LA Times News

LA Times News

China, U.S. eager to put a happy face on relations

Posted: 17 Jan 2011 07:26 PM PST

In the run-up to President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington, the two nations are emphasizing cooperation after a difficult year in 2010. China also wants to reassure those alarmed by its growth.

The rhetoric in advance of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington that begins Tuesday sounds like an endless loop of the Communist Party's favorite buzzwords: Stability. Harmony. Cooperation.

Fear and calls for justice follow return of 'Baby Doc'

Posted: 17 Jan 2011 07:07 PM PST

The presence of the former Haitian dictator brings worries of more unrest. A spokesman says Jean-Claude Duvalier merely wants to see the earthquake damage to his beloved homeland.

His victims remember Baby Doc Duvalier. The long periods in hiding, friends who simply vanished, activists who went into the Fort Dimanche prison never to emerge, or to emerge as broken human beings.

Tunisia unveils new government as calm returns

Posted: 17 Jan 2011 11:11 AM PST

Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi's national unity government includes opposition leaders and members of the deposed regime. Residents begin heading back to work and cleaning up debris from days of rioting, but some clashes continue.

Tunisians who last week faced down a dictator on Monday began the risky and arduous process of turning a revolt fueled by youthful anger into what they hope will be the rarity in the Arab world: genuine democracy.

Israel's Labor Party splits; Ehud Barak forms new faction

Posted: 17 Jan 2011 03:00 PM PST

The decision by Defense Minister Ehud Barak and others to leave the Labor Party reverberates across the political spectrum. However, the defections won't threaten Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government.

Israel's beleaguered Labor Party split apart Monday in a partisan realignment that rattled both ends of the nation's political spectrum and removed from government the faction most willing to make compromises aimed at restarting Palestinian peace talks.

'Baby Doc' Duvalier returns to tense Haiti

Posted: 16 Jan 2011 10:21 PM PST

It's unclear why the reviled ex-dictator has come back to the country, mired in political turmoil and humanitarian crisis, after nearly 25 years. He says, 'I've come to help.'

Jean-Claude Duvalier, the once-reviled dictator of Haiti known as Baby Doc, made a surprise return to this country Sunday evening, ending almost a quarter-century of exile and sending out shockwaves of speculation over his motives and intentions.

Athens goes on security alert for trial of suspected militants

Posted: 16 Jan 2011 09:48 PM PST

Snipers, riot police and hundreds of plainclothes officers will shield streets as proceedings begin for 13 accused in a series of attacks on Greek politicians.

Law enforcement snipers will watch from rooftops. Motorists will be checked at roadblocks across Athens. And at the courthouse, inside a maximum security prison on the eastern outskirts of the Greek capital, hundreds of plainclothes officers will patrol surrounding streets to shield against militant attacks.