NPR News Now - NPR News: 07-05-2025 7PM EDT

Episode Date: July 5, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. A flash flood in central Texas has left at least 28 people dead, 15 of them children, according to authorities. Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies reports more than 27 children are missing from a summer camp near the Guadalupe River. The children were attending Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp that was hit by the flash flood early Friday morning. It's unknown how many total people are missing in the Texas Hill Country flood.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott says this remains a rescue mission. My instruction to every state agency involved in this is to assume everybody who is missing is alive and there's a need for speed. Not just every hour, every minute counts. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says the federal government is providing additional assistance in the search and recovery efforts along the upper Guadalupe River. For NPR News, I'm David Martin-Davies in San Antonio. A maker of build-it-yourself kit firearms is asking a federal court to block federal regulations on so-called ghost guns.

And Piers Martin Costey reports, this comes as the Trump administration reviews dozens of Biden-era gun regulations. Piers Martin Costey, P.S. The Biden administration cracked down on gun kits, requiring them to be sold like completed guns with serial numbers and background checks. The legal pressures led to the shuttering of the most popular gun kit seller, Polymer 80. But now another company, Defense Distributed, is testing the legal waters to sell a kit

that can be assembled into a 9mm pistol. Cody Wilson runs the company. We understand there's a Polymer 80-sized hole in the market, and we're trying to legally fill that gap. The Trump administration hasn't yet said whether it'll keep enforcing the Biden-era regulation, but Wilson says he won't wait, and he's pressing the issue by asking a federal court in Texas to tell the Justice Department to suspend enforcement of the ghost gun rule. Martin Kosty, NPR News.

Hamas says Id and other Palestinian factions in Gaza are viewing a proposed ceasefire agreement with Israel positively. Empress Jane Areff reports. Hamas, after consulting with Palestinian factions inside and outside Gaza, said Saturday it submitted a positive response to mediators on the latest proposal to end the almost two-year-long war. Israeli media quoted a senior Israeli official saying Israel would send a delegation to Qatar for talks on the US

brokered ceasefire proposal. Hamas had already agreed to attend. Hamas said in a statement its decision was aimed at ending what it called the genocidal war in Gaza. Authorities there say 57,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, have been killed since the war began in 2023. Israel says about 1,200 Israelis, have been killed since the war began in 2023. Israel says about 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed in the initial Hamas attack. Jane Araf, NPR News, Damascus. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. In central California, the massive Madre wildfire has now grown to 79,000 acres, prompting evacuations

and the closure of a highway. Officials say dozens of structures are threatened. Fire officials say the blaze was ignited Wednesday afternoon in San Luis Obispo County. The Madre fire is the largest fire this year so far and is 10 percent contained. CAL FIRE is using air crews and ground resources to assist the Forest Service, and the Governor's office says the fire is spreading off federal land and moving towards state areas.

The National Weather Service says smoke from the fire is spreading over Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The cause of the blaze is under investigation. Hearing aids and cochlear implants can help reduce isolation and improve the social lives of adults with hearing loss. And here's Maria Godoy reports the finding of a new review of dozens of studies on how hearing devices affect social connection. Hearing loss affects an estimated 40 million American adults,

yet it often goes untreated. Previous studies have linked hearing loss to loneliness, isolation, and depression. Research shows that over time, that can contribute to cognitive decline and an increased risk of dementia. In the new paper, researchers examined the findings of 65 previous studies looking at how hearing aids and cochlear implants affect the social lives of people with hearing loss. They found that people with hearing devices are able to engage in group conversations better and they reported feeling less frustrated and less limited in social settings. Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.