JOSH LEDERMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says the country’s newest Medal of Honor recipient should not be alive but thanks God that he is.

Obama says retired Cpl. William “Kyle” Carpenter faced down a hand grenade that is “one of the most awful weapons of war” to save a fellow Marine.

Obama says Carpenter’s heroism in that blink of an eye in Afghanistan in 2010 “will inspire for generations.” Carpenter was severely injured in the blast, including the loss of sight in his right eye.

Obama says Carpenter flat-lined three times while doctors tended to him after the blast. He recognized Carpenter’s medical team at a ceremony in the White House East Room.

Obama presented the 24-year-old with the eighth Medal of Honor given to a survivor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.

NEW YORK (AP) — Kraft is recalling Velveeta cheese from Walmart stores in as many as 12 states, mostly in the Midwest, because the cheese lacks the proper amount of preservatives.

Insufficient levels of sorbic acid has led to the recall of 260 cases of Velveeta original pasteurized recipe cheese product because it could cause the cheese to spoil prematurely or cause food-borne illnesses.

Kraft Foods Group Inc. says the cheese was sent to three Walmart distribution centers and could have been shipped to as many as 12 states: Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The company says the code on the package is 021000611614.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Visitors will be allowed to bring concealed guns into the Kansas Statehouse beginning in July.

Top legislative leaders refused at a meeting Thursday to use authority granted to them by Kansas law to block holders of concealed carry permits from entering the building with their weapons.

To block the policy, the leaders had to act this month.

The Republican-dominated Legislature enacted a law last year aimed at allowing concealed weapons inside more public buildings. It says local governments and state agencies may continue to ban the weapons through 2017 but must declare publicly that the buildings have adequate security plans.

The same law authorized concealed weapons at the Statehouse, absent legislative leaders’ intervention. Several said the law had broad bipartisan support.

Legislators are already allowed to carry concealed firearms.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback and Kansas legislative leaders are shifting $675 million among various state accounts so that the state can pay its bills on time over the next year.

But their meeting Thursday turned into a contentious debate over the Republican governor’s fiscal policies and the massive personal income tax cuts he championed to help stimulate the economy.

Brownback met with eight top lawmakers — including the Legislature’s two Democratic leaders — to get their approval for an internal financial move that’s become an annual routine. The state credits money from various accounts to its general fund.

Last year, the borrowing was $300 million, and Democratic leaders suggested the state’s finances have deteriorated. But Brownback said the state has a growing economy because of the tax cuts.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas City, Kansas police say two bodies were found near a cemetery, and the deaths are being investigated as a double homicide.

Police Sgt. Patrick McCallop says officers were called to Memorial Park Cemetery early Thursday after passers-by found the two bodies.

KCTV-TV reports the bodies were found 30 to 40 yards away from a road.

McCallop says no weapons have been found and no evidence indicates the case is a murder-suicide.

The victims have not been identified.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that Hong Kong and the United States have reached an agreement to fully reopen Hong Kong’s borders to U.S. beef and beef products. The policy change comes 11 years after American beef was banned in Hong Kong amidst concerns about a positive case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) detected in the United States – a chronic degenerative disease affecting the central nervous system of cattle. The new standard makes Hong Kong consistent with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines and will allow beef imports from U.S. cattle up to 30 months of age.

“American farmers and ranchers produce the highest quality agricultural products in the world,” Sen. Moran said. “Hong Kong’s new guidelines are a step in the right direction in regard to internationally-accepted, science-based trading standards. The guidelines will create more jobs and revenue in Kansas and our country, while providing foreign customers affordable access to our products.”

Prior to this agreement, only deboned beef from all cattle and certain bone-in beef from cattle less than 30 months of age could be shipped from the United States to Hong Kong. Earlier this year, Mexico, Uruguay, Ecuador and Sri Lanka also lifted their longstanding restrictions to provide full access for U.S. beef and beef products.

Hong Kong is currently the fourth largest market for U.S. beef and beef product exports, reaching historically high sales in 2013 with $823 million in import purchases of U.S. beef. In the first four months of 2014, U.S. beef and beef product exports to Hong Kong topped $307 million.

Experts in the United States and countries around the world have confirmed that U.S. beef is safe, with extremely low risk of BSE. There has never been a recorded case of BSE transmission to a human through American beef.