HENRY MCMASTER

Former President Donald Trump is set to attend South Carolina's biggest athletic event of the year.

Several campaigns are placing a huge emphasis on South Carolina, where the Republican primary is traditionally the last chance for many White House hopefuls to break through before Super Tuesday.

Dockworkers and the Republican governor in South Carolina are digging in their heels over a labor dispute that has left the newest container terminal at the East Coast’s deepest harbor largely inactive.

A potential swing vote on the newly all-male South Carolina Supreme Court grilled lawyers over whether patients have enough time to get an abortion after learning of their pregnancy as the justices weighed whether a new ban is similarly unconstitutional to one that got shot down earlier this year.

A judge has put a temporary halt to South Carolina’s new law banning most abortions around six weeks of pregnancy until the state Supreme Court can review the measure.

Embattled South Carolina Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom will resign next month after a $3.5 billion accounting error in the year-end financial report he oversaw.

South Carolina’s governor says he is going to ask lawmakers to approve nearly $1.3 billion to bring to the state a new electric vehicle plant.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may be months away from publicly declaring his presidential intentions, but his potential rivals aren’t holding back.

Former President Donald Trump has kicked off his 2024 White House bid with stops Saturday in New Hampshire and South Carolina, The appearances in the early-voting states mark the first campaign events since Trump announced his latest run more than two months ago.

Former President Donald Trump will be joined by two of his highest-profile South Carolina supporters at the first public campaign event of his 2024 White House bid later this month in the early voting state.

The top state courts in conservative Idaho and South Carolina have gone in opposite directions on challenges to abortion bans.

The South Carolina Supreme Court has struck down a ban on abortion once cardiac activity is detected — typically around six weeks.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has announced a ban on the use of TikTok and certain China and Russia-based platforms in the state’s executive branch of government.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has temporarily suspended campaign activities as he leads the state’s response to Hurricane Ian.

With the fall campaign rapidly approaching, the time-honored tradition of debates as a forum for voters to evaluate candidates may be the latest casualty of the nation’s polarized political climate.

South Carolina senators have rejected a ban on almost all abortions in a special session.

The South Carolina House has approved a bill that outlaws abortion except in the cases of pregnancies caused by rape or incest.

U.S. governors and other state officials responded to Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier this year with public calls to divest state pension, university and other funds from Russian assets.

Some South Carolina lawmakers who oppose abortion are being cautious when it comes to tightening the state's already restrictive laws even further.

Joe Cunningham has chosen a civil litigator who flew combat missions in Iraq to be his running mate.

Turning around South Carolina's chronically dangerous juvenile prisons is now the job of a prosecutor who sent some of those children to jail.

Political divides in the U.S. seem deeper than ever, but one of the few shared sentiments right now from voters of all stripes is the desire for something different.

Republican primaries this year have revealed a new political strategy for numerous candidates.

South Carolina Democratic gubernatorial nominee Joe Cunningham is proposing an age limit — 72 — for state politicians.

Former U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham has won the Democratic nomination for governor, setting up a November showdown with Republican Gov. Henry McMaster.

A former Nevada attorney general who has embraced lies about the 2020 election has won the Republican nomination for a pivotal U.S. Senate seat.

It’s unknown how long a stay will hold off the execution of South Carolina’s first-ever inmate to be put to death by a firing squad as his attorneys pursue legal challenges.

Accounts of book bannings and attempted book bannings, along with threats against librarians, have soared over the past year.

South Carolina senators have approved medical marijuana legislation in South Carolina.

An appellate court has heard arguments in Planned Parenthood’s challenge to South Carolina’s new abortion law, with attorneys for the state arguing the nonprofit doesn’t have legal standing to bring the case.

Freezing rain, sleet and snow blew into coastal areas stretching from South Carolina to Virginia.

Governors and state lawmakers are prioritizing climate change as they write their state budgets, devoting money to lowering emissions and guarding against natural disasters such as flood and fire.

Forecasts of snow and ice as far south as Georgia have put much of the Southeast on an emergency preparedness footing as shoppers strip store shelves of supplies and road crews treat highways ahead of an approaching weekend storm.

Forecasters' predictions of debilitating snow and ice as far south as Georgia have shoppers scouring store shelves for storm supplies and road crews trying to prevent a repeat of past wintertime debacles.

Governors across the U.S. took sweeping action during earlier surges of the COVID-19 pandemic, but are taking a much different approach during the record-setting caseloads caused by the omicron variant.

Appellate arguments over a lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s abortion law have been pushed into the new year.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says all domestic air travelers over age 12 will need to provide proof of full vaccination or a negative coronavirus test starting Oct. 30.

A federal judge has suspended South Carolina from enforcing a rule that banned school districts from requiring masks for students.

Officials in both the U.S. and the European Union are struggling with the same question.

In the past few weeks, South Carolina has set records for COVID-19 hospitalizations and new cases have approached peak levels of last winter.

Two dozen Republican attorneys general are warning the White House of impending legal action if a proposed coronavirus vaccine requirement for as many as 100 million Americans goes into effect.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn’t make many headlines.

Republicans are blasting President Joe Biden, threatening lawsuits and going as far as to call for civil disobedience to block his new vaccination mandates.

Republicans are blasting President Joe Biden, threatening lawsuits and going as far as to call for civil disobedience to block his new vaccination mandates.

Hoping to prevent another school year from being upended by the pandemic, President Joe Biden visited a Washington middle school Friday to promote his new plan to require vaccinations for up to 100 million Americans.

President Joe Biden has gone from waging war on the virus to a war on the unvaccinated.

Twenty Democratic attorneys general have voiced their support for a lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s new abortion law.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey says President Joe Biden is overreaching with his new requirement for employees of large businesses to be vaccinated or regularly tested for COVID-19.

Almost instantly after most abortions were banned in Texas, Democrats were decrying the new law as unconstitutional, an assault on women’s health that must be challenged.

Almost instantly after most abortions were banned in Texas, Democrats were decrying the new law as unconstitutional, an assault on women’s health that must be challenged.

An Associated Press investigation has found that more than $500 million in K-12 pandemic aid allocated by Congress went to privately operated schools that were entirely virtual even before the COVID-19 outbreak.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit over a South Carolina law that bans school districts from imposing mask mandates.

Some Republican governors are using federal pandemic assistance to promote school choice programs, including charter schools and vouchers for private schools.

Anyone who has to get an injection in the U.S. probably has horseshoe crabs to thank for keeping the needle clean.

The summer surge of the highly infectious delta variant of the coronavirus made for a disruptive start of the school year in many parts of the country Monday.

Top Republicans are battling school districts in their own states’ urban, heavily Democratic areas over whether students should be required to mask up as they head back to school.

The highly contagious delta variant is fueling a surge in coronavirus cases as students return to classrooms.

A leading anti-abortion group has picked South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster as its first state-level endorsement in next year’s elections.

Twenty states are supporting South Carolina’s defense of a new abortion law.

The Biden White House is no longer refraining from criticizing Republican officials who play down the importance of coronavirus vaccinations or seek to make political hay of the federal government’s all-out effort to drive shots into arms.

The head of the World Health Organization lamented the lack of COVID-19 vaccines being immediately donated by rich countries to the developing world, saying that the global community is failing and that the mistakes of the AIDS pandemic are being repeated.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has become the latest former Trump administration official to launch a political action committee.

The South Carolina Supreme Court has blocked two upcoming executions, saying those inmates cannot be put to death until they truly have a choice of a newly established firing squad option.

The two South Carolina inmates scheduled to die this month want an appellate court to halt their deaths by electrocution.

The South Carolina athletic department says it will end its academic year with a $27 million deficit.

Dustin Johnson got off to a fast start Thursday at Congaree in his home-state Palmetto Championship, shooting a 6-under 65 that left him a shot behind leader Wes Roach.

A South Carolina judge is refusing to block two executions set for later this month.

South Carolina’s state-owned utility appears to have survived four years of turmoil to remain public.

South Carolina state Sen. Mia McLeod says she's the person who can become the United States' first Black female governor.

A lack of drugs used in lethal injections has stalled three executions in South Carolina over the past six months.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has signed into law a bill that forces death row inmates to choose between the electric chair or a newly formed firing squad in hopes the state can restart executions after an involuntary 10-year pause.

Children as young as 12 can expect to start getting Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine Thursday in Louisiana.

The South Carolina House has voted to add the firing squad to the state's execution methods amid a lack of lethal-injection drugs.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is positioning himself for a possible return to elected office.

In his first public address since the end of the Trump administration, former Vice President Mike Pence put down a marker for a potential return to elected office, telling an audience in early-voting South Carolina that he plans to use the coming months “pushing back on the liberal agenda” he says is wrong for the country.

For the first time in a year, Mexican school children have returned to classrooms — at least in the southern state of Campeche.

That increased the state’s totals to 839,334 confirmed cases and 16,912 confirmed deaths. Ad___RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil accounts for a quarter of the daily coronavirus global deaths, more than any other nation. AdThere have been 12.4 million confirmed cases and more than 307,000 confirmed deaths in Brazil, second only to the United States. AdPakistan has reported 649,824 total confirmed cases and 14,158 confirmed deaths. The nation of 10.7 million had 1.5 million confirmed cases with 25,639 deaths.

Henry McMaster remains firmly opposed to the Medicaid expansion. The bump in federal funding would last two years for the states that join the Medicaid expansion. Laura Kelley this year called for legalizing medical use of marijuana and using the tax revenue to pay for expanding Medicaid. "It’s a nonstarter, and we will continue to oppose the liberal wish list item of Medicaid expansion,” he said. Kay Ivey left open the possibility of expanding Medicaid at some point in the future, but there are no plans to do so.

Next month, Pence will keynote a dinner hosted by the Palmetto Family Council, a Pence aide told The Associated Press on Sunday. AdAs vice president, Pence made numerous trips to South Carolina, meeting several times with Gov. The speech to Palmetto Family is advantageous for Pence in a state that Republican candidates use as a proving ground to test their “pro-life” mettle. AdAccording to Dave Wilson, president of Palmetto Family, Pence will speak to between 450 and 600 guests at a ticketed, sponsored dinner at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center on April 29. Wilson told AP that he considered Pence a “prime person” to address the organization due to the “level of faith” the former vice president embodied while in office.

(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)LONDON — Ireland has given out half a million coronavirus vaccinations about two months after the first inoculation. Evidence suggests this variant can spread more easily than most currently circulating strains of the coronavirus, health officials say. State health officials urge people to maintain precautions, particularly during spring break and Easter gatherings, as the state tries to ramp up vaccinations. Sri Lanka has so far received 1 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines manufactured in neighboring India, which donated half of the doses. The Missoulian reported Friday that in Missoula County, Granite Pharmacy has enough vaccine doses to vaccinate all 2,000 county teachers.

FILE - In this Monday, June 25, 2018 file photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Airport High School in West Columbia, S.C. for Republican Gov. Former President Donald Trump on Friday, March 5, 2021 endorsed South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster's bid for a second full term in 2022, continuing their yearslong alliance in a move to strengthen ties with the early-voting state that Trump won twice. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)COLUMBIA, S.C. – Former President Donald Trump on Friday endorsed South Carolina Gov. That summer, McMaster was one of two speakers to formally nominate Trump at the Republican National Convention.

South Carolina Gov. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)COLUMBIA, S.C. – A new South Carolina law banning abortions will stay on hold following a judge's order on Friday to extend a temporary restraining order. Lewis initially suspended the “ South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act ” on its second day in effect, following a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood. Federal law supersedes state law. Planned Parenthood has indicated they plan to oppose McMaster's request to take part in the case, according to the governor's attorneys.

President Joe Bidens pick for health secretary is taking heat for his defense of abortion rights from a tag team of Republicans looking to define him and the new administration as out of the mainstream. (Greg Nash/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s pick for health secretary is taking heat from Republicans for his actions in support of abortion rights. By a show of force, they're trying to deny a president who supports abortion rights his choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services with the coronavirus pandemic still untamed. Becerra, 63, was a reliable Democratic vote for abortion rights during more than 20 years representing a Los Angeles-area district in the U.S. House. She disagrees with his support for abortion rights but finds common ground elsewhere.

South Carolina Gov. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina’s new law banning most abortions was suspended by a federal judge Friday on its second day in effect. AdThe “ South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act " is similar to abortion restriction laws that a dozen states have previously passed. Federal law, which takes precedence over state law, currently allows abortion. AdPlanned Parenthood lawyers noted that South Carolina legislators this year did not change part of state law that said fetuses are considered viable in the 24th week of pregnancy.

South Carolina Gov. Planned Parenthood immediately sued, effectively preventing the new law from taking effect. The “South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act, is similar to abortion restriction laws that a dozen states have previously passed. Moments after the Thursday vote, Planned Parenthood announced that it was filing a lawsuit. The South Carolina law, like those of other states that are currently being challenged, is “blatantly unconstitutional,” said Jenny Black, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.

Black members of the South Carolina House walk out as an abortion bill is debated on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 in Columbia, S.C. The House is expected to pass the bill that would ban nearly all abortions and send it to the governor's desk. Republicans gained three seats in the 2020 elections and the newly energized 30-16 Republican majority made the proposal Senate Bill No. “This is the greatest pro-life bill this state has ever passed,” said Republican Rep. David Hiott of Pickens. AdNumerous Republican lawmakers spoke in favor of the bill and many cheered after the vote.

As in most states, South Carolina's public health agency was underfunded and overworked long before it had to sustain an exhausting defense against a virus humans had never seen before. Unlike most public health agencies, South Carolina's portfolio has included environmental regulation since the 1970s. AdSenate President Harvey Peeler is ready to split DHEC apart, bundling public health duties with the state's mental health department and funneling environmental permitting operations to other state agencies. Public health resources were slashed by lawmakers during the Great Recession, and board members' terms lapsed under Gov. Simmer told lawmakers who confirmed him this month that he believes the agency’s environmental and public health halves complement each other.

The Supreme Court is telling California it cant enforce a ban on indoor church services because of the coronavirus pandemic. The celebration is on hold until next year as Rio struggles with a rise in coronavirus cases. ___OKLAHOMA CITY — The number of reported coronavirus cases in Oklahoma has surpassed 400,000. Health officials are urging football fans to forego Super Bowl gatherings with members outside of their own households. France has registered 3.5 million confirmed cases and more than 78,700 confirmed deaths.

FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2021, file photo, Sri Lankan nursing staff administer COVID-19 vaccines to front-line health workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Reynolds issued the earlier restrictions in November when hospitals were struggling to care for a surge of coronavirus patients. Officials say it could help up to four COVID-19 patients. ___LISBON, Portugal — Portugal has set a new daily record for COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care with 904 patients on Friday. AdThe Austrian government offered to take in five COVID-19 patients and five non-COVID patients to relieve Portuguese hospitals.

“I feel like we've significantly made our city better; now, it's time to pass the baton.”Benjamin was elected in 2010 as Columbia's first Black mayor. As for higher office, Benjamin — South Carolina’s 2002 Democratic attorney general nominee, beaten in that contest by now-Gov. AdAs was witnessed in Jaime Harrison's unsuccessful 2020 challenge of Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Democratic challenger winning a statewide office in South Carolina — where all such offices are in GOP hands — remains an uphill climb. When asked if that had factored into his decision-making, Benjamin said the outcome had no effect on his ultimate decision. Even out of elected office, Benjamin will likely continue to play an outsized role in the Democratic politics of South Carolina, particularly in the state's first-in-the-South presidential primary.

“If this gets upheld by the courts, we will have saved thousands of lives in South Carolina every year. In the Bible Belt, South Carolina led the fight for stricter rules on abortions during the 1980s and 1990s. The path for the bill cleared in South Carolina thanks in part to Trump. “The people of South Carolina every year have sent us more and more pro-life senators. Democrats said that was shameful because South Carolina has many more pressing problems, including more than 6,000 people dead from COVID-19.

He is supporting a bill that would limit local emergency health orders to 14 days unless authorized for longer by the Legislature. Though legislative resistance to executive coronavirus orders has fallen largely along partisan lines in some states, lawmakers elsewhere are pushing back against governors of their own parties. Rob McColley introduced a bill this week that could rescind emergency health orders issued by Gov. Democrats who control the Maryland General Assembly are pressing for more transparency from Republican Gov. He is supporting a bill that would limit local emergency health orders to 14 days unless authorized for longer by the Legislature.

Trump turned to Bowers, a familiar figure in Republican legal circles, after other legal allies passed on the case. The first impeachment trial turned on charges that Trump improperly solicited Ukraine’s help for his reelection campaign. Pat McCrory and the South Carolina Election Commission in litigation over voter ID laws, as well as a former South Carolina sheriff who pleaded guilty to embezzlement and misconduct in office. In 2018, he was attorney for University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley in her successful defamation suit against Missouri’s athletics director. With degrees from the University of South Carolina and College of Charleston, Bowers graduated from Tulane University School of Law in 1998.

Hutchinson is advocating for a hate crimes bill in the upcoming legislative session, but the measure faces some obstacles. Georgia in June became the latest to enact a bill, leaving Arkansas, South Carolina and Wyoming as the remaining outliers. Asa Hutchinson, who as a U.S. attorney prosecuted racist militia members but without a hate crimes law's specific penalties. The potential for hate crimes laws getting approved is mixed in the other remaining states. Bentonville-based Walmart and Springdale-based Tyson Foods have also said they support enacting a hate crimes law.

His South Carolina counterpart warned health care workers they have until Jan. 15 to get a shot or move to the back of the line. If health workers aren’t lining up fast enough, he said, it is OK to expand eligibility to lower-priority groups. Across much of the nation, health care workers and nursing home residents are being given priority for the initial, limited supplies of the vaccine at this stage. Henry McMaster of South Carolina warned that health care workers will lose their place in line if they don't move quickly to get their shots. But Cuomo immediately shot down that idea, saying, “We need to get the health care population done first because they are the front line."

Henry McMaster gives a news conference in Columbia, S.C. McMaster, 73, has tested positive for the coronavirus and is slated to receive outpatient antibody treatment for mild symptoms." Henry McMaster has tested positive for the coronavirus and was slated to receive outpatient antibody treatment for “mild symptoms,” his office said Tuesday. McMaster's wife, 73-year-old Peggy McMaster, tested positive last week but remains asymptomatic, officials said. Citing state public health officials, McMaster's office said Tuesday “there is no way to pinpoint precisely when or how Gov. On Tuesday, South Carolina public health officials announced there had been 2,055 new positive tests for the coronavirus, as well as 15 new deaths.

(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has added 1,092 new coronavirus cases in a resurgence that is erasing hard-won epidemiological gains and eroding public confidence in the government’s ability to handle the outbreak. It would deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. Preliminary data on U.S. deaths show the coronavirus pandemic contributing to a 15% or more increase in deaths over last year. ___MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials have reported a new daily high in confirmed coronavirus cases as the country awaits its first shipment of vaccine. ___WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — The Navajo Nation is reporting 151 new coronavirus cases and seven more deaths related to COVID-19.

State health officials reported 272 new deaths due to COVID-19, bringing Texas’ death toll to 25,226. On Saturday, the state reported 9,796 people hospitalized with the virus, an increase of nearly 23% over the last month. ___THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:The United States reached a record of nearly a quarter million coronavirus cases reported in 24 hours. ___BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The United States added a record of nearly a quarter million coronavirus cases in the past day. Almost 17,000 people are hospitalized in California and health officials are scrambling to find enough beds for patients.

The Pentagon has authorized nearly 50 top civilian and military leaders to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the coming weeks to prove to the shots are safe and effective. Indoor restaurant dining will continue to be barred under the new state health department order that takes effect Monday. Laura Kelly is expressing little concern over a smaller-than-expected second shipment of a coronavirus vaccine for the state. The state also reported total 2,341 COVID-19 deaths, adding 88 to the tally since Wednesday. ___BERN — The Swiss government is ordering the closure of restaurants, bars, cultural venues and sports facilities next week because of increasing coronavirus cases.

This October 2020 photo provided by Pfizer shows freezers set up in a warehouse in Kalamzoo, Mich., in preparation for distribution of the company's coronavirus vaccine. ___THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:The White House is pressuring the FDA chief Stephen Hahn to grant an emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine by the end of the day. Andrew Cuomo has reinstated indoor dining restrictions indefinitely in New York City in an effort to limit the increase in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Michigan’s health department argues the teaching restriction is necessary to control the spread of the coronavirus, especially after Thanksgiving gatherings. State Health Department officials on Friday confirmed 513 new cases of the coronavirus.