NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
1 Abortion laws: Abortion providers asked a federal judge Friday to block an Alabama law that would ban most abortions in the state. The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit seeking to overturn the nation’s most stringent abortion law. The law would make performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to life in prison for the abortion provider. The only exception would be when the woman’s health is at serious risk. Also Friday, a federal judge issued an order blocking enforcement of a new Mississippi law that bans most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. Mississippi is one of several states that have pushed to enact bans on early abortions this year.
2 Transit disruptions: New York City police made an arrest Friday in their investigation into a series of subway emergency brake activations. Police said Isaiah Thompson, 23, of Brooklyn is charged in one brakepulling incident. Investigators have been looking into about 40 similar crimes between February and this month that have delayed hundreds of trains and affected thousands of riders. They believe someone has been using a key to get into an unoccupied motorman car and then engaging the emergency brake.
3 Satellite launch: SpaceX launched 60 small satellites late Thursday from Cape Canaveral, the first of thousands that founder Elon Musk plans to put in orbit for global internet coverage. The first-stage booster from the recycled Falcon rocket landed on an ocean platform, as the tightly packed cluster of satellites continued upward. Musk said Friday that all 60 flat-panel satellites were deployed and online a few hundred miles above Earth. Each satellite weights about 500 pounds. The orbiting constellation — named Starlink — will grow, with as many as 30 more launches planned.
4 Severe storms: Floodwaters from the Missouri River topped a levee at Jefferson City, Mo., on Friday and shut down some streets around the state Capitol as residents continued cleaning up from a powerful tornado. Flooding was expected following heavy rain throughout the Midwest earlier in the week. The Capitol building sits on a bluff on the south side of the river and was not in danger of flooding. The tornado that struck just before midnight Wednesday also spared the Capitol but tore a three-mile path through the city. 5 Weinstein settlement: A tentative deal has been reached to settle multiple lawsuits brought against the TV and film company cofounded by Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by scores of women. Attorneys told a federal bankruptcy court judge during a hearing in Wilmington, Del., on Thursday that a breakthrough in a still-unfinished mediation had put a settlement within reach. A person familiar with the negotiations said it was worth $44 million. More than 15 lawsuits have been filed accusing Weinstein or the company of misconduct. The settlement would cover many of them, including a class action by alleged victims that accuses the film company of concealing widespread sexual harassment and assaults.