Page 6 - Texas

Second largest wildfire seen in Texas history as flames menace small towns

A fast-moving wildfire burning through the Texas Panhandle grew into the second-largest blaze in state history on Wednesday, forcing evacuations and triggering power outages as firefighters struggled to contain the widening flames. The sprawling blaze was part of a cluster of fires that burned out of control and threatened rural towns, where local officials shut down roads and urged residents to leave their homes. The largest of the fires which grew to nearly 800 square miles (2,072 square kilometers) jumped into parts of neighbouring Oklahoma and was completely uncontained as dawn broke, according to the Texas A and M Forest Service. Officials were assessing the damage on Wednesday and warned it could be extensive. Hemphill County Emergency Management Coordinator Bill Kendall described the charred terrain like a moonscape. ... It's just all gone. Kendall said about 40 homes were burned around the perimeter of the town of Canadian, but no buildings were lost inside the community.

Texas nuclear weapons facility pauses operations amid widespread wildfires

Rapidly moving Texas wildfires on Tuesday prompted evacuation orders in small towns and shut down a nuclear facility as strong winds, dry grass and unseasonably warm temperatures fuelled the blaze in the state's rural Panhandle. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties as the largest fire burned nearly 400 square miles (1,040 square kilometres), according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. That is more than twice its size since the fire sparked Monday. Authorities have not said what might have caused the blaze, which tore through sparsely populated counties surrounded by rolling plains. Texans are urged to limit activities that could create sparks and take precautions to keep their loved ones safe, Abbott said. The largest blaze, known as the Smokehouse Creek Fire, closed highways and remained 0 per cent contained as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the Forest Service. The main facility that assembles and disassembles America's nuclear arsenal shut

GM's Cruise prepares to resume robotaxi testing after suspension

The company has been focusing its comeback plan on Texas, which has relatively liberal regulation for companies that seek to operate autonomous vehicles in the state

Elon Musk pushes forward on transfer of legal home for SpaceX to Texas

Elon Musk is looking to move the legal home of SpaceX to Texas from Delaware after a judge in that state voided the billionaire's USD 55.8 billion Tesla pay package. A certificate of conversion for Space Exploration Technologies Corp. was filed to reincorporate in Texas from Delaware, which became effective on Wednesday. SpaceX has moved its state of incorporation from Delaware to Texas! If your company is still incorporated in Delaware, I recommend moving to another state as soon as possible, Musk said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The change by SpaceX comes just days after Musk's brain implant company Neuralink moved its legal corporate home from Delaware to Nevada. Musk is a co-founder of the privately held Neuralink. Most corporations set up legal shop in Delaware because state law is typically favorable to corporations and experts say the change could backfire. Last month Delaware Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick invalidated the pay package that Tesla ..

Musk announces moving SpaceX to Texas after Delaware ruling on pay package

Meanwhile, a Wednesday filing to the Texas Secretary of State showed that SpaceX wants to move its business incorporation location from Delaware to Texas

Tesla to take shareholder vote on shifting incorporation to Texas: Musk

Tesla Inc will move immediately to hold a shareholder vote to transfer the electronic vehicle (EV) maker's state of incorporation to Texas from Delaware, Musk said

Elon Musk gets big 'yes' vote to deepen Texas ties after pay rejected

By Wednesday evening, Texas had won about 87 per cent of the 1.1 million votes.

Trump praises Texas governor on clash with Biden govt over immigration

Former President Donald Trump lavished praise Saturday on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for not allowing the Biden administration entry to remove razor wire in a popular corridor for migrants illegally entering the US in an escalating feud over immigration. In a speech focused overwhelmingly on border security, Trump said Texas should be given full support in its measures to deter migrants along the US-Mexico border. The state is restricting the US Border Patrol after the Supreme Court cleared the way for these federal agents to cut or remove the sharp metal barrier. When I'm president, instead of trying to send Texas a restraining order, I will send them reinforcements, Trump told a crowd of supporters in Las Vegas, where he rallied on an indoor soccer field in a largely Latino neighbourhood. Instead of fighting border states, I will use every resource tool and authority of the U.S. president to defend the United States of America from this horrible invasion that is taking place right ...

SC allows agents to cut razor wire Texas installed on US-Mexico border

A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed Border Patrol agents to cut razor wire that Texas installed on the US-Mexico border, while a lawsuit over the wire continues. The justices, by a 5-4 vote, granted an emergency appeal from the Biden administration, which has been in an escalating standoff at the border with Texas and had objected to an appellate ruling in favor of the state. The concertina wire along roughly 48 kilometers of the Rio Grande near the border city of Eagle Pass is part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's broader fight with the administration over immigration enforcement. Abbott also has authorised installing floating barriers in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass and allowed troopers to arrest and jail thousands of migrants on trespassing charges. The administration also is challenging those actions in federal court. A federal appeals court last month forced federal agents to stop cutting the concertina wire. Large numbers of migrants have crossed at Eagle Pass in recent ..

Explosion at historic Texas hotel injures 21, scatters debris in Fort Worth

An explosion at a historic Texas hotel in Fort Worth on Monday blew out windows, littered downtown streets with large piles of debris from the building and injured 11 people, including one person who is in critical condition, authorities said. Investigators believe the blast was caused by natural gas, said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesperson Sara Abel, who was briefed by local police. Two people were in serious condition and the rest had minor injuries, authorities said at a news conference. Medics also treated four more people on the scene but did not take them to a hospital, said Desiree Partain of MedStar, which provides ambulance and emergency medical services in Fort Worth. The Sandman Signature hotel is in a busy area of downtown about one block from the Fort Worth Convention Center. Footage from news helicopters showed firefighters picking their way through the piles of drywall, shattered glass and mangled metal that coated the street outside the

6 Indian-origin family members killed in fatal crash in Texas, US

In a tragic car accident, at least six Indian-origin family members, including two children, were killed in the US state of Texas, officials said. The accident occurred on Tuesday evening when a minivan and a pickup truck collided head-on near Johnson County, near Fortworth, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). Seven people of the same family were in the minivan, and only one of them, 43-year-old Lokesh Potabathula, survived with critical injuries. On Wednesday morning, the DPS identified the driver of the minivan, 28-year-old Rushil Barri of Irving, as one of the deceased victims. The other five in the van are from Alpharetta, Georgia: 36-year-old woman, Naveena Potabathula,64-year-old man, Nageswararao Ponnad, 60-year-old woman, Sitamahalakshmi Ponnada, 10-year-old boy, Krithik Potabathula and 9-year-old girl, Nishidha Potabathula. The elderly were visiting their daughter Naveena and grandkids Karthik and Nishita from India, the Consulate General said. The

Texas signs bill allowing police to arrest migrants who enter US illegally

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday approved sweeping new powers that allow police to arrest migrants who illegally cross the US border and give local judges authority to order them to leave the country, testing the limits of how far a state can go to enforce immigration laws. Opponents have called the measure the most dramatic attempt by a state to police immigration since a 2010 Arizona law denounced by critics as the Show Me Your Papers bill that was largely struck down by the US Supreme Court. Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility, and Texas' law is also likely to face swift legal challenges. The law, which takes effect in March, allows any Texas law enforcement officer to arrest people who are suspected of entering the country illegally. Once in custody, they could either agree to a Texas judge's order to leave the US or be prosecuted on misdemeanour charges of illegal entry. Migrants who don't leave could face arrest again under more serious felony ...

The $42 mn clock set to tick once a year, keep time for next 10,000 years

Being built inside a mountain in Texas, the century hand of the 10,000-year clock advances once every 100 years, and the cuckoo will come out on the millennium

Jewellery brand Tanishq expands footprint in US, opens two stores in Texas

Tanishq, an Indian jewellery brand, has opened its store here and in Frisco as part of its global business expansion strategy and to cater to the growing needs of the Indian diaspora in the US. The US state of Texas, with the second largest Indian Diaspora, is now home to two of Tanishq's stores, one in Houston and the other in Frisco, near Dallas. At the inaugural event, the Consul General of India in Houston, DC Manjunath was the Chief Guest. He was joined by CK Venkataraman, Managing Director, Titan Company Limited, Kuruvilla Markose, CEO of Titan International business and Michael McCabe, Resident Director, North America, Tata Sons. The brand is owned by The Tata Group, a Mumbai-based multinational conglomerate. Delighted to see that Tanishq, Tata company's jewellery arm opened its 2 new stores in Texas; Houston & Frisco, thus enhancing India-US connection, Consul General Manjunath told PTI. Tanishq spells beauty with elegance, style with tradition, on the solid principles of

10-year-old killed in Texas flea market shooting incident; three arrested

Three individuals have been arrested in connection with a deadly shooting at a Texas flea market, including one of the suspected shooters, police said Tuesday. Three children and two adults were shot Sunday at Cole's Flea Market in the Houston suburb of Pearland, with a 10-year-old boy later dying at a hospital. The others who were shot were also hospitalised with one of them later released. The shooting happened after an argument between two people who did not know each other, according to authorities. Pearland police said that 19-year-old David Negrete, who they had been looking for after charging him Monday with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, turned himself in to authorities on Tuesday morning. On Monday night, Pearland police announced that two individuals Cruz Meza and Julianna Espino, both 18 years old were each charged with tampering with evidence and making a false statement to an officer. Meza was one of the five people shot Sunday, police said. Both Meza and

Biden govt waives 26 laws to allow border wall construction in South Texas

The Biden administration announced they waived 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow border wall construction, marking the administration's first use of a sweeping executive power employed often during the Trump presidency. The Department of Homeland Security posted the announcement on the US Federal Registry with few details outlining the construction in Starr County, Texas, which is part of a busy Border Patrol sector seeing high illegal entry. According to government data, about 2,45,000 illegal entries have been recorded in this region during the current fiscal year. There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas, Alejandro Mayorkas, the DHS secretary, stated in the notice. The Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Endangered Species Act were some of the federal laws waived by DHS to make way for ...

Oil prices jump 2% to near 10-month high as Opec predicts tight supplies

Brent futures rose $1.64, or 1.8%, to $92.28 a barrel by 11:15 a.m. EDT (1515 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.91, or 2.2%, to $89.20

Wildfire burning across Huntsville, Texas triggers evacuations in few parts

A large wildfire burning across Huntsville, Texas, forced some parts of the city to evacuate on Friday, CNN reported.Forecasters have predicted extremely hot weather to persist over the Labor Day weekend.As per Texas A & M Forest Service, the fire, named the "Game Preserve Fire," has burned an estimated 500 acres and is 0 per cent contained.Aircraft are dropping water to assist with firefighting efforts, the Walker County Office of Emergency Management said.Communications supervisor for Walker County, Stephanie Harris, told CNN that the county's emergency management office has recommended evacuation for everyone within three miles of Lost Indian Camp Road. A large area northwest of Huntsville has been evacuated.Huntsville, the county seat of Walker County, is located north of Houston, Texas.On July 21, Walker County issued a burn ban prohibiting outside burning. On Thursday night, the emergency management office said dry conditions led to critical fire weather conditions.Governor .

Tanker believed to hold sanctioned Iran oil begins offloading near Texas

An American-owned oil tanker long suspected of carrying sanctioned Iranian crude oil began offloading its cargo near Texas late Saturday, tracking data showed, even as Tehran has threatened to target shipping in the Persian Gulf over it. The fate of the cargo aboard the Suez Rajan has become mired in the wider tensions between the US and the Islamic Republic, even as Tehran and Washington work toward a trade of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets in South Korea for the release of five Iranian-Americans held in Tehran. Already, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has warned that those involved in offloading the cargo should expect to be struck back. The US Navy has increased its presence steadily in recent weeks in the Mideast, deploying the troop-and-aircraft-carrying USS Bataan and considering putting armed personnel on commercial ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz to stop Iran from seizing additional ships. Ship-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press

Musk's Twitter sues four Texas entities for data scraping, seeks damages

Musk, meanwhile, reiterated the reason for data limits in a reply to a tweet that referenced the data-scraping lawsuit