The grueling, desperate search for 27 missing girls stretched into a third day on Sunday after raging floodwaters surged into a summer camp as rescuers maneuvered through challenging terrain, while Texans were asked to pray that any survivors would be found. At least 51 people, including 15 children, were killed, with most of the deaths coming in Kerr County in the state’s Hill Country. Besides the 43 dead in Kerr County, four deaths were reported in Travis, three in Burnet and 1 in Kendall. Rescuers dealt with broken trees, overturned cars and muck-filled debris in a difficult task to find survivors.

A ship came under attack Sunday in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen by armed men firing guns and launching rocket-propelled grenades, a group overseen by the British military said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes as tensions remain high in the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war and after the Iran-Israel war and airstrikes by the United States targeting Iranian nuclear sites. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said that an armed security team on the ship had returned fire and that the “situation is ongoing.” “Authorities are investigating,” it said.

The Muslim “Day of Ashura” took place on Shabbos, July 5, this year. On this day, Sunni Muslims celebrate, among many other things, the splitting of the Yam Suf by “Prophet Moses,” the landing of the ark of “Prophet Nuh” (Noach), and the emergence of “Prophet Yonah” from the belly of the fish. In contrast, for Shia Muslims, Ashura is a solemn day: it is a day of mourning, commemorating the anniversary of the killing of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, during the Battle of Karbala in October 680 CE.

The IDF is considering establishing hundreds of new prison spaces for Chareidi draft dodgers. The IDF announced late last week that it is preparing to begin sending 54,000 conscription orders to bnei yeshivos as early as Tuesday, July 8. However, the army has not yet decided whether to send all the orders at once, on the same day, or to divide the sending of the orders into several stages until the end of July in order to comply with the letter of the law. One of the problems that the IDF is facing is the lack of military prison spaces to implement the enforcement of the draft orders. The IDF’s detention facility has room for hundreds of prisoners, far less than the estimated tens of thousands of Chareidi draft dodgers.

An Israeli delegation is scheduled to leave for Doha on Sunday for talks on a ceasefire/hostage release deal. However, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office stated on Motzei Shabbos that “the changes that Hamas is requesting to make to the Qatari proposal were conveyed to us last night and are unacceptable to Israel.” “Following a situational assessment, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu instructed to accept the invitation for proximity talks and continue efforts for the return of our hostages, based on the Qatari proposal that Israel has agreed to.” Hamas is demanding, among other things, guarantees that the war will not resume after the 60-day ceasefire and that the US-Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) cease its activities in the Strip. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

A major demonstration is unfolding tonight outside the Lakewood Police Department headquarters, as hundreds of community members – including the BMG roshei yeshiva – rally in support of R’ Binyomin Kubani, a respected yungerman and father of eight who was arrested on Thursday under deeply troubling circumstances. The arrest has sent shockwaves through the Lakewood kehilla, with many accusing the police of acting recklessly, ignoring basic investigative protocol, and increasingly showing disregard for the overwhelmingly Orthodox Jewish population of Lakewood — which comprises the vast majority of township residents.

Wayne Truex, a former Lakewood police officer and one-time township fire chief, has passed away. Truex, who also served with the Lakewood First Aid Squad, was removed from the Lakewood Police Department after a fatal incident that continues to cast a shadow over his public service record, Lakewood Alerts reported. On August 30, 2002, while on duty with the Lakewood Police Department, Truex struck and killed an Orthodox Jewish man on Clifton Avenue near Bais Faiga. The victim, who had just left a wedding at the hall, was walking toward his parked vehicle shortly after midnight when Truex’s police cruiser hit him. Despite efforts by emergency responders to save him, the man tragically succumbed to his injuries.

President Donald Trump signed his package of tax breaks and spending cuts into law Friday in front of Fourth of July picnickers after his cajoling produced almost unanimous Republican support in Congress for the domestic priority that could cement his second-term legacy. Flanked by Republican legislators and members of his Cabinet, Trump signed the multitrillion-dollar legislation at a desk on the White House driveway, then banged down a gavel gifted to him by House Speaker Mike Johnson that was used during the bill’s final passage Thursday.

This year’s Fourth of July holiday was marked by multiple shootings across the U.S., including one in Indianapolis that left at least two dead and a police chief voicing public frustration over the latest acts of violence in his city. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Chris Bailey told reporters early Saturday morning that the mayhem was “completely unacceptable and unnecessary” and that parents and guardians needed to better control their children. “Hundreds of unsupervised kids down here,” he said, while speaking in the city’s downtown. “I don’t know how many times I had to say it: We are not your children’s keepers. You are! And parents and guardians have got to step up.

Iran’ s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday made his first public appearance since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran began, attending a mourning ceremony on the eve of Ashoura. The absence of Khamenei during the war had suggested heavy security for the Iranian leader, who has final say on all state matters. State TV in Iran showed Khamenei waving and nodding to the chanting crowd as he entered and sat. There was no immediate report on any public statement made. Iran has acknowledged the deaths of more than 900 people in the war, as well as thousands of injured. It also has confirmed serious damage to its nuclear facilities, and has denied access to the sites for inspectors with the U.N. nuclear watchdog.