LA Times News

LA Times News

Through Egypt, Al Jazeera English has an American moment

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 07:01 PM PST

The English-language channel, dogged by its Arabic counterpart's image, has had little luck in securing U.S. cable contracts in its four years on the air, but the crisis in Egypt has brought American viewers flocking to its online live stream.

As White House officials monitor the chaotic developments in Egypt, many television sets in the West Wing are tuned to Al Jazeera English, the sister channel of the popular Arabic-language news network.

U.S. open to a role for Islamists in new Egypt government

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 07:57 PM PST

But the Muslim Brotherhood must renounce violence and support democracy, the White House says.

The Obama administration said for the first time that it supports a role for groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned Islamist organization, in a reformed Egyptian government.

Mexico's main leftist party keeps Guerrero governorship

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 08:06 PM PST

The PRD candidate appears to have won in the violence-plagued southern state after a bitter campaign, beating the once-dominant PRI, which hopes to retake the presidency next year.

Mexico's main leftist party appeared Monday to have retained the governorship in the southern state of Guerrero, thwarting the former ruling party at the start of a pivotal election cycle.

Egypt vigilantes protect Children's Cancer Hospital from looters

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 05:07 PM PST

With police absent, a crudely armed gang descends on the state-of-the art facility but is forced back by guards and then a stronger citizen defense force that makes protecting the pediatric center its top priority.

He's grizzled and stooped, and speaks humbly of his job at Egypt's premier pediatric cancer facility. He's just a mechanic, he says. He fixes the hospital's fleet of vehicles.

Anti-American sentiment gradually surfaces in Egypt

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 04:16 PM PST

The level of anger is low, but anti-U.S. placards have been popping up at demonstrations. Some cite what they see as American hypocrisy. 'If America really cares about democracy, why aren't they behind us?' one Cairo resident asks.

An undercurrent of anger against the United States appears to be building here because of what many see as the Obama administration's overly cautious response to the demands of protesters for the resignation of longtime U.S. ally President Hosni Mubarak.

S. Korean livestock culling takes emotional toll on farmers

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 04:16 PM PST

In a bid to quickly curb the spread of hoof-and-mouth disease, the government has had pigs and other livestock, sometimes still alive, buried in mass graves. For some farmers, it's like losing their children.

In this farming town an hour outside Seoul, the stalls sit eerily empty of animals, helter-skelter hoof marks in the mud the only reminder of once-thriving operations.

Obama's Egypt response largely supported by Republicans

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 09:02 AM PST

Republican leaders John Boehner and Mitch McConnell offer no criticism of the White House's actions on Egypt. John McCain also backs Obama's response but says the U.S. needs to push harder for reform.

WASHINGTON — Republicans on Capitol Hill largely are supporting the Obama administration's take-it-slow approach on the crisis in Egypt, with one notable exception — Sen. Rand Paul, the face of the GOP's "tea party" wing.

White House supports including opposition groups in Egypt negotiations

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 11:48 AM PST

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, while maintaining U.S. neutrality in the dispute as anti-government demonstrations in Egypt enter their second week, says talks should involve 'a broad cross-section of the Egyptian people including opposition groups.'

The White House on Monday called for negotiations among a broad cross-section of the Egyptian people, including opposition groups, to help resolve the current political crisis.

Egypt's police return; foreigners try to evacuate

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 06:15 AM PST

In the seventh day of protests against President Hosni Mubarak, organizers call for a 'million-man march' and continue noisy demonstrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Police are redeployed but avoid the square. Meanwhile, foreigners wait at the airport to evacuate.

Police began returning to their posts in the Egyptian capital on Monday, seeking to restore order after days of looting, but they stayed away from the protester-thronged square that has become the epicenter of the movement to oust President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt protests gather strength as army vows to hold its fire

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 02:44 AM PST

Egypt's protest organizers call for a massive march Tuesday. The army signals continued solidarity with protesters but also says it will enforce a curfew.

The push to topple Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak veered toward a pivotal confrontation as organizers appealed for a million compatriots to flood the streets of Cairo on Tuesday and brushed aside the appointment of new government ministers as meaningless.

Both Guerrero gubernatorial candidates claim to be winning

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 10:28 PM PST

After a bitter race and with few votes counted, Manuel Anorve and Angel Aguirre each predict he will become governor.

Both candidates for governor in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero claimed to have the edge Sunday in an acrimonious election that played out against a backdrop of drug violence.