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"They have to be able to defend themselves," the president said, appearing to signal a reversal after his administration paused some weapons transfers just last week.
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At least 82 people have died and dozens are still unaccounted for after flash flooding in central Texas over the weekend, when the Guadalupe River rose about 26 feet in less than an hour on Friday amid torrential downpours. At least 10 girls who attended Camp Mystic, a girls' summer camp located on the banks of the river, are among the missing. In Kerr County, the most devastated area, at least 40 adults and 28 children have died. The speed and scale of the natural disaster has raised questions about why officials weren't better prepared, and whether the Trump administration's cuts to scientific positions exacerbated the situation.
"The National Weather Service, like a lot of federal agencies, went through significant loss of staff back in the spring," says retired NOAA meteorologist Alan Gerard, now the CEO of Balanced Weather, which provides critical weather and climate alerts. Gerard says that while it appears there was appropriate staffing ahead of the Texas flood, the impact of current budget cuts and even deeper reductions being considered by the administration are a cause for concern. "We still have all of hurricane season to deal with," he says.
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The department abandoned its previous plan to cut 80,000 workers, saying it expected a reduction of around 30,000 jobs by the end of September.
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We speak with investigative journalist Antonia Juhasz about how President Trump's major tax and spending bill hurts environmental justice efforts in Louisiana communities affected by the climate crisis and pollution from oil and gas facilities. The Trump administration had already canceled much of the funding for local environmental monitoring and advocacy, and the so-called Big, Beautiful Bill further entrenches the power of the fossil fuel industry. "It's a frontal assault on environmental and climate justice, and it will set us back significantly unless we take action to confront the climate crisis," says Juhasz, who wrote about the bill's impact for Rolling Stone.
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(First column, 15th story, link)
Related stories: Iconic city grinding to halt as ICE raids send many migrants into hiding... MAG: Show Us Your Face... Ruffalo Torches Rogan Over Late Outrage at Deportations... DeSantis contributor was awarded Alligator Alcatraz contract... The Ruthless Ambition of Stephen Miller...
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"Netanyahu's purpose was to drag Trump in," Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator, says of the U.S. attack on Iran. Over the weekend, the U.S. directly joined the war between Israel and Iran when it bombed three nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, though it's unclear how far the strikes have set back the Iranian nuclear program. Israel and the United States accuse Iran of developing nuclear weapons, while Iran says its program is for civilian use. United Nations inspectors and U.S. intelligence assessments have said Iran is not building weapons. "The danger now is that, having brought the U.S. into this, Israel will seek to go further up the escalatory ladder," says Levy. "It wants the chaos."
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"The defendants have had ample notice that these deadlines would be scheduled and have already had months to complete the work," Smith wrote.
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People attending U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Oklahoma this week should wear masks, a White House adviser said on Sunday, as health experts cautioned against large gatherings such as political rallies during the coronavirus pandemic.
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