JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Republican lawmakers and gubernatorial hopefuls are calling on Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon to arm the National Guard after the recent attack on two Tennessee military facilities.

GOP leaders and those eyeing the governorship have publicly asked the Democratic governor to act. A Nixon spokesman was not immediately available to comment Monday.

A gunman attacked a recruiting center and a Marine-Navy reserve facility in Chattanooga last week. Four Marines and one Navy sailor were killed.

The Nebraska National Guard is arming more of its personnel after last week’s shooting. Gov. Pete Ricketts said Monday that he has authorized the Nebraska National Guard to arm more personnel where necessary at its installations, including recruitment offices.

The governors of Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Indiana, and Oklahoma have also ordered guardsmen to be armed.

A number of Missouri’s GOP senators and others want Nixon to take similar action. Republican Sen. Dan Brown and GOP gubernatorial candidates Sen. Mike Parson and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder also want Nixon to order flags be lowered to half-staff.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — President Barack Obama has signed a federal disaster declaration that will free up federal funds to help Kansas recover from recent spring storms.  The federal money will go toward repairing damage to infrastructure and services damaged by May and June storms.

The storms included tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding. Obama signed the disaster declaration Monday.

Federal funding is available to the following counties: Atchison, Barton, Brown, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Clay, Cloud, Coffey, Cowley, Doniphan, Edwards, Elk, Ellsworth, Franklin, Gray, Greenwood, Harper, Haskell, Hodgeman, Jackson, Jefferson, Jewell, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, McPherson, Meade, Miami, Morris, Nemaha, Neosho, Osage, Pottawatomie, Republic, Rice, Stevens, Sumner, Wabaunsee, and Washington.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita State University mathematician says she has seen enough odd patterns in Kansas election results that she thinks it’s time to check the accuracy of some voting machines.

But Beth Clarkson says government officials have been reluctant to provide her with the records she needs to conduct an audit.

Sedgwick County election officials refused to allow computer records to be part of any recount.

They told Clarkson that if she wanted them she would have to fight for them in court.

Clarkson says an audit is important because of national concerns about the voting machines that thousands of Kansans use to cast their ballots each year. She adds that she noticed some suspicious patterns after the November elections and wants to find out why.

(Video: Cuba’s blue, red and white-starred flag was hoisted Monday at the country’s embassy in Washington in a symbolic move signaling the start of a new post-Cold War era in U.S.-Cuba relations. (July 20))

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as the United States and Cuba restore full diplomatic relations, the tensions that remain between the longtime foes aren’t being ignored.

Cuba’s foreign minister, speaking at the country’s new embassy in Washington, slammed the United States for continuing to hold on to the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba. And he cited Cuban independence leader Jose Marti, noting that Marti had warned of America’s “excess craving for domination.”

With several hundred people looking on from the streets just outside the gates, the Cuban flag was raised at the embassy this morning. The spectators cheered as the Cuban national anthem was played. Three Cuban soldiers in dress uniforms stood at the base of the flagpole and raised the flag.

Hours earlier, an agreement to restore normal ties between Washington and Havana took effect.

The United States and Cuba severed diplomatic relations in 1961 and since the 1970s had been represented in each other’s capitals by limited service interests sections.

NEW YORK (AP) — The online photo websites of Rite Aid, CVS, Costco and Wal-Mart Canada remain offline in the wake of a possible data breach at the company that hosts all four sites.

The companies say their photo sites remain shut down as a precaution. All four sites are administered by Canada-based PNI Digital Media, which is owned by Staples Inc.

Late last week, Staples acknowledged that PNI was investigating a potential credit card data security issue, but wouldn’t say how many companies or people could be affected.

All four companies say that their other websites aren’t affected by the possible hacking.

Rite Aid Corp. says its customer credit card information isn’t processed by PNI.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — After years of tabloid gossip, country music’s top couple Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert announced their divorce after four years of marriage.

The news was confirmed in a statement Monday to The Associated Press, issued by their representatives.

“This is not the future we envisioned,” the former couple said.

“And it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately. We are real people, with real lives, with real families, friends and colleagues. Therefore, we kindly ask for privacy and compassion concerning this very personal matter.”

(Full Footage: Video posted by the Center for Medical Progress on YouTube)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Planned Parenthood says a secret video released last week by an anti-abortion group is a fraud and part of a decadelong pattern of illegal harassment aimed at prohibiting abortion and intimidating women and doctors.

The video was released last week by the Center for Medical Progress. It shows a top Planned Parenthood official graphically discussing how the group sometimes provides tissue from aborted fetuses for medical research.

The center says the conversation was recorded last year.

In a letter Monday to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Planned Parenthood says center official David Daleiden is behind the video.

Planned Parenthood says Daleiden has secretly recorded its staff and patients at least 65 times, and then used heavily edited tapes to make false charges.

JACKSON, Mo. (AP) — A southeast Missouri man accused of killing his wife and son goes on trial this week.

The Southeast Missourian reports that George Joseph of Cape Girardeau is accused of killing Mary Joseph and Matthew Joseph at the family home in 2013.

Autopsies revealed that both victims had been shot several times in the head. Prosecutors say George Joseph shot his wife and son and then turned the gun on himself in a failed suicide attempt.

During a preliminary hearing in 2013, George Joseph’s brother-in-law testified Joseph had been upset over financial problems and concerned that he was under federal investigation.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — State Sen. Bob Dixon has announced he’s running for Missouri governor in 2016.

The Republican touted his Christian faith and conservative views during a Monday announcement on the front porch of his Springfield home.

Dixon is the fifth Republican to announce plans to run for the office, meaning candidates likely will face a crowded primary to snag the GOP nomination.

Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon cannot seek re-election because of term limits. Attorney General Chris Koster is the only Democrat in the running.

Dixon first was elected to the Senate in 2010 and chairs a Senate committee on criminal justice. He previously served in the House for eight years.

Dixon says he is focused on improving the economy, ensuring local control in education and protecting “traditional Missouri values.”