Federal judge blocks enforcement of law

Federal judge blocks enforcement of law

jackson, miss.

A federal judge on Sunday temporarily blocked enforce- ment of a Mississippi law that could shut down the only abortion clinic in the state.

U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan in Jackson issued a temporary restraining order the day the new law took effect.

He set a July 11 hearing to determine whether to block the law for a longer time.

Syrian opposition rejects new plan

beirut

Syria’s main opposition groups rejected on Sunday a new international plan that calls for a transitional government because the compromise agreement did not bar President Bashar Assad from participating.

Their reaction held out little hope for an end to more than 15 months of carnage on a day when the main opposition group said 800 people were killed in violence in the past week alone.

Mexico’s old ruling party leads in polls

mexico city

Presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto led Mexico’s elections with about 40 percent of the vote, exit polls showed Sunday, signaling a return of his long-ruling party to power after a 12-year hiatus.

Conservative National Action Party candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota conceded almost immediately, saying none of the exit polls favor the first woman candidate for a major party in Mexico. Her party held the presidency for 12 years after kicking out Pena Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, in 2000.

NATO: 3 are killed

kabul

A man in an Afghan police uniform on Sunday shot and killed three foreign troops in southern Afghanistan, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement.

It did not provide any other details, including the nationalities of the three. The statement said the man was wearing the uniform of an Afghan National Civil Order Police and that the incident was under investigation.

Their deaths bring to 215 the number of foreign troops killed so far this year.

Soyuz spacecraft has a safe landing

almaty, kazakhstan

A Soyuz space capsule carrying a three-man multinational crew touched down safely Sunday on the southern steppes of Kazakhstan, bringing an end to their 193-day mission to the International Space Station.

Around a dozen recovery helicopters zeroed into the vast uncultivated land mass, where NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, Russia’s Oleg Kononenko and Dutchman Andre Kuipers landed in the Russian-made capsule.

Vet responds to overturned law

fayetteville, n.c.

Jack Jacobs can proudly — and truthfully — say he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor in Vietnam. After a recent Supreme Court ruling, anyone else is free under the First Amendment to make the same claim, whether it’s true or not.

Some military veterans say they consider the ruling a slap in the face. For Jacobs, though, it was the right decision. He said he wore the uniform to protect people’s rights — even if he doesn’t agree with how they exercise those rights.

The high court ruled 6-3 Thursday to toss out the conviction of Xavier Alvarez, a former California politician who lied about being a decorated military veteran. He had been charged under the 2006 Stolen Valor Act, which made it a crime to lie about receiving the Medal of Honor and other prestigious military recognitions.

Associated Press