LA Times News

LA Times News

Bahrain security forces assault sleeping protesters in capital square

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 06:57 PM PST

The toll of two dead and 50 injured is expected to rise. The violence in the country that hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet takes place amid continuing regional unrest.

Security forces in tiny but strategic Bahrain launched a brutal assault early Thursday against at least 1,000 defiant anti-government protesters, including women and children, camped out in tents in the capital's Pearl Square.

Agent's death may mean increased security for U.S. role in Mexico drug war

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 07:31 PM PST

The fatal shooting of a U.S. federal agent is not expected to fundamentally alter the U.S.-Mexican alliance, but the expanding corps of U.S. personnel helping Mexico's drug war may face new measures.

The fatal shooting of a U.S. federal agent in Mexico may lead to new security measures for the expanding corps of American personnel participating ever more deeply in Mexico's drug war, but it is not expected to fundamentally alter the U.S.-Mexican alliance, officials said Wednesday.

U.S. worries Egypt military not doing enough

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 05:42 PM PST

Officials are privately pressing the new military rulers to follow through on post-Mubarak democracy.

The Obama administration is concerned that the Egyptian military's plans to reshape the country's government may fall short of producing its promised democratic overhaul, and are privately urging the new leaders to live up to pledges they made as the Mubarak regime fell.

Diplomat seen as a solid leader, but too old to be Egypt's president

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 05:19 PM PST

At 74, Amr Moussa has experience and independence, but observers say the youth movement is unlikely to embrace him.

He is a longtime diplomat known for being outspoken, once even the hero of a popular ballad. He is a former member of ousted President Hosni Mubarak's regime, but is disliked by the military officers who run the country. And he is an old man trying to appeal to the young.

Suppression of human growth hormone may ward off cancer, diabetes

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 06:07 PM PST

A study of an Ecuadorean population with a genetic mutation that shuts off receptors to HGH finds they almost never get cancer or diabetes, suggesting a downside for people taking the hormone as an anti-aging treatment.

Anyone seeking the fountain of youth should think twice before turning to growth hormone, a fast-growing trend in anti-aging fringe medicine. If conclusions from a study of an obscure population living in Ecuador prove true, less growth hormone — not more — may help prevent cancer and diabetes in old age.

U.S. intelligence taxed by Middle East unrest

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 03:58 PM PST

Despite numerous reports from the Mideast and North Africa, U.S. intelligence struggled to keep up with events and maintain counter-terrorism contacts in the region, top spy officials tell a Senate panel.

The quick pace of protests and two regime changes in the Middle East over the last month has stretched the U.S. intelligence community as it scrambles to keep up with events and maintain crucial counter-terrorism contacts, top intelligence officials said Wednesday.

Mexico radio host rehired after alcohol flap

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 03:42 PM PST

Carmen Aristegui's dismissal after comments about alcoholism rumors surrounding the president ignited protests by fans and stirred debate over freedom of the press. Calderon detractors often circulate allegations about his drinking, but none has ever offered evidence.

Maybe it was all talk.

Amid latest Berlusconi scandal, some in Italy say its democracy is suffering

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 03:49 PM PST

Commentators and critics across the spectrum say when Premier Silvio Berlusconi finally goes, he will leave behind a nation whose democratic institutions and political discourse are badly debased.

Scandals that would almost certainly topple the leader of any other Western democracy — alleged encounters with underage prostitutes, corruption charges, unabashed cronyism — have yet to knock Silvio Berlusconi off his perch as Italy's prime minister, a post he has held for most of the last decade.

India attempts damage control in wake of corruption scandals

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 12:30 PM PST

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose leadership has come under question, expresses regret over the scandals and says those guilty will be punished. He says aggressive media coverage has hurt the nation's global reputation.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought with a rare news conference Wednesday to regain momentum after a string of corruption scandals that have paralyzed Parliament, put off foreign investors and angered voters.

U.S. agent shot to death in Mexico is identified

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 06:50 AM PST

Jaime J. Zapata was one of two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents ambushed by gunmen in central Mexico, officials say. Zapata was killed Tuesday and the other agent was wounded in a 'narco-blockade.'

A U.S. immigration agent who was killed Tuesday in a part of central Mexico increasingly under the influence of drug traffickers has been identified as Jaime J. Zapata. Zapata was shot to death and another special agent was wounded when they were apparently ambushed by gunmen at a fake roadblock, the type often used by traffickers and their henchmen.

Hundreds of Libyans demand the government's ouster

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 02:30 AM PST

Reports say they are calling for removal of the prime minister and strongman Moammar Kadafi, who has ruled for decades.

Hundreds of Libyans calling for the government's ouster took to the streets Wednesday in the country's second-largest city as Egypt-inspired unrest spread to the country long ruled by Moammar Kadafi.