Texas

Many new abortion restrictions reinstated

A federal appeals court ruled that most of Texas' tough new abortion restrictions can take effect immediately — a decision that means as least 12 clinics won't be able to perform the procedure starting as soon as Friday. A panel of judges at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said the law requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital can take effect while a lawsuit challenging the restrictions moves forward. The panel issued the ruling three days after District Judge Lee Yeakel said the provision serves no medical purpose.

new York

Court blocks ruling on police stop-frisk tactic

A federal appeals court blocked a judge's ruling that found the New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk policy discriminated against minority members, and it took the unusual step of removing her from the case, saying interviews she gave during the trial called her impartiality into question. The city applauded the decision. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the ruling by District Judge Shira Scheindlin will be on hold pending the outcome of an appeal by the city. But it may be a nonissue after next week's mayoral election: Democrat Bill de Blasio, who's leading in polls, has said he would drop objections to the ruling, which calls for major changes to the police tactic. The judge decided in August the city violated the civil rights of tens of thousands of blacks and Hispanics by disproportionally stopping, questioning and sometimes frisking them. She assigned a monitor to help the police department change its policy and training programs on the tactic.

Germany

Scholar: Gestapo chief Mueller died in 1945

A German historian has found conclusive proof that Nazi Gestapo chief Heinrich Mueller died in the final days of World War II and was buried in a mass grave in a Jewish cemetery in Berlin, the German daily Bild reported. The research carried out by Johannes Tuchel, head of the German Resistance Memorial Center in Berlin, appears to resolve one of the most enduring mysteries of the Nazi era and discredit decades of reported sightings of the secret police chief after the war.

Britain

Editors in hacking scandal had affair

Two former editors of Britain's News Corp. being tried on phone hacking charges had an affair that lasted at least six years, the prosecution revealed. The affair between Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks, former editors of the defunct News of the World Sunday tabloid at the heart of the phone hacking scandal, began around 1998, the court was told. Prosecution lawyer Andrew Edis said he was not revealing such details to make a moral judgment but because Brooks and Coulson are accused of conspiracy to hack phones, bribing officials and concealing evidence during the time of the affair. The two defendants deny all the charges.

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