HOUSTON (AP) — Floodwaters deepened across much of Texas on Tuesday as storms dumped almost another foot (30 centimeters) of rain on the Houston area, stranding hundreds of motorists and inundating the famously congested highways that serve the fourth-largest U.S. city.

Meanwhile, the search went on for about a dozen people who were still missing, including a group that disappeared after a vacation home was swept down the river and slammed into a bridge.

Several more fatalities were reported — four in Houston and four more in Central Texas. That brought to 17 the number of people killed by the holiday weekend storms in Texas and Oklahoma.

Similar search efforts unfolded just south of the Texas-Mexico border, where crews tried to track down the missing and assess the damage in the city of Ciudad Acuna after a tornado killed 13 people Monday.

In Houston, the water rose sharply overnight as about 11 more inches (28 more centimeters) of rain fell, much of it in a six-hour period. By Tuesday evening, most rivers had receded back within their banks.

The floodwaters affected virtually every part of the city and paralyzed some areas. Firefighters carried out more than 500 water rescues, most involving stranded motorists. At least 2,500 vehicles were abandoned by drivers seeking higher ground, officials said.

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Joselyn Ramirez swims in a flooded school playground in Houston, Tuesday, May 26, 2015. Severe weath …

"Given the magnitude and how quickly it happened, in such a short period of time, I've never seen this before," said Rick Flanagan, Houston's emergency management coordinator.

The drenching weather threatened to linger. National Weather Service forecasts called for a 20 to 40 percent chance of thunderstorms through the rest of the week in Houston.

The flooding closed several highways, and the ones that stayed open became a gridlocked mess.

Interstate 45 near downtown was backed up for miles on Tuesday morning, and a handful of motorists traveled the wrong way on the highway to retreat from high water.

The small cars weaved between massive 18-wheelers as other drivers stared at them in disbelief. With no end to the backup in sight, some drivers got off the freeway, only to be held up again by water covering nearby access roads.

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Motorists are stranded along I-45 along North Main in Houston after storms flooded the area, Tuesday …

A spokeswoman for the flood district of Harris County, which includes Houston, said up to 700 homes sustained some level of damage.

Some of the worst flooding in Texas was in Wimberley, a popular tourist town along the Blanco in the corridor between Austin and San Antonio. That's where the vacation home was swept away.

The "search component" of the mission ended Monday night, meaning no more survivors were expected to be found, said Trey Hatt, a spokesman for the Hays County Emergency Operations Center.

Eight people missing from the destroyed house were friends and family who had gathered for the holiday, said Kristi Wyatt, a spokeswoman for the City of San Marcos. Three children were among the missing.

The Blanco crested above 40 feet (12 meters) — more than triple its flood stage of 13 feet (3.9 meters). Rescuers used pontoon boats and a helicopter to pull people out.

Hundreds of trees along the Blanco were uprooted or snapped, and they collected in piles of debris up to 20 feet (6 meters) high.

In Ciudad Acuna, Mayor Evaristo Perez Rivera said 300 people were treated at local hospitals after the twister, and up to 200 homes had been completely destroyed in the city of 125,000 across from Del Rio, Texas.

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Weber reported from Wimberley, Texas. Associated Press writers David Warren and Jamie Stengle in Dallas and photographer David J. Phillip in Houston contributed to this report.

APNewsBreak: IRS says thieves used online agency service to get access to 100,000 tax returns

This photo taken March 22, 2013 shows the exterior of the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington. The IRS has taken "significant actions" to stop agents from targeting political groups based on their names and policy positions, according to a report issued Thursday by the government watchdog who disclosed the inappropriate activity two years ago. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sophisticated criminals used an online service run by the IRS to access personal tax information from more than 100,000 taxpayers, part of an elaborate scheme to steal identities and claim fraudulent tax refunds, the IRS said Tuesday.

The thieves accessed a system called "Get Transcript," where taxpayers can get tax returns and other filings from previous years. In order to access the information, the thieves cleared a security screen that required knowledge about the taxpayer, including Social Security number, date of birth, tax filing status and street address, the IRS said.

"We're confident that these are not amateurs," said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. "These actually are organized crime syndicates that not only we but everybody in the financial industry are dealing with."

Koskinen wouldn't say whether investigators believe the criminals are based overseas — or where they obtained enough personal information about the taxpayers to access their returns. The IRS has launched a criminal investigation. The agency's inspector general is also investigating.

Identity thieves, both foreign and domestic, have stepped up their efforts in recent years to claim fraudulent tax refunds. The agency estimates it paid out $5.8 billion in fraudulent refunds to identity thieves in 2013.

"Eighty percent of the of the identity theft we're dealing with and refund fraud is related to organized crime here and around the world," Koskinen said. "These are extremely sophisticated criminals with access to a tremendous amount of data."

Congress is already pressing the IRS for information about the breach.

"That the IRS — home to highly sensitive information on every single American and every single company doing business here at home — was vulnerable to this attack is simply unacceptable," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. "What's more, this agency has been repeatedly warned by top government watchdogs that its data security systems are inadequate against the growing threat of international hackers and data thieves."

Koskinen said the agency was alerted to the thieves when technicians noticed an increase in the number of taxpayers seeking transcripts.

The IRS said they targeted the system from February to mid-May. The service has been temporarily shut down.

Taxpayers sometimes need copies of old tax returns to apply for mortgages or college aid. While the system is shut down, taxpayers can still apply for transcripts by mail.

The IRS said its main computer system, which handles tax filing submissions, remains secure.

"In all, about 200,000 attempts were made from questionable email domains, with more than 100,000 of those attempts successfully clearing authentication hurdles," the agency said. "During this filing season, taxpayers successfully and safely downloaded a total of approximately 23 million transcripts."

The agency is still determining how many fraudulent tax refunds were claimed this year using information from the stolen transcripts. Koskinen provided a preliminary estimate, saying less than $50 million was successfully claimed.

Thieves can also use the information to claim fraudulent tax refunds in the future. As identity theft has exploded, the agency has added filters to its computer system to identify suspicious returns. These filters look for anomalies in the information provided by the taxpayer.

Until recently, tax refund fraud has been surprisingly simple, once thieves obtain a taxpayer's Social Security number and date of birth. Typically, thieves would file fake tax returns with made-up information early in the filing season, before the legitimate taxpayers filed their returns — and before employers and financial institutions filed wage and tax documents with the IRS.

The refunds would often be sent electronically to prepaid debit cards or bank accounts.

IRS officials say new computer filters are helping to stop many crude attempts at identity theft. This year, the IRS stopped almost 3 million suspicious returns, Koskinen said.

However, old tax returns can help thieves fill out credible-looking returns in the future, helping them get around the IRS filters.

Tax returns can include a host of personal information that can help someone steal an identity, including Social Security numbers and birthdates of dependents and spouses. The IRS said the thieves appeared to already have a lot of personal information about the victims.

The IRS said it is notifying taxpayers whose information was accessed.

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Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

Jerusalem (AFP) - Amnesty International accused the Islamist movement Hamas Wednesday of committing war crimes against fellow Palestinians to "settle scores" during last year's Gaza war with Israel, executing at least 23 people.

A report by the London-based rights group detailed the "brutal campaign of abductions, torture and unlawful killings against Palestinians accused of 'collaborating' with Israel" by Hamas, de facto ruler of the Gaza Strip enclave.

"In the chaos of the conflict, the de facto Hamas administration granted its security forces free rein to carry out horrific abuses including against people in its custody," Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa director Philip Luther said.

"These spine-chilling actions, some of which amount to war crimes, were designed to exact revenge and spread fear across the Gaza Strip."

The report details the "extrajudicial execution of at least 23 Palestinians and the arrest and torture of dozens of others".

"It is absolutely appalling that, while Israeli forces were inflicting massive death and destruction upon the people in Gaza, Hamas forces took the opportunity to ruthlessly settle scores, carrying out a series of unlawful killings and other grave abuses," Luther said.

A Hamas spokesman rejected the watchdog's findings.

The report "lacks professionalism and credibility and is deliberately exaggerated, without taking into account all sides or verifying information," Fawzi Barhum told AFP.

Around 2,200 Palestinians were killed during last year's 50-day conflict with Israel, with 73 killed on the Israeli side.

The Jewish state went to war against Hamas to stamp out cross-border rocket and mortar fire.

A March report by Amnesty found that rockets fired during the war by Gaza militants killed more Palestinians than Israelis.

According to the new Amnesty report, "Hamas forces also abducted, tortured or attacked members and supporters of Fatah, their main rival political organisation within Gaza, including former members of the Palestinian Authority security forces.

"Not a single person has been held accountable for the crimes committed by Hamas forces against Palestinians during the 2014 conflict, indicating that these crimes were either ordered or condoned by the authorities," it said.

Luther accused Hamas of "appalling crimes against powerless individuals", which in some cases constitute war crimes.

He said the militant movement displayed "a disregard for the most fundamental rules of international humanitarian law".

Amnesty called on the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority and Hamas to "cooperate with independent and impartial international investigative mechanisms", and to bring "suspected perpetrators" to justice.

The Palestinians are preparing to sue Israeli officials through the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes committed during last year's Gaza conflict.

Israel's military has opened investigations into deadly incidents that took place during the war.

Amnesty accused Israel in a December report of committing war crimes in its Gaza campaign.

Reuters Videos
China to build two lighthouses in the South China Sea

By Megha Rajagopalan

BEIJING (Reuters) - China outlined a strategy to boost its naval reach on Tuesday and announced plans for the construction of two lighthouses in disputed waters, developments likely to escalate tensions in a region already jittery about Beijing's maritime ambitions.

In a policy document issued by the State Council, the Communist-ruled country's cabinet, China vowed to increase its "open seas protection", switching from air defence to both offence and defence, and criticised neighbours who take "provocative actions" on its reefs and islands.

China has been taking an increasingly assertive posture over recent years in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, where it has engaged in extensive land reclamation in the Spratly archipelago.

China claims most of the South China Sea and criticised Washington last week after a U.S. spy plane flew over areas near the reefs. Both sides accused each other of stoking instability.

A U.S. State Department spokesman declined to make a specific comment on the Chinese strategy paper, but said Washington urged Beijing "to use its military capabilities in a manner that is conducive to maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region."

Jeff Rathke reiterated the U.S. view that China’s reclamation work had contributed to rising tensions and said building up of underwater features did not confer a right to a territorial sea or an exclusive economic zone.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama considered the South China Sea security situation "critically important" to U.S. national security and the global economy and said Washington was committed to working with other Asia-Pacific states to protect the free flow of commerce there.

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Chinese navy sailors stand in formation as they attend a send-off ceremony before departing for the …

While also declining to comment on the content of China's policy paper, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said its publication was "a step in the right direction" in terms of transparency and "exactly the type of thing that we’ve been calling for" in that respect.

China has overlapping claims with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.

Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said China's reclamation in the Spratlys was comparable with construction of homes and roads on the mainland.

"From the perspective of sovereignty, there is absolutely no difference," he told reporters.

Some countries with "ulterior motives" had unfairly characterized China's military presence and sensationalised the issue, he said. Surveillance in the region was increasingly common and China would continue to take "necessary measures" to respond.

"Some external countries are also busy meddling in South China Sea affairs. A tiny few maintain constant close-in air and sea surveillance and reconnaissance against China," the strategy paper said in a thinly veiled reference to the United States.

OFFENCE AND DEFENCE

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Spokesperson of Chinese Ministry of National Defense Senior Colonel Yang Yujun holds a copy of the a …

It said China's air force would shift its focus from territorial air defence to both offence and defence, and building airspace defences with stronger military capabilities.

China also announced plans for the building of two lighthouses in the South China Sea on Tuesday and broadcast a groundbreaking ceremony on state television, defying calls from the United States and the Philippines for a freeze on such activity.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the construction was to help maritime search and rescue, disaster relief, environmental protection and navigational security.

Wu Shicun, president of the government-affiliated National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said the lighthouses were among the first of planned civilian-use facilities in the region.

"The reefs are located near an important commercial shipping route, so there will be continued development to maintain the security of those shipping lanes," he told Reuters.

The strategy paper also said the People's Liberation Army's nuclear force, known as the Second Artillery Corps, would strengthen its capabilities for deterrence and nuclear counterattack as well as medium- and long-range precision strikes.

"China faces many complex maritime security threats and challenges and requires a navy that can carry out multifaceted missions and protect its sovereignty," Wang Jin, a senior colonel, told reporters.

The paper also cited "grave threats" to China's cyber infrastructure, adding that China would hasten development of a cyber military force.

Self-ruled Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, called on all South China Sea claimants to shelve their disagreements to enable talks on sharing resources before a conflict breaks out.

Japan meanwhile will join a major U.S.-Australian military exercise for the first time in a sign of growing security links between the three countries as tensions fester over China's moves.

All three nations have said they are concerned about freedom of movement through the South China Sea and air space.

China's Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday it had carried out military training for party cadres from border and coastal areas on border defence, among other topics.

The trainees, who visited military combat units, developed a better understanding of the "national security situation", said a statement on the ministry's website.

(Additional reporting by Sui-Lee Wee and Michael Martina in Beijing, Matt Siegel in Sydney and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie and Jonathan Oatis)