Oklahoma prosecutors have charged a fifth member of an anti-government group with killing and kidnapping two Kansas women. Thirty-one-year-old Paul Jeremiah Grice was charged Wednesday in Texas County. He faces two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder. An Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent wrote in an arrest affidavit that Grice admitted to participating in the killing and burial of 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley, of Hugoton, Kansas. A Texas County jail official said Grice is being held there without bond. Court records don't indicate if Grice has an attorney who could speak on his behalf. Four others have been charged in connection with the deaths.

Conservative Supreme Court justices appear skeptical that state abortion bans enacted after the overturning of Roe v. Wade violate federal health care law, though some also are questioning the effects on emergency care for pregnant patients. The case heard Wednesday will determine when doctors can provide abortions during medical emergencies in states with bans approved after the Roe v. Wade ruling. The case comes from Idaho, which is among 14 states that ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy with very limited exceptions. The Biden administration argues federal health care law says hospitals must be allowed to terminate pregnancies in rare emergencies when a patient’s life or health is at serious risk. Idaho contends that goes too far.

President Joe Biden says he's immediately rushing badly needed weaponry to Ukraine now that he's signed into law a $95 billion war aid measure that also includes assistance for Israel, Taiwan and other allies. The Democratic president Wednesday reached the end of a long, painful battle with Republicans to secure urgently needed replenishment of aid for Ukraine and promised U.S. weapons shipment would begin making the way to Ukraine within hours. But significant damage was done to the Biden administration’s effort to help Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion during the monthslong funding impasse. Even with the new weapons and ammunition, it’s unlikely Ukraine will immediately recover after months of setbacks against Russia.

Southwest Airlines flight attendants have ratified a new contract that will boost their pay by about one-third over four years. The Transport Workers Union said Wednesday that Southwest cabin crews voted 81% to 19% in favor of the contract. The union’s board rejected a lower offer last summer, and rank-and-file flight attendants voted down another proposal in December. Southwest has about 20,000 flight attendants. They will get raises of more than 22% on May 1 and annual increases of 3% in each of the following three years.

U.S. stocks drifted to a mixed finish. The S&P 500 closed little changed Wednesday after a two-day winning streak erased nearly two-thirds of last week’s steep loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up 0.1%. Tesla jumped after saying the night before that it would accelerate production of more affordable vehicles. Norfolk Southern stumbled after reporting weaker results than expected, as did Teledyne Technologies. Treasury yields rose in the bond market following the latest report on the U.S. economy to come in hotter than forecast. Orders for long-lasting durable goods strengthened more than expected.

A proposed repeal of Arizona’s near-total ban on abortions has won approval from the state House, clearing its first hurdle a week after a court concluded the state can enforce the 1864 law, which only offers an exception for saving the patient’s life. Three Republicans joined in with all 29 Democrats on Wednesday to support the repeal of the law that predated Arizona’s statehood and provides no exceptions for rape or incest. It carries a sentence of two to five years in prison for doctors or anyone else who assists in an abortion. The vote advances the repeal proposal to the state Senate.

Russia has vetoed a U.N. resolution sponsored by the United States and Japan calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space. The vote Wednesday in the 15-member Security Council was 13 in favor, Russia opposed and China abstaining. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, but she said Russia's veto raises the question of what the Russian government may be hiding.