Happening Today: N. Korea, Barr, Drugs Ads, Archie Harrison

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North Korea Fired 2 Suspected Missiles, Seoul Says

South Korea's military says North Korea has fired two suspected short-range missiles, and the launch is being investigated by South Korean and U.S. authorities. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff earlier said North Korea fired at least one projectile from the country's western province. It the North's second weapons launch in the last five days and a possible warning that nuclear disarmament talks with Washington could be in danger. The projectiles were launched from the Sino-ri area of North Pyongan Province, an area known to host one of North Korea's oldest missile bases where a brigade operates mid-range Rodong missiles. The launch comes as U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun visits South Korea, and hours after the North described its firing of rocket artillery and an apparent short-range ballistic missile on Saturday as a regular and defensive military exercise. The North also ridiculed South Korea for criticizing those launches.

'Constitutional Crisis': Panel Votes to Hold AG in Contempt

The House Judiciary Committee voted to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress, escalating the Democrats' extraordinary legal battle with the Trump administration over access to special counsel Robert Mueller's Trump-Russia report. The vote capped a day of ever-deepening dispute between congressional Democrats and President Trump, who for the first time invoked the principle of executive privilege, claiming the right to block lawmakers from the full report on Mueller's probe of Russian interference to help Trump in the 2016 election. Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York declared the action by Trump's Justice Department a clear new sign of the president's "blanket defiance" of Congress' constitutional rights to conduct oversight. The White House's blockade, he said, "is an attack on the ability of the American people to know what the executive branch is doing." He said, "This cannot be." But Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said it was disappointing that members of Congress "have chosen to engage in such inappropriate political theatrics."

New Vatican Law: Priests, Nuns Must Report Sex Abuse, Cover-Up

Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking law requiring all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-up by their superiors to church authorities, in a groundbreaking new effort to hold the Catholic hierarchy accountable for failing to protect their flocks. The new church law provides whistle-blower protections for anyone making a report and requires all dioceses around the world to have a system in place to receive the claims confidentially. And it outlines procedures for conducting preliminary investigations when the accused is a bishop, cardinal or religious superior. It's the latest effort by Francis to respond to the global eruption of the sex abuse and cover-up scandal that has devastated the credibility of the Catholic hierarchy and his own papacy. And it provides a new legal framework for U.S. bishops to use as they prepare to adopt accountability measures next month to respond to the scandal there. The law makes the world's 415,000 Catholic priests and 660,000 religious sisters mandated reporters. That means they are required to inform church authorities when they learn or have "well-founded motives to believe" that a cleric or sister has engaged in sexual abuse of a minor, sexual misconduct with an adult, possession of child pornography — or that a superior has covered up any of those crimes.

Drugmakers Will Have to Reveal Prices in TV Ads

TV pitches for prescription drugs will soon include the price, giving consumers more information upfront as they make medication choices at a time when new drugs can carry anxiety-inducing prices. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the Trump administration has finalized regulations requiring drug companies to disclose list prices of medications costing more than $35 for a month's supply. Drug companies responded adding prices to their commercials could unintentionally harm patients. But one major firm — Johnson & Johnson, based in New Brunswick, New Jersey — has already started disclosing the cost of its blood thinner Xarelto in TV advertising. And polls indicate many patients are not taking their medications as prescribed because of cost. Drug pricing details are expected to appear in text toward the end of commercials, when potential side effects are disclosed. TV viewers should notice the change later this year, perhaps as early as the summer.

Decoding Archie Harrison: Meaning Behind the Royal Baby Name

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry went with an unusual, non-traditional name for their first child, Archie. The 37-year-old Duchess of Sussex gave birth May 6 to their baby boy and she and her husband, 34, debuted him to the world and to Queen Elizabeth II, after which they revealed the child's name: Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. Archie: According to nameberry.com: "Archie is a boy's name of German origin meaning 'truly brave." It is popular in the U.K. and also may have a special meaning for the royal family. Note that despite speculation, the couple has not confirmed whether the name is a formal name or a nickname of Archibald. Harrison: This one's literal. According to nameberry.com: "The name Harrison is a boy's name of English, Aboriginal origin meaning 'son of Harry.'" Mountbatten-Windsor: This has been the last name of the queen's male-line descendants who do not have royal styles and titles, and is a combination of her surname and and husband Prince Philip's adopted surname of Mountbatten.

Britney Spears Gets Restraining Order Against Former Friend

Britney Spears was granted a temporary restraining order against a former confidante who she says has been harassing her family again. A judge ordered 44-year-old Sam Lutfi, who has been in legal fights with the Spears family for a decade, to stay at least 200 yards from her, her parents and her two sons, who are 12 and 13. The judge also ordered that he not contact or disparage anyone from the family. The restraining order petition alleges Lutfi has been sending harassing and threatening texts to Spears' family and disparaging them on social media. In January, Spears put her career on indefinite hiatus and delayed the start of a Las Vegas residency so she could focus on her ailing father. Lutfi said he had not made contact with Spears since 2009, when a previous restraining order against him was granted to Spears.

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