WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is defending the shootdowns of three unidentified objects in as many days even as it acknowledged that officials had no indication the objects were intended for surveillance in the same manner as the high-altitude Chinese balloon that traversed American airspace earlier this month. White House national security spokesman John…
Alec Baldwin has asked a judge in New Mexico to dismiss a five-year firearm sentencing enhancement in the charges against him, saying it is unconstitutionally based on a law passed after the shooting on the set of the film “Rust.” The Friday court filing from the actor’s attorneys said prosecutors committed a basic legal error…
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and the state’s Republican attorney general are investigating whistleblower complaints against a transgender health center for children. Hawley and Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Thursday announced their investigations of Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The whistleblower claims minors are put on puberty blockers…
GAZIANTEP, Turkey (AP) — Stretched rescue teams in Turkey and Syria are searching for signs of life in the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The confirmed death toll from the world’s deadliest quake in more than a decade passed 11,000 on Wednesday. While teams from more two dozen countries have…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The president of the national NAACP is urging Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to halt the execution of Raheem Taylor, who is scheduled to die by injection Tuesday for the deaths of his girlfriend and her three children. Separately, nearly three dozen civil rights and religious groups are asking St. Louis County’s…
ADANA, Turkey (AP) — A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake has rocked wide swaths of Turkey and neighboring Syria, killing more than 2,500 people and injuring thousands more. It toppled hundreds of buildings and trapped residents under mounds of rubble or pancaked floors. Authorities feared the death toll would rise further as rescuers on both sides…
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Adults ages 21 and older now can legally buy marijuana for recreational use in Missouri. The state health department issued marijuana dispensary licenses unexpectedly early Friday. Recreational weed became legal in Missouri in December. But the health department had until Friday to issue business licenses. Missouri voters amended the state constitution…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A huge, high-altitude Chinese balloon is sailing across the U.S. The spectacle is drawing severe Pentagon accusations of spying on Friday — while sending excited or alarmed Americans outside with binoculars. Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly canceled a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at easing U..S.-China tensions, and the Biden administration weighed…
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Mourners have gathered to remember Tyre Nichols, who died after a brutal beating by Memphis police. The Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy at Nichols’ funeral Wednesday and Vice President Kamala Harris called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump will deliver…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Attorneys general in 20 conservative-led states are warning CVS and Walgreens that they could face legal consequences if they sell abortion pills by mail in those states. A letter Wednesday from Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey to the nation’s largest pharmacy-dispensing companies was co-signed by 19 other attorneys general, warning…