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Rescuers searched through the night early Sunday for 27 girls missing from a riverside summer camp in Texas, after torrential rains caused devastating floods that killed at least 50 people in the US state.Multiple flash flood warnings remained in place across central Texas after water surged through communities, with the Guadalupe River rising by 26 feet (eight meters) in just 45 minutes.The Kerr County summer camp where hundreds were staying was left in disarray, with blankets, teddy bears and other belongings caked in mud.”We have recovered 43 deceased individuals in Kerr County. Among these who are deceased we have 28 adults and 15 children,” said Larry Leitha, the sheriff of the flood-ravaged region.Multiple victims were also found in other counties, bringing the death toll to 50 so far.There was better news for Congressman August Pfluger, who said Saturday his two young daughters were safely evacuated from Camp Mystic in flooded Kerr County, where the windows of cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water.”The last day has brought unimaginable grief to many families and we mourn with them as well as holding out hope for survivors,” the Texas Republican wrote on X. It was unclear if the two girls were among the 27 that authorities said were still missing as of Saturday.Department of Homeland Security head Kristi Noem said the US Coast Guard was “punching through storms” to evacuate stranded residents.”We will fly throughout the night and as long as possible,” she said in a post on X.Texas Department of Emergency Management chief Nim Kidd said air, ground and water-based crews were scouring the length of the Guadalupe River for survivors and the bodies of the dead.Texas Governor Greg Abbott said keeping the search going throughout the night was essential as “every hour counts”. The flooding began Friday — the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend — as months’ worth of rain fell in a matter of hours.The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that more rain was forecast, and that “excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.”In Kerrville on Saturday, the usually calm Guadalupe was flowing fast, its murky waters filled with debris. “The water reached the top of the trees. About 10 meters or so,” said resident Gerardo Martinez, 61. “Cars, whole houses were going down the river.”Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual.But scientists say that in recent years human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heatwaves more frequent and more intense.- Devastation at Camp Mystic -On Saturday, Sheriff Leitha said 27 children from Camp Mystic were still missing.Around 750 girls were attending Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe at the time of the flood.The owner and director of Camp Mystic was also dead, according to the Kerrville website, as was the manager of another nearby summer camp.Elsewhere in Texas, four people were confirmed dead in Travis County, northeast of Kerr, and 13 people were missing, public information office director Hector Nieto told AFP. A 62-year-old woman’s body was found in the city of San Angelo in Tom Green County, along the Concho River, police said. Two more people died in Burnet County, the area’s emergency management coordinator Derek Marchio told AFP, bringing the state-wide death toll to 50.- ‘Catastrophic’ -Noem earlier said Trump wanted to “upgrade the technologies” at the weather service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).”We need to renew this ancient system,” Noem told a press conference.Scientists and disaster management agencies have criticized Trump for cutting funding and staffing at the NOAA, in charge of weather forecasts and preparedness, and the NWS.When asked about claims that residents were given insufficient warning, Noem said she would “carry your concerns back to the federal government.”Officials and residents alike were shocked by the speed and intensity of the flooding.”We didn’t know this flood was coming,” Kerr County official Rob Kelly said Friday.The rain was “double of what was anticipated,” Kerrville city official Dalton Rice said.Soila Reyna, 55, a Kerrville resident who works at a church helping people who lost their belongings, witnessed the devastation unfold.”Nothing like as catastrophic as this, where it involved children, people and just the loss of people’s houses,” Reyna said. “It’s just crazy.”burs-aha/aks/rsc/abh/jfx

In 2019, American musician Jon Dee Graham suffered a heart attack that left him “dead” for several minutes — a scare that inspired his album, “Only Dead For a Little While.”Eighteen months later he had a stroke. And now, the 66-year-old is facing his biggest health challenge yet — and like most musicians, he’s underinsured.Graham suffered an infection following spinal surgery that’s developed into sepsis, and his son said he needs intravenous antibiotic treatments twice daily.But because his treatment is at home, William Harries-Graham said Medicare — the US federal health program that insures elder adults — won’t cover his father.Harries-Graham said the hospital demanded payment upfront in the “thousands of dollars.”The artist “fighting for his life” couldn’t afford it, and recently launched a campaign to sell his drawings, a hobby that has become a means of survival.Graham’s story is not uncommon: Many musicians confront the same health insurance nightmares all Americans do, navigating a labyrinthian system rife with out-of-pocket costs.But musicians are gig workers, which makes it even harder. Most working artists aren’t rich and have variable income, in a cutthroat industry where employer-subsidized insurance for musicians is rare.Pop phenom Chappell Roan underscored the issue on one of music’s biggest platforms earlier this year at the Grammys, calling out record labels for not insuring their artists in front of industry heavyweights as she accepted the prize for Best New Artist.Roan said she herself was dropped from her label and went uninsured for a time: “It was devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system and dehumanized,” she said onstage.”Record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection.”- ‘Just a patch’ -About a month after Roan’s statement, glam punk pioneer David Johansen died at 75 years old. His death came just weeks after he had started a GoFundMe to support his cancer treatment.In 2024, Matthew Sweet, the 1990s-era alt rocker, suffered a stroke while on tour. He was uninsured, so his management created a similar online crowdsourcing fundraiser.It’s raised more than $640,000 to date to support his long-term recovery.But such crowdsourcing is a stop-gap, said Tatum Hauck-Allsep, founder and CEO of the Nashville-based Music Health Alliance that helps musicians negotiate medical bills. “In some cases, things like a GoFundMe is a great resource, but in other cases, it’s just a patch. We want to find a long-term solution,” Hauck-Allsep told AFP. She applauded Roan for highlighting the issue, but said insurance from record labels isn’t necessarily what artists want, because it could mean they need to become employees, rather than independent artists.Still, “there should be an easier pathway to health care access,” she said.Bruce Iglauer, head of the blues label Alligator Records, echoed Hauck-Allsep’s point, saying that artists are self-employed.”We guarantee recording budgets and royalty rates, but have no input into, or knowledge of, what other income the artists are making,” Iglauer said.”They are not getting weekly paychecks from us.” And smaller labels say increasingly thin margins would make providing insurance impossible: “The costs of manufacturing have gone up, physical sales have gone down. Streaming sales pay paltry sums,” said Kenn Goodman, founder and CEO of Chicago-based indie record label Pravda Records.”It’s just not financially feasible,” he added. “I wish it was.”- ‘Terrifying’ -Many US musicians get health care through the Barack Obama-era Affordable Care Act — but that coverage is under threat by the Donald Trump administration, which is vying to complicate health care access, and perhaps eventually scrap the system altogether. That would be a “disaster,” said Paul Scott, director of the Healthcare Alliance for Austin Musicians, a non-profit that helps about 3,200 musicians a year in Texas get signed up for coverage under the government health care plan. Many ACA plans still don’t come cheap, but it’s made a huge difference for access, he said. Jettisoning the ACA would likely mean increased prices that would prompt a lot of artists to “drop their health insurance,” Scott said. “And that will be a hit to our safety net hospitals and charity care.”As for Graham, selling his sketches has successfully funded his first few weeks of treatment.But his son doesn’t know if that will be enough.And Harries-Graham worries about those who can’t find fundraising support thanks to their fame.”I don’t know what someone else would have done,” he said. “They would have been yet another person who goes into severe medical debt.””That is terrifying.”

Oblivious to the punishing midday heat, a wheeled robot powered by the sun and infused with artificial intelligence carefully combs a cotton field in California, plucking out weeds.As farms across the United States face a shortage of laborers and weeds grow resistant to herbicides, startup Aigen says its robotic solution — named Element — can save farmers money, help the environment and keep harmful chemicals out of food.”I really believe this is the biggest thing we can do to improve human health,” co-founder and chief technology officer Richard Wurden told AFP, as robots made their way through crops at Bowles Farm in the town of Los Banos.”Everybody’s eating food sprayed with chemicals.”Wurden, a mechanical engineer who spent five years at Tesla, went to work on the robot after relatives who farm in Minnesota told him weeding was a costly bane.Weeds are becoming immune to herbicides, but a shortage of laborers often leaves chemicals as the only viable option, according to Wurden.”No farmer that we’ve ever talked to said ‘I’m in love with chemicals’,” added Aigen co-founder and chief executive Kenny Lee, whose background is in software.”They use it because it’s a tool — we’re trying to create an alternative.”Element the robot resembles a large table on wheels, solar panels on top. Metal arms equipped with small blades reach down to hoe between crop plants.”It actually mimics how humans work,” Lee said as the temperature hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) under a cloudless sky.”When the sun goes down, it just powers down and goes to sleep; then in the morning it comes back up and starts going again.”The robot’s AI system takes in data from on-board cameras, allowing it to follow crop rows and identify weeds.”If you think this is a job that we want humans doing, just spend two hours in the field weeding,” Wurden said.Aigen’s vision is for workers who once toiled in the heat to be “upskilled” to monitor and troubleshoot robots.Along with the on-board AI, robots communicate wirelessly with small control centers, notifying handlers of mishaps.- Future giant? -Aigen has robots running in tomato, cotton, and sugar beet fields, and touts the technology’s ability to weed without damaging the crops.Lee estimated that it takes about five robots to weed 160 acres (65 hectares) of farm.The robots made by the 25-person startup — based in the city of Redmond, outside Seattle — are priced at $50,000.The company is focused on winning over politically conservative farmers with a climate friendly option that relies on the sun instead of costly diesel fuel that powers heavy machinery.”Climate, the word, has become politicized but when you get really down to brass tacks farmers care about their land,” Lee said.The technology caught the attention of Amazon Web Services (AWS), the e-commerce giant’s cloud computing unit.Aigen was chosen for AWS’s “Compute for Climate” fellowship program that provides AI tools, data center power, and technical help for startups tackling environmental woes.”Aigen is going to be one of the industry giants in the future,” said AWS head of climate tech startups business development Lisbeth Kaufman.”I think about Ford and the Model T, or Edison and the light bulb — that’s Kenny and Rich and Aigen.”

BRICS leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday are expected to decry US President Donald Trump’s “indiscriminate” trade tariffs, saying they are illegal and risk hurting the global economy. Emerging nations, which represent about half the world’s population and 40 percent of global economic output, have united over “serious concerns” about US import tariffs, according to a draft summit statement obtained by AFP on Saturday.Since coming to office in January, Trump has threatened allies and rivals alike with a slew of punitive duties.His latest salvo comes in the form of letters informing trading partners of new tariff rates that will soon enter into force.The draft summit declaration does not mention the United States or its president by name, and could yet be amended by leaders gathering for talks Sunday and Monday.But it is a clear political shot directed at Washington from 11 emerging nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. “We voice serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO (World Trade Organization) rules,” the draft text says. It warns that such measures “threaten to further reduce global trade” and are “affecting the prospects for global economic development.”- Xi no show -Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be seen as a Chinese-driven counterbalance to Western power. But the summit’s political punch will be depleted by the absence of China’s Xi Jinping, who is skipping the annual meeting for the first time in his 12 years as president.That absence has prompted fevered speculation in some quarters.”The simplest explanation may hold the most explanatory power. Xi recently hosted Lula in Beijing,” said Ryan Hass, a former China director at the US National Security Council who is now with the Brookings Institution think tank.The Chinese leader will not be the only notable absentee. War crime-indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin is also opting to stay away, but will participate via video link, according to the Kremlin.Hass said Putin’s non-attendance and the fact that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be a guest of honor in Brazil could also be factors in Xi’s absence.”Xi does not want to appear upstaged by Modi,” who will receive a state lunch, he said.”I expect Xi’s decision to delegate attendance to Premier Li (Qiang) rests amidst these factors.”Still, the Xi no-show is a blow to host President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who wants Brazil to play a bigger role on the world stage.In the year to November 2025, Brazil will have hosted a G20 summit, a BRICS summit, and COP30 international climate talks, all before heading into fiercely contested presidential elections next year, in which he is expected to run.Lula warmly welcomed leaders and dignitaries on Saturday, including China’s Premier Li Qiang, as the leftist president hosted a pre-summit business forum in Rio.”Faced with the resurgence of protectionism, it is up to emerging countries to defend the multilateral trade regime and reform the international financial architecture,” Lula told the event.Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose nation is still reeling from a 12-day conflict with Israel, is also skipping the meeting and will be represented by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.A source familiar with the negotiations said Iran had sought a tougher condemnation of Israel and the United States over their recent bombing of Iranian military, nuclear and other sites. But one diplomatic source said the text would give the “same message” that BRICS delivered last month.Then Iran’s allies expressed “grave concern” about strikes against Iran, but did not explicitly mention Israel or the United States. Artificial intelligence and health will also be on the agenda at the summit.Original members of the bloc Brazil, Russia, India, and China have been joined by South Africa and, more recently, Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia.

Rescuers searched Saturday for 27 girls missing from a riverside summer camp in the US state of Texas, after torrential rains caused devastating flooding that killed at least 43 people — with more rain pounding the region.”We have recovered 43 deceased individuals in Kerr County. Among these who are deceased we have 28 adults and 15 children,” said Kerr Country Sheriff Larry Leitha.Leitha earlier put the number of evacuated people at 850, including eight reported injured.Addressing a press conference, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he was expanding a state disaster declaration and was requesting additional federal resources from US President Donald Trump.Texas Department of Emergency Management chief Nim Kidd said air, ground and water-based crews were scouring the length of the Guadalupe River for survivors and the bodies of the dead.”We will continue the search until all those who are missing are found,” he said.The flooding began Friday — the start of the fourth of July holiday weekend — as months’ worth of rain fell in a matter of hours, causing the Guadalupe River to rise by 26 feet (eight meters) in 45 minutes.The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that more rain was forecast, and that “excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.”Multiple flash flood warnings remained in place over the weekend in central Texas.In Kerrville on Saturday, the usually calm Guadalupe was flowing fast, its murky waters filled with debris. “The water reached the top of the trees. About 10 meters or so,” said local resident Gerardo Martinez, 61. “Cars, whole houses were going down the river.”Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual.But scientists say that in recent years human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events like floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense.- Devastation at Camp Mystic -On Saturday, Sheriff Leitha said 27 children from the Camp Mystic Christian summer camp in the flooded Kerr County were still missing. Around 750 girls were enrolled at the camp.US media reported that four of the missing girls were dead, citing their families. The camp, located along the banks of the Guadalupe, was a picture of disarray, with blankets, mattresses, teddy bears and other belongings caked in mud.The windows of camp cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water.Michael, who only gave AFP his first name, was searching the camp for his eight-year-old daughter.”I was in Austin and drove down yesterday morning, once we heard about it,” he said, adding that he was hoping for a “miracle.”The Heart O’ The Hills summer camp, located about a mile from Camp Mystic, confirmed on Saturday that its director Jane Ragsdale was among the dead.- ‘Catastrophic’ -Department of Homeland Security head Kristi Noem told a press conference that Trump wanted to “upgrade the technologies” at the weather service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).Trump’s administration has faced criticism from scientists and disaster management agencies after cutting funding and hundreds of staff at the NOAA, in charge of weather forecasts and preparedness, and the NWS.”We need to renew this ancient system,” Noem said.When asked about claims that residents were given insufficient warning of the floods, Noem said she would “carry your concerns back to the federal government.”Officials have said the speed and level of flooding was shocking.”We didn’t know this flood was coming,” Kerr County official Rob Kelly said Friday.Kerrville city official Dalton Rice said rescuers were facing “very difficult” conditions, warning people against traveling to the site.Rice added it was not known how many people may have been visiting the popular camping area, and declined to give an overall figure for how many were missing.Soila Reyna, 55, a Kerrville resident who works at a local church helping people who lost their belongings, witnessed the devastation unfold.”It has been years since we had a flood, but nothing like this,” Reyna said. “Nothing like as catastrophic as this, where it involved children, people and just the loss of people’s houses… It’s just crazy,” she added.With rescuers fanning out across the region, Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring urged the community to come together.”People need to know today will be a hard day,” he said.burs-aha/aks/mlm

Rescuers searched Saturday for 27 girls missing from a riverside summer camp in the US state of Texas, after torrential rains caused devastating flooding that killed at least 32 people — with more rain pounding the region.”There’s 32 deceased, 18 of those are adults and 14 are children. Five of the adults remain unidentified and three children remain unidentified,” said Kerr Country Sheriff Larry Leitha.Leitha earlier put the number of evacuated people at 850, including eight reported injured.Addressing a press conference, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he was expanding a state disaster declaration and was requesting additional federal resources from US President Donald Trump.Texas Department of Emergency Management chief Nim Kidd said air, ground and water-based crews were scouring the length of the Guadalupe River for survivors and the bodies of the dead.”We will continue the search until all those who are missing are found,” he said.The flooding began Friday as months’ worth of rain fell in a matter of hours, causing the Guadalupe River to rise by 26 feet (eight meters) in 45 minutes.The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that more rain was forecast, and that “excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.”Multiple flash flood warnings remained in place over the weekend in central Texas.In Kerrville on Saturday, the usually calm Guadalupe was flowing fast, its murky waters filled with debris. “The water reached the top of the trees. About 10 meters or so,” said local resident Gerardo Martinez, 61. “Cars, whole houses were going down the river.”Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual.But scientists say that in recent years human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events like floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense.- Devastation at Camp Mystic -On Saturday, Sheriff Leitha said 27 children from the Camp Mystic Christian summer camp in the flooded Kerr County were still missing. Around 750 girls were enrolled at the camp.US media reported that four of the missing girls were dead, citing their families. The camp, located along the banks of the Guadalupe, was a picture of disarray, with blankets, mattresses, teddy bears and other belongings caked in mud.The windows of camp cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water.Michael, who only gave AFP his first name, was searching the camp for his eight-year-old daughter.”I was in Austin and drove down yesterday morning, once we heard about it,” he said, adding that he was hoping for a “miracle”.The Heart O’ The Hills summer camp, located about a mile from Camp Mystic, confirmed on Saturday that its director Jane Ragsdale was among the dead.- ‘Catastrophic’ -Department of Homeland Security head Kristi Noem told a press conference that Trump wanted to “upgrade the technologies” at the weather service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).Trump’s administration has faced criticism from scientists and disaster management agencies after cutting funding and hundreds of staff at the NOAA, in charge of weather forecasts and preparedness, and the NWS.”We need to renew this ancient system,” Noem said.When asked about claims that residents were given insufficient warning of the floods, Noem said she would “carry your concerns back to the federal government.”Officials have said the speed and level of flooding was shocking.”We didn’t know this flood was coming,” Kerr County official Rob Kelly said Friday.Kerrville city official Dalton Rice said rescuers were facing “very difficult” conditions, warning people against traveling to the site.Rice added that it was not known how many people may have been visiting the popular camping area, and declined to give an overall figure for how many were missing.Soila Reyna, 55, a Kerrville resident who works at a local church helping people who lost their belongings, witnessed the devastation unfold.”It has been years since we had a flood, but nothing like this,” Reyna said. “Nothing like as catastrophic as this, where it involved children, people and just the loss of people’s houses… It’s just crazy,” she added.With rescuers fanning out across the region, Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring urged the community to come together.”People need to know today will be a hard day. It will be a hard day,” he said, his voice breaking.burs-aha/aks/mlm

With a drizzle falling on Camp Mystic, the flood-ravaged Christian summer camp on the Guadalupe River in Texas, a father navigated the debris in search of his eight-year-old daughter.”My daughter was here,” he said Saturday, examining a stone-walled cabin with shattered windows, eventually finding a towel with her name, a bracelet and a family photo.Michael, 40, who declined to give his last name, lives in the state capital Austin and received the message every parent fears most on Friday morning: his child was missing.She is among 27 girls who have yet to be found after powerful waves of water rushed through the riverside camp in the pre-dawn hours after torrential rainfall.One of the walls of Camp Mystic’s dining hall, a large wooden cabin, was completely ripped off by the force of the floodwaters, which left some 32 people dead in the Kerr County region of south-central Texas.Scattered on the floor are bottles of maple syrup and Cholula hot sauce, staples of Texan tables. Approximately 750 girls were staying at the camp when the flood hit, and the majority of campers were successfully evacuated. Authorities said at least 18 adults and 14 children were killed when heavy rains engorged the Guadalupe River until it overflowed its banks, dotted by multiple campgrounds.The search for Michael’s daughter and 26 other girls continues.- A hundred-year flood -US media reported that of the 27 missing girls, four were dead, citing their families. Along the Guadalupe River, which rose over 26 feet (eight meters) in 45 minutes, devastation stretches as far as the eye can see. The force of the floodwaters felled trees and overturned cars, as rescue teams worked — on foot, in trucks, by helicopter and with drones — to scour the debris in search of survivors or victims. One girl was spotted clinging to a tree, Texas Governor Greg Abbott told reporters Saturday.She held on “until a helicopter was able to descend upon her and lift her out of that harrowing situation,” Abbott said.The river’s breach also damaged neighboring Kent County, flooding homes, knocking down fences and subsuming a fuel station.Distraught parents searched for their children at reunification centers, posting photos to social media, calling for prayers and divine aid.”There is a saying here that there’s a flood every hundred years,” said Gerardo Martinez, 61, who operates the Vecinos restaurant near a viewpoint.”We had it. We’ve never seen anything like that and hopefully we won’t ever see it again.”Martinez said he watched as waters topped trees and “cars, whole houses were going down the river.”The river runs through the city of Kerrville, where resident David Amorr, 35, said the floods felt “unreal.””We see this stuff on TV. You don’t imagine it happening so close, especially in your hometown,” Amorr said.”We also have two daughters. They could have been there, at the camps, missing. So we feel solidarity with those families.”At Camp Mystic, Michael continued to comb through the mud-soaked surroundings.”I hope for a miracle. Absolutely,” he said.

Elon Musk, an ex-ally of US President Donald Trump, said Saturday he had launched a new political party in the United States to challenge what the tech billionaire described as the country’s “one-party system.”The world’s richest person — and Trump’s biggest political donor in the 2024 election — had a bitter falling out with the president after leading the Republican’s effort to slash spending and cut federal jobs as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has clashed with Trump over the president’s massive domestic spending plan, saying it would explode the US debt, and vowed to do everything in his power to defeat lawmakers who voted for it. Now he has created the so-called America Party, his own political framework, through which to try and achieve that.”When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” the Space X and Tesla boss posted on X, the social media platform that he owns.”Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”Musk cited a poll — uploaded on Friday, US Independence Day — in which he asked whether respondents “want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system” that has dominated US politics for some two centuries.The yes-or-no survey earned more than 1.2 million responses.”By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!” he posted on Saturday.Musk also shared a meme depicting a two-headed snake and the caption “End the Uniparty.”- ‘Laser-focus’ on vulnerable lawmakers -It is not clear how much impact the new party would have on the 2026 mid-term elections, or on the presidential vote two years after that.The Trump-Musk feud reignited in dramatic fashion late last month as Trump pushed Republicans in Congress to ram through his massive domestic agenda in the form of the One Big Beautiful Bill.Musk expressed fierce opposition to the legislation, and ruthlessly attacked its Republican backers for supporting “debt slavery.” He vowed to launch a new political party to challenge lawmakers who campaigned on reduced federal spending only to vote for the bill, which experts say will pile an extra $3.4 trillion over a decade onto the US deficit.”They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,” Musk said earlier this week.After Musk heavily criticized the flagship spending bill — which eventually passed Congress and was signed into law — Trump threatened to deport the tech tycoon and strip federal funds from his businesses.”We’ll have to take a look,” the president told reporters when asked if he would consider deporting Musk, who was born in South Africa and has held US citizenship since 2002.On Friday after posting the poll, Musk laid out a possible political battle plan to pick off vulnerable House and Senate seats and become “the deciding vote” on key legislation.”One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,” Musk posted on X. All 435 US House seats are up for grabs every two years, while about one third of the Senate’s 100 members, who serve six-year terms, are elected every two years.Some observers were quick to point out how third-party campaigns have historically split the vote — as businessman Ross Perot’s independent presidential run in 1992 did when it helped doom George H.W. Bush’s re-election bid resulting in Democrat Bill Clinton’s victory.”You are pulling a Ross Perot, and I don’t like it,” one X user wrote to Musk.

US President Donald Trump hosts Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday to press the Israeli prime minister to end the war with Hamas in Gaza.Trump has vowed to be tough on Netanyahu as he hopes to use the momentum from the truce between Iran and Israel to secure a ceasefire in the devastated Palestinian territory, too.Trump says Israel is committed to a 60-day halt in fighting and Hamas says it has responded positively to a US-backed proposal — but sealing a final deal to end the 21-month-old war will be easier said than done.Netanyahu, who is making his third visit to the White House since Trump returned to power in January, has vowed to crush Hamas before ending the conflict.Yet Trump, determined to win the Nobel peace prize and riding a wave of recent foreign and domestic policy victories, is making a renewed push for a result.”There could be a Gaza deal next week,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday. He said he was “very optimistic” about a deal but added that “it changes from day to day. It’s been changing for years.”In response to reports that Hamas had responded positively to proposed truce talks, Trump said “that’s good,” although he said he had not yet been fully briefed on this development.Trump and Netanyahu were in lockstep during the recent Iran-Israel war, which culminated in the US president ordering stealth bombers to strike three crucial Iranian nuclear sites.Washington says the sites were “obliterated” and Iran’s nuclear program put back years, although Iran has denied any significant setback. The West accuses Iran of seeking a nuclear bomb, which Tehran denies.But on Gaza, Trump is showing signs of increasing unease with the death and destruction still happening as Israel wages the conflict triggered by a huge Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.”We have to get it over with. We have to do something about Gaza,” Trump said on Friday.- ‘Grand bargaining’ -Trump seems to have parked, for now, his extraordinary proposal for a US takeover of Gaza that he floated during Netanyahu’s first visit in February.”I want the people of Gaza to be safe, more importantly,” Trump said when asked about the plan earlier this week. “They’ve been through hell.”Trump has also pushed for the release of hostages held by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in Gaza. He met one released hostage, Edan Alexander, at the White House on Thursday.But while the author of the book “Art of the Deal” prides himself on his negotiating skills, Trump in many ways has an equal in Netanyahu, a political survivor of his own ilk.”I think we’re going to see a strategic meeting in the style of ‘grand bargaining’, as Trump likes them,” Michael Horowitz, an independent geopolitical analyst, told AFP. “Even Mr Netanyahu is aware that we are reaching the end of what can be done in Gaza, and that it is time to plan an exit. Netanyahu surely wants it to be gradual.”Trump however will be pushing for something quicker and more comprehensive.He boasted on the 2024 campaign trail that he would end both the war in Gaza and Russia’s invasion shortly after taking office, but peace in both cases has eluded him so far.Two previous Gaza ceasefires mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States secured temporary halts in fighting and the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, only to break down.The Hamas attack of October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,338 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.

Rescuers searched Saturday for 27 girls missing from a riverside summer camp in the US state of Texas, after torrential rains caused devastating flooding that killed at least 27 people — with more rain on the way.”So far, we’ve evacuated over 850 uninjured people, eight injured people and have recovered 27 deceased fatalities at this time,” said Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha, adding that nine children were among the dead.Addressing a press conference, Kerrville city official Dalton Rice said hundreds of people were taking part in rescue operations, which included ones conducted aerially by helicopter.”One thing I want to tell you and assure y’all is that we will not stop till every single person is found,” said Leitha. The flooding began Friday as months’ worth of rain fell in a matter of hours, causing the Guadalupe River to rise by 26 feet (eight meters) in 45 minutes.The National Weather Service warned of more extremely heavy rain and “locally catastrophic” flash flooding to come in the region, located northwest of San Antonio.In Kerrville on Saturday, the usually calm Guadalupe River was flowing fast, its murky waters filled with debris.”It rained in a day what it usually rains in a year,” said local resident Gerardo Martinez, 61. “The water reached the top of the trees. About 10 meters or so,” he added. “Cars, whole houses were going down the river.”Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual.But scientists say that in recent years human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events like floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense.- ‘Still missing’ -On Saturday, city official Rice said 27 children from the Camp Mystic Christian summer camp in the flooded Kerr County were still missing. Around 750 girls were enrolled at the camp.US media reported that two of the missing girls were dead, citing their families. The camp, located along the banks of the Guadalupe, was a picture of disarray, with blankets, mattresses, teddy bears and other belongings scattered across buildings.The windows of camp cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water.Michael, who only gave AFP his first name, was searching the camp for his eight-year-old daughter.”I was in Austin and drove down yesterday morning, once we heard about it, we were in Kerrville all day at the emergency stations,” he said.He pointed to the cabin where his daughter was meant to be, and said he had found some of her belongings within.The Heart O’ The Hills summer camp, located about a mile away from Camp Mystic, confirmed on Saturday that its director Jane Ragsdale was among the dead.- ‘Boots on the ground’ -Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a disaster declaration to boost resources for counties in the region, and President Donald Trump has promised federal support.Rice said rescuers were facing “very difficult” conditions.”We did start boots on the ground operations about 8:00 am (1300 GMT) this morning,” he said, warning residents not to launch their own searches.Rice added that it was not known how many people may have been visiting the popular camping area, and declined to give an overall figure for how many people were missing.State and local officials warned against residents traveling 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 flash flood caused by heavy overnight rain of up to 12 inches — one-third of Kerr County’s average annual rainfall.Governor Abbott shared a video on X of a victim being plucked from a tree by a rescuer dangling from a helicopter, as floodwaters raged below.Soila Reyna, 55, a Kerrville resident who works at a local church helping people who lost their belongings, witnessed the devastation unfold.”It has been years since we had a flood, but nothing like this,” Reyna said. “Nothing like as catastrophic as this, where it involved children, people and just the loss of people’s houses and you know, it’s just crazy,” she added.Martinez said Friday’s flooding was some of the worst he had ever seen.”There is a saying here that there’s a flood every hundred years,” he said. “We had it. We’ve never seen anything like that and hopefully we won’t ever see it again.”With rescuers fanning out across the region, Joe Herring, the Kerrville mayor, urged the community to come together.”People need to know today will be a hard day. It will be a hard day,” he said, his voice breaking.burs-aha/mlm