LA Times News

LA Times News

Iran announces nuclear breakthrough on eve of talks

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

As diplomats arrive in Geneva, the head of Tehran's nuclear program says his nation can produce its own yellowcake, used in the process of creating nuclear fuel.

As diplomats began arriving in Geneva ahead of long-awaited talks to resolve the standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions, the head of Tehran's nuclear program on Sunday upped the ante, claiming a breakthrough that could make the Islamic Republic self-sufficient in the production of uranium.

Some Japanese take up weekend farming

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

More city dwellers are renting plots of land in the city or in nearby rural areas, where they grow their own vegetables and fruit. Underlying the trend is the philosophy of jisan jisho, or 'local food for local consumption.'

Yoshikatsu Mochida strolls between the long, green rows of his field, pausing occasionally to inspect the mustard spinach and garland chrysanthemums that have grown shin-high.

E-mails from the front lines of the Iraq war

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

E-mails from sources in Iraq describe the daily carnage; these terse missives are an almost poetic chronicle of the war. No commas. No names. Is punctuation necessary when meaning is so clear?

They arrive nearly every day, these sad, strange e-mails from Iraq.

Majority of Muslims want Islam in politics, poll says

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

They have mixed feelings about the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, the survey shows.

A majority of Muslims around the world welcome a significant role for Islam in their countries' political life, according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center, but have mixed feelings toward militant religious groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Attacks kill 3 coalition troops in Afghanistan

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

A suicide bombing in the east that killed two was carried out by an Afghan army recruit who was an insurgent, a Taliban spokesman says.

A suicide bombing Sunday that the Taliban claims was carried out by an Afghan army recruit killed two members of the United States-led international force in eastern Afghanistan, military officials said.

Iran says it's now fully self-sufficient at producing uranium

Posted: 05 Dec 2010 05:28 AM PST

An Iranian official announces that the country, suspected by the West and others of plans to build nuclear weapons, has produced yellow-cake uranium. The announcement may be meant to bolster Tehran's bargaining position at talks starting Monday in Geneva.

The head of Iran's atomic energy organization said on television Sunday that Iran had achieved the ability to produce its own yellow cake, uranium powder that is a step in the process for creating nuclear fuel.

At climate summit, they're feeling like deserted islands

Posted: 04 Dec 2010 09:46 PM PST

Members of the Alliance of Small Island States, already suffering the ill effects of global warming, are furious that the large nations that are the big emitters of greenhouse gases aren't doing more to ensure their survival.

In the scrum of 9,000 negotiators gathered in Cancun to wrangle over a global climate treaty Ronny Jumeau has no patience for diplomatic niceties.

As Europe cuts military budgets, some worry about its clout

Posted: 05 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

Key U.S. allies say they must slash defense spending to rein in budget deficits that are spooking investors. Some experts fret that it's not just manpower and materiel being cut, but Europe's reach and ambition.

Ever since Allied troops liberated the infamous Bergen-Belsen concentration camp down the road, thousands of British soldiers have made this town their home.

Iran's entrepreneurs do business of a sort in face of sanctions

Posted: 05 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

The key to success nowadays in business is giving the impression that you are flush. If that fails, creditors funding the pricey work-arounds needed to skirt the international embargo will come calling.

If Mohsen doesn't come up with $100,000 by the end of the week, he's a dead man.