Texas flood restoration efforts; Mass federal layoffs : NPR

Good morning. You are studying the Up First e-newsletter. Subscribe right here to get it delivered to your inbox, and hear to the Up First podcast for all of the information it’s essential to begin your day.

In the present day’s prime tales

The loss of life toll in Texas has risen to 109 individuals after the devastating floods on July 4. Search and rescue efforts proceed, and 161 individuals are recognized 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 acknowledged that investigations into the preparation and response will almost definitely begin later this week as state lawmakers put together for a particular session to deal with the catastrophe. The governor refused to assign duty for what residents say was an absence 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 residence in Kerr County. McCormick stated they’ve rebuilt after floods earlier than, despite the fact that they weren’t like this one, and they’ll 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 pals disappeared within the flood. Now, he’s main almost 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 conform to the ultimate phrases. The president acknowledged that resolving the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine is proving to be extra advanced 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, urged that Putin has been stringing Trump alongside in an effort to realize 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 1000’s of federal employees after a Supreme Courtroom determination yesterday. The Courtroom 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 an enormous deal that impacts shut to twenty companies, together with the Division of Well being and Human Companies and the Treasury Division, NPR’s Andrea Hsu says. Round 10,000 workers with HHS have already acquired layoff notices and the one motive they’ve stayed on payroll was as a result of decrease courtroom order. This is not going to impression your entire 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 workers by some 30,000 workers by means of different means. Hsu says it’s recognized that lots of people left the VA out of concern that they might be fired

In the present day’s hear