Texas

Texas moves to lift mask mandate and lift Covid rules

"It is now time to open Texas 100%," the Republican said on Tuesday.

Texas is the largest US state to end its mask mandate. Mr Abbott has faced criticism from his party over the measure, which was imposed last July.

More than 42,000 people have died with Covid in Texas since the start of the pandemic.

Mr Abbot announced he is lifting of the restrictions in a speech at the Chamber of Commerce in the city of Lubbock on Tuesday.

Texas train carrying fuel in flames after crossing collision

Footage of the incident in the city of Cameron, in Milam County, showed thick black smoke streaming across the sky.

Nearby homes had to be evacuated and at least one property was destroyed by fire, police said.

The vehicle's driver and the people on board the train escaped unharmed and no injuries have been reported.

"Luckily, everybody seems to be OK," Milam County Sheriff Chris White said on Tuesday, telling reporters that there was "no more threat at this point" and that the focus was "to put the fire out and clean the mess up".

Black man led by white police on horseback sues for $1m

Galveston Police apologised last year after footage emerged of Donald Neely, 44, arrested for criminal trespassing.

A lawsuit filed this week alleged the officers' conduct was "extreme and outrageous" and caused Mr Neely injury and emotional and mental anguish.

The trespass charges against Mr Neely were later dismissed in court.

Hurricane Laura ‘will cause unsurvivable storm surge’

Laura was upgraded to a Category 4 storm as it approached the coasts of Texas and Louisiana on Wednesday.

The NHC warned local residents to "rush" to complete preparations.

Half a million have been told to leave. Laura and another storm, Marco, earlier hit the Caribbean, killing 24.

Marco has already struck Louisiana, bringing strong winds and heavy rain on Monday.

Initially it was feared that both storms would hit Louisiana as hurricanes within 48 hours of each other - an unprecedented event - but Marco was downgraded to a tropical storm.

     

'Swift and dangerous turn' in Texas COVID-19 cases, says governor

"Over just the past few weeks, the daily number of cases have gone from an average of about 2,000, to more than 5,000," Mr Abbott said on Sunday.

Several southern and western states have recorded a surge in cases after lockdown restrictions were eased.

The number of reported infections in the US has now surpassed 2.5 million.

Over 125,000 Covid-19 patients are confirmed to have died nationwide - more than in any other country.

Protesters in Texas ignore social distancing, oppose lockdown

New York, epicentre of the US epidemic, yesterday reported another 540 coronavirus-related deaths for the previous day, the lowest daily tally since 1 April. While that was down from 630 a day earlier, it still represented hundreds more families who lost a loved one to Covid-19, the highly contagious illness caused by the virus, in a single day in one state.

The number of patients requiring intensive care and ventilators to help them breathe as the virus attacks their lungs was also down in New York.

Deadly tornadoes batter southern US states

Tornadoes touched down in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi.

On Sunday, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agenda confirmed deaths across three counties.

In Louisiana, a number of homes were destroyed in the city of Monroe, with the city's official social media account initially reporting only minor injuries.

The National Weather Service said severe thunderstorms were likely through late Sunday into Monday, in particular across parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.

Texas newlyweds die in helicopter crash while leaving their wedding

Will Byler and Bailee Ackerman Byler were both students at Sam Houston State University. Their deaths were first reported by the student newspaper.

The crash occurred near Uvalde, about 85 miles (135km) west of San Antonio.

On social media, wedding attendees have been posting their condolences in the captions of wedding photos.

"I'm absolutely devastated!" wrote one friend on Facebook, adding that the pilot of the aircraft was also killed.

Texas man nearly dies after being bitten by severed snake head

Jennifer Sutcliffe told local station KIII-TV that her husband was working in the garden when he saw the four-foot (1.25m) rattlesnake and decapitated it.

When he picked up the snake's remains to dispose of them, the head bit him.

A snake's bite reflex can be triggered up to several hours after it has died. Ms Sutcliffe told KIII-TV her husband immediately began to have seizures.

He was airlifted from his home near Corpus Christi to hospital where he was treated with the anti-venom CroFab.

Storm Harvey: 'Catastrophic' flooding expected to worsen

A record 30in of rain (75cm) has already fallen on the city of Houston in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, turning roads into rivers.

But forecasters say that number could nearly double later this week.

On Monday President Donald Trump also approved an emergency declaration for neighbouring Louisiana.

Harvey made landfall as a category-four hurricane late on Friday, bringing flooding described by officials as "unprecedented". It was later downgraded to a tropical storm.