Tragedy In Texas

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Good Monday morning. The Dalai Lama turned 90 yesterday. Have a great start to your week.

In Today’s Brief

  • Utah: Pizza explosion

  • Suriname: Female president

  • Musk: Political party

  • TikTok: Planning ahead

  • Jurassic World Rebirth: Big opening

... and more

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The Top Tip

Devastating deluge

Dozens of people are dead or missing following historic flooding in Texas.

  • What happened: Torrential rains sent the Guadalupe River roaring to record heights, killing at least 81 people statewide. Forty-one are missing, including 11 girls from Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp. At least 28 kids are confirmed dead.

  • More details: Water rose about 26 feet in 45 minutes, overwhelming cabins and RVs before many could flee; crews have already conducted 850 air-and-water rescues as another round of storms looms.

  • Big picture: The tragedy is fueling scrutiny of National Weather Service staffing cuts, which experts say eroded early-warning capacity. Local failures are also under scrutiny. President Donald Trump will visit on Friday with officials warning more flooding could come this week due to storms.

Quick Tips

U.S. News

  • A Domino's Pizza restaurant in Utah exploded after an SUV crashed into it. The accident ruptured a gas line; the vehicle's occupants escaped before the car was engulfed in flames (More)

  • The FBI and Justice Department found no evidence Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed powerful figures. The agencies concluded the late pedophile financier died by suicide in federal custody (More)

  • Two teenagers died in an Indianapolis mass shooting. Five others were wounded in the Saturday incident; no suspect has been identified (More)

World News

  • Suriname elected its first female president. Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, a 71-year-old politician and physician, ran unopposed; her South American nation recently discovered significant offshore oil reserves (More)

  • President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet today at the White House. They are expected to discuss a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza (More)

  • Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continued his crackdown on opposition leaders ahead of an expected 2028 re-election bid. Three city mayors were reportedly arrested, four months after the mayor of Istanbul was jailed (More)

Political News

  • Billionaire Elon Musk said he has created the America Party. The Tesla CEO said his political party will likely focus“on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts" (More)

  • Tennessee Rep. Mark Green will resign effective July 20. The Homeland Security Committee chairman's exit narrows the Republican House majority to 219-212; he said he will pursue an undisclosed business opportunity (More)

  • Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers' decision on re-election may be imminent. The Democrat previously said he would decide on a bid for a third term after the state's budget deal was hammered out (More)

Business & Markets

  • TikTok is reportedly building a new version of its app in anticipation its Chinese parent company will sell its U.S. business to American investors. ByteDance is expected to sunset the current social media platform by next spring (More)

  • President Trump said nations aligned with BRICS will face an additiional 10% tariff. He cited unspecified "Anti-American policies" and said there will be no exceptions; Brazil, Egypt and India are among the allies in the bloc (More)

  • Markets were closed on Friday due to the July 4 holiday. They will re-open today (More)

Entertainment & Sports

  • Jurassic World Rebirth made $318M globally during its opening weekend. The movie made $91.5M domestically and has already recouped its $180M production budget (More)

  • Actor Michael Madsen died at 67; he was known for roles in Reservoir DogsThe Natural and other films. Nip/Tuck star Julian McMahon died at 56 after battling cancer; 28-year-old Liverpool star Diogo Jota was killed in a car accident in Spain (More | More | More)

  • Mexico defeated the U.S. Men's National Team in the Gold Cup final in Houston. Edson Alvarez's 77th-minute goal clinched the 2-1 result (More)