LA Times News

LA Times News

Australia flood death toll rises; rains cause more havoc

Posted: 04 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST

Floodwaters cut off towns and submerge buildings in Queensland state. Forecasters say more rain is on the way.

Floodwaters in Australia's Queensland state created havoc in at least 22 cities and towns throughout the region grappling with several weeks of devastating rains, officials said Monday.

Out of prison and into mortal danger in Mexico

Posted: 04 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST

Female kidnapping suspect 'The Redhead' was found tortured and hanging from an overpass after being sprung from prison. Observers wonder if it was a gang hit or even vigilante 'justice.'

They called her La Pelirroja , The Redhead.

Christian Copts' anger escalates in wake of Egypt attacks

Posted: 04 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST

Many believe the New Year's Day killings in Alexandria are yet another example of their marginalization and oppression at the hands of the Muslim majority.

The New Year's Day bombing of an Alexandria church that left 25 Christians dead and scores more injured has unleashed a wave of anger among Egypt's minority Copts directed at their government and Muslim countrymen.

Two U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq

Posted: 04 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST

The deaths are the first military fatalities since the killing of a U.S. soldier in early December. Meanwhile, a Christian woman is shot dead at home in Baghdad.

Two U.S. soldiers were killed in action in central Iraq over the weekend, the military announced Monday.

A chance at soccer south of the border

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 06:40 PM PST

Mexico's national women's team, which qualified for the 2011 World Cup in Germany, has a handful of players from the U.S., and the arrangement is beneficial for both sides.

The first time Natalie Vinti took the field with Mexico's national soccer team, her arms were covered with more ink than those of an NBA point guard.

As vote nears, Sudan's south anticipates independence and problems

Posted: 03 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST

If the south, as is likely, chooses secession, it would take with it 80% of Sudan's oil, a figure many think makes it too costly for the nation's northern-led government to let the region go.

A pistol sits next to a battered radio while Peter Bashir Bandi, a rebel turned political leader, lounges in a gold brocade chair listening to reports about what may soon be the world's newest, and most precarious, nation.

7.1 quake rocks central Chile

Posted: 03 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST

Residents panic but apparently escape any serious injuries or damage.

A strong earthquake rattled central Chile on Sunday, panicking residents but apparently causing no serious injuries or damage, authorities said.

Szeto Wah dies at 79; Hong Kong democracy activist

Posted: 03 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST

He was a key advocate for the victims of Beijing's 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square protesters and for mainland dissidents jailed by the Chinese government.

Veteran Hong Kong democracy activist Szeto Wah, a leading campaigner for the victims of Beijing's 1989 crackdown on protesters at Tiananmen Square and a voice for mainland dissidents, died Sunday of lung cancer at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong. He was 79.