LA Times News

LA Times News

Suspected bomber dies in Stockholm blasts

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

Two people are injured in the two explosions in the Swedish capital and the apparent bomber is found fatally injured on the sidewalk nearby. An e-mail to news media threatens to take revenge for Sweden's 'war against Islam.'

A suspected suicide bomber was killed and two people were injured Saturday in blasts that rocked a popular shopping district in Stockholm, the Swedish capital.

Special envoy Holbrooke undergoes heart surgery

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

The special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan is operated on at a Washington hospital to fix a life-threatening tear in his aorta and is said to be in critical condition.

Richard C. Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, was in critical condition Saturday after undergoing surgery to repair a tear in his aorta, a State Department spokesman said.

Colombia launches large-scale birth control effort

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

After passing a law guaranteeing all citizens access to free birth control drugs and procedures, clinics have been opened, especially in impoverished areas where teen pregnancy rates are high.

When 80 women from the poor Agua Blanca district of Cali got free contraceptive implants last week, they became the first local beneficiaries of one of Latin America's most liberal reproductive rights laws.

Afghanistan's President Karzai signs deal on gas pipeline project

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

The proposed 1,000-mile natural gas pipeline would cut through Taliban territory in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A flurry of 26 deaths over two days highlights difficulties the project would face.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai met with regional leaders Saturday to sign an agreement for a massive energy project that could eventually net his country billions of dollars in revenue: a 1,000-mile natural gas pipeline whose proposed route cuts through the heartland of the Taliban insurgency.

15 dead, 24 injured in Afghan bombings

Posted: 11 Dec 2010 04:40 AM PST

Civilians bore the brunt of insurgent violence in a series of attacks Friday and Saturday that killed at least 15 people and injured 24, Afghan officials said.