JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.

Abortion waiting period taking effect unhindered

A new Missouri law requiring a 72-hour abortion waiting period is set to take effect this week, and the state’s only licensed abortion clinic isn’t planning to try to stop it.

Although Planned Parenthood officials have denounced the Missouri law as “onerous” and “burdensome” for women, the organization isn’t planning to file a lawsuit before the measure takes effect Friday. That’s because abortion-rights groups have determined that their chances of success aren’t that good.

“We’ve had our national attorneys from all of the leading women’s health organizations in the country work with us, and we have a consensus that we do not have a route at this time to go to court and to stop this law from going into effect – as disappointing and as frustrating as that is,” said Paula Gianino, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri.

An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union said it also has no plans to try to block the law.

The law will impose the second longest abortion waiting period in the nation behind South Dakota, where the 72-hour period can sometimes extend longer because it doesn’t count weekends and holidays. Utah also has a 72-hour requirement, but unlike Missouri, Utah allows exceptions for rape, incest and other circumstances.

NEW YORK

Afghan president will let expelled journalist return

A correspondent for The New York Times expelled from Afghanistan over a story he wrote about that country’s recent presidential election can return after its newly inaugurated president ordered the previous administration’s decision reversed.

Mohammad Daoud Sultanzai, an adviser to Afghan President Asharf Ghani Ahmadzai, said Sunday the country’s attorney general has been told to allow Matthew Rosenberg to return.

Sultanzai said the decision was made at the beginning of the Eid al-Adha holiday.

GROZNY, Russia

Teen suicide bomber kills 5 police officers, wounds 12

A suicide bomber blew himself up Sunday in the capital of Chechnya, killing five police officers and wounding 12 others as the city celebrated the birthday of its pro-Kremlin leader, officials said.

The Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, told journalists at the scene that the suicide bomber was wearing a police uniform and presented police identification when he tried to go through metal detectors set up outside a concert hall in Grozny, the capital. When police moved to stop him, he detonated the explosives, Kadyrov said.

The attacker was believed to be a 19-year-old resident of Chechnya, the federal investigative agency said.

IGUALA, Mexico

Authorities find 28 bodies in grave a week after clash

The chief prosecutor of Mexico’s Guerrero state says authorities have found 28 bodies in a clandestine grave discovered on the outskirts of a city where police engaged in a deadly clash with student protesters a week ago.

State Prosecutor Inaky Blanco said the remains are too damaged for immediate identification and he can’t say if any of the dead could be some of the 43 college students reported missing after the confrontation with police.

Blanco said one person detained in the case has told investigators that 17 students were taken to the grave site and killed there. But he said that investigators haven’t confirmed the person’s story.

– From news service reports