LA Times News

LA Times News

Revolutionary art gives expression to Egyptians' hopes

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 07:35 PM PST

In the midst of the protests, a small group of artists, playwrights and poets in Tahrir Square helped give expression to Egyptians' angers and frustrations. Now they focus on their victory and hopes for the future.

The news was only a couple of hours old and already the art of the revolution was being replaced with the art of the resignation.

Mexican slang is creative and, for some, too coarse for comfort

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 04:26 PM PST

Someone just called you 'slow-witted' and meant it in a nice way? No way. Yes, guey .

Daniel Navarrete greets friends with what seems an unlikely term of affection — he calls them "ox."

Longtime Japanese-Russian feud over islands reaches new diplomatic low

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 02:04 PM PST

An isolated chain of resource-rich, Russian-held islands are at the center of an ongoing diplomatic dispute that recently has hurt relations between Japan and Russia.

They're a chain of windswept, resource-rich Russian-held islands much closer to Tokyo than to Moscow, and they're at the center of a festering diplomatic row that in recent days has soured relations between Japan and Russia.

Boehner credits Obama for handling of Egypt crisis

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 11:39 AM PST

House Speaker John Boehner says on NBC's 'Meet the Press' that he thinks the president responded to the 'very difficult situation' in Egypt about as well as possible. Potential GOP presidential candidates believe otherwise.

House Speaker John A. Boehner said Sunday he thought the Obama administration handled "a very difficult situation" in Egypt about as well as possible, undercutting potential Republican presidential candidates who have charged that President Obama botched the U.S. response to a popular revolt against a key ally.

Egypt military dissolves parliament, suspends constitution

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 09:11 AM PST

Military officials also set a timeline, vowing to rule Egypt for six months or until elections are held. Meanwhile, the army clears Tahrir Square, ousting remaining protesters.

The Egyptian army has tightened its grip over the country by suspending the constitution, dissolving parliament, and calling for elections within six months, key demands of the protest movement that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt's military rulers dissolve parliament

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 06:38 AM PST

Egypt's military leaders dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution Sunday, meeting two key demands of protesters who have been keeping up pressure for immediate steps to transition to democratic, civilian rule after forcing Hosni Mubarak out of power.

Tents give way to traffic in Tahrir Square

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 01:21 AM PST

Soldiers take down tarps in an effort to return Cairo to normal quickly. Honking cars move around the city hub for the first time since protests began Jan. 25.

The Egyptian army moved into Tahrir Square on Sunday, tearing down tents and opening the artery to traffic nearly three weeks after the start of the protests that brought an end to the 30-year reign of Hosni Mubarak.

In China, family reunited with son kidnapped three years ago

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 12:15 AM PST

Peng Wenle was snatched at age 3. Thanks to microbloggers, he is found with a family 800 miles away. The Chinese Internet campaign aims to find more abducted children.

When 3-year-old Peng Wenle vanished into the night in March 2008, his parents despaired of ever seeing him again. Although a surveillance camera had captured video of a man scooping up the youngster from a crowded street outside the family's small shop in the southern city of Shenzhen, the images were too grainy to identify the perpetrator or provide clues on where he might have fled.

U.S. presses Mideast allies to speed up reforms

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 12:15 AM PST

Mideast envoys say the response by the U.S. to events in Egypt has made them question how much U.S. support they would receive in the face of any anti-government demonstrations in their own countries.

The White House says it is pushing friendly but autocratic governments in the Middle East to accelerate political and economic reforms, a message that is raising fears in those countries about the strength of the U.S. commitment to its allies.

Egypt's army offers reassurances, but its ability to oversee transition is in question

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 07:57 PM PST

A day after President Hosni Mubarak resigns, army officials try to ease anxiety, reassuring citizens and allies that it will maintain stability and oversee a transfer to civilian authority. But analysts say the situation is volatile, and it's unclear if the army will ultimately allow free elections, transparency and civilian control.

Egypt's new military rulers swiftly reassured citizens and strategic allies alike of their commitment to civilian control and stability, but with ecstatic crowds still in the streets, it was far from certain the generals had the vision or will to transform the Arab world's most populous nation into a vibrant democracy.

A family nurtured in rebellion

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 08:26 PM PST

For the Seif family — long active in leftist politics in Cairo — the Egyptian uprising was a long time coming. And when it did, they were prepared, though this time it was the children who would take the lead.

Friends coming to call at the Seif family's comfortable apartment in Mohandiseen over the last two weeks were likely to be disappointed, but not surprised. The Seifs, longtime activists who have been familiar fixtures at most demonstrations in Cairo over the years, have been waiting for Egypt's revolution since the 1970s. When it called, they moved like sailors to battle stations.