LA Times News

LA Times News

Tunisia seeks arrest of former President Ben Ali and entourage

Posted: 26 Jan 2011 06:31 PM PST

The interim government launches a $350-million public spending program apparently aimed at countering demands for its leaders' dismissal. A Cabinet reshuffle was expected Thursday.

Tunisia's interim government Wednesday issued arrest warrants for the country's deposed president and his entourage and launched a $350-million public spending program apparently aimed at countering demands for its leaders' dismissal.

Tunisia's uprising was three years in the making

Posted: 26 Jan 2011 06:31 PM PST

The revolution that ousted President Zine el Abidine ben Ali was the culmination of tensions between the haves and have-nots in a nation where a brutal regime treated the people like serfs.

Even in death they would not allow Marwan Jamli a moment's dignity. The same black-clad Interior Ministry troops who shot him in the chest and back a day earlier tear-gassed his grieving family members as they tried to carry his corpse to the cemetery.

South Korea may have overplayed hand against pirates, critics say

Posted: 26 Jan 2011 05:30 PM PST

References to the rescue of a crew last week as part of a tougher anti-piracy policy are drawing pledges of retaliation from Somali pirates and raising concern about the safety of those who remain hostages.

The South Korean government's pledge to get tougher on piracy and its self-congratulatory remarks after a military raid last week that freed 21 sailors held hostage by Somali pirates may attract more violence, analysts and critics say.

Bombing in Russia highlights discrimination faced by those from Caucasus

Posted: 26 Jan 2011 03:22 PM PST

With terrorists from the Caucasus region blamed for the attack, life for one young man may get even tougher. 'They will never accept me as an ordinary Russian because my hair and eyes are dark.'

At 15, Israil Mirzakhanov was at a crossroads: He could stay home in the Caucasus region, where several of his friends already had been taken from their homes and had turned up dead in the street. Or he could take his chances with the rampant discrimination in Moscow.

Egypt security forces crack down on scattered protests

Posted: 26 Jan 2011 01:21 PM PST

A day after unprecedented nationwide protests against President Hosni Mubarak, security forces tighten their grip on Cairo. The crackdown appears to be keeping many protesters off the streets.

The Obama administration urged key Mideast ally Egypt to heed calls for political reform even as security forces tightened their grip on pockets of rebellion in the capital that persisted a day after unprecedented nationwide protests.

Afghan parliament sworn in despite Karzai's opposition

Posted: 26 Jan 2011 07:21 AM PST

Under U.S. pressure, Karzai inaugurates parliament. Critics say he tried to delay the opening in hope of altering the outcome of the September vote, widely seen as flawed.

President Hamid Karzai, acting under heavy Western pressure, inaugurated Afghanistan's new parliament Wednesday but made plain his pique over being foiled in his efforts to delay the start of the session.

U.S. official says world leaders will press North Korea to give up uranium enrichment

Posted: 26 Jan 2011 03:11 AM PST

Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg meets with South Korea's foreign minister and will visit China.

Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg arrived here Wednesday with a warning that world leaders would take steps to press their objections to North Korea's uranium enrichment program.

Chinese pianist denies White House tune was politically motivated

Posted: 25 Jan 2011 09:24 PM PST

Pianist Lang Lang says he chose 'My Motherland,' a childhood favorite, at the state dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao because of the 'beauty of its melody.' Many in China are skeptical.

If the significance of the tune that pianist Lang Lang played at last week's state dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao escaped the White House protocol staff, not so the Chinese.