The goal is to identify the underlying causes of the damage caused by disasters without assigning blame

As Texans seek answers about the Hill Country floods, some top meteorologists and policymakers are calling for the creation of a disaster review board modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates all civil aviation accidents and major transportation incidents.

The idea of a nonpartisan, independent board to review weather-related disasters is nothing new, but it appears to be gaining fresh traction after the flooding in Texas left more than 120 people dead and another 170 missing.

During his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Neil Jacobs endorsed the idea when Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked what he would do to ensure that Americans can better respond to emergency weather warnings.

Cases top 1,297, driven by low immunization, summer travel and vaccine policy shifts under Robert F Kennedy Jr

The US is in the midst of the worst measles outbreak in 33 years, according to figures released this week. Driven by an outbreak in Texas, the US has now seen more measles cases in 2025 than in any year since 1992.

Experts said they expect the growth in measles cases to continue, spurred on in part by the summer travel season. The best way to prevent measles is to be vaccinated against the disease.

“Given this is summer and more people are traveling all over the US and abroad, this will increase the spread of measles,” pediatric infectious disease expert at Northwestern University, Dr Tina Tan, said in a statement.

Judge issues temporary block in seven counties including Los Angeles after lawsuit accuses government of systematically targeting brown-skinned people

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests in seven California counties, including Los Angeles.

Judge Maame E Frimpong on Friday blocked the administration from using what has been called unconstitutional tactics in raids after a lawsuit was filed by immigrant advocacy groups last week.

The lawsuit in the US district court has accused the administration of systematically targeting brown-skinned people in southern California during its ongoing immigration crackdown. The plaintiffs include three detained immigrants and two US citizens, one who was held despite showing agents his identification.

Farmers are seeking ways to fend off birds who are stirring up soil in flooded paddy fields in Ferrara province

An unusual bird is ravaging crops and infuriating farmers in north-eastern Italy: the flamingo.

Flamingos are relatively recent arrivals in the area, and have settled into the flooded fields that produce rice for risotto in Ferrara province, between Venice and Ravenna.

The birds aren’t targeting the rice seedlings but use their webbed feet to stir up the soil and snatch molluscs, algae or insects from the shallow water. The rice is collateral damage.

Bongino, the deputy director of the FBI, “is out of control furious,” one source told NBC News. Another said he did not report to work on Friday.

Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino is considering leaving his job after a heated confrontation with Attorney General Pam Bondi over his frustration with how the Justice Department has handled the Jeffrey Epstein files, according to a person who has spoken with Bongino and a source familiar with the interactions that Bongino and FBI Director Kash Patel have had with Bondi.

“Bongino is out of control furious,” the person who has spoken with the deputy FBI director said. “This destroyed his career. He’s threatening to quit and torch Pam unless she’s fired.”

Bongino did not report to work Friday amid speculation about his whereabouts, said a source familiar with the perspectives of DOJ leaders who also believes that Bongino is considering leaving.

The recent college grad previously prompted a complaint after allegedly sending threatening messages over a girl

A 22-year-old loyalist to Donald Trump with no counterterrorism experience is now leading the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) top terrorism prevention office, drawing scrutiny over his past conduct and the administration's alleged sidelining of national security.

Thomas Fugate, a recent college graduate and former Trump campaign volunteer, was appointed earlier this year to run the DHS Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3), which oversees an $18 million grant program meant to combat extremist violence, ProPublica reported in June.

Scrutiny around Fugate intensified this week after The Daily Beast revealed he was investigated in 2020 for reportedly sending threatening messages to someone he was competing with for the affections of a girl.

FEMA records show Kerr County officials did not use FEMA’s system to send warnings to phones in the critical hours as the flooding began on July 4.

FEMA records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates show that Kerr County officials did not use FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert & Warning System to send warnings with safety instructions to all mobile phones in the affected area during critical hours as the flooding began on July 4.

Researchers who have studied the cell phone warning system told NBC 5 Investigates that policies on how and when to issue critical alerts vary widely from one county to another, potentially risking delays when seconds count.

As the search for the missing continues in Kerr County, records reviewed by NBC 5 Investigates raise new questions about whether local officials could have used the nation’s wireless emergency alert system to better warn people in the flood’s path.

Africa’s wealth disparity has reached unprecedented levels, with just four billionaires now holding more wealth than 750 million people combined – half the continent’s population.

According to a report from Oxfam entitled Africa’s Inequality Crisis and the Rise of the Super-Rich, released on Thusday, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, South Africans Johann Rupert and Nicky Oppenheimer and Egyptian businessman Nassef Sawiris control a combined $57.4 billion (€49.07bn).

This staggering concentration of wealth highlights the deepening inequality across the continent, the report warns.

Number of African-born millionaires to skyrocket over next decade: report

Despite brief post-election bounce, Trump has struggled throughout term to get majority approval from Black voters

Donald Trump appears to have lost of goodwill he had among Black voters during the 2024 presidential campaign, according to a new poll.

Among African-Americans, 71.5 percent disapprove of Trump’s presidency so far, while just 24.1 percent approve, according to a Decision Desk HQ average of polls current through July 7.

The president hasn’t gotten majority approval from Black voters since the end of his first week back in office, according to the aggregator, but the latest numbers represent a notable increase in discontent, after Trump had a 63.7 percent average disapproval rating among the voting demographic in mid-June.

Pakistan police on Friday said a father shot dead his daughter after she refused to delete her account on popular video-sharing app TikTok.

In the Muslim-majority country, women can be subjected to violence by family members for not following strict rules on how to behave in public, including in online spaces.

"The girl's father had asked her to delete her TikTok account. On refusal, he killed her," a police spokesperson told AFP.

According to a police report shared with AFP, investigators said the father killed his 16-year-old daughter on Tuesday "for honor." He was subsequently arrested.

Brazilian president says ‘if he charges us 50%, we’ll charge him 50%’ after Trump cited trial of Bolsonaro to justify tariff

Brazil threatened to hit back against Donald Trump’s plan to introduce 50% tariffs on its exports with its own 50% tariff on US goods, setting the stage for a precipitous trade war.

“If he charges us 50%, we’ll charge him 50%,” Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, told local news outlet Record, a day after Trump threatened to impose steep duties on Brazilian goods and accused the country of conducting a “witch-hunt” against its former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing a trial over his attempt to overturn his 2022 election defeat.

Brazil could appeal to the World Trade Organization, propose international investigations and “demand explanations”, Lula suggested. “But the main thing is the Reciprocity Law, passed by Congress,” he told Record, referring to recent legislation designed to defend Latin America’s largest economy from tariff attacks.

A grandmother planning to document ICE arrests at the San Diego courthouse instead became the story Tuesday after video of her own arrest began circulating.

An ICE agent accused the woman of pushing her. After she spent hours in custody, she denied that to NBC 7 on Wednesday.