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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The nation's video game athletes have gathered in Southern California to battle aliens and bad guys.

The Orange County Register (http://bit.ly/1nUF0qa ) says more than 1,000 eSports players are taking part in the Major League Gaming Championships in Anaheim, which began Friday and run through Sunday.

The contestants don special headphones and face off in soundproof booths in games such as "StarCraft II," "Call of Duty: Ghosts" and "Super Smash Bros. Melee." Announcers provide the play-by-play.

They're playing for glory and $150,000 in prize money. Some have practiced up to 12 hours a day.

About 1,500 people can watch the games live, and more than 2 million from around the world are expected to watch online.

Citing a rise in the number of children and families attempting to immigrate into the Southwestern U.S. illegally, the Obama administration says it will use new detention facilities to house the families.

The administration says it will boost enforcement efforts and speed up removal proceedings. And it will try to dispel a notion among some migrants that current U.S. policies will allow them to enter the country illegally.

That belief was mentioned in a recent Los Angeles Times story that cited an internal Border Patrol study.

After speaking with hundreds of migrants, officials wrote, "A high percentage of the subjects interviewed stated their family members in the U.S. urged them to travel immediately, because the United States government was only issuing immigration 'permisos' until the end of June 2014."

Earlier this week, reports of an influx of migrants from Central America led officials in Texas to launch a "surge" in enforcement to secure its border with Mexico.

Specifics about the White House's new plan – including the facilities' locations and the number of families allowed to enter the U.S. – aren't yet public. We'll update our reporting when that information is available.

From the AP:

"The Homeland Security Department did not immediately say how many families would be kept in the new immigration jails or where they will be located.

"The administration has released an unspecified number of such families into the U.S. in the past several months with instructions to report later to Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices, but it won't say how many it has released or how many subsequently appeared as ordered."

URBANDALE, Iowa (AP) — Republicans in Iowa are gathering at a state convention near Des Moines to pick a candidate to run to replace retiring Congressman Tom Latham.

Six candidates are continuing their quest for the nomination at the meeting. They competed in a June 3 primary but all failed to draw the 35 percent of the vote required to nail the candidacy without a convention.

Establishment Republicans are hoping to hold the seat in the swing-voting district that includes Des Moines and rural southwest Iowa. However Democrats are hoping Republicans will pick a conservative with tea party backing, so they can steal the seat.

The candidates include a businessman, a Republican activist, the Iowa secretary of state, an ethanol lobbyist, a former U.S. Senate staffer and a state senator.

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — At least 12 people died and an unknown number were missing after heavy rain and floods hit parts of northeastern Bulgaria, officials said Friday.

Interior Minister Tsvetlin Yovchev confirmed that 10 bodies, including two children, were recovered from floodwaters in the worst-hit Black Sea resort town of Varna. It was unclear how many more people were missing after torrential rain flooded large parts of the town.

Two more bodies were recovered in the northern city of Dobrich.

A state of emergency was declared in Varna's low-lying district of Asparuhovo, where many houses were flooded and dozens of cars had floated away, in some cases lying on top of each other. Rescue teams were bringing distressed people to temporary shelters.

Many people seen on the streets were crying over the deaths of loved ones, others desperately looked for help.

Yani Yanev, a 61-year-old resident of the Asparuhovo district, pointed at the mud-covered streets, wrecked cars and debris, saying it was the worst disaster in his lifetime.

"It is unbelievable and unexplainable when you look at all the damage around caused by the flood that hit us," Yanev said.

Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, who arrived in Varna early Friday, called the flooding "a huge tragedy." The government declared Monday, June 23, a national day of mourning.

Large parts of the Balkan country have been hit by heavy rain and hailstorms, and hundreds of people have been cut off from electricity and food supplies.

Emergency teams were dispatched to the worst-affected areas, and the Bulgarian Red Cross was providing drinking water, food and essential supplies to victims.

The national meteorological service said rainfall in eastern Bulgaria in the past 24 hours equaled the average amount for a month, and warned that more rain was expected.