An Iowa judge on Friday temporarily blocked the state’s new “heartbeat bill” from going into effect, halting protections for unborn babies that would begin as soon as doctors can detect a heartbeat. Judge Michael Huppert said he would formally issue a temporary injunction later Friday. The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the Emma Goldman Clinic sued to stop the law, which provides the earliest protections in the country for unborn babies.
Spain’s socialist opposition leader is set to become the country’s new prime minister after sponsoring a no-confidence vote that ousted Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government. Pedro Sanchez, the Socialist Party’s 46-year-old leader, managed a historic feat: unseating a serving leader for the first time in Spain’s four decades of democracy. Unlike the populist parties roiling Italian politics, Sanchez supports the European Union and the eurozone’s shared currency. Rajoy led Spain for six years.
Hawaiian officials issued mandatory evacuation orders Thursday for two coastal neighborhoods hit hardest by molten lava flowing from the Big Island’s Kilauea volcano. The fissures that began appearing in the Leilani Estates neighborhood about a month ago now total 24. The lava has destroyed at least 77 homes in the area and on Wednesday began moving so rapidly that officials feared residents would get cut off from their only escape route.
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