LA Times News

LA Times News

U.S. walks tightrope in policy toward Bahrain violence

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 07:14 PM PST

Bahrain is home to the U.S. 5th Fleet, and its government's fall could scramble the strategic order in the Middle East, potentially weakening U.S. leverage and leaving Iran in a stronger position.

A burst of deadly violence against demonstrators in Bahrain has left the Obama administration again confronting the awkward task of trying to stabilize an ally besieged by growing opposition from its citizens.

Hamas sees opportunity in change in Egypt

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 06:18 PM PST

With the prospect of a friendly post-Mubarak government, the Palestinian militant group sees a chance to break Israel's Gaza blockade. But the Egyptian revolt could also inspire Gazans opposed to Hamas rule.

Egypt's revolution brought sudden and unintended freedom to Ayman Nofal.

U.S. aids Colombia program restoring land titles

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 04:33 PM PST

The U.S. role in the program for the displaced reflects a shift in Plan Colombia. From the plan's inception in 2000 through 2007, 80% of the $7 billion funneled to Colombia went to the military.

The new face of U.S. aid to Colombia is not a Black Hawk helicopter or a Green Beret trainer but a smiling 77-year-old peasant clutching the deed to a five-acre farm.

Britain cancels plan to sell off state forests

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 04:07 PM PST

As part of its effort to cut the deficit, the British government proposed selling land amounting to 18% of forests in England and worth about $1.1 billion. The proposal was greeted with a national outcry.

Faced with an outspoken public determined to protect Britain's woodlands, government officials struggling to overcome a devastating budget deficit canceled plans Thursday to sell hundreds of thousands of acres of forests to raise money.

Violence, anger grow in Yemen

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 10:21 AM PST

Rival protesters clash in the streets in the seventh day of protests between supporters and foes of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Opposition leaders have stopped short of calling for his ouster, but that could change.

Thousands of rival demonstrators protesting for and against Yemen's president clashed in the capital of Sana on Thursday in a sprawl of burning tires, hurled chunks of concrete and fistfights that marked the seventh straight day of unrest across the nation.

Iran's opposition calls for more protests

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 09:37 AM PST

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi is calling on Iranians to rally on Sunday in an attempt to build on recent uprisings in the Arab world. Iranian authorities are planning a counter demonstration Friday.

Iran's beleaguered opposition movement, under enormous government pressure but encouraged by popular uprisings throughout the Middle East, is calling for another round of protests Sunday, raising the stakes in its confrontation with Tehran's hard-line Islamist government.

After Bahrain crackdown, mourning and more protest

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 05:58 PM PST

Outside a Manama hospital where wounded protesters are treated and the dead are laid out, grief mixes with renewed fury aimed at the ruling royal family. Authorities defend the crackdown.

Beyond the hospital grounds, heavily armed police trying to secure this tiny kingdom against the contagion of unrest spreading across the Middle East manned checkpoints and grimly gripped their weapons. Within, perplexed and angry protesters insisted that they wouldn't be cowed.

Tourist boat sinks in Vietnam, killing 12 people from 9 countries

Posted: 17 Feb 2011 03:10 AM PST

Two Americans are among the dead in scenic Ha Long Bay. Most victims are asleep in their cabins when the craft goes down.

An anchored boat packed with sleeping travelers sank early Thursday in Vietnam's scenic Ha Long Bay, killing 12 people from nine countries in the deadliest tour boat accident since the country opened to foreign visitors 25 years ago.

Three reported dead in Iraqi protests

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 09:30 PM PST

Government offices are attacked in protests in the city of Kut, as demonstrations inspired by the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia continue.

Three people were reported killed and dozens wounded during a demonstration in the southeastern city of Kut after protesters set fire to several government buildings as the country was roiled by demonstrations for the second time in three days.

Panetta indicates future detainees could be held at Guantanamo

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 09:30 PM PST

CIA Director Leon Panetta says that if Osama bin Laden or another top Al Qaeda leader were captured, he would probably be detained at Guantanamo Bay. Other officials reaffirm President Obama's commitment to shutting the military prison.

If the U.S. captured Osama bin Laden or other senior Al Qaeda leaders, they would probably be imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, CIA Director Leon E. Panetta said in his first public acknowledgment that the controversial U.S. military prison in Cuba might be used to hold future detainees.

Bahrain authorities launch surprise attack on protesters

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 08:39 PM PST

Tear gas canisters bombard sleeping protesters in Manama's Pearl Square. At least two men are reported killed by rubber bullets.

Security forces in tiny but strategic Bahrain launched a brutal assault early Thursday against at least 1,000 defiant anti-government protesters, including children, camped out in tents in the capital's Pearl Square. At least two were killed and 50 hurt.