LA Times News

LA Times News

Spanish families renew search for stolen babies

Posted: 07 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST

Countless babies were taken from mothers who fell afoul of the Franco regime, and many women have died without learning their children's fate. Now activists are stepping up pressure on Spain's justice system to ease their search for answers.

Emilia Giron never forgot her second son. She wanted to name him Jesus, but he was taken from her in the hospital to be baptized and was never returned.

Sea border a trigger for Korean peninsula tension

Posted: 06 Jan 2011 06:28 PM PST

The Northern Limit Line, a controversial boundary has long played a key role in tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul. Conflicting interpretations of the border have figured in numerous deadly clashes.

For more than half a century, the snaking man-made line has shown up on maps of the Yellow Sea, along the western border of the Korean peninsula.

China's development of stealth fighter takes U.S. by surprise

Posted: 07 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST

The emergence of what is said to be a prototype jet, along with news of advances on an anti-ship missile, raises concerns about China's military intentions and the threat it poses to the U.S. in the Pacific.

A few weeks ago, grainy photos surfaced online showing what several prominent defense analysts said appeared to be a prototype of a Chinese stealth fighter jet that could compete with the best of America's warplanes, years ahead of U.S. predictions.

In Lebanon, storming the gates of … the local park

Posted: 07 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST

Activists take on Beirut officials who are jealously guarding the city's lone green refuge, the 80-acre Horsh Sanawbar, refusing most residents access with a variety of excuses, from fear of sectarian fights to vandalism.

The majestic expanse of green rises like Central Park from this cramped city of concrete, brick and steel.

Egyptian Christians' Christmas celebration clouded by New Year's Day bomb attack

Posted: 07 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST

Celebrations go on as scheduled despite grief and anger over the Jan. 1 bombing at a Coptic church in Alexandria.

Egypt's Christians celebrated Eastern Orthodox Christmas Eve on Thursday despite their mourning and anger over a New Year's Day bomb attack on a church that killed 25 Copts, and the fear of more violence.