LA Times News

LA Times News

More Egypt protesters turn out, drawn by Google's Wael Ghonim

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 08:15 PM PST

Released Google executive Wael Ghonim emerges as an impassioned but reluctant symbol of resistance.

Wael Ghonim stood on a tiny stage in a corner of Cairo's Tahrir Square, a spindly figure in a sea of tens of thousands of anti-government protesters, his shouts of "Long live Egypt!" rippling out before evaporating in the noisy squall.

Fireworks-sparked blazes jump in China

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 08:15 PM PST

A winter drought raises the risk of accidents during Lunar New Year, but the Chinese are too attached to the traditional pyrotechnics to curb their use.

The Chinese love of pyrotechnics and the country's winter drought have proved a combustible combination for Lunar New Year holiday celebrations, which have been ushered in by a wave of mostly small fires.

Passport puts Aristide closer to possible Haiti return

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 06:03 PM PST

Rumors of the possible return of the polarizing former president to Haiti picked up after former dictator Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier made a surprise return from exile last month.

Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was closer to being able to return home Tuesday after officials said they had issued a passport for the exiled ex-leader.

French premier vacationed in Egypt before protests

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 06:01 PM PST

Premier Francois Fillon says he took a vacation partly paid for by Egypt's authorities. He is the second Cabinet member to draw fire over ties with a besieged Arab government.

France's prime minister acknowledged Tuesday that he took a family vacation in Egypt partly paid for by Egyptian authorities shortly before the uprising erupted last month against President Hosni Mubarak.

U.S. lawmakers now back Egypt aid

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 06:02 PM PST

Key members of Congress ease their threat to cut foreign aid to Cairo, as consensus grows that the U.S. needs to maintain leverage with Egypt's military.

Influential U.S. lawmakers have eased their threats to cut aid to Egypt, reflecting a growing consensus in Washington for preserving U.S. leverage with Egypt's powerful military amid the country's civil upheaval.

Egypt uprising has its roots in a mill town

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 06:02 PM PST

El Mahalla el Kubra has long worried the Mubarak government. And the city's dogged labor leaders now want more than just better working conditions.

The revolt shaking Cairo didn't start in Cairo. It began in this city of textile mills and choking pollution set amid the cotton and vegetable fields of the Nile Delta.

Egypt protests grow again; government offers new compromises

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 04:01 PM PST

The big turnout in Cairo is seen as a rebuke to the Mubarak government's attempts at conciliation. Vice President Omar Suleiman says special committees will begin working immediately toward political reforms.

In one of the largest demonstrations yet at Cairo's vast Tahrir Square, boisterous crowds continued to press for the end of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime, while officials offered another set of compromises to try to appease protesters.

North and South Korea hold first talks in 4 months

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 02:01 PM PST

Military officials meet in a border village for discussions that could lead to higher-level negotiations. But some say North Korea just wants food assistance amid a harsh winter.

Military officials from North and South Korea on Tuesday held the first cross-border talks in four months, opening discussions many hope will ease tensions on the divided peninsula but which critics dismiss as the North's ploy to secure food aid from Seoul.

Julian Assange dodged Swedish investigators, prosecutor says

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 11:18 AM PST

At a hearing onwhether Assange should be extradited from Britain to Sweden, the WikiLeaks founder is accused of avoiding questioning on sexual-abuse allegations. His lawyers say he was in hiding.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange continually avoided interview requests from Swedish authorities who wanted to question him about allegations that he sexually abused two women last summer, a British prosecutor said Tuesday.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai takes a new shot at his Western backers

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 10:13 AM PST

Hamid Karzai says reconstruction and development units supported by the NATO force in Afghanistan should be phased out. NATO considers the units a way of reaching out to impoverished Afghans.

In the latest salvo aimed at his Western backers, Afghan President Hamid Karzai declared Tuesday that reconstruction and development units supported by the NATO force should be phased out.

North, South Korea hold first talks in four month

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 02:20 AM PST

Talks between military officials offer hope for conciliation but some see a ploy for aid from the north.

Military officials from the two Koreas on Tuesday held the first cross-border talks in four months, opening discussions many hope will ease tensions on the divided peninsula but which critics dismiss as the north's ploy to secure food aid from Seoul.

A tempest in Tibetan temples

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 09:27 PM PST

Allegations of spying and media manipulation lay bare the divisions in Tibetan Buddhism and tensions between China and India. Mistrust between rival Karmapas belies the image of a placid religion.

He's a "living Buddha" with movie-star good looks and an iPod, a 25-year-old who rubs shoulders with Richard Gere and Tom Cruise and is mentioned as a successor to the Dalai Lama.

U.S. eases off call for swift Egypt reform

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 07:53 PM PST

The Obama administration feels the approach is needed to reassure Middle East allies of U.S. loyalty. But gradual reform isn't going to satisfy the protest movement in Cairo.

The Obama administration has reconciled itself to gradual political reform in Egypt, an approach that reflects its goal of maintaining stability in the Middle East but is at odds with demands of the protest movement in Cairo that President Hosni Mubarak relinquish power immediately.