World/ Nation Briefs April 9, 2011
Syrian protests turn deadly
BEIRUT - Mass protests calling for sweeping changes in Syria's authoritarian regime turned deadly Friday, with the government and protesters both claiming heavy casualties as the country's three-week uprising entered a dangerous new phase.
The bloodiest clashes occurred in the restive city of Daraa, where human rights activists and witnesses said Syrian security forces opened fire on tens of thousands of protesters, killing 25 people and wounding hundreds.
At least 32 protesters were killed nationwide, according to human rights activists. The bloodshed lifted the death toll from three weeks of protests to more than 170 people, according to Amnesty International.
The protests were in response to calls by organizers to take to the streets every Friday to demand change in one of the most rigid nations in the Middle East. Marches were held in cities across the country as the movement showed no sign of letting up, despite the violent crackdowns.
Wisconsin high court race yields mixed results
MADISON, Wis. - When a little-known liberal challenged a conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, the once-sleepy race suddenly looked like a backdoor way for Gov. Scott Walker's opponents to sink his agenda.
Then a clerk discovered 14,000 unrecorded votes that vaulted the incumbent into the lead. Experts said the results represented a draw for the governor: He didn't lose, but the slim margin means he didn't win big, either. And the close contest could help ensure Walker's opponents stay energized for the next round.
The outcome also improves the odds that Walker's collective bargaining law would survive a legal challenge before the high court. Yet it falls short of a clear public endorsement of the governor's policy.
Only a short time ago, Justice David Prosser had been expected to coast to another term after 12 years on the bench.
In February, he emerged from a four-way primary with 55 percent of the vote, far ahead of JoAnne Kloppenburg, an assistant state attorney virtually no one had ever heard of. She came in a distant second with 28 percent, setting up an uphill run against Prosser in the general election.
Then outrage over Walker's plan to strip public workers of nearly all their union rights reached a crescendo. Tens of thousands of people converged on the state Capitol for three weeks of nonstop protests, and minority Democrats in the state Senate fled to Illinois to block a vote.
Kloppenburg's campaign surged, and voter turnout in Tuesday's election shattered expectations. Unofficial returns initially showed Kloppenburg with a 204-vote lead out of 1.5 million votes cast - until Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus announced Thursday she had failed to record 14,000 votes. Those ballots put Prosser ahead by 7,500 votes.
Israel strikes Gaza after school bus hit by rocket
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli aircraft and tanks pounded Gaza on Friday, killing seven Hamas militants and five civilians in a surge of fighting sparked by a Palestinian rocket attack on an Israeli school bus the day before.
Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers seemed on the brink of another round of intense violence, just a little over two years after a three-week war in which persistent rocket fire from Gaza triggered a devastating Israeli military offensive in the territory.
- The Associated Press