News in brief

By The Associated Press

U.S. considering creation of UN peacekeeping operation for Haiti

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico | The U.S. is mulling a U.N. peacekeeping operation in Haiti as one way to secure funding and staffing for a Kenya-led mission deployed to quell gang violence in the Caribbean country, a top U.S. diplomat said Wednesday.

Brian A. Nichols, U.S. assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, spoke hours after The Miami Herald reported that the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is considering the possibility of a traditional U.N. peacekeeping operation given the limited funding and equipment available to the current mission.

Judge blocks Ohio from enforcing laws restricting medication abortions

COLUMBUS, Ohio | Two more Ohio laws restricting abortions have been blocked by the courts as the legal impacts of a 2023 constitutional amendment guaranteeing access to the procedure continue to be felt.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Alison Hatheway issued a preliminary injunction Aug. 29 that extends an existing order temporarily halting enforcement of a law banning use of telemedicine in medication abortions.

It also blocks another law prohibiting non-doctors — including midwives, advanced practice nurses and physician assistants — from prescribing the abortion pill mifepristone used in the procedure.

—From AP reports