U.S. & WORLD NEWS DIGEST | Gangs roam Syria

Gangs roam Syria

LATAKIA, Syria

Gangs of young men, some armed with swords and hunting rifles, roamed Sunday through the streets of a Syrian seaside city, closing alleys with barricades and roughly questioning passersby in streets scarred by days of anti-government unrest.

The government has tried to calm the situation with concessions, and President Bashar Assad is expected to announce Tuesday that he is lifting a nearly 50-year state of emergency and moving to annul other harsh restrictions on civil liberties and political freedoms.

Member of Parliament Mohammed Habash told The Associated Press that lawmakers discussed the state of emergency during a Sunday-night session.

Israel system offers rocket defense

BEERSHEBA, Israel

Israel deployed a cutting-edge rocket defense system on Sunday, rolling out the latest tool in its arsenal to stop a recent spike in attacks from the neighboring Gaza Strip.

Israel hopes the homegrown Iron Dome system will provide increased security to its citizens, but officials warned that it can’t do the job alone. The system went into operation shortly after an Israeli aircraft struck a group of militants in Gaza, killing two.

The Iron Dome system has raised hopes that Israel has finally found a solution to the years of rocket fire from Gaza.

SC speed cameras raise controversy

RIDGELAND, S.C.

As Interstate 95 sweeps past this small town along South Carolina’s coastal plain, motorists encounter cameras that catch speeding cars, the only such devices on the open interstate for almost 2,000 miles from Canada to Miami.

The cameras have nabbed thousands of motorists, won accolades from highway safety advocates, attracted heated opposition from state lawmakers and sparked a federal court challenge.

Ridgeland Mayor Gary Hodges said the cameras in his town slow people down, reduce accidents and, most importantly, save lives.

But lawmakers who want to unplug them argue the system is just a money-maker and amounts to unconstitutional selective law enforcement.

Review: Folk cures for colic don’t work

CHICAGO

That nonstop crying of a baby with colic has some parents turning to popular folk remedies. Unfortunately, there’s no good evidence they work, according to a review of 15 studies.

Most doctors believe babies will outgrow colic, which affects up to roughly 20 percent of U.S. babies, usually in the first few months of life.

If a physical problem can be found, the condition is usually not considered colic. Gastric reflux and protein allergies are among conditions that can cause digestive upsets and crying spells in babies, and are often mistakenly called colic.

Yemen’s leader drops offer to leave

SANAA, Yemen

Yemen’s president, clinging to power despite weeks of protests, scrapped an offer to step down by year’s end Sunday, as Islamic militants taking advantage of the deteriorating security took control of another southern town.

Opponents of President Ali Abdullah Saleh — a group that started with university students and has expanded to include defecting military commanders, politicians, diplomats and even Saleh’s own tribe — had immediately rejected his offer a week ago to leave by the end of this year. Its formal withdrawal by the president indicates an attempt by both sides to negotiate a transfer of power to end the crisis has failed.

Associated Press