LA Times News

LA Times News

In Yemen, a barefaced advocate for women's rights

Posted: 22 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

Amal Basha runs the Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights, which lobbies for human rights and wider political freedoms. It is a bold role for a woman in the rigid, tribal society, even more so for one who forgoes the veil.

The unveiled one enters.

High-seas piracy drama plays out in U.S. courtroom

Posted: 21 Nov 2010 07:20 PM PST

Five Somalis accused of attacking a Navy ship await their fate in the first such trial in almost 200 years.

The moon was bright, the sea was calm, and the pirates easily spotted their prey — a large gray ship plodding through waves 576 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia.

Taliban scorns plan giving NATO option to linger in Afghanistan

Posted: 22 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

The day after the alliance wrapped the Lisbon summit, the Islamist movement ridicules the agreement and the Karzai government. Also, NATO says an airstrike Saturday killed 10 insurgents.

The Taliban on Sunday scoffed at NATO plans to hand over most security responsibilities to Afghan forces in the coming three years while retaining an option to keep international troops in the country beyond that time if necessary.

Saudi king's fragile health raises succession questions

Posted: 22 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

King Abdullah, 86, a strong Western ally, is heading to the U.S. for treatment of a blood clot, and those next in line have their own potentially problematic issues.

An impending medical trip to the U.S. by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has renewed attention on the kingdom's aging leadership and raised questions of succession in the world's leading oil exporter.

After weeks of denying need for bailout, Ireland capitulates

Posted: 22 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

The nation was under pressure from EU leaders to accept a rescue package as the euro took a beating and the cost of borrowing rose for economically shaky EU nations. Ireland is set to announce a new austerity plan.

In a humiliating about-face, Ireland said Sunday that it would ask for an international bailout to stabilize its foundering banking sector and save the country from skyrocketing borrowing costs.

Iran postpones U.S. hikers' court date

Posted: 22 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

The lawyer for two Americans accused of espionage says the men won't be in court until February.

Two Americans held in an Iranian prison on espionage charges will not have a chance to defend themselves in court for at least 2 1/2 more months, their lawyer said Sunday.

Failure of South African land reform

Posted: 21 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

The South African government's efforts to redress the wrongs of apartheid by buying farms from willing white owners and giving them to blacks has been a failure, with many of the new owners having little experience to make a success of it. The policy has also stirred racial tensions.

Michael Zulu trundles a wheelbarrow along the track to his farm homestead, where chickens peck at the carpet and skinny cats curl sleeping amid the bird droppings.

The word at New Zealand mine: 'There's always hope'

Posted: 21 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

The small nation is focused on the fate of 29 miners trapped since Friday in a coal mine on the South Island's west coast. Rescuers are unable to proceed for fear of further explosions.

Just a month after 33 miners were rescued in Chile, New Zealanders remained focused Sunday on the fate of 29 miners trapped underground after an apparent gas explosion in a South Island coal mine.

Pope says condom use is acceptable in 'single justified cases'

Posted: 21 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

Taking the Roman Catholic world by surprise, Benedict says that under some circumstances it might be acceptable for a prostitute to use a condom.

In a seemingly offhand remark that caught the Roman Catholic world by surprise, Pope Benedict XVI appears to have relaxed, at least slightly, the Vatican's longstanding adamant opposition to the use of condoms.

North Korea is building new light-water reactor, 2 U.S. experts say

Posted: 21 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

The report suggests North Korea is following through on a plan to build a nuclear power reactor at its Yongbyon complex.

Two U.S. experts have reported that North Korea is engaged in new construction at its main Yongbyon atomic complex, suggesting the secretive regime is following through on a plan to build a nuclear power reactor, a private American security institute said Saturday.