER THAN THEIR OWN Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House.  During Friday’s hearing with Moss, a government lawyer argued that court orders halting agreed-upon deportations pose a serious problem for U.S. diplomatic relations and would make foreign countries less likely to accept transfers of migrants in the future. The case is the latest development over the legality of the Trump administration’s campaign to deter immigration by shipping migrants to locations other than their countries of origin pursuant to deals with other countries, according to Reuters.  “It seems to me almost self-evident that the United States government cannot take human beings and send them to circumstances in which their physical well-being is at risk simply either to punish them or send a signal to others,” Moss said during the hearing.

Trump signs ‘big, beautiful’ bill in sweeping victory for second term agenda, overcoming Dems and GOP rebels

Trump signs ‘big, beautiful’ bill in sweeping victory for second term agenda, overcoming Dems and GOP rebels

President Donald Trump signed his $3.3 trillion “big, beautiful bill” on Friday, after the House passed the final version of the measure Thursday to ensure it arrived at the president’s desk by his self-imposed July 4 deadline.  The bill includes key provisions that would permanently establish individual and business tax breaks included in Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and incorporates new tax deductions to cut duties on tips and overtime pay.  Before signing the bill, the president said the bill would “fuel massive economic growth” and “lift up the hard-working citizens who make this country run.” “We have officially made the Trump tax cuts permanent,” Trump said. “That’s the largest tax cut in the history of our country. … After this kicks in, our country is going to be a rocket ship economically. We’ve delivered no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security for our great seniors. … It makes the child tax credit permanent for 40 million American families. … The Golden Age of America is upon us.” The measure also raises the debt limit by $5 trillion — a provision that has faced scrutiny from figures including SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who formerly led a war against wasteful government spending at the Department of Government Efficiency.  Furthermore, the bill rescinds certain Biden-era green energy tax credits, and allocates approximately $350 billion for defense and Trump’s mass deportation initiative to weed out illegal immigrants from the U.S.  “Wind. It doesn’t work,” Trump said. “I will tell you, aside from ruining our fields and our valleys, killing all the birds, [and] being very weak and very expensive, [they are] all made in China. You know, I noticed something … with all of the windmills that China sends us … I have never seen a wind farm in China.” JD VANCE POISED TO CLINCH VICTORY FOR TRUMP’S LANDMARK BILL AS GOP FINALIZES STRATEGY The measure also institutes Medicaid reforms, including new 80-hour-a-month work requirements for Medicaid recipients, and expands work requirements for those on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.  Republicans in the Senate were sent scrambling on June 26 to reform and pass the measure ahead of Trump’s July 4 deadline after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough determined that several Medicaid reforms in the sweeping tax and domestic policy package did not follow Senate rules and must be removed. Ultimately, the Senate barely passed the measure on Tuesday by a 51-50 margin. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Rand Paul of Kentucky all voted against the bill, requiring Vice President JD Vance to step in and cast the tie-breaking vote.  TAX CUTS, WORK REQUIREMENTS AND ASYLUM FEES: HERE’S WHAT’S INSIDE THE SENATE’S VERSION OF TRUMP’S BILL The legislation then headed back to the House to hammer out a few differences in the versions passed in both chambers of Congress.  On Wednesday evening prior to the House’s passage, Vance turned up the heat on lawmakers to get the measure through the finish line, citing provisions in the measure that would bolster border security.  “The Big Beautiful Bill gives the president the resources and the power to undo the Biden border invasion,” Vance said in a Wednesday post on X. “It must pass.” “Congrats to everyone. At times I even doubted we’d get it done by July 4! But now we’ve delivered big tax cuts and the resources necessary to secure the border. Promises made, promises kept!” Trump also zeroed in on the measure’s border provisions when he urged lawmakers to get the legislation completed at a “One, Big, Beautiful Event” at the White House on June 26, labeling the bill the “single-most important piece of border legislation ever to cross the floor of Congress.”  “This is the ultimate codification of our agenda to — very simply, a phrase that’s been used pretty well by me over the past 10 years, but maybe even before that — make America great again,” Trump said at the event.  Other administration officials also cautioned that failure to pass the bill would wreak havoc on the economy. For example, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told lawmakers in June that failure to pass the measure would result in a 60% tax hike for Americans and would trigger a recession. SENATE PASSES TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ AFTER MARATHON VOTE-A-RAMA Meanwhile, no Democrats in either chamber of Congress backed the measure. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., labeled the bill “cruel” during floor remarks that lasted hours on Thursday, pointing to Medicaid and SNAP reforms that reports suggest would remove millions of beneficiaries from the programs.  “What is contemplated in this one big, ugly bill is wrong. It’s dangerous, and it’s cruel, and cruelty should not be either the objective or the outcome of legislation that we consider here in the United States House of Representatives,” Jeffries said. Fox News Liz Elkind contributed to this report.