Syrian protesters, security forces clash

Syrian protesters, security forces clash

CAIRO

The protest movement against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s authoritarian rule proved its resilience Friday as thousands of people took to the streets in cities across the country, brushing off Assad’s limited gestures of reform and defying security forces who beat them back with tear gas, batons and bullets.

At least three people were killed, bringing the death toll from two weeks of demonstrations to at least 75. The government blamed Friday’s bloodshed on “armed gangs.” However, the state-run news agency acknowledged for the first time that Syria was seeing gatherings of people calling for reform.

Lawsuit filed over removal of mural

AUGUSTA, Maine

A federal lawsuit was filed Friday over Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s decision to remove a 36-foot mural depicting the state’s labor history from the Labor Department.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court seeks to confirm the mural’s current location, ensure that the artwork is adequately preserved, and ultimately to restore it to the Department of Labor’s lobby in Augusta.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of an organized-labor representative, a workplace-safety official, three artists and an attorney.

LePage contends the mural depicting labor history overlooks the contributions of entrepreneurs.

Toyota wins case

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y.

A federal jury found Friday that Toyota Motor Corp. isn’t responsible for a 2005 crash that the driver blamed on the floor mat or the electronic throttle, in the first case to go to trial since the automaker recalled millions of its vehicles.

After 45 minutes of deliberation, the jury found Toyota was not liable for product liability for the Scion’s floor mat or for the absence of a system that allows the brake to override the accelerator when both are pressed.

Union law on hold

Madison, Wis.

Wisconsin’s polarizing union-rights law will remain on hold for at least two months after a judge Friday said she would continue a restraining order blocking its enactment while she considers whether Republicans broke the state open- meetings law in passing it.

Republicans had been pushing the law through despite a boycott by Democratic state senators and weeks of protests that drew as many as 85,000 people to the state Capitol. But they suffered a defeat Thursday when the same judge declared the law was not enacted last week as Republicans had claimed.

800 reported killed in Ivory Coast town

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast

The International Committee of the Red Cross says that more than 800 people were killed in intercommunal violence in a town in western Ivory Coast.

The town was the first of many in Ivory Coast to fall earlier this week to an armed group vying to install the country’s democratically elected leader, Alassane Ouattara.

Red Cross spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas said by telephone today that the violence likely erupted Tuesday.

Price slashed for pregnancy drug

ATLANTA

The maker of an expensive drug to prevent premature births slashed the price by more than half Friday, after an outcry over the high cost and moves by federal regulators to keep a cheap version available.

The drug still is pricey at $690 per weekly injection, but it is a drastic reduction from the $1,500 price charged by KV Pharmaceutical Co. when it went on the market last month. The company also announced steps to give the drug to needy pregnant women at little or no cost.

Associated Press