LA Times News

LA Times News

Dalai Lama wants to relinquish role as leader of exiled Tibet government

Posted: 24 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

An aide says the Dalai Lama plans to give up his largely ceremonial role as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile while retaining his role as spiritual head of the Tibetan community.

The Dalai Lama plans to give up his largely ceremonial role as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, an aide said Tuesday, in what appeared to be part of a long-term strategy to make the movement less vulnerable to Chinese strong-arm tactics.

U.S. scrambles to limit Korea hostilities

Posted: 24 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

Washington and allies begin trying to round up support for a U.N. Security Council statement that would condemn North Korea's shelling of South Korea's Yeonpyeong island. The U.S. hopes to enlist China's aid.

As Seoul threatened retaliation for North Korea's deadly shelling of a South Korean island, U.S. officials scrambled Tuesday to avert any catastrophic escalation of hostilities after one of the most serious confrontations on the Korean peninsula in decades.

Pentagon offers grim status report on Afghanistan

Posted: 23 Nov 2010 06:19 PM PST

The Taliban's foothold has grown and violence has reached new highs, it says, although some areas in the south have seen modest security gains.

The Taliban insurgency has spread to more of Afghanistan in recent months and violence has reached new highs, though there have been "slow and incremental" security gains in areas of the south where tens of thousands of additional U.S. troops have deployed, according to a Pentagon report released Tuesday.

Iran ramps up uranium enrichment despite shutdown

Posted: 24 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

Production was interrupted at least briefly, but despite sanctions and a reported virus, Iran increased output and apparently built up the number of centrifuges producing nuclear fuel, the IAEA says.

A steady expansion of Iran's nuclear program was interrupted at least briefly this month by the complete shutdown of its uranium enrichment production, according to an analysis of a report Tuesday by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog.

Mayhem for the stump of a horn

Posted: 24 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

The plight of black rhino Phila, recovering after repeated poaching attempts, shows the lengths some will go to for profit — and others out of love.

She has a bullet in her face, another in her leg and every reason not to trust humans.

Mexican expats warned about holiday travel home

Posted: 24 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

The Mexican government advises them to travel in convoys and only in daylight because of the drug war.

It is an annual ritual, a pilgrimage that Mexicans living in the United States make to visit hometowns and families for the holidays.

13 nations agree on program to double tiger population

Posted: 24 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

Officials from Russia and other Asian nations promise to raise millions to better manage and preserve the habitat of the big cats, which they say are 'important indicators of healthy ecosystems.'

With the tiger on the verge of extinction, officials from 13 nations agreed Tuesday on a program to double the population of the big cat by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger under the Chinese zodiac.

Law that would require public vote to surrender land stirs ire in Israel

Posted: 24 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

Critics say the new law approved by the Knesset could block any future peace deal with Palestinians or Syrians by making it harder to return land. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backs it.

A new measure potentially requiring Israel to receive public approval before surrendering land in any Middle East peace deal came under fire Tuesday for setting a legal precedent that could undermine the government and further complicate negotiations.

Egyptian police crack down on Muslim Brotherhood before elections

Posted: 23 Nov 2010 09:22 AM PST

The opposition group says more than 1,200 members and supporters have been arrested. Internal divisions could also hurt the movement in Sunday's parliamentary vote.

Its members handcuffed and taken to prison, the Muslim Brotherhood is facing an extensive police crackdown that appears certain to weaken the standing of Egypt's largest opposition group in Sunday's parliamentary elections.

Senior Taliban leader was a fake, officials say

Posted: 24 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

Afghans and Western diplomats admit being taken in by a man claiming to be Akhtar Mohammad Mansour. And the Afghan government braces for possible violence as final election results are to be released.

If it sounded too good to be true, that's because it apparently was. Afghan officials and Western diplomats acknowledged Tuesday that a man claiming to be a senior Taliban leader, who was flown to the Afghan capital in a NATO aircraft for talks this year, was almost certainly an impostor.

Prince William, Kate set the place and the date

Posted: 23 Nov 2010 04:26 AM PST

Prince William and Kate Middleton will marry April 29 in Westminster Abbey, the historic London church where Princess Diana's funeral was held.

Annual global study reports progress against HIV

Posted: 23 Nov 2010 02:30 AM PST

More people have access to treatment and new infections have fallen, UNAIDS says, but the global economic crisis could reverse the trend.

More than 1.2 million people began taking anti- HIV therapy in 2009, a 30% increase that brings the worldwide total to 5.2 million, UNAIDS said Monday in its annual report, but that still leaves 10 million people in the developing world in need of access to the lifesaving drugs.

North Korea fires on South Korean island

Posted: 23 Nov 2010 05:19 AM PST

Two people are killed and 19 others are hurt as artillery rounds strike the island. South Korean troops return fire and the country goes on high alert.

North Korea on Tuesday fired dozens of artillery rounds onto a populated South Korean island, killing two and injuring 19 others after Pyongyang claimed that Seoul was readying for "an invasion," officials said.

South Koreans puzzle over motives behind North Korea's attack

Posted: 23 Nov 2010 02:03 AM PST

Amid the speculation is fear that cooler heads will not prevail in the response to the deadly shelling of an island.

Seoul residents expressed growing alarm late Tuesday after a deadly North Korean artillery attack on a South Korean island, leading many to try to make sense of Pyongyang's latest provocation.

North Korea fires on South Korean island

Posted: 23 Nov 2010 12:11 AM PST

Numerous casualties are reported as artillery rounds strike the island. South Korean troops return fire.

North Korea on Tuesday fired dozens of artillery rounds onto a populated South Korean island, apparently causing numerous casualties after Pyongyang claimed Seoul was readying for "an invasion," according to media reports here.

North Korea shells South Korean island

Posted: 22 Nov 2010 10:50 PM PST

Injuries and burning houses are reported, South Korean media say. The South returns fire.

North Korea shot dozens of rounds of artillery onto a populated South Korean island near the countries' disputed western border Tuesday, and South Korean troops returned fire, military officials said.

Bridge stampede at Cambodia festival kills at least 349

Posted: 22 Nov 2010 08:30 PM PST

The prime minister calls the disaster the country's worst tragedy since the days of the Khmer Rouge.

A massive stampede at a festival in the Cambodian capital killed at least 349 people Monday and injured hundreds more in what the prime minister called the country's worst tragedy since the 1970s reign of the Khmer Rouge.