Texas flood restoration efforts; Mass federal layoffs : NPR

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As we speak’s high tales

The demise toll in Texas has risen to 109 folks after the devastating floods on July 4. Search and rescue efforts proceed, and 161 persons are identified to be lacking. State officers have not but stated they’re shifting to restoration efforts, however they confirmed the final time first responders discovered somebody alive was Friday. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says first responders will proceed working till “each lacking particular person is accounted for.”

• 🎧 Abbott said that investigations into the preparation and response will almost definitely begin later this week as state lawmakers put together for a particular session to handle the catastrophe. The governor refused to assign accountability for what residents say was a scarcity of warning, Dominic Anthony Walsh, of NPR community station Houston Public Media, tells Up First. Kerr County, which noticed the worst flooding, would not have an out of doors warning system that sounds throughout flash flooding, however does have a text-based system. Walsh spoke with Kyle McCormick, who was cleansing out his father-in-law’s house in Kerr County. McCormick stated they’ve rebuilt after floods earlier than, though they weren’t like this one, and they’re going to rebuild once more.
• ➡️ Nearly all of deaths from the flood occurred alongside the Guadalupe River. These graphics present the place the floods occurred and the way excessive the water rose.
• ➡️ Thad Heartfield’s son and three of his son’s mates disappeared within the flood. Now, he’s main practically 100 volunteers trying to find flood victims.

Overseas coverage has been a focus for President Trump this week, as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu twice on the White Home in two days. On Monday, the 2 had dinner and Netanyahu stated he had nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. Talks continued, which Trump stated would concentrate on Gaza.

• 🎧 Throughout a Cupboard assembly yesterday, Center East envoy Steve Witkoff expressed optimism that an settlement between Israel and Hamas might be reached by the tip of the week. Witkoff believes that such an settlement may result in lasting peace in Gaza, though it stays unsure whether or not Hamas and Israel will comply with the ultimate phrases. The president acknowledged that resolving the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine is proving to be extra complicated than anticipated. He additionally voiced rising frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the continuing assaults on Ukraine, NPR’s Tamara Keith says. William Taylor, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, steered that Putin has been stringing Trump alongside in an effort to achieve extra time to proceed advancing on the battlefield.

The Trump administration is now in a position to proceed with plans to put off a whole lot of hundreds of federal employees after a Supreme Court docket resolution yesterday. The Court docket lifted a decrease courtroom order that blocked Trump’s government order from February directing large-scale cuts at authorities companies. Because of this, layoffs can proceed whereas authorized challenges are addressed within the decrease courts.

• 🎧 This order is a giant deal that impacts shut to twenty companies, together with the Division of Well being and Human Providers and the Treasury Division, NPR’s Andrea Hsu says. Round 10,000 workers with HHS have already acquired layoff notices and the one cause they’ve stayed on payroll was because of the decrease courtroom order. This won’t impression the complete federal authorities. The Division of Veterans Affairs introduced this week it would not want to hold out the large-scale layoffs as a result of it’s already on tempo to cut back its employees by some 30,000 workers via different means. Hsu says it’s identified that lots of people left the VA out of worry that they might be fired

As we speak’s pay attention

A person drives a classic car down a freeway June 27, 2007 in Colorado.

Spencer Platt/Getty Photographs

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Spencer Platt/Getty Photographs

A person drives a classic car down a freeway June 27, 2007 in Colorado.

Spencer Platt/Getty Photographs

It’s highway journey season! As you put together on your subsequent journey, ensure you have all of the necessities. A full tank of fuel? Verify. Baggage? Verify. Snacks? Verify. And most significantly: the music that may set the tone for the journey. You would possibly want a pick-me-up, a distraction, or one thing for once you want a break out of your favourite podcasts and audiobooks. Whether or not you may have a visit on the books or you’re nonetheless within the planning levels, Pop Tradition Pleased Hour has three songs which are value blasting in your subsequent journey.

Image present

Timber develop in opposition to the home windows at Biosphere 2 on June 20, 2025 in Oracle, Ariz., U.S.

Caitlin O’Hara/for NPR

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Caitlin O’Hara/for NPR

Biosphere 2 is a residing laboratory established within the late Eighties and early Nineteen Nineties to discover whether or not people may survive in a synthetic, self-sustaining ecosystem. Inside, you will discover a humid, decades-old rainforest crammed with a wealthy number of flowers. There’s additionally a miniature artifical ocean, in addition to a mangrove wetland and a fog desert panorama. The construction rises to 91 toes at its highest level, covers greater than three acres, and options 6,500 home windows. As we speak, the College of Arizona operates the challenge with a unique mission. Scientists are conducting analysis aimed toward serving to us adapt to Biosphere 1 — our Earth — and the local weather change we’re inflicting. Check out a few of the experiments Biosphere 2’s scientists have dreamt up within the massive glass constructing.

3 issues to know earlier than you go

An air traveler places his footwear in a bin earlier than passing via a Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) safety checkpoint at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport in 2014.

Robyn Beck/AFP by way of Getty Photographs

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Robyn Beck/AFP by way of Getty Photographs

1. The Transportation Safety Administration will not require vacationers to take away their footwear at airport safety checkpoints within the U.S.
2. Locations of worship can now endorse political candidates with out shedding their tax-exempt standing, in line with the Inner Income Service.
3. Amazon’s Prime Day will stretch between July 8 and 11. Throughout these 4 days, spending at U.S. retailers is predicted to achieve information equal to 2 Black Fridays.

This text was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.