Craigslist wins stay

Craigslist wins stay

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked South Carolina’s attorney general and 16 solicitors from seeking to prosecute executives of Craigslist on prostitution or obscenity charges.

Trey Walker, spokesman for Attorney General Henry McMaster, said Friday the ruling doesn’t mean McMaster is backing away from prosecuting company officials if they knowingly allow South Carolina ads that solicit for prostitution or contain obscene pictures.

Those threats prompted Craigslist on Wednesday to file a federal lawsuit in Charleston against McMaster and the solicitors. As part of the suit, the San Francisco-based company asked for an immediate temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop any prosecution.

Liberty University bans College Democrats club

RICHMOND, Va. — Liberty University has banned its fledgling College Democrats club, saying the group stands against the conservative Christian school’s moral principles.

Club president Brian Diaz said he was notified by e-mail last week that the club was being banned by the private university in Lynchburg, Va., founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell.

Vice president of student affairs Mark Hine said in the e-mail to Diaz that the Democratic Party violates the school’s principles by supporting abortion, socialism and the agenda of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people. No other groups were affected.

Ex-S. Korean leader dies

SEOUL, South Korea — Former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has died, a police official said today.

South Korean media has quoted hospital officials as confirming that Roh died of a head injury.

The official at the National Police Agency said that the cause of death was presumed to be because of a fall while mountain climbing today.

Roh died after being transported from his hometown of Gimhae to a hospital in the southern city of Busan, Yonhap news agency reported earlier.

A family lawyer has told South Korean media that Roh left behind a brief suicide note.

Roh has been under investigation in a bribery scandal over allegations that he took more than $6 million from a businessman while in office. He served as South Korea’s president from 2003 to 2008.

Interpol joins hunt for mother, 13-year-old son

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota authorities said Friday they were turning to an international law enforcement agency for help finding a woman and her 13-year-old son on the run from court-ordered cancer treatment for the boy.

Meanwhile, the FBI filed a warrant giving it more legal authority to assist in the search.

The FBI’s affidavit says Colleen Hauser left Minnesota on Tuesday with her son, Daniel, a 13-year-old who is refusing chemotherapy to treat his Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The affidavit alleges Colleen fled the state to avoid being prosecuted on two state counts of depriving another of custodial or parental rights.

Interpol, which coordinates police investigations across national borders, was joining the effort to find Colleen and Daniel Hauser.

Woman becomes 1st to die under assisted-suicide law

SEATTLE — A 66-year-old woman with pancreatic cancer has become the first person to die under a new Washington state law allowing doctors to help terminally ill patients end their lives.

Linda Fleming, of the Olympic Peninsula town of Sequim, died after ingesting a fatal dose of a fast-acting barbiturate, Compassion & Choices of Washington reported Friday. The group had promoted the successful ballot initiative, which took effect March 5.

Washington’s law closely mirrors one in Oregon, under which more than 400 patients have ended their lives since 1997. Montana is the only other state that legally permits physician- aided death.

Authorities: Pregnant girl asked for beating to abort

NAPLES, Utah — A man in Utah was charged Friday with attempted homicide in the beating of a pregnant teenager who police say asked for the pummeling in an effort to abort her 6-month-old fetus.

Deputy Uintah County Attorney Mark Thomas said he filed the felony charge against Arron N. Harrison, 21, who was arrested Thursday and jailed in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Prosecutors are still weighing possible charges against the 17-year-old girl, who is also in custody. Authorities haven’t disclosed her name.

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