Texas

Rare earth producers look to US-led boom to counter China's dominance

Beijing has long supported strategic enterprises, either directly or through indirect means like inexpensive loans or a helping hand with permits, a far cry from West's economically driven approach

4 dead in Houston-area shootings at separate locations, including suspect

A man is believed to have fatally shot three people at two different locations in the Houston area before killing himself on Wednesday, said police, who are still trying to determine a motive for the shootings. Early indications are that it's all related, Houston Police Department Lt. Larry Crowson said. Around 1 pm, a driver in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land fired multiple shots at another vehicle, hitting its driver, who was pronounced dead at a hospital, said Alicia Alaniz, a spokesperson for the city police. Police are still trying to determine if the shooting was an instance of road rage, Alaniz said. About half an hour later, Houston police received a call about a shooting at a mechanic shop about 11 kilometres southeast of the first shooting. Crowson said the shooter shot a mechanic and a witness who was filming him as he was leaving. The description of the shooter and the vehicle he was in matched the accounts from the Sugar Land shooting, Crowson said. Police found the

Indian-origin man's murder was preventable: US agencies blame Biden admin

US law enforcement agencies said the savage and gruesome killing of an Indian-origin motel manager in Dallas would never have happened if the accused was not released into the country by the Biden administration. A hotel manager was beheaded in front of his family by a convicted predator, an illegal alien from Cuba. Cuba refused to take him, so the Biden admin released him onto the American streets a week prior to President Trump taking office, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a post on X Monday. Chandra Nagamallaiah, 50, was killed at the Downtown Suites motel by co-worker Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, a 37-year-old Cuban national with a violent criminal history. The federal agency said that the criminal illegal alien should never have been in America in the first place. Describing Cobos-Martinez as a vile monster, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that he beheaded Nagamallaiah in front of his wife and child and proceeded to kick the victim's head on the ...

Funeral set for Indian-origin man killed in Dallas; fundraiser nears $200K

The family of Chandra Mouli "Bob" Nagamallaiah, the Indian-origin motel manager brutally beheaded in Dallas earlier this week, will hold his funeral on Saturday at 2 pm at Flower Mound Family Funeral Home in Flower Mound, Texas. A fundraiser launched to support Nagamallaiah's wife, Nisha, and 18-year-old son, Gaurav who witnessed the attack has raised nearly USD 200,000, at last reckoning, to help cover funeral expenses and Gaurav's college education. Nagamallaiah, 50, was killed at the Downtown Suites motel by co-worker Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, a 37-year-old Cuban national with a violent criminal history. Cobos-Martinez was released from ICE custody earlier this year after Cuba refused to accept his deportation due to his criminal record. Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin said the case underscores broader immigration challenges. "This is exactly why the Trump Administration was removing criminal illegal aliens to third countries such as Uganda and South

Co-worker beheads Indian-origin motel manager in front of family in Texas

Chandra Mouli Bob Nagamallaiah, originally hailed from Karnataka and was residing in Dallas with his wife and son

Texas House approves redrawn maps sought by Trump ahead of 2026 elections

The Texas House has approved redrawn congressional maps that would give Republicans a bigger edge in 2026, muscling through a partisan gerrymander that launched weeks of protests by Democrats and a widening national battle over redistricting. The approval on Wednesday came at the urging of President Donald Trump, who pushed for the extraordinary mid-decade revision of congressional maps to give his party a better chance at holding onto the US House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections. The maps, which would give Republicans five more winnable seats, need to be approved by the GOP-controlled state Senate and signed by Republican Gov Greg Abbott before they become official. But the Texas House vote had presented the best chance for Democrats to derail the redraw. Democratic legislators delayed the vote by two weeks by fleeing Texas earlier this month in protest, and they were assigned round-the-clock police monitoring upon their return to ensure they attended Wednesday's

Shooter kills three in Austin Target parking lot before arrest: Police

A gunman opened fire in the parking lot of a Target store in Texas' capital, killing at least three people, before stealing two cars during a getaway that ended with police using a Taser to detain him on the other side of the city, authorities said. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said the suspect is a man in his 30s with a mental health history. Davis said the suspect fled the scene in a stolen car, wrecked that car and then stole another from a dealership. He was captured about 32 km away, in south Austin, where he was taken into custody, she said during a news conference. She said officers responding to a call about 2.15 pm on Monday found three people who had been shot in the Target parking lot. Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services Chief Robert Luckritz said two people were pronounced dead at the scene and one person was taken to a hospital where they were pronounced dead. He said another person was treated on the scene for unrelated injuries. This is a very sad day

Firefighters in Texas mistake Hindu havan for house fire, interrupt ritual

An Indian-origin woman shared a clip of firefighters interrupting 'Havan' (Hindu ritual), mistaking it for a fire emergency. The video from Texas, US, has now gone viral on social media

Epstein's ex Ghislaine Maxwell moved to a low-security Texas prison camp

Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been moved from a federal prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas as her criminal case generates renewed public attention. The federal Bureau of Prisons said Friday that Maxwell had been transferred to Bryan, Texas, but did not explain the circumstances. Her attorney, David Oscar Markus, also confirmed the move but declined to discuss the reasons for it. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by the disgraced financier, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. She had been held at a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida, until her transfer to the prison camp in Texas, where other inmates include Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and Jen Shah of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Minimum-security federal prison camps house inmates the Bureau of Prisons considers to be the lowest security risk. Some don't even have fences. The prison camps were originally designed with low .

Meta clashes with Apple, Google as US states push age verification laws

In 2025, Utah, Texas, and Louisiana passed laws requiring tech firms to verify users' ages, get parental consent for minors, and shield them from harmful online content

3 people still missing from July 4 floods in Texas, down from nearly 100

Officials in a Texas hill country community pummelled by deadly flooding on July 4 said Saturday that just three people remain missing, down from nearly 100, after people who had previously been reported missing have since been accounted for. The reduction in the number of people on the missing list came as the search for victims entered its third week. It is a significant drop from the more than 160 people officials previously said were unaccounted for in Kerr County alone. The death toll in Kerr County, 107, held steady for much of this week even as the intensive search continued. Flash floods killed at least 135 people in Texas over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, with most deaths along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of San Antonio. The floods laid waste to the Hill Country, which is naturally prone to flash flooding because its dry, dirt-packed soil cannot soak up heavy rain. Vacation cabins, youth camps campgrounds fill the ..

Flash floods: Is India ready with an early disaster warning system?

A lack of coordination means the IMD, the NDMA, and different state governments must interact with each other to ensure warnings are sent out in time

Trump visits Texas flood area, defends officials amid questions on response

President Donald Trump on Friday toured the devastation from catastrophic flooding in Texas and lauded state and local officials, even amid mounting criticism that they may have failed to warn residents quickly enough that a deadly wall of water was coming their way. Trump has repeatedly promised to do away with the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of his larger pledges to dramatically shrink the size of government, and he's fond of decrying officials in Democrat-run states hit by past natural disasters and tragedy. But the president struck a far more somber and sympathetic tone while visiting America's largest Republican state highlighting the heartbreak of what happened while effusively praising elected officials and first responders alike. The search for the missing continues. The people that are doing it are unbelievable, Trump, seated with officials around a table with emblazoned with a black-and-white Texas Strong banner, said at a makeshift emergency operations ..

Hundreds gather at high school stadium to honour many lost to Texas floods

Several hundred people gathered for a worship ceremony at a high school stadium in Texas on Wednesday evening to remember the at least 120 people who died in the catastrophic flash floods over the July Fourth holiday, as well the many still missing. Our communities were struck with tragedy literally in the darkness, Wyatt Wentrcek, a local youth minister, told the crowd in the bleachers of Tivy Antler Stadium in Kerrville. Middle of the night. During a series of prayers for the victims and the more than 160 people still believed to be missing in hard-hit Kerr County, which includes Kerrville, people in the crowd clutched one another and brushed away tears. Many attendees wore blue shirts with the school's slogan, Tivy Fight Never Die, or green ribbons for Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp in Kerr County where at least 27 campers and counsellors died. Officials said five campers and one counsellor have still not been found. Ricky Pruitt, with the Kerrville

Texas inspectors cleared Camp Mystic's disaster plan 2 days before flood

Texas inspectors signed off on Camp Mystic's emergency planning just two days before catastrophic flooding killed more than two dozen people at the all-girls Christian summer camp, most of them children. The Department of State Health Services released records Tuesday showing the camp complied with a host of state regulations regarding procedures to be implemented in case of a disaster. Among them: instructing campers what to do if they need to evacuate and assigning specific duties to each staff member and counsellor. Five years of inspection reports released to The Associated Press do not offer any details of those plans at Mystic, raising new questions about the camp's preparedness ahead of the torrential July 4 rainfall in flood-prone Texas Hill Country. The National Weather Service had issued a flood watch for the area on July 3 at 1.18 pm. That danger prompted at least one of the roughly 18 camps along the Guadalupe River to move dozens of campers to higher ground. Camp Mysti

Over 100 dead, 160 still missing after deadly floods, says Texas Guv

More than 160 people are believed to be missing in Texas four days after flash floods killed over 100 people during the July Fourth weekend, Governor Greg Abbott said Tuesday. Many of those who are not accounted for were staying in state's Hill Country but did not register at a camp or hotel. The lowlands along the Guadalupe River in central Texas are filled with youth camps and campgrounds that are especially popular around summer holidays, which has made it more difficult to know how many people are missing. The big jump in the number of missing came after authorities set up a hotline for families to call. We will not stop until every missing person is accounted for, Abbott said during a news conference in Hunt, Texas, after taking a helicopter tour of the area. The 161 missing were believed to be in Kerr County, where most of the victims have recovered, Abbott said. The governor said President Donald Trump has pledged to provide whatever relief Texas needs to recover. He coul

Death toll from flooding in Texas over July Fourth weekend crosses 100

The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas over the July Fourth weekend has surpassed 100 as the massive search continues for missing people. The number of deaths reached 104 on Monday. In hard-hit Kerr County, home to Camp Mystic and several other summer camps, searchers have found the bodies of 84 people, including 28 children, Kerr County officials said. Authorities overseeing the search for flood victims in Texas said they will wait to address questions about weather warnings and why some summer camps did not evacuate ahead of the catastrophic flooding. The officials spoke only hours after the operators of Camp Mystic, a century-old all-girls Christian summer camp in the Texas Hill Country, announced that they lost 27 campers and counselors to the floodwaters. Meanwhile, search-and-rescue teams carried on with the search for the dead, using heavy equipment to untangle trees and wading into swollen rivers. Volunteers covered in mud sorted through chunks of debris, piece b

Flash floods kill 80 in Texas as questions mount over ignored warnings

With 28 children dead, scrutiny has intensified over delayed evacuations in Texas floods and whether early warnings were adequate, especially at vulnerable sites like children's camps

Texas floods: Toll rises to 82 as sheriff says 10 campers still missing

Families sifted through waterlogged debris Sunday and stepped inside empty cabins at Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp ripped apart by flash floods that washed homes off their foundations and killed at least 82 people in central Texas. Rescuers maneuvering through challenging terrain, high waters and snakes including water moccasins continued their desperate search for the missing, including 10 girls and a counselor from the camp. For the first time since the storms began pounding Texas, Governor Greg Abbott said there were 41 people confirmed to be unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing. In Kerr County, home to Camp Mystic and other youth camps in the Texas Hill Country, searchers have found the bodies of 68 people, including 28 children, Sheriff Larry Leitha said in the afternoon. He pledged to keep searching until everybody is found from Friday's flash floods. Ten other deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, ...

Texas officials face scrutiny over response to catastrophic flooding

Before heading to bed before the Fourth of July holiday, Christopher Flowers checked the weather while staying at a friend's house along the Guadalupe River. Nothing in the forecast alarmed him. Hours later, he was rushing to safety: He woke up in darkness to electrical sockets popping and ankle-deep water. Quickly, his family scrambled nine people into the attic. Phones buzzed with alerts, Flowers recalled Saturday, but he did not remember when in the chaos they started. What they need is some kind of external system, like a tornado warning that tells people to get out now, Flowers, 44, said. The destructive fast-moving waters that began before sunrise Friday in the Texas Hill Country killed at least 43 people in Kerr County, authorities said Saturday, and an unknown number of people remained missing. Those still unaccounted for included 27 girls from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along a river in Kerr County where most of the dead were recovered. But as authorities launch