National News

FILE - Logan Smith walks his dog, Zak, past some of the 283 registered pets in the evacuation shelt...

How to prepare your pets for when a hurricane makes it rain cats and dogs

HOUSTON (AP) — Getting ready for a hurricane’s landfall means making sure everyone in your household is prepared, including your furry family members. It’s important that the work in gathering essential items for your dog or cat and determining if your pets have their ID tags and are microchipped is done before a storm is […]
1 year ago
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, center, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, right, discuss the ong...

Texas officials face scrutiny over response to catastrophic and deadly flooding

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Before heading to bed before the Fourth of July holiday, Christopher Flowers checked the weather while staying at a friend’s house along the Guadalupe River. Nothing in the forecast alarmed him. Hours later, he was rushing to safety: He woke up in darkness to electrical sockets popping and ankle-deep water. Quickly, […]
1 year ago
A Camp Mystic sign is seen near the entrance to the establishment along the banks of the Guadalupe ...

Photos of rescue teams searching for missing campers after Texas Hill Country flash flood

HUNT, Texas (AP) — A powerful flash flood swept through Texas Hill Country, causing widespread devastation and leading to the deaths of multiple adults and children. Search and rescue teams using helicopters, boats and drones are working nonstop to find survivors and victims. Camp Mystic, a Christian girls summer camp, was especially hard hit, with […]
1 year ago
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at the start of a signing ceremony at the Palac...

US completes deportation of 8 men to South Sudan after weeks of legal wrangling

WASHINGTON (AP) — Eight men deported from the United States in May and held under guard for weeks at an American military base in the African nation of Djibouti while their legal challenges played out in court have now reached the Trump administration’s intended destination, war-torn South Sudan, a country the State Department advises against […]
1 year ago
A helicopter flies over the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area, Friday, Jul...

How weather conditions set the stage for deadly Texas flash floods

WASHINGTON (AP) — Incredible amounts of moisture in the air fueled a storm that barely moved over central Texas, creating conditions for fatal flash floods in the early morning hours when it was easy to catch people by surprise, meteorologists said. More than 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain fell in the Texas Hill Country […]
1 year ago

OPEC+ to boost oil production by 548,000 barrels per day in August

NEW YORK (AP) — Eight members of the OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries say they will boost production by 548,000 barrels per day in August in a move that could further reduce gas prices this year. The group that includes Saudi Arabia and Russia made the decision at a virtual meeting Saturday. They cited […]
1 year ago
Cherrelle Jefferson Smith, a descendent of enslaved Africans from the ship the Clotilda, stands by ...

In photos, the remaining descendants of the last known slave ship hold memorial ceremony

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — The remaining descendants of the last ship carrying enslaved Africans to land in the U.S. in 1860 met Saturday in Mobile, Alabama, for a memorial ceremony. Attendees, many of them dressed in white, gathered near Africatown Bridge on the banks of the river, where the ship remains submerged because it is […]
1 year ago

A look at some of the deadliest floods in the U.S. in the last 25 years

Flooding has caused an average of more than 125 deaths per year in the United States over the past few decades, according to the National Weather Service, and flash floods are the nation’s top storm-related killer. Here’s a look at some of the most deadly flooding nationwide in the past 25 years. Texas, July 2025 […]
1 year ago

July Fourth holiday marked by shootings in several cities and a fireworks-related death

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (AP) — This year’s Fourth of July holiday was marked by multiple shootings across the U.S., including one in Indianapolis that left at least two dead and a police chief voicing public frustration over the latest acts of violence in his city. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Chris Bailey told reporters early Saturday morning […]
1 year ago

Tropical Storm Chantal forms off the coast of the Carolinas

MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Chantal has formed off the southeast U.S. coast. The National Hurricane Center in Miamia says tropical storm warnings have been issued for portions of the Carolinas. Tropical storm conditions are expected in the affected areas later Saturday. At 9 a.m. EDT, the storm’s center was located about 150 miles (240 […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump holds a gavel after he signed his signature bill of tax breaks and spending ...

Trump branded, browbeat and prevailed. But his big bill may come at a political cost

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama had the President Donald Trump will have the tax cuts. All were hailed in the moment and became ripe political targets in campaigns that followed. In Trump’s case, the tax cuts may almost become lost in the debates over other parts of the multitrillion-dollar bill that Democrats say will force […]
1 year ago
Fireworks light up the sky above the Brooklyn Bridge during the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks sho...

Photos of spectacular fireworks light up American skies on the Fourth of July

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Fourth of July is about all things American: parades, cookouts, cold beer and of course, fireworks. Those pyrotechnics remain at the center of Independence Day, a holiday 247 years in the making. Massive fireworks lit up the skyline of multiple American cities, marking festivities across the country. Despite widespread education efforts, […]
1 year ago

Desperate search for missing girls from summer camp after Texas floods kill at least 24

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — At least 24 people were killed and a frantic search continued overnight for many others missing in the Texas Hill Country, including more than 20 from a girls camp, after a storm unleashed nearly a foot of rain and sent floodwaters spilling out of the Guadalupe River. The destructive force of […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump walks to greet guests during a Fourth of July celebration on the South Lawn ...

Trump signs tax and spending bill at White House picnic in photos

WASHINGTON (AP) — At a Fourth of July White House picnic, President Donald Trump signed a major tax and spending bill, celebrating its passage through the Republican-led Congress. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
1 year ago
First responders scan the banks of the Guadalupe River for individuals swept away by flooding in In...

Photos of flooded Texas Hill Country, a region dotted with century-old summer camps

Months worth of heavy rain fell in a matter of hours on Texas Hill Country, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said. The region is dotted with century-old summer camps that draw thousands of kids annually. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said about 23 girls attending Camp Mystic, a Christian camp along the Guadalupe River, were unaccounted […]
1 year ago
FILE - Smoke and flames rise during a fireworks warehouse explosion near Esparto, Calif., Tuesday, ...

Human remains located after California fireworks warehouse explosion

Investigators have located human remains following an explosion at a Northern California fireworks warehouse, Yolo County said in a statement Friday. Seven were missing after the Tuesday fireworks explosion near Esparto, which gripped the small farming community. It sparked a massive fire that led to other spot fires. Nearby Fourth of July celebrations were called […]
1 year ago
A flood gauge marks the height of water flowing over a farm-to-market road near Kerrville, Texas, o...

Flash floods like the one that swept through Texas are the nation’s top storm-related killer

The monstrous, swift-moving flood that swept through the Hill Country of west-central Texas Friday, killing at least 13 and leaving nearly two dozen missing, was a flash flood, the nation’s top storm-related killer. Flash floods form rapidly According to the National Weather Service, a flash flood is flooding that begins within six hours, and often […]
1 year ago

Texas families plead for information on more than 20 girls missing from summer camp after floods

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Texas parents frantically posted photos of their young daughters on social media with pleas for information as more than 20 campers from an all-girls summer camp were unaccounted for Friday after floods tore through the state’s south-central region overnight. At least 13 people were dead Friday and dozens missing after months […]
1 year ago
Participants in an antique car prepare to take part in the Independence Day Parade in Santa Monica,...

Photos of protests and celebrations mark a different Fourth of July for many Americans

The Fourth of July is a celebration of all things American with parades, backyard barbecues and the night sky lit up with fireworks. This Independence Day may feel different for many Americans. Around the country, there are protests planned against Trump’s polices, and in places like Southern California, where immigration raids have rattled communities, some […]
1 year ago

Teen dies after being found unconscious on top of a New York City subway train

NEW YORK (AP) — A teenager found unconscious on top of a New York City subway train early Friday morning has died. New York City Police were called to the Queensboro Plaza Subway Station at 2:47 a.m. and discovered the unresponsive 15-year-old male, a NYPD spokesperson said. The boy was taken to a nearby hospital, […]
1 year ago

Judge blocks immigrants’ deportation to South Sudan one day after Supreme Court clears the way

A federal judge on Friday temporarily halted deportations of eight immigrants to war-torn South Sudan the day after the Supreme Court greenlighted their removal, saying new claims by the immigrants’ lawyers deserved a hearing. District Judge Randolph Moss proceeded with the extraordinary Fourth of July hearing on Friday afternoon, directing the Trump administration to discuss […]
1 year ago
FILE - EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin attends a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission Event in...

EPA says Trump’s big bill should help in its fight to freeze billions in green bank funds

WASHINGTON (AP) — The sprawling tax and policy bill that passed Congress repeals a multibillion-dollar green bank for financing climate-friendly projects, and the Trump administration should be allowed to freeze its funding and cancel related contracts with nonprofits, federal officials said in a court filing. Climate United Fund and other nonprofits in March sued the […]
1 year ago

Trump is expected to sign his huge bill of tax and spending cuts at the White House July 4 picnic

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to sign his package of tax breaks and spending cuts into law Friday after his cajoling produced almost unanimous Republican support in Congress for the domestic priority that could cement his second-term legacy. Against odds that at times seemed improbable, Trump achieved his goal of celebrating a […]
1 year ago

At least 3 dead in New Jersey after strong thunderstorms sweep through the Northeast

PLAINFIELD, NJ (AP) — Some residents in the Northeast were spending their July Fourth holiday cleaning up from strong thunderstorms that swept through the region Thursday night, bringing heavy rain, wind and hail. The storms are being blamed for at least three deaths in central New Jersey, including two men in Plainfield who died after […]
1 year ago