Middle East live updates: Hostage’s body recovered from tunnel in Gaza

Security forces and emergency workers respond to the scene of a shooting attack that targeted a bus and other vehicles on January 6, 2025 in the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq, West Bank. Three people were reported killed and others injured, and security forces are still searching for the assailants. The site is located between the Israeli West Bank settlements of Karnei Shomron and Kdumim. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

(LONDON) -- Rebel forces in Syria are building a transitional government after toppling the regime of President Bashar Assad in a lightning-quick advance across the country.

The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza, particularly in the north of the strip around several Palestinian hospitals. A latest round of peace talks to end the 15-month-old war is set to resume in Qatar.

Meanwhile, the November ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group.

Tensions remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides. The IDF and the Yemeni Houthis also continue to exchange attacks.

Lebanon elects army chief as new president

Lebanese Armed Forces chief Joseph Aoun was chosen Thursday to be the country’s next leader.

Aoun’s election came after 12 failed attempts to choose a new president. He will now fill a head of state post left empty for more than two years amid political deadlock and myriad crises.

Aoun received 71 out of 128 votes in the first round of voting, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to clinch the role. Aoun won 99 votes in the second round.

Lawmakers committed to a fresh attempt to fill the presidential role following the recent Israel-Hezbollah conflict, which saw serious damage done to the capital Beirut and the south of the country.

Iran-backed Hezbollah also suffered materiel and personnel losses, its powerful leader Hassan Nasrallah among those killed during the fighting.

Hezbollah backed Suleiman Frangieh -- the leader of a Christian party in northern Lebanon with ties to former Syrian President Bashar Assad -- in the contest. Frangieh withdrew from the race on Wednesday, leaving Aoun as the likely victor.

Gaza's displaced confined to 'overcrowded' schools, UNRWA says

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East warned on Thursday that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are still sheltering in "overcrowded" schools as Israel's 15-month war on the enclave continues.

"Playgrounds for children are homes for the displaced," UNRWA wrote on X. "More humanitarian aid must come into Gaza and a ceasefire is more critical than ever."

UNRWA facilities in Gaza have been attacked frequently since the Israeli invasion began, as have school buildings doubling as shelter for Gazans displaced by the fighting.

The vast majority of Gaza's pre-war population of 2.2 million has been displaced at least once since the fighting began.

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti

Gaza death toll passes 46,000

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza announced that 46,006 people have been killed in Gaza since the war with Israel began on Oct. 7, 2023.

The number of injured rose to 109,378, officials said Thursday morning.

At least 70 people were killed in the past 24 hours, the ministry said, and 104 more were injured by Israeli strikes across the Palestinian territory.

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti

US bombs Houthi weapon sites in Yemen

U.S. Central Command conducted "multiple precision strikes" against two Houthi underground storage facilities in Yemen on Wednesday, the command said in a statement.

"The Houthis used these facilities to conduct attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden," CENTCOM said. "There were no injuries or damage to U.S. personnel or equipment."

U.S. and British forces -- backed by a range of allies -- have been bombing the Iran-aligned Houthi organization in Yemen since January.

The strikes are a response to Houthi attacks on commercial and military shipping in the Red Sea and elsewhere, launched in protest of Israel's war in Gaza. The Houthis have also launched direct attacks on Israel and vowed to continue to do so while the war in Gaza continues.

Israel has launched several waves of strikes on Yemen in response. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that Israel would continue to act against the Houthis "with force, determination and sophistication."

American hostage families to attend Trump inauguration

Families of American hostages who are still believed to be held in Gaza will attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration later this month, a release from the families said Wednesday.

"During the trip, the families plan to meet with officials from the incoming Trump administration, along with members of Congress and their staff," the release said.

"The families are urging leaders to prioritize the safe return of their loved ones and to take decisive action to bring an end to their prolonged captivity," it added.

There are seven American hostages still believed to be held captive inside Gaza, according to the families.

Trump said this week that "all hell will break out in the Middle East" if the remaining Gaza hostages are not released before his inauguration on Jan. 20.

-ABC News' Nadine Shubailat and Ellie Kaufman

Israel recovers body of hostage found in Gaza tunnel

The Israeli Defense Forces and the Shin Bet "located and returned the kidnapped body" of hostage Yosef Al-Zaydani on Tuesday "from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area," the army said in a release Wednesday. Israel said it has also recovered another body and are working to determine whether it is Al-Zaydani's son, Hamza.

The Israel Defense Forces said they have identified the body of one hostage, Yosef Al-Zaydani, and are examining the identify of the second body.

The IDF believes the second body is likely Hamza Al-Zaydani, but they are not certain yet, so at this time the IDF is saying they've identified one body and are examining the findings of a second body.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his "deep sorrow for the bitter news that the Al-Zaydani received today," in a statement Wednesday.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Ellie Kaufman

Israeli warplanes bomb West Bank

The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday its fighter jets "struck a terrorist cell" in the occupied West Bank Palestinian town of Tamun.

Unconfirmed reports by local media suggested that two children were among three Palestinians killed.

On Tuesday, the IDF said its aircraft struck and killed two armed Palestinian militants in the area of Tamun after an armed cell opened fire toward Israeli security forces there.

-ABC News' Nasser Atta, Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti

Israeli strikes kill 51 people in Gaza, health officials say

At least 51 people were killed and 78 others were injured in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health.

In total, at least 45,936 people have been killed and another 109,274 have been injured by Israeli forces in Gaza since the ongoing war began on Oct. 7, 2023, the ministry in the Hamas-run territory said.

-ABC News' Diaa Ostaz, Samy Zyara and Joe Simonetti

Israeli, UAE foreign ministers meet amid Gaza talks

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar met with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayad on Tuesday, according to a release from Saar's office.

The Israeli Foreign Minister was invited by the UAE, the readout said, his visit coinciding with the resumption of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in Doha, Qatar.

The UAE has discussed with Israel and the U.S. the idea of participating in a provisional administration of post-war Gaza until a reformed Palestinian Authority is able to take charge, Reuters reported this week.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Ellie Kaufman

Biden, Trump teams 'very collaborative' on Gaza push, envoy says

President-elect Donald Trump's incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, told reporters that President Joe Biden's team has been "very collaborative" on working towards a Gaza hostage release deal, with renewed talks ongoing in Qatar.

"We're just very collaborative together," Witkoff said following Trump's Tuesday Mar-a-Lago press conference. "I mean, this is a tense negotiation, so no one has pride of authorship. We are totally outcome oriented. Let's get them home."

Witkoff said he speaks every day with Brett McGurk, the top Biden White House official on Middle East policy.

During the press conference, Trump said "all hell will break loose" if the remaining hostages aren't released before Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.

Witkoff said "there was no exaggeration or embellishment with what the president said."

"If you get on the phone with the hostage families, it's harrowing to listen to them," Witkoff said. "There are people who just want the remains of their children back
it is withering to listen to this, and he [Trump] listens to them all."

Witkoff said the incoming administration "aspirationally" hopes for a 42-day ceasefire to be enacted before the inauguration.

"President Trump's persona is such that he's driving the narrative on these negotiations," Witkoff added. "He will be in office when that 42-day ceasefire is over. That's what Hamas cares about -- how we move to phase two. That's what the Israelis care about, how President Trump will be at the end of that ceasefire."

Witkoff said he's seen intelligence reports about how many hostages remain alive, and said it's "not a small amount."

-ABC News' Selina Wang

Israeli settlers attack West Bank Palestinian villages

There were multiple overnight attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in parts of the West Bank, following a shooting attack that killed three Israelis and injured eight others earlier on Monday.

The Palestinian Authority-run WAFA news agency reported at least two attacks by settlers on Palestinian communities in Bethlehem and Ramallah.

The Yesh Din human rights group reported as many as 100 settlers attacking Palestinian villages, some in the al-Funduq area where Monday's attack occurred.

Israeli security forces are still searching for the suspected perpetrators of Monday's shooting attack, which Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz described as "an act of war."

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti

Blinken hopes for Gaza ceasefire in administration's final weeks

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Monday that the U.S. wants a ceasefire deal in Gaza and all remaining captives released within the next two weeks, before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

"We very much want to bring this over the finish line in the next two weeks," Blinken told reporters while in Seoul, South Korea.

Blinken reported "intensified engagement," including by Hamas, on reaching a deal, though added "we are yet to see agreement on final points."

"We need Hamas to make the final necessary decisions to complete the agreement and to fundamentally change the circumstance for the hostages, getting them out, for people in Gaza, bringing them relief, and for the region as a whole, creating an opportunity to actually move forward to something better, more secure for everyone involved," Blinken said.

"If we don't get it across the finish line in the next two weeks, I'm confident that it will get its completion at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later," Blinken added.

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti

3 Israelis killed in West Bank shooting

Three Israelis were killed in a shooting that targeted a bus and a vehicle in the occupied West Bank on Monday morning, security and emergency officials said.

The attack occurred in the village of Al-Funduq, on one of the main east-west roads crossing the Palestinian territory, much of which is under Israeli security control.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service confirmed the death of three victims -- two women in their 60s and a man in his 40s. MDA said it provided medical treatment to seven injured people, including the bus driver who is in serious condition.

The Israel Defense Forces said it launched a manhunt for the suspected Palestinian shooters.

"Anyone who follows the path of Hamas in Gaza and sponsors the murder and harm of Jews will pay heavy prices, " Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a post on his X account, reacting to the attack.

Sending his condolences to the families of the victims, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attackers "will not get away."

"We will find the abhorrent murderers and settle accounts with them and with all those who aided them," his statement said.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah said in an extensive report Sunday that at least 838 Palestinians -- including 173 children -- have been killed by Israeli fire and over 6,700 have been injured in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller, Diaa Ostaz and Somayeh Malekian

WHO director calls for release of Kamal Adwan hospital director

Tedros Ghebreyesus, the director of the World Health Organization, said in a statement Saturday that WHO has received no updates about Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, the director of North Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital, since he was detained by Israeli forces on Dec. 27th.

"We continue to urge Israel to release him. We repeat: attacks on hospitals and health professionals must end. People in Gaza need access to health care. Ceasefire!" he said in a statement.

-ABC News' Victoria Beaulé

Israeli strikes kill 150 in Gaza, officials say, as peace talks resume

More than 150 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip over the past three days, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The series of airstrikes on dozens of Hamas targets came amid a renewed push to reach a ceasefire in the 15-month-old war and return Israeli hostages home before President-elect Donald Trump takes office later this month.

Delegations from both Israel and Hamas were dispatched to resume indirect negotiations in Doha on Friday. The talks will be brokered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

President Joe Biden's administration, which is helping to broker the talks, urged Hamas to agree to a deal. Hamas said it was committed to reaching an agreement deal, but it remains unclear how close the two sides are.

-ABC News Nasser Atta, Bruno Nota, Diaa Ostaz, Samy Zyara and Morgan Winsor

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ukraine launches new offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, Kyiv and Moscow confirm

Yevhenii Vasyliev/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

(LONDON) -- Ukrainian forces on Sunday launched a new offensive inside Russia's western Kursk border region, going on the attack with substantial forces according to reports from Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers.

Russia's Defense Ministry reported a large-scale attack by Kyiv's forces involving armored columns that began on Sunday morning, with Ukrainian troops attacking in three directions inside Kursk.

Ukraine first seized a foothold inside the Kursk region with a surprise offensive in August. But Kyiv's forces have since been slowly pushed back by Russia, including recently with support from North Korean troops.

A Ukrainian military source confirmed to ABC News that a new offensive operation had begun.

The head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office, Andrii Yermark, also appeared to cryptically confirm the offensive, writing on Telegram: "Kursk Oblast, good news! Russia is getting what it deserves."

Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's counter-disinformation center, also wrote that Ukrainian troops have gone on the attack in multiple directions inside Kursk.

Videos posted to Russian military blogger channels appeared to show columns of Ukrainian armored vehicles on the move. The Ukrainian assault appears to be Kyiv's most substantial offensive operation in Kursk since August.

Multiple Russian military bloggers reported that Ukrainian troops, tanks, armored vehicles and demining equipment attacked the villages of Berdin and Bolshoye Soldatskoye, north of Sudzha -- the main administrative border town that Ukraine captured in August.

Bloggers also reported an attack further west on the border town of Tetkino.

Prominent Russian military bloggers -- some close to Russia's Defense Ministry -- said that the offensive was expected but that the situation is challenging for the Russian defenders.

The Defense Ministry said in a statement that two assaults were repelled. "The operation to destroy the Ukrainian Armed Forces formations continues," it wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian troops appeared to make small advances on Sunday but did not achieve significant breakthroughs of the Russian lines, according to open-source monitors. Some Russian military bloggers said they believe Ukraine will attempt another push through Monday, with others suggesting Kyiv's main attack was yet to come.

The new Ukrainian assault comes just two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, with the expectation that his new administration will push for a peace deal to end the nearly 3-year-old war.

ABC News' Natasha Popova contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Six injured in Highway 69 crashes

Six injured in Highway 69 crashesLUFKIN – According to our news partner KETK, six people were injured on Saturday night in two crashes that happened on Highway 69 South. Huntington VFD said that Fuller Springs Volunteer Fire Department was was called out to a crash scene in the 6000 block of Highway 69 South at around 5 p.m. on Saturday. Huntington VFD had just finished training at a house they burned down and so they responded to the scene as well. Four riders who were on three motorcycles were injured in the crash and were taken to the hospital to be treated after Allegiance Mobile Health arrived on scene, according to Huntington VFD.

Officials had blocked off the southbound lanes of Highway 69 when another crash involving three vehicles happened just before where they had blocked off the road. Continue reading Six injured in Highway 69 crashes

How to request more EV chargers in Longview

How to request more EV chargers in LongviewLONGVIEW – Longview’s Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is currently running an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Survey and is looking for the public’s help in placing EV charging stations across the city. Our news partners at KETK report that the survey page allows participants to directly place a pin anywhere within the city. Those who want to make suggestions in-person can do so at the MPO’s public meeting on Wednesday from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at the Maude Cobb Convention Center.

Protesters gather at impeached South Korean president’s residence, as arrest warrant nears expiration

Philip Fong via Getty Images

(SEOUL) -- Thousands of South Korean citizens were gathering on Sunday near impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol's residence a day before an arrest warrant for him expires.

Protesters from both sides -- one calling the warrant invalid or illegal and the other shouting for arrest -- have occupied the wide four-lane road in a normally quiet neighborhood, blocking all traffic, in freezing temperatures and snow.

The effort to detain Yoon came after a South Korean court issued an arrest and search warrant on Dec. 31 over his short-lived imposition of martial law, ABC News confirmed. Yoon has been suspended from his position since Dec. 14.

The warrant is valid until Jan. 6, Yonhap reported, meaning investigators hoping to serve it would have to attempt to detain the president again by Monday.

Yoon declared martial law in a televised speech on Dec. 3. The president said the measure was necessary due to the actions of the country's liberal opposition, the Democratic Party, which he accused of controlling parliament, sympathizing with North Korea and paralyzing the government.

Animosity has been sky-high between the two sides, after over 100 investigators from the CIO anti-corruption agency and the police retreated from the residence after a tense standoff with the presidential security service.

Yoon's die-hard supporters have been camping on the street vowing to protect him from "pro-North Korean forces about to steal away the presidency." Anti-Yoon protesters who are backing of the opposition party claim that Yoon must be jailed for insurrection.

Arrest warrant questioned

Many law experts question the validity of the warrant, which specified that certain key provisions of South Korea's Criminal Procedure Act should be excluded, which meant the police could search the military and government-classified presidential residence.

This court order is widely seen as a first-ever and as being highly irregular, along with being criticized by some as being outside the limits of the judiciary's authority, violating the principles of separation of powers.

Typical search warrants include clear parameters of space, time and items to retrieve but excluding the application of legal provisions entirely is unprecedented, experts say.

Yoon's declaration of martial law had sparked protests, and hours after the declaration, the National Assembly voted to demand that the president lift the martial law order. A majority of parliament -- all 190 members who were present, out of the 300-person body -- voted to lift the decree -- requiring that it then be lifted, under the South Korean constitution.

Following the National Assembly's vote, Yoon said he withdrew the troops that had been deployed to carry out martial law and "will lift martial law as soon as we have a quorum in the cabinet." The State Council then convened to vote to officially lift it.

The country's Democratic Party called on Yoon to resign following what it called the "fundamentally invalid" declaration of martial law. Without Yoon resigning, the opposition party worked to enact impeachment proceedings against the president.

Yoon has been suspended from his position since Dec. 14, when the National Assembly voted for his impeachment in a 204-85 vote.

Presidential security service facing charges

While politicians and lawyers argue heatedly over the validity of the warrant in higher courts, the Presidential Security Service has found itself in the limelight.

The CIO has been leading a joint investigation with police and prosecutors, but say detaining Mr. Yoon would be "virtually impossible" as long as he is protected by the security team.

CIO and the opposition party are seeking charges against the head of the president's security team for obstruction of justice after the police were blocked from entering the residence on Friday.

The security team formed a barricade comprising about 10 buses and vehicles, at one point forming a human chain of about 200 officers to block access, according to CIO.

The opposition has criticized the president's security team as being over-excessive and summoned the chiefs and deputy chiefs. The Presidential Security Service defied the order, citing that this is not the time to leave their positions.

"Some media and political circles are saying that the Presidential Security Service is a private soldier (to President Yoon)," Park Chong-Jun, Head of Presidential Security Service, said in a video press release. "I can't help but feel terrible and sad as the presidential security officer".

He added that fake news reports of him ordering to fire with live ammunition are "absurd claims," there was no violence on Saturday, and that they should not be forced to be associated with political ideology.

ABC News' Somayeh Malekian contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Texas Rose Festival reveals this year’s theme and queen

Texas Rose Festival reveals this year’s theme and queenTYLER – Organizers are already hard at work for this year’s 92nd annual Texas Rose Festival Parade according to our news partner KETK. On Friday, they unveiled this year’s theme and introduced the world to the newest Rose Queen, Avery Armstrong of Tyler. This year’s princess of the Rose Festival is Mary Dial of Tyler. This year is a special for Mary as her sister was last year’s Rose Festival princess.

At their annual Winter Gala at the Willow Brook County Club, the Texas Rose Festival Association said that “A Tapestry of Tales” is the theme for this year’s festivities. At the black tie optional gala on Friday, they also revealed this year’s queen’s court which includes the princess, ladies-in-waiting and attendants.

KETK is the official home of the Texas Rose Festival Parade so be sure to follow us for everything you need to know leading up to this year’s festivities in October.

Take these steps to protect yourself from winter weather dangers

HOUSTON (AP) — Winter weather brings various hazards that people have to contend with to keep warm and safe.

These dangers can include carbon monoxide poisoning, hypothermia and frozen pipes that can burst and make homes unlivable.

Public safety officials and experts say there are multiple ways people can prepare themselves to avoid these winter weather hazards and keep themselves safe.

The hazards are on the radar this week because millions of people in the United States are set to be hit with moderate to heavy snow from Kansas City to Washington. Cold conditions are also gripping the East Coast.
Staying safe inside your home

Officials say that during a winter storm, people should stay indoors. But home heating systems running for hours can increase the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning as the deadly fumes can be produced by furnaces, stoves and heaters, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Carbon monoxide can also be created when people use portable generators or run cars in their garages to stay warm or charge their phones.

Dr. Alex Harding, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said that because carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless, people won’t necessarily be aware of it.

“The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can be really insidious. They can sneak up on patients and can range from just developing a headache or maybe a little bit of nausea to all the way to losing consciousness and seizures,” he said.
Dealing with hypothermia

The cold weather hitting much of the East Coast has the ability to be dangerous or deadly because of unsafe exposure to elements. This week’s winter storms are tracking to the south, and cold air will likely be present as far south as Georgia, said Jon Palmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine.

The cold temperatures could sneak up on people in parts of the country that have largely experienced a mild winter so far.

“Really cold temperatures and winds can make temperatures feel a lot colder, and the result of that could be cold air that could eventually lead to frostbite at a much faster rate or hypothermia at a much faster rate than normal,” Palmer said.

Prolonged exposure to frigid temperatures can put people at risk to hypothermia, a condition that happens when one’s body loses heat faster than it can produce it.

“Hypothermia is definitely one of the bigger concerns, especially if we do have any kind of certainty in like power grids or electricity failing,” Harding said.

The danger of hypothermia is greater for someone who is outside, exposed to wind gusts and isn’t wearing appropriate clothing or has clothing that gets wet.

“If they have a safe place that’s warm, where they can hunker down, where they have water and food and all those kind of necessities 
 then that’s going to limit their exposure to those risks,” Harding said.

But vulnerable populations like people with disabilities or homeless individuals can have problems finding a warm and safe place to stay.
Protecting your home’s pipes

Frozen pipes in a home during severe winter weather is a particular problem in parts of the South because such equipment is often located outside structures. But other parts of the country also have to deal with this problem.

Jose Parra, a master plumber with Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical in Houston, advises people to insulate any pipes that are exposed to the outside, turn off and drain sprinkler systems and let faucets inside a home drip during freezing temperatures so water can run through the pipes and protect them.

“A lot of what we’re fixing, I would say 80% to 90%, could have been prevented with just a little bit of work ahead of time,” Parra said.
Electric vehicle troubles

Experts acknowledge that cold weather can be hard for electric vehicles, but they say with some planning and a little adjustment, owners should be able to travel pretty much as normal.

Inside EV batteries, lithium ions flow through a liquid electrolyte, producing electricity. But they travel more slowly through the electrolyte when it gets cold and don’t release as much energy. That cuts into the range and can deplete a battery faster.

In the short run, automakers are likely to come up with better ways to protect battery life and warm them for charging, Neil Dasgupta, associate professor of mechanical and materials science engineering at the University of Michigan, told The Associated Press earlier this year. And there are new battery chemistries in development that are more resilient in cold weather.

___

Tom Krisher contributed to this story.

Bullard ISD mourns loss of high schooler killed in crash

Bullard ISD mourns loss of high schooler killed in crashBULLARD, Texas – The Bullard Independent School District is in mourning after a high school student died in a motor vehicle crash on Wednesday. According to our news partner KETK, Madison Nelson, a 9th grader, passed away in the crash, according to a statement released by the district. She represented the 2024 freshman class as a homecoming duchess in this past fall semester.
Continue reading Bullard ISD mourns loss of high schooler killed in crash

Hundreds of animals killed in Dallas shopping center fire

DALLAS (AP) — A fire that broke out at a shopping center in Dallas on Friday morning killed more than 500 animals, most of which were small birds, authorities said.

The 579 animals in the pet shop at Plaza Latina in Northwest Dallas died from smoke inhalation, Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesperson Jason Evans said in a statement. The flames from the fire never reached the animals. Chickens, hamsters, two dogs and two cats also died, Evans said. The two-alarm fire took about two hours and as many as 45 firefighters to extinguish around 11 a.m., Evans said.

“While DFR personnel did search and attempt rescue, all animals in the shop unfortunately perished due to smoke inhalation,” Evans said.

No people were injured in the fire. The structure of the large, one-story shopping center was severely damaged, including a partially collapsed roof, Evans said.

The shopping center includes multiple small businesses and was described on its Facebook page as “a place where people can go to eat, and buy all sorts of Latin goods and services.” A post on the page in Spanish asked for prayers for the families who work there.

The cause of the fire was not immediately determined and is under investigation, Evans said.

Could Texas’ power grid connect to New Mexico?

DALLAS – The Dallas Morning News reports that a small regional electric cooperative in far West Texas is seeking to connect portions of New Mexico to Texas’ self-contained power grid. The Rio Grande Electric Cooperative, a rural electric retail company that owns thousands of miles of power lines across 18 Texas counties, is not wholly part of ERCOT, but it wants to be. Last month, the power provider petitioned the federal regulatory body overseeing the nation’s electric grid and asked regulators to determine whether connecting their customers to ERCOT, including homes and businesses in two New Mexico counties, would trigger federal regulation. Texas has maintained an energy grid largely disconnected from the rest of the country. This isolation has allowed the state to avoid federal regulation, which many lawmakers, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have touted as an economic advantage contributing to the state’s sustained economic growth.

The electric cooperative argues allowing ERCOT power to cross state lines would not trigger federal regulation because all the large electric transmission lines they own are in Texas. The electricity that crosses state lines is transmitted on smaller distribution lines like those connected to homes and small businesses across Texas. They argue that the Federal Electric Regulatory Commission does not have jurisdiction over those lines. The Rio Grande Electric Cooperative’s CEO Theresa Quiroz said in an interview that allowing the co-op to connect its remaining customers to ERCOT was “critical” to the organization’s ability to meet future power needs in its coverage area. “We have a lot of entities inquiring of us whether we have the capacity and ability to serve them,” Quiroz said. “We have an obligation to serve them. However, we can’t do it with what we have in place. At this point, we are having to turn away customers, and we don’t want to do that.” No hearings have been scheduled in the case, but the Rio Grande Electric Cooperative asked federal regulators to issue a ruling by Feb. 24.

Two Houston suburbs among the fastest-growing places in the U.S.

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that thegrowth of the Houston region continues to seem nearly inexorable, with two exurbs in the region appearing on a new list of the fastest-growing places in the United States. Atascocita, in northeast Harris County, was the fifth fastest-growing place in the country from 2022 to 2023, according to a new analysis from SmartAsset, the personal finance website. The community — technically a “census-designated place” rather than a city — added about 12,000 people during the span, the study found, for a year-over-year growth rate of 11%. Over the past five years, Atascocita’s population has ballooned by nearly 40%, second only to Buckeye, Ariz. Conroe, in Montgomery County, also made the top 10: It saw population growth of 6.73% from 2022 to 2023, the ninth-highest growth rate in the nation. Over the past five years, Conroe’s population has grown by almost 25%.