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In the news today: Texas Republicans are poised to redraw the state's congressional map at President Trump's urging; most US adults think the GOP tax bill will help the wealthy and harm the poor, according to a new poll; and Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels move closer to a permanent ceasefire in one of Africa's longest conflicts. Also, an experimental Artificial IntelligenceI model is working to transcribe thoughts from brainwaves. |
President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at Hill Country Youth Event Center in Kerrville, Texas, during a tour to observe flood damage, July 11. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) |
Texas Republicans aim to redraw House districts at Trump's urging, but there's a risk
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Texas Republicans are poised to redraw the state's congressional map during a special session that starts Monday. It's a move urged by President Donald Trump as a way to help the GOP retain control of the U.S. House in next year's midterm elections. The midcycle redrawing of political lines complicates Democrats' plans to begin regaining power in Washington, and they have few avenues to push back. But the move also has risks for Republicans. Some Texas districts considered safe for conservatives will have to add more Democratic voters. Read more. |
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- Texas has 38 seats in the House. Republicans now hold 25 and Democrats 12, with one seat vacant after Democrat Sylvester Turner, a former Houston mayor, died in March. Redrawing the state's congressional maps this coming week to devise five new winnable seats for the GOP would help the party avoid losing House control in the 2026 elections.
Mapmakers — in most states, it's the party that controls the legislature — must adjust congressional and state legislative lines after every 10-year census to ensure that districts have about the same number of residents. That is a golden opportunity for one party to rig the map against the other, a tactic known as gerrymandering. But there is a term, too, for so aggressively redrawing a map that it puts that party's own seats at risk: a "dummymander."
- Democratic state lawmakers are talking about staying away from the Capitol during the special session of the Legislature to deny the Legislature the minimum number needed to convene. Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton posted that any Democrats who did that should be arrested.
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Most US adults think the GOP tax bill will help the wealthy and harm the poor, AP-NORC poll finds
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Republican officials are promoting their recently passed tax and spending bill as a win for working Americans, but a new survey shows that Americans broadly see it as a win for the wealthy. About two-thirds of U.S. adults expect the new tax law will help the rich, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Most — about 6 in 10 — think it will do more to hurt than help low-income people. Read more. |
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Most people have heard at least something about the new law, according to the poll, which found that about two-thirds of U.S. adults have heard or read "a lot" or "some" about it. Those who know something about the legislation are more likely to believe it favors the wealthy, compared with people who have heard "only a little" or "nothing at all."
Even many Republicans agree that the wealthy are likely to benefit from the tax and spending law. About half say the law will do more to help the wealthy. A similar percentage say this about middle-class people, while about 4 in 10 Republicans think it will do more to help than hurt low-income people.
- Just 38% of Americans approve of how Donald Trump is handling government spending, compared with 46% in an AP-NORC poll conducted in March. Republicans are less likely to say the government is spending "too much" than they were in March 2023, when Joe Biden was president, but about 6 in 10 still think the government is overspending. A similar share of Democrats say the same thing.
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Congo and rebels have committed to ending war in the east. Here's what to know
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Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels have signed a declaration of principles for a permanent ceasefire in eastern Congo, where ethnic tensions and quest for rich minerals have resulted in one of Africa's longest conflicts with thousands killed this year. Read more. |
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The conflict can be traced to the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide of 1994, when Hutu soldiers and militias killed between 500,000 and 1 million minority Tutsis as well as moderate Hutus and the Indigenous Twa. When Tutsi-led rebels stopped the genocide and ousted the Hutu government, nearly 2 million Hutus fled into neighboring Congo, fearing reprisals. Rwandan authorities accused the authorities in Kinshasa of sheltering those responsible for the mass killings among the civilian refugees.
At least 6 million people have been killed in the conflict since then, mostly characterized by on-and-off fighting but also famines and unchecked disease outbreaks. The U.N. and rights groups have accused both sides of committing atrocities and possible war crimes since fighting escalated in January. This includes children being killed in summary executions, the rape and sexual abuse of thousands of children, attacks on hospitals, forced recruitments and the disappearance of residents in rebel-held areas.
- Analysts have said a lot of interests in the conflict in Congo are tied to the mostly untapped minerals in the east, estimated to be worth as much as $24 trillion by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Trump administration has pushed to gain access to the minerals key to much of the world's technology. It is also to counter China, a key player in the region where the U.S. presence and influence have eroded.
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Tourists pose for selfies at Niagara Falls, Ontario, in 2021. (Peter Power/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Teens, screens, time pressure and other challenges to navigate on a family road trip
If you're going to be road-tripping with your family this summer, get ready to embrace unexpected moments of both connection and inevitable chaos. But we have some advice from the experts about not only surviving a family road trip but also having a good time. |
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