‘Affluenza’ teen’s mom in custody
LOS ANGELES – Attorneys for the mother of a fugitive 18-year-old known for using an “affluenza” defense in a drunken-driving case say she never violated Texas law when she and her son went to Mexico.
Lawyers for Tonya Couch released a statement Thursday confirming she was in the custody of California authorities in Los Angeles. Couch was deported from Mexico and was flown to Los Angeles early Thursday morning.
Attorneys Stephanie K. Patten and Steve Gordon say their client looks forward to being returned to Texas “as soon as possible.”
Her son, Ethan, is being held in an immigration facility in Mexico City.
20 reported dead in Midwest flooding
ST. LOUIS – Floodwater was starting to recede at some water-logged Midwestern communities Thursday, but hundreds of homes were damaged, hundreds more remained evacuated, and getting through St. Louis by car, boat or train was increasingly difficult.
The Mississippi River neared record levels at many places, and a tributary, the Meramec River, surged 4 feet beyond previous records before finally starting to fall. The rare wintertime flooding was spurred by 10 inches of rain or more over a three-day period across a wide swath of Missouri and Illinois.
Twenty deaths were blamed on flooding.
Iran to increase missile production
TEHRAN, Iran – President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday ordered the accelerated production of missiles in response to possible new U.S. sanctions.
In a letter to the defense minister published on the president’s website, Rouhani said Iran won’t accept any limitations on its missile program.
A senior U.S. official told the AP on Wednesday that America is considering designating a number of additional targets for sanctions related to Iran’s ballistic missile program.
Associated Press
