News of the day from around the nation, April 19

1 Abortion ruling: A federal judge has blocked part of an Ohio law that bans the abortion method of dilation and evacuation in most cases. U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett in Cincinnati ordered the state Thursday not to bring criminal charges against doctors who perform the procedure until the case can be litigated. Barrett agreed with Planned Parenthood the law is likely to be declared unconstitutional because it places an undue burden on Ohio women. Dilation and evacuation is the most common second-trimester abortion procedure.

2 Lewd acts: The founder of a nonprofit group that was investigated over allegations it gave flutes possibly tainted with semen to schoolchildren has been charged with committing lewd acts against girls in Southern California. John Zeretzke, 60, of Ventura was indicted by an Orange County grand jury on charges involving five girls under age 14 in Los Angeles and Orange counties, the state attorney general’s office said. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. Zeretzke was arrested this month and remains jailed.

3 Ponzi scheme: Two men from Japan have pleaded not guilty in Las Vegas to fraud charges in what prosecutors call a $1.5 billion international Ponzi scheme. Junzo Suzuki, 70, and his son, Paul Suzuki, 40, appeared before a federal magistrate, who set a hearing next Wednesday to decide if they will be freed from jail pending trial. Their attorneys declined to comment outside court. The Suzukis were arrested in Japan in January, two months after a federal jury found their co-defendant, Edwin Fujinaga, 72, guilty of fraud and money laundering. Fujinaga once headed a Las Vegas company, MRI International Inc., with thousands of Japanese investors-turned-victims. Prosecutors have compared the case to Bernard Madoff’s guilty plea in...