Hundreds gather at high school stadium to honor the many lost to Texas deadly floods

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Several hundred people have gathered for a worship ceremony at a high school stadium in Texas. The vigil was held Wednesday evening to remember of the at least 120 people who died in the catastrophic flash floods over the July Fourth holiday. More than 160 are still believed to be missing in hard-hit Kerr County. People in the crowd clutched one another and brushed away tears during the vigil. Search crews and volunteers are continuing to scour miles along the Guadalupe River for the people still missing. The floods are now the deadliest from inland flooding in the U.S. since 1976.

Trump tariffs goods from Brazil at 50%, citing 'witch hunt' trial against country's former president

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is singling out Brazil for import taxes of 50%, citing its treatment of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro. The announcement Wednesday shows that personal grudges rather than simple economics are one of the driving forces behind the U.S. leader’s use of tariffs. Bolsonaro is charged with trying to overturn his 2022 election loss. Trump has described Bolsonaro as a friend and hosted the former Brazilian president at his Mar-a-Lago resort when both were in power in 2020. Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said in a statement that Trump's tariff would trigger a retaliatory law and that the country “will not accept being taken for granted by anyone.”

Biden's former doctor refuses to answer questions in House Republican probe

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s White House physician is refusing to answer questions as part of the House Republican investigation into Biden’s health in office. Dr. Kevin O’Connor invoked his rights under the Fifth Amendment during a closed-door interview Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee. Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer of Kentucky says O’Connor’s refusal to testify makes it “clear there was a conspiracy.” Republicans are probing Biden’s actions in office and questioning whether the Democrat's use of an autopen may have been invalid. Biden has called the claims “ridiculous and false.” The Oversight committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, calls the Republican investigation a waste of time.

The US is having its worst year for measles in more than three decades

Measles cases in the U.S. are at their highest in more than three decades. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the U.S. has 1,288 cases since the beginning of the year. That’s higher than 2019, when there 1,274 cases driven by 22 outbreaks over 12 months. Eighteen states have seen outbreaks this year. Experts fear the U.S. may lose its status as having eliminated measles. There are also large outbreaks of the vaccine-preventable disease in Mexico and Canada.

Trump administration resumes sending some weapons to Ukraine after Pentagon pause

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has resumed sending some weapons to Ukraine, a week after the Pentagon had directed that some deliveries be paused. That's according to two U.S. officials on Wednesday. The weapons heading into Ukraine include 155 mm munitions and precision-guided rockets known as GMLRS. It’s unclear exactly when the weapons started moving. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the pause last week to allow the Pentagon to assess its weapons stockpiles, in a move that caught the White House by surprise. The Pentagon has denied that Hegseth acted without consulting President Donald Trump. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that had not been announced publicly.

New Mexico village rebuilds all over again after record-breaking flash flood kills 3

RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP) — The mountain village of Ruidoso has returned to the grim rituals of rebuilding from flash flooding. Crews are working to clear twisted metal, broken trees and muddy debris from streets and homes days after monsoon rains triggered a deadly flash flood in southern New Mexico. A man and two children were killed Tuesday when they were swept away as the Rio Ruidoso crested, bringing with it a wall of water that damaged dozens of homes. Ruidoso, a popular vacation getaway, has been grappling with flooding since wildfire stripped the surrounding mountains of vegetation.

AI kingpin Nvidia crowned as first public company with a $4 trillion valuation

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Silicon Valley chipmaker Nvidia on Wednesday became the first publicly traded company to surpass a $4 trillion market valuation, putting the latest exclamation point on the investor frenzy surrounding an artificial intelligence boom powered by its industry-leading processors. The milestone reflects the upheaval being unleashed by artificial intelligence, or AI, which is widely viewed as the biggest tectonic shift in technology since Apple co—founder unveiled the first iPhone 18 years ago. Underscoring the changing of the guard, AI bellwether Nvidia is now worth $900 billion more than Apple.

Israeli strikes kill 40 in Gaza, with no sign of a breakthrough after Trump's talks with Netanyahu

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hospital officials say Israeli airstrikes killed at least 40 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including 10 from the same family who were sheltering in a tent. Wednesday's strikes came as U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for a ceasefire that might end the war and free dozens of Israeli hostages. Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the second time in two days at the White House on Tuesday evening, but there was no sign of a breakthrough. Netanyahu has vowed to continue the 21-month war until Hamas is destroyed, while the militant group has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

European court finds Russia committed violations in Ukraine and was behind downing Flight MH17

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Europe’s top human rights court delivered damning judgments against Russia in four cases brought by Kyiv and the Netherlands accusing Moscow of atrocities in Ukraine dating back more than a decade. Judges at the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia was responsible for widespread violations of international law — from shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014, to the murder, torture, rape, destruction of civilian infrastructure and kidnapping of Ukrainian children after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of 2022. The Kremlin said it would ignore the largely symbolic judgment, but Ukraine hailed it as “historic and unprecedented,” saying it was an “undeniable victory” for the embattled country.

Russia batters Ukraine with more than 700 drones, the largest barrage of the war, officials say

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian officials say Russia has fired more than 700 attack and decoy drones at Ukraine overnight. That tops previous nightly barrages for the third time in two weeks. It's part of Moscow’s intensifying aerial and ground assault in the three-year war. Russia has recently sought to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses by launching major attacks that include increasing numbers of decoy drones. The most recent one appeared aimed at disrupting Ukraine’s vital supply of Western weapons. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the city of Lutsk was the hardest hit. It lies near the border with Poland in western Ukraine, a region that is a crucial hub for receiving foreign military aid.