National & International

COLUMBIA, S.C. — When he took the job 15 years ago, Horry County Emergency Manager Randy Webster figured his biggest disasters would be wind and surge rolling over his county's beaches, South Carolina's top tourist destination.

President Donald Trump declared a national emergency along the southern border and predicted his administration would end up defending it all the way to the Supreme Court.

Payless ShoeSource is shuttering all of its 2,100 remaining stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, joining a list of iconic names like Toys R Us and Bon-Ton that have closed down in the last year.

A 15-year employee being fired from a suburban Chicago manufacturing company started shooting Friday, killing five co-workers and wounding five police officers before he was killed by police, authorities said.

AURORA, Ill. — At least one person was killed and four police officers were wounded when a shooter opened fire at an industrial park in Aurora, Illinois, officials said Friday.

As if the worst year for stocks in nearly a decade weren’t bad enough, many investors now have to pay a tax bill on top of it.

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will declare a national emergency to fulfill his pledge to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Trump administration has announced new rules for scrutinizing requests to bring minor spouses to the United States.

Authorities warn that mudslides are still possible Friday even after a damaging storm moved through California, trapping people in floodwaters, triggering a debris flow that destroyed homes, and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year.

Congress lopsidedly approved a border security compromise that would avert a second painful government shutdown.

WASHINGTON — William Barr was sworn in Thursday for his second stint as the nation's attorney general, taking the helm of the Justice Department as special counsel Robert Mueller investigates Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

WASHINGTON — Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said in an interview that aired Thursday he moved quickly after his boss was fired to protect an investigation into President Donald Trump's ties to Russia and prevent it from being shut down in case he, too, was dismissed.

PARKLAND, Fla. — Students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High and other schools across the U.S. bowed their heads in a moment of silence and took part in volunteer projects Thursday to mark the anniversary of the shooting rampage that claimed 17 lives. But for many Parkland students, the tragedy was still so raw they couldn't bring themselves to set foot in the building.

WASHINGTON — The chemical compounds are all around you. They're on many fabrics, rugs and carpets, cooking pots and pans, outdoor gear, shampoo, shaving cream, makeup and even dental floss. Increasing numbers of states have found them seeping into water supplies.

NEW YORK — Amazon abruptly dropped plans Thursday for a big new headquarters in New York that would have brought 25,000 jobs to the city, reversing course after politicians and activists objected to the nearly $3 billion in tax breaks promised to what is already one of the world's richest, most powerful companies.

WASHINGTON — The Senate resoundingly approved a border security compromise Thursday that ignores most of President Donald Trump's demands for building a wall with Mexico but would prevent a new government shutdown. The White House said Trump would sign it but then declare a national emergency and perhaps invoke other executive powers to try to shift money to wall-building from elsewhere in the federal budget.

MEXICO CITY — Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel marches on despite the arrest, extradition and now conviction in New York of its notorious leader, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, and the proof of this lies is in huge, multi-drug shipments detected on the border in recent weeks.

WASHINGTON — It's not just about President Donald Trump's border wall.

Last February, Matt Deitsch was living his dream studying at a California university. His brother, Ryan, was about to graduate from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and head to college, the natural next step for the middle child from a family in the affluent suburb of Parkland.

Wire fox terriers are still King at Westminster. A wire fox from Brazil who's won big in Europe became America's top dog Tuesday night, beating out a crowd-pleasing longhaired dachshund and popular Sussex spaniel.

In the world of corrections, there are inmates who pose security risks, and then there's "El Chapo."

Deputies on Tuesday discovered two malnourished children crammed into a locked dog cage and two more smeared with feces and urine in a barn in North Texas, in what a sheriff described as the worst case of child abuse he has ever seen.

WASHINGTON — At some of the nation's largest universities, the vast majority of sexual assaults take place not in dorm rooms or anywhere else on school property but in the neighborhoods beyond campus boundaries, according to data obtained by The Associated Press.

MEXICO CITY — Despite the arrest, extradition and now conviction of narco-lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, his Sinaloa cartel marches on — and the proof is in huge, multi-drug shipments detected on the border in recent weeks.

BAGHDAD — The top Pentagon official assured Iraqi leaders Tuesday that the U.S. will stick to its limited military role in Iraq, a message aimed at recent talk by some Iraqi politicians of forcing a U.S. troop withdrawal.