Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency can meet immediate needs but does not have enough funding to make it through the hurricane season, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters Wednesday. The agency is being stretched as it works with states to assess damage from Hurricane Helene and delivers meals, water, generators and other critical supplies. The storm struck Florida last week, then plowed through several states in the Southeast, flooding towns and killing more than 160 people

Suspects’ tattoos and social media posts indicate possible ties to a violent Venezuelan gang. The two Venezuelan men accused of the brutal murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Houston are being investigated for possible links to the transnational criminal organization Tren da Aragua.. In June, 22-year-old Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel and 26-year-old Franklin Jose Peña Ramos — both of whom were unlawfully in the United States — allegedly lured Nungaray under a bridge after she stopped at a convenience store. The males, who were charged with capital murder for her death, allegedly stripped her, bound her wrists and ankles, and sexually...