MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

 

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MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian space agency says an ammonia leak at a U.S. segment of the International Space Station has prompted its six-person crew to lock it up and move to a Russian module, but they aren’t in danger.

Roscosmos said in Wednesday’s statement that the crew was safe. It said that mission control experts in Moscow and Houston quickly and efficiently cooperated to ensure the crew’s safety.

A spokeswoman for NASA office in Moscow said she had no immediate comment.

The space outpost is manned by NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts, Russians Elena Serova, Alexander Samoukutyaev and Anton Shkaplerov and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristofo

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Abortion opponents want Kansas lawmakers to ban a procedure they say accounts for about 8 percent of all abortions in the state.

Kansans for Life and state Sen. Garrett Love, a Montezuma Republican, on Wednesday announced a measure crafted by the National Right to Life Committee that would ban abortions using what they called the “dismemberment” method.

Kansans for Life lobbyist Jeanne Gawdun says 578 abortions were performed in the state in 2013 using a “dilation and extraction” procedure that she says is common for second-trimester abortions.

The Legislature passed a measure in 2011 that banned abortions in the state after the 21st week.

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri spokeswoman Elise Higgins says the measure is an attempt to pass an unconstitutional early abortion ban that her organization opposes.

JOSH LEDERMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says it will issue new regulations to cut down on methane emissions from oil and gas production and processing.

The White House says the goal is to cut methane emissions by 40 percent to 45 percent by 2025, compared to 2012 levels. The Environmental Protection Agency will issue a proposal this summer, and then finalize it in 2016 — the last year of President Barack Obama’s presidency.

The Interior Department will also update its standards for drilling to reduce leakage from wells on public lands.

Methane leaks during production of natural gas. The rules will only target new or modified natural gas wells, not existing ones. But the White House says it’s also asking for the energy industry to voluntarily curb emissions from existing wells.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A man will face a capital murder charge when he is tried next year in the fatal shooting of a Topeka police officer.

Ross Preston Lane was bound over for trial after a preliminary hearing Tuesday in the death of Topeka police Cpl. Jason Harwood. The trial was scheduled for Jan. 11.

Coroner Charles Charles Glenn testified that the 40-year-old Harwood was shot three times on Sept. 7, 2014, after stopping Lane for a routine traffic violation. Harwood was wearing a bulletproof vest but the shots hit him in the neck and abdomen.

Randy Ridens, who gave Lane a ride out of Topeka, will be sent to Larned State Hospital after being found incompetent to stand trial for obstructing apprehension of a fugitive and possession of stolen property.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansans spent more than a million dollars more last year to buy lottery tickets than they did the previous year.

But revenues were down at two of the state’s three casinos.

The Wichita Eagle reports the Kansas Lottery’s report to the Legislature Tuesday shows sales of lottery tickets totaled $245.7 million last year. That is the second-highest amount in the 27-year history of the lottery.

About half of the money from ticket sales was paid out as prizes. The lottery transferred $74.3 million to the state after paying commissions to retailers.

Revenues declined at the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane and the Boot Hill Casino in Dodge City. The Hollywood Casino in Kansas City, Kansas, was the only one to report an uptick in revenues.

JACK GILLUM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says recent cyberthreats to Sony and the military’s U.S. Central Command are reminders of the serious threats facing the U.S.

Obama unveiled a proposal for cybersecurity legislation at the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center just outside Washington. He says cyberthreats pose “an enormous challenge.”

Obama says cybercriminals are doing as much damage — or more — than traditional criminals. He says the U.S. is making progress, but attackers are also getting more sophisticated

Obama says the U.S. must be “upping our game.”

The legislation would increase information-sharing between companies and the government about cyberthreats. It’s among a series of proposals Obama is laying out before his State of the Union address next week.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld the expulsion of a student at the University of Kansas’ School of Law who lied about his criminal history on his application.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed on Tuesday the district court’s summary judgment against former law student Robert Brown.

Brown did not dispute that he had falsified answers in his application where law school applicants were supposed to disclose any criminal history. He began classes, but later amended his application to disclose criminal convictions for domestic battery and driving under the influence.

The law school expelled him after determining in 2010 that his application would have been rejected had his criminal past been known.

A three-judge appeals court panel rejected Brown’s arguments that the school had denied him due process.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A unanimous Supreme Court says home buyers don’t need to file a lawsuit, but may simply write a letter if they want to back out of a mortgage because they claim their lender violated the federal Truth in Lending Act.

The ruling Tuesday came in a case involving a Minnesota couple who refinanced their home in 2007 with Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., now part of Bank of America Corp. They claim the company failed to provide some disclosures required under federal law.

The couple sent a written notice of rescission within the three-year statute of limitations, but a federal judge ruled they should have filed a lawsuit instead. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed.

Resolving a split among lower courts, the Supreme Court said written notice was enough.