From the Wire

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- Though the Insight Women's Center sits at the epicenter of a reinvigorated battle in the nation's culture wars, the only hint of its faith-based mission to dissuade people from getting abortions is the jazzy, piano rendition of "Jesus Loves Me" playing in a waiting room.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) -- Eyes were locked on the Carolina skies Saturday as a suspected Chinese spy balloon ended its weeklong traverse over the U.S. when it drifted over the Atlantic Ocean and was shot down by a fighter jet.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- The Chinese balloon drifting high above the U.S. and first revealed over Montana has created a buzz down below among residents who initially wondered what it was -- and now wonder what its arrival means amid a chorus of alarm raised by elected officials.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- Recreational marijuana sales in Missouri officially began Friday after the state health department unexpectedly began approving dispensary permits early.

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A man is in custody and recovering from a bullet wound after shooting two St. Louis police officers who returned fire.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- A southwestern Missouri man was killed by police officers after pointing a handgun at them at a park, police said.

DENVER (AP) -- University of Denver basketball player Coban Porter, the brother of Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr., was charged Wednesday with felony counts of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault stemming from a suspected drunken-driving crash that killed a 42-year-old woman.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A Republican-backed proposal to make it harder to amend Missouri's constitution got initial approval from the state House on Wednesday, moving a top GOP priority closer to becoming law.

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Attorneys general in 20 conservative-led states warned CVS and Walgreens on Wednesday that they could face legal consequences if they sell abortion pills by mail in those states.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Winter weather brought ice to a wide swath of the United States on Tuesday, canceling more than 1,700 flights nationwide and snarling highways. At least two people died on slick roads in Texas and two law officers in the state were seriously injured, including a deputy who was pinned under a truck, authorities said.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The new $1.5 billion Kansas City International Airport will officially open Feb. 28, with a Southwest flight to Chicago Midway International Airport at 5 a.m. as the first flight out, city and airport officials said.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A federal agency has recommended nearly $200,000 in fines after an apprentice technician died from electrocution at a construction site in Kansas City last year -- just a year after another technician working for the company was electrocuted at a construction site in Kansas.

The NFL didn't put on its Sunday best for the conference championships.

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The attorney for a Missouri man facing lethal injection next week said Tuesday that he will ask the state Supreme Court to postpone the execution by three or four months to allow more time to investigate his innocence claim.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Donna Kelce is going to have to pull out that now-familiar custom jersey -- the one with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce's front stitched to Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce's back -- one more time this season.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch. January 28, 2023.

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The city of St. Louis will pay nearly $5.2 million to settle claims by people who were arrested during a protest in 2017 over the acquittal of a police officer in the shooting death of a Black man, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Actor Annie Wersching, best known for playing FBI agent Renee Walker in the series "24" and providing the voice for Tess in the video game "The Last of Us," has died. She was 45.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Black quarterbacks have come a long way in the NFL since Fritz Pollard became the first to play in the league in 1923 and Doug Williams was the first to start and win a Super Bowl following the 1987 season.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Patrick Mahomes was forced to rely on his badly sprained right ankle rather than his strong right arm when the Kansas City Chiefs were desperately driving with a chance to win the AFC championship.

BRUSSELS (AP) -- Some refugees and asylum-seekers in Brussels have been spending months in between the Street of Palaces and the Small Castle -- quite literally.

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) -- Cypriots on Sunday began voting for their eighth president in the ethnically divided island's 63-year history as an independent republic, with three front-runners each portraying themselves as the safest bet to guide the country through turbulent economic times and to seek peace with breakaway Turkish Cypriots.

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) -- Pope Francis made a final appeal for peace in South Sudan on Sunday as he celebrated Mass before tens of thousands of people to close out an unusual mission by Christian religious leaders to nudge forward the country's recovery from civil war.

ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup and later led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, has died, officials said Sunday. He was 79.

ISTANBUL (AP) -- Turkish police have arrested 15 people for alleged links to the extremist Islamic State group, the country's official news agency said late Saturday, following days of security warnings by Western consulates.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) -- A former Israeli prime minister who served briefly as a mediator at the start of Russia's war with Ukraine says he drew a promise from the Russian president not to kill his Ukrainian counterpart.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. military on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America. China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft and threatened repercussions.

ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Official says Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan military ruler who backed US war in Afghanistan after 9/11, has died.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Will Beyoncé emerge from the Grammy Awards as its most decorated artist ever?

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Follow along for real-time, on-the-carpet and behind-the-scenes updates on the 2023 Grammy Awards from The Associated Press. Live updates -- any times Pacific -- are brought to you by AP journalists at the show in Los Angeles and around the country.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- Though the Insight Women's Center sits at the epicenter of a reinvigorated battle in the nation's culture wars, the only hint of its faith-based mission to dissuade people from getting abortions is the jazzy, piano rendition of "Jesus Loves Me" playing in a waiting room.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korean coast guard vessels and aircraft were searching on Sunday in waters off the country's southwestern coast for nine fishermen who disappeared after their boat capsized.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) -- The downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon just off South Carolina's coast created a spectacle over one of the state's tourism hubs and drew crowds reacting with a mixture of bewildered gazing, distress and cheering.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- The Powerball jackpot grew to an estimated $747 million after no one beat the odds and won the top prize in Saturday night's drawing.

Today in History

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Skateboard legend Tony Hawk says he will donate half of the proceeds of autographed photos of himself and BMX rider Rick Throne to the memorial fund for Tyre Nichols.

BENGALURU, India (AP) -- Over 500 energy industry heavyweights and 30,000 participants will descend on the southern Indian city of Bengaluru on Monday to discuss the future of renewables and fossil fuels at India Energy Week -- the first big ticket event of the country's presidency of the Group of 20 leading economies.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A FedEx cargo airplane attempting to land at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Saturday morning had to change course after a second plane was cleared to depart from the same runway, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The life of Los Angeles' most famous mountain lion followed a path known only to the biggest of Hollywood stars: Discovered on-camera in 2012, the cougar adopted a stage name and enjoyed a decade of celebrity status before his tragic death late last year.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) -- Dressed up as a dolphin and forced to give someone a lightning-fast makeover, "The White Lotus" actress Jennifer Coolidge was roasted Saturday before being honored as the 2023 Woman of the Year by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.