LA Times News

LA Times News

Lebanon defense chief worked with U.S. against Hezbollah, leaked cable says

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

Defense Minister Elias Murr is described giving U.S. diplomats advice to pass on to Israel for any Israeli attack on Hezbollah. Another cable refers to hitherto-secret U.S. spy flights over Lebanon.

United States officials collaborated with Lebanon's defense minister to spy on and allow Israel to potentially attack Hezbollah in the weeks that preceded a violent May 2008 military confrontation in Beirut that consolidated the Iranian-backed Shiite militant group's power in the country, leaked diplomatic cables suggest.

Spaniards pessimistic about economy despite reassurances

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

The government says it doesn't need a bailout, but the people affected by austerity measures don't seem to trust their leaders.

Investors have given deficit-ridden Spain a beating in the markets this week, and the government here is scrambling to convince anyone who will listen that it won't need a financial bailout as did Ireland and Greece.

WikiLeaks cables reveal unease over Mexican drug war

Posted: 02 Dec 2010 06:22 PM PST

The secret cables give a much starker U.S. view of the pitfalls facing Mexican President Felipe Calderon in his campaign against drug cartels.

In contrast to their upbeat public assessments, U.S. officials expressed frustration with a "risk averse" Mexican army and rivalries among security agencies that have hampered the Mexican government's war against drug cartels, according to secret U.S. diplomatic cables disclosed Thursday.

Cables reveal U.S. misgivings about Pakistan

Posted: 02 Dec 2010 03:20 PM PST

U.S. officials are seen worrying about Pakistan's support for militants fighting in Afghanistan, saying aid incentives would do little to change Islamabad's actions, which stem from fear of India.

Months before the Obama administration this year urged Congress to provide $2 billion in military aid to Pakistan as part of an ongoing strategy to win over a reluctant ally in the war on terror, Washington's top diplomat in Islamabad had flatly warned that a cash-for-cooperation approach would never work.

Tensions rise in Ivory Coast as president disputes election loss

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

The country's election commission declares former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara the victor over President Laurent Gbagbo in a runoff vote. But Gbagbo and his supporters allege fraud.

Faced with disputed presidential election results, Ivory Coast on Thursday looked set for a power struggle that could plunge the troubled West African country back into civil war.

WikiLeaks cables' 'Humint' directive gathered dust, former officials say

Posted: 02 Dec 2010 04:25 PM PST

U.S. diplomats have largely ignored the guidance to collect information about foreign envoys, former senior State Department officials say.

U.S. diplomats have largely ignored a directive from Washington urging them to collect personal and technical information about their foreign counterparts that could be used for spying, former senior State Department officials say.

Forest fire in Israel kills 37 prison guards trapped in fleeing bus

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

Wind-swept flames of an out-of-control fire in Carmel Forest in northern Israel trap the bus, which burns as firefighters struggle to rescue those inside. 'This is an unprecedented disaster,' says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A raging forest fire in northern Israel killed at least 37 prison guards Thursday when their bus was engulfed in flames while they rushed to evacuate a detention facility. Nearby firefighters tried desperately to rescue them as some guards hugged the floor of the vehicle in search of shelter, witnesses said.

Hungry Africa needs to focus on agriculture, new book says

Posted: 01 Dec 2010 11:00 PM PST

Calestous Juma, a development scientist, says Africa can turn around by improving roads and transportation, training engineers and using irrigation, solar energy and more technology.

The problem: African hunger. In a nutshell, 250 million Africans are undernourished, a quarter of the population and an increase of 100 million in the last 20 years. Yet 70% of Africans are farmers growing food.

Syria's Assad seems to suggest backing for Hamas negotiable, leaked cables say

Posted: 02 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

But even as President Bashar Assad appeared willing to reduce ties with the Palestinian militant group ruling the Gaza Strip, he brushed off pressure to alter the dynamics of his friendship with Iran.

Syrian President Bashar Assad described Hamas as an "uninvited guest" in his country in confidential conversations with American lawmakers, and appeared to suggest he would be willing to give up the alliance in exchange for incentives, according to several documents contained in the trove of leaked diplomatic cables posted online by the website WikiLeaks.