12 h. ago Trump cuts questioned as role of Fema in Texas highlights agency’s importance in natural disaster response

White House appears to be backing away from pledge to ‘phase out’ disaster-relief agency, even as key leaders have leftAs the cleanup continues from this month’s torrential rain storms and flooding in Texas that left more than 120 dead, recently departed officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) say the organization is dangerously underresourced and overstretched in the event of further natural catastrophes.A mass staff exodus, plunging morale and a loss of key leaders has left the main US disaster-relief organization ill-equipped to cope with an anticipated deadly spate of storms in the current hurricane season, former agency insiders say. Continue reading...

Politics

26 h. ago Trump defends response to deadly Texas flooding after touring disaster area – live updates

President and Texas governor praise handling of flooding that has killed at least 120 people; Trump calls reporter ‘evil’ for asking about lack of warningsThe US state department is firing more than 1,300 employees in line with the Trump administration’s reorganization plan initiated earlier this year. The department is sending layoff notices to 1,107 civil servants and 246 foreign service officers with domestic assignments in the US, a senior state department official told the Associated Press. Foreign service officers affected will be placed immediately on administrative leave for 120 days, after which they will formally lose their jobs, according to an internal notice obtained by the AP. For most affected civil servants, the separation period is 60 days, it said. “In connection with the departmental reorganization the department is streamlining domestic operations to focus on diplomatic priorities,” the notice says. “Headcount reductions have been carefully tailored to affect non...

Events

32 h. ago Trump praises Noem’s disaster response – because he saw her on TV

President praises Homeland Security Secretary as ‘right on the ball’ and doing a ‘great job’ despite intense criticism of FEMA over this week’s devastating flash flooding

Politics

33 h. ago FEMA is not shutting down but ‘rebranding’ to highlight local leaders’ roles in disaster response

In January, Trump floated the idea of minimizing FEMA if not getting rid of it as a whole – a position he has softened his stance on

Politics

53 h. ago Noem demanding to sign off on all FEMA expenditures over $100K and staff says it’s impacting emergency response

FEMA regularly uses millions of dollars in federal funding to assist states in disaster response and recovery

Politics

4 d. ago Texas floods: more than 100 people dead and at least 161 still missing

Texas governor Greg Abbott said many people staying in state’s Hill Country still unaccounted for as questions mount over official response to disasterRescue crews continued on Tuesday to comb through parts of the Texas Hill Country devastated by catastrophic flash flooding over the Fourth of July weekend, but with more than 100 dead and hope fading for survivors, efforts have increasingly turned to search and recovery.As of Tuesday afternoon, the death toll across the six affected counties surpassed 100. Most of the deaths were in Kerr county, where officials said 87 bodies had so far been recovered, including 56 adults and 30 children. Identification was pending for 19 adults and seven children with one additional person still unidentified, county sheriff Larry Leitha told a news conference. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Inflation 'disaster' looms if Iran's leaders sign off on response to US strikes

Shutting the vital Strait of Hormuz would be bad news for economies around the world, experts have warned after the measure was passed by Iran's parliament today

Events

3 w. ago Will the new Middle East crisis rock the world economy? The markets say no – but I fear they’re wrong | Larry Elliott

The oil shocks of the 1970s-90s had brutal economic impacts. As Israel attacks Iran, a moderate rise in oil prices rests on questionable assumptionsFinancial markets picked up the clear message when Donald Trump cut short his stay at the G7 summit in the Canadian Rockies this week. Despite calls from fellow western leaders to de-escalate the crisis, the president’s early return to the White House was taken as a sign that the US is considering joining Israel in its military action against Iran. Trump says he wants Iran’s unconditional surrender.This is where modern summitry came in half a century ago. In 1975, the first meeting of what eventually became the G7 was convened at Rambouillet in France in an attempt to work out a joint response to the oil shock that accompanied the Yom Kippur war between Israel and its neighbours.Larry Elliott is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by em...

Economics

4 w. ago BRIAN READE: 'Cruel disaster of Grenfell is warning over powerful dodging responsibility'

Grenfell is not just a burning scar on Britain’s conscience it’s another example of a country that lets the marginalised rot while the powerful shrug, says Brian Reade

Events