Texas

At least 20 people have been killed in a church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, according to a local police chief, CNN reports.

Two explosions were reported on Thursday at the flood-hit Arkema SA chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, and a sheriff's deputy was taken to a hospital after inhaling chemicals, the company said, according to Reuters.

Oil prices slid on Wednesday but gasoline spiked to its highest since mid-2015 as flooding and storm damage in the wake of Hurricane Harvey knocked out almost a quarter of U.S. refineries, crimping demand for crude but raising fears of fuel shortages, according to Reuters.

The U.S. city of Houston is in the grip of the biggest storm in the history of the state of Texas, officials say, the BBC reported.

Hurricane Harvey has menaced the Texas coast with rain and heavy winds in what has been described as the fiercest storm to hit the United States in almost a dozen years, according to ABC.