WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is poised to permit the government to borrow hundreds of billions of dollars more to meet its obligations, putting off one Washington showdown even as others loom in coming weeks.

"I want to see my kids! Bang! Bang!" the man shouted as he stormed into the front office of a South Carolina elementary school and pointed a handgun at a secretary and custodian. Both went limp at the verbal gunshots, and the "shooter," a police officer taking part in a school safety drill, continued his rampage.

ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Kandi Cash trudged in rain through the splintered debris of her grandparents' home, hoping to salvage photos and other keepsakes after violent storms raked the Southeast, leaving two people dead before the vast storm front moved on to pummel the East Coast.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama's nominee for defense secretary, is facing GOP critics who have challenged his past comments on Israel, Iran and nuclear weapons.

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) — Police hostage negotiators were locked in a standoff Wednesday with a gunman authorities say intercepted a school bus, killed the driver, snatched a 6-year-old boy and retreated with the kindergartener into a bunker at his home.

PHOENIX (AP) — A gunman opened fire at a Phoenix office building on Wednesday, wounding three people, one of them critically, authorities said. Police were searching for the shooter.

SANTA MARIA, Brazil (AP) — The owner of a nightclub in southern Brazil where more than 230 people died in a fire last weekend deflected blame to "the whole country," as well as to architects and inspectors charged with making sure the building was safe, his lawyer said Wednesday.