Britain OKs TV ads for abortion clinics

Britain OKs TV ads for abortion clinics

LONDON

Britain’s broadcast advertising body has given the go-ahead for private abortion clinics to advertise their services on television, angering those who say that the move desensitizes the public to the practice.

The Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice said late Friday there was no justification for barring private clinics that offer post-pregnancy services, including abortions, from advertising on television. Nonprofit post-pregnancy services already are allowed to advertise on television, and their for-profit counterparts are allowed to advertise in all other media.

Crews contain fire that destroyed 29 houses

RENO, Nev.

As rain helped crews surround a brush fire that destroyed 29 homes and forced thousands to flee, the family of the blaze’s only known fatality said Saturday that prosecuting the man who admitted starting it wouldn’t “do any good.”

June Hargis, 93, was found dead in a studio apartment next to her daughter’s home in Washoe Valley, where the fire started Thursday. Sheriff Mike Haley said her cause of death has not been established, so it’s not known if it was fire-related. No other fatalities or major injuries were reported.

Fire officials say an “extremely remorseful” elderly man admitted Friday to accidentally starting the fire when he improperly discarded fireplace ashes outside his home in the valley’s north end.

Hargis’ son, Jim Blueberg, 68, told The Associated Press that he didn’t think filing criminal charges against the elderly man “would do any good.”

Libyans storm HQ of transitional rulers

BENGHAZI, Libya

Hundreds of angry Libyans on Saturday stormed the transitional government’s headquarters in the eastern city of Benghazi, carting off computers, chairs and desks while the country’s interim leader was still holed up in the building. Libyans have grown increasingly frustrated with the pace and direction of reforms in the country more than three months after the end of the civil war that ousted longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Those concerns spurred residents in Benghazi, where the uprising broke out in February, to begin protests nearly two weeks ago to demand transparency and justice from the country’s new leaders.

Teen ends yearlong sail around the world

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten

Laura Dekker set a steady foot aboard a dock in St. Maarten on Saturday, ending a yearlong voyage aboard a sailboat named “Guppy” that apparently made her the youngest person ever to sail alone around the globe, though her trip was interrupted at several points.

Dozens of people jumped and cheered as Dekker waved, wept and then walked across the dock accompanied by her mother, father, sister and grandparents, who had greeted her at sea earlier.

Dekker arrived in St. Maarten after struggling against high seas and heavy winds on a final, 41-day leg from Cape Town, South Africa.

Dekker claims she is the youngest sailor to complete a round-the-world voyage, but Guinness World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council did not verify the claim, saying they no longer recognize records for the youngest sailors to discourage dangerous attempts.

Judge upholds ruling faulting FBI in deaths

BOSTON

A federal appeals court has upheld multimillion-dollar judgments that found the government liable for the deaths of three people reportedly murdered by James “Whitey” Bulger.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit upheld awards Friday that ranged from $350,000 to $1.3 million for the families of Debra Davis, Deborah Hussey and Louis Litif.

The court affirms a trial judge’s decision that the FBI showed “wildly reckless behavior” in using Bulger and his associate, Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, as informants and shielding them from prosecution.

Bulger was arrested last year after 16 years on the run. He awaits trial on accusations of participating in 19 murders.

Associated Press