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The Standard
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Standard
10 songs to memorialize Ozzy Osbourne, the great Black Sabbath frontman
FILE - Singer Ozzy Osbourne performs during halftime of an NFL football game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills in Inglewood, Calif., Sept. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
American Press
14-07-2025
- Climate
- American Press
Search for those missing in catastrophic Texas floods resumes in some areas after pause for rain
An officer prays with a family as they pick up items at Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) With rain in the forecast Monday, officials kept a wary eye on river levels as some crews resumed the search for people still missing after catastrophic flooding pummeled Texas this month, killing at least 132 people. Search and rescue operations along the Guadalupe River were halted Sunday after a new round of heavy rain led to more high water rescues and prompted fears that waterways could surge again above their banks. That was the first time search efforts for victims were paused since the July Fourth floods. Authorities believe more than 160 people may still be missing in Kerr County alone, and 10 more in neighboring areas. 'Trailer after trailer after trailer' swept away Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said Monday during a commissioners' meeting that it is difficult to determine exactly how many tourists were in the area when the flooding occurred. 'We've heard accounts of trailer after trailer after trailer being swept into the river with families in the them. Can't find the trailers,' Kelly said. 'It's what we don't know. We don't know how many of them there are.' Kelly said he'd been told of one trailer that was found 'completely covered in gravel' 27 feet (8.2 meters) below the surface of the river. He said sonar crews have been searching the river and local lakes and more are expected to arrive. Commissioner Don Harris said officials plan to drain two reservoir lakes on the river. 'Who knows how many out there are completely covered,' Harris said FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams fully resumed operations on Monday, said Obed Frometa, FEMA Blue Incident Support Team information officer. Levi Bizzell with Ingram Fire Department said their operations and everything up the river were still suspended as of about noon Monday but they would be reconvening shortly to discuss next steps. 'Everybody here wants to be out there working,' Bizzell said. 'They literally come in in the morning whether they are tired or not, and they just want to get out there and work because they want to find closure for these families.' 'Playing a blame game' In Kerrville, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Austin, local officials have come under scrutiny over whether residents were adequately warned about the rising water on July 4. Authorities in Kerrville went door-to-door to some homes early Sunday to warn that flooding was again possible, and pushed phone alerts to area residents. Kerr County commissioners asked the public for their patience as the search and cleanup continues. Commissioner Rich Paces said during the meeting Monday morning that he has received death threats. 'They're just playing a blame game,' Paces said. During a special Kerrville City Council meeting Monday, council member Brenda Hughes also complained of threats to city officials and staff, which she did not detail, and called for increased security at City Hall. 'We're not only dealing with all of the aftermath of this tragic event, but now we have to worry about threats that are coming to staff, targeted threats that are specific to individual staff members,' she said. Bad weather forces a halt to search efforts During the pause in search efforts, Ingram Fire Department officials ordered crews to immediately evacuate the Guadalupe River corridor in Kerr County, warning the potential for another flash flood was high. The soil is still primed for enhanced water runoff across Texas Hill Country, and a flood watch covering the region is in effect until 9 p.m. Monday, with up to 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) of rain possible in some spots, the National Weather Service said. Gov. Greg Abbott said on X on Sunday that the state had rescued dozens of people in San Saba, Lampasas and Schleicher counties, and that people evacuated their homes in a handful of others. The latest flooding damaged about 100 homes and knocked down untold lengths of cattle fencing, said Ashley Johnson, CEO of the Hill Country Community Action Association, a San Saba-based nonprofit. 'Anything you can imagine in a rural community was damaged,' she said. 'Our blessing is it was daylight and we knew it was coming.' County officials ordered everyone living in flood-prone areas near the San Saba River to evacuate and relocate to the San Saba Civic Center, Johnson said. A wide-ranging weather system brings heavy rains The weather system brought widespread slow-moving storms and multiple rounds of heavy rain Sunday, pushing rivers and streams over their banks. The rains caused waterways to swell further north in Texas, where emergency crews rescued one motorist who was left stranded in waist-high rapids on a submerged bridge over the Bosque River. 'He drove into it and didn't realize how deep it was,' said Jeff Douglas, president of the McGregor Volunteer Fire Department. Just before daybreak on the Fourth of July, destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet (8 meters) on the Guadalupe River, washing away homes and vehicles. Crews in helicopters, boats and drones have been searching for victims. The floods laid waste to the Hill Country region. The riverbanks and hills of Kerr County are filled with vacation cabins, youth camps and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old, all-girls Christian summer camp. Located in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe River in a region known as flash flood alley, Camp Mystic lost at least 27 campers and counselors. The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system.
Toronto Sun
14-07-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
TikTok CEO asks to meet with industry minister over shutdown order
Published Jul 14, 2025 • 3 minute read The TikTok app logo is shown on an iPhone on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Houston. Photo by Ashley Landis / AP OTTAWA — The CEO of TikTok is asking Industry Minister Melanie Joly for an urgent meeting about the federal government's order directing the company to shut down its Canadian operations. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Shou Chew wrote to Joly on July 2 asking for an in-person meeting within two weeks, according to a letter obtained by The Canadian Press. Chew argued that order was made in different circumstances, when it looked like the United States was going to ban TikTok. 'There is no upside to this outdated and counterproductive government order, which was issued under a different government and in a different era, and which doesn't reflect today's reality,' the letter says. In November, Ottawa ordered the dissolution of TikTok's Canadian business following a national security review of ByteDance Ltd., the Chinese company behind the social media platform. While TikTok has been told to wind down its Canadian operations, the app will continue to be available to Canadians. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Chew argued going ahead with that November directive would make Canada an outlier among its allies, including other countries that are part of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance. He said the order appeared to be based on 'assumptions about TikTok's future in the United States which no longer hold true.' Canada launched its national security review in the fall of 2023 but did not disclose it until March 2024, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to ban TikTok if ByteDance did not divest its stake. But in June, U.S. President Donald Trump extended the deadline to ban TikTok in the U.S. for a third time. In the July 2 letter, Chew said that without Joly's intervention, the company would soon have to fire more than 350 employees in Canada, stop its direct investment in Canada and cut support for Canadian creators and culture. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'The wind-up process is rapidly approaching a critical juncture,' he wrote. On July 7, TikTok said it was pulling out as a sponsor of several Canadian arts institutions, including the Juno Awards and the Toronto International Film Festival. A spokesperson for Joly did not answer questions about whether the minister has responded to the letter or plans to meet with Chew. TikTok is challenging the shutdown order in Federal Court. It launched a legal challenge in December, arguing the government ordered 'measures that bear no rational connection to the national security risks it identifies.' Ottawa's national security review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with the potential to harm national security. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. When he was industry minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne said the government was taking action to address 'specific national security risks.' He didn't specify what those risks are. Privacy and safety concerns about TikTok and ByteDance have focused on Chinese national security laws that compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering. Chew said no evidence has been presented to show that TikTok is a security threat to Canada and the government has not been interested in discussing solutions. He said the government's concerns could be addressed through measures such as enhanced data security protocols and additional transparency and oversight measures. The shutdown order would leave TikTok available to its 14 million users in Canada, Chew said in the letter. But the company would 'no longer have a presence or representatives within Canada's jurisdiction,' he added. He said the company's Canadian employees have appeared at Parliamentary committees, engaged with regulators, trained Canadian law enforcement on how to submit lawful access requests and worked with Elections Canada during the federal election. 'TikTok maintaining a presence in Canada means there is a local team who is accountable to Canadian policy-makers and authorities,' he wrote. Uncategorized Toronto & GTA Editorial Cartoons Golf Columnists
Japan Today
10-07-2025
- Business
- Japan Today
TikTok faces fresh European privacy investigation over China data transfers
FILE - The TikTok app logo is shown on an iPhone on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File) By KELVIN CHAN TikTok is facing a fresh European Union privacy investigation into user data sent to China, regulators said Thursday. The Data Protection Commission opened the inquiry as a follow up to a previous investigation that ended earlier this year with a 530 million euro ($620 million) fine after it found the video sharing app put users at risk of spying by allowing remote access their data from China. The Irish national watchdog serves as TikTok's lead data privacy regulator in the 27-nation EU because the company's European headquarters is based in Dublin. During an earlier investigation, TikTok initially told the regulator it didn't store European user data in China, and that data was only accessed remotely by staff in China. However, it later backtracked and said that some data had in fact been stored on Chinese servers. The watchdog responded at the time by saying it would consider further regulatory action. 'As a result of that consideration, the DPC has now decided to open this new inquiry into TikTok,' the watchdog said. 'The purpose of the inquiry is to determine whether TikTok has complied with its relevant obligations under the GDPR in the context of the transfers now at issue, including the lawfulness of the transfers,' the regulator said, referring to the European Union's strict privacy rules, known as the General Data Protection Regulation. TikTok, which is owned by China's ByteDance, has been under scrutiny in Europe over how it handles personal user information amid concerns from Western officials that it poses a security risk. TikTok noted that it was one that notified the Data Protection Commission, after it embarked on a data localization project called Project Clover that involved building three data centers in Europe to ease security concerns. 'Our teams proactively discovered this issue through the comprehensive monitoring TikTok implemented under Project Clover," the company said in a statement. "We promptly deleted this minimal amount of data from the servers and informed the DPC. Our proactive report to the DPC underscores our commitment to transparency and data security.' Under GDPR, European user data can only be transferred outside of the bloc if there are safeguards in place to ensure the same level of protection. Only 15 countries or territories are deemed to have the same data privacy standard as the EU, but China is not one of them. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Boston Globe
10-07-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
A decade of missed opportunities: Texas couldn't find $1M for flood warning system near camps
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up People searched along the Guadalupe River on Wednesday for victims. Gerald Herbert/Associated Press Advertisement Previous floods provided warnings A deadly 2015 Memorial Day flood in Kerr County rekindled debate over whether to install a flood monitoring system and sirens to alert the public to evacuate when the river rose to dangerous levels. Some officials, cognizant of a 1987 flood that killed eight people on a church camp bus, thought it was finally time. But the idea soon ran into opposition. Some residents and elected officials opposed the installation of sirens, citing the cost and noise that they feared would result from repeated alarms. County commissioners sought compromise. They moved forward with a plan for a warning system without sirens, which would improve flood monitoring with a series of sensors but leave it up to local authorities to alert the public. They didn't want to pay for it on their own but found little help elsewhere. Advertisement The county's largest city, Kerrville, declined to participate in a joint grant application that would have required a $50,000 contribution. The state's emergency management agency twice passed over the county's request for hazard mitigation funding, citing a deficiency in the application and then backing communities ravaged by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The state's flood infrastructure fund later offered an interest-free loan for the project — but that plan was seen as too stingy and turned down by the agency in charge of managing the watershed. People went to pick up items as others cleaned up the site at Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, on Wednesday. Ashley Landis/Associated Press A failure to act Without the flood monitoring system, the county was left vulnerable when rains pounded the area in the early morning hours of July 4 and the river rapidly rose. 'There wasn't enough fight in them, and there needs to be more fight this time,' said Nicole Wilson, a San Antonio mother who pulled her daughters out of an area camp ahead of the flooding and who launched an online petition calling on Kerr County to install the sirens. 'Whether it's a combination of city, state and federal funding, there simply can't be the answer of 'no' this time.' Local authorities and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have urged the public not to point fingers after the flooding, which killed at least 120 people and left scores more reported missing. 'I would be willing to talk about it but not yet. It's just too raw right now,' said Glenn Andrew, a former Kerrville city council member who voted in 2017 to pull the city out of the grant proposal for the project. 'My preference is to look forward to the future.' Advertisement A spokesperson for Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Wednesday that lawmakers, who begin a special session later this month, would approve funding to cover such projects in the future. 'The state will provide emergency warning sirens where needed,' Patrick spokesperson Steven Aranyi wrote in an email. But some anger is starting to boil over. Raymond Howard, a city council member in Ingram, Texas, in Kerr County, said Wednesday it's 'unfathomable' that county officials never took action despite repeatedly talking about it. Damage seen next to the Guadalupe River on Tuesday. Without a flood monitoring system, Kerr County was left vulnerable when rains pounded the area in the early morning hours of July 4. Ashley Landis/Associated Press 'That's just mind-boggling,' he said. 'It's unfathomable that they never worked on it. If it comes down to funding, they're constantly raising taxes on us for other stuff. This is more important. This is lives. This is families. This is heartbreaking.' Howard, who lives in a home along the Guadalupe River, said any action now would come too late for those who have died. Another chance ended in diverted funds Kerr County requested a flood warning system grant in 2016 through the Texas Division of Emergency Management's hazard mitigation program, which is supported by Federal Emergency Management Agency funding to help communities reduce their risk. But that application was rejected because it did not meet federal specifications, including one that required the county have a current hazard mitigation plan on file, Texas emergency management spokesperson Wes Rapaport said. The county hired a consultant and an engineering firm to help prepare another application for the project for the next funding cycle in 2017. The system outlined in the county's preliminary plan would provide 'mass notifications to citizens about high water levels and flooding conditions throughout Kerr County.' Advertisement At targeted low water crossings within Kerr County, sensors connected to monitoring stations would transmit a signal that would notify local officials and emergency management agencies of the rising water levels. Officials envisioned using that information to alert the public and call their contacts at youth camps and RV parks during emergencies. But after Hurricane Harvey caused record flooding in Houston and other areas of Texas in August 2017, 'funding was distributed to counties that fell under the disaster declaration, which Kerr County was not included on,' Rapaport said. The City of Kerrville's council voted 4-0 to decline to participate in the grant proposal, balking at its planned $50,000 contribution, minutes show. Crystal Byrd, left, cleaned up debris in Hunt on Monday, in the wake of the Kerr County flood. Byrd's home has become a refuge for several who were able to evacuate a gated community across the road. Danielle Villasana/For The Washington Post Texas voters created a new funding source for such projects in 2019, backing a constitutional amendment to create a state flood infrastructure fund with an initial $800 million investment. The Upper Guadalupe River Authority, which manages the watershed in Kerr County, revived the project last year with a $1 million initial request for funding. The Texas Water Development Board, which oversees the fund, offered a $50,000 grant and a $950,000 interest-free loan for the rest of the project. The river authority declined to pursue the funding, saying the terms were not favorable. Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa; Keller from Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Mustian from Miami. Associated Press reporter Claudia Lauer contributed to this report from Philadelphia.
