LA Times News

LA Times News

Kadafi vows no mercy as chaos grows

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 07:12 PM PST

The Libyan leader says protesters should be executed. As violence spreads and key advisors defect, he appears out of touch and out of control.

Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi offered no concessions to protesters who have shaken his regime by capturing several major cities, denouncing them as drunkards, terrorists and "drug-fueled mice" who should be executed.

New Zealand rescue teams scramble to find quake survivors

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 06:59 PM PST

The shaking from the earthquake that hit Christchurch was among some of the strongest ever recorded. Officials say 75 are dead and 300 remain missing.

The death toll from New Zealand's massive earthquake was expected to climb past 75 as 300 people remained missing and rescuers scoured smoldering mountains of rubble after the country's worst seismic catastrophe in 80 years.

Egypt's women face growing sexual harassment

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 04:00 PM PST

Some women in Egypt say they suffer catcalls, groping and other sexual harassment daily. For a time it seemed the Tahrir Square protests might point to progress, but the attack on TV reporter Lara Logan and others showed otherwise.

On the night Hosni Mubarak fell from power, the crowds that rejoiced in Cairo's central square were so dense, so roiling and rowdy, that Mohamed Assyouti couldn't push his way through when his girlfriend, Mariam Nekiwi, was assaulted several yards away.

Vines spreading at trees' expense in tropical forests, scientists say

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 06:40 PM PST

The change observed in tropical forests in the Americas could dry out vegetation and result in more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, an analysis of eight studies shows.

Vines may be proliferating at the expense of trees in tropical forests across the Americas, scientists have found. This shift in abundance could affect the water in the ecosystem and how carbon is stored in the plants, potentially drying out forests and resulting in more carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere.

Indian court convicts 31 of murder, conspiracy in train fire

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 03:10 PM PST

Defendants are found guilty of killing 59 people in February 2002 by setting fire to a train filled with Hindu activists returning from a pilgrimage. The incident sparked massive sectarian riots that resulted in hundreds more deaths.

A court in India on Tuesday convicted 31 defendants of killing dozens of people by burning a train near the town of Godhra in 2002, an act that led to sectarian riots that caused the deaths of hundreds more.

Yemen's protesters angry but also ambivalent

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 02:46 PM PST

Most of the demonstrators in Yemen want President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, but they can't agree on which political and economic reforms to pursue.

Less than two blocks away from where anti-government protesters clash daily with supporters of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, children in green uniforms ambled home from school. Women hung their laundry on sundrenched rooftops, and a shopkeeper restocked pink soda and biscuits in neat rows.

Algeria to lift state of emergency

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 02:02 PM PST

Bowing to protests, the Cabinet adopts an ordinance to end measures that have barred peaceful demonstrations and limited political freedoms for 19 years.

In a major concession to Algeria's opposition groups, the government on Tuesday adopted a measure that would lift a 19-year state of emergency that has constrained civil liberties and human rights in the North African oil exporter.

In Egypt, loved ones search for those who didn't return from protest

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 02:02 PM PST

One family visits hospitals, morgues and prisons and is in contact with various agencies in search of a 36-year-old who has vanished. It is difficult to know how many families are going through the same search.

About an hour after President Hosni Mubarak's resignation this month, when other Egyptians were dancing in the streets, Ahmed Amin logged on to a Facebook group he had created two weeks earlier to write a message.

Bahrain's peaceful protesters demand ouster of government

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 12:53 PM PST

Tens of thousands gather at Manama's Pearl Square, seeking dismissal of the Bahraini government. They emphasize the strength of their numbers after a pro-government rally Monday purportedly attended by hundreds of thousands.

Tens of thousands of protesters pressed their demands Tuesday for the dismissal of Bahrain's government, saying they would not relent until substantial reforms were enacted.

Libya's Moammar Kadafi vows not to resign, denounces protesters as 'greasy rats'

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 09:10 AM PST

In a lengthy address on state TV, Moammar Kadafi calls protesters against his regime a variety of names and urges his supporters to help the military crush the uprising.

A defiant Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi vowed Tuesday not to resign and denounced the anti-government protesters who have challenged his regime as "greasy rats" and "drug-fueled mice" who deserve to be executed.

Somali pirates kill 4 American boaters

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 08:55 AM PST

Somali pirates shoot two couples, from California and Seattle, who had been on an around-the-world sailing trip when they were taken hostage off of Oman.

WASHINGTON — A California couple and two other Americans taken hostage by Somali pirates were mortally wounded Tuesday morning by their captors, shortly before a U.S. special operations team boarded the hijacked vessel, killed two of the pirates and captured the rest, U.S. military officials said.

Location a major factor in New Zealand quake devastation

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 09:37 AM PST

Scientists say the latest New Zealand earthquake caused more destruction than a larger one last year because of its location.

U.S. sends rescue team to help in New Zealand earthquake

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 08:32 AM PST

A U.S. delegation of 43 government, business and community leaders who were in New Zealand at the time of a devastating earthquake suffered no casualties.

Two delegations of U.S. lawmakers, officials and business leaders who were in New Zealand at the time of a devastating earthquake suffered no casualties and are all safe, the State Department said Tuesday. The U.S., meanwhile, has dispatched a search-and-rescue team to New Zealand to help in the quake's aftermath.

New Zealand quake smashes buildings and cars, killing 65

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 03:13 AM PST

Rescue efforts and aftershocks continue through the night amid reports that the death toll could go much higher. Two buses are reported crushed as buildings in Christchurch topple.

A devastating magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the New Zealand city of Christchurch on Tuesday, killing at least 65 people and collapsing buildings onto victims, some of whom used their cellphones to frantically call for help, officials said.

Bahrain's king says he'll release some political prisoners

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 01:27 AM PST

It's unclear how many will be freed in what is an apparent attempt to appease an opposition movement clamoring for reforms.

Bahrain's king announced plans to release an unspecified number of political prisoners Monday in a move apparently aimed at appeasing an opposition movement that is pressing for reforms in this small Persian Gulf country.

CIA drones may be avoiding Pakistani civilians

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 12:23 AM PST

A chance to kill a powerful militant was reportedly passed up last year because women and children were nearby, reflecting a possible increase in concern over such casualties.

The CIA passed up a chance last year to kill Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of an anti-American insurgent network in Pakistan that is closely linked to Al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban, when it chose not to fire a missile at him from a Predator drone because women and children were nearby, U.S. and Pakistani officials say.

Dozens killed in New Zealand earthquake

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 12:23 AM PST

A 6.3-magnitude quake strikes Christchurch during its busy lunch hour, killing at least 65 and burying victims under collapsed buildings.

A devastating magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the New Zealand city of Christchurch on Tuesday, killing at least 65 people and burying victims under collapsed buildings. Some victims used their cellphones to frantically call for help, officials said.

China hints at possible Web clampdown

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 12:23 AM PST

In a meeting with senior politicians, President Hu Jintao calls for 'a system of public opinion guidance on the Internet.' Analysts say the Mideast, Libya protests have shaken Beijing.

With a wary eye on popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, Chinese leaders are calling for new ways to defuse social unrest in what appears to be an ominous harbinger of tighter controls on the Internet and elsewhere.

Quake kills dozens in New Zealand

Posted: 21 Feb 2011 10:52 PM PST

At least 65 are dead and many are reported trapped in Christchurch after a magnitude 6.3 temblor collapses buildings.

A devastating 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck the New Zealand city of Christchurch on Tuesday, killing at least 65 people and collapsing buildings onto victims, some of whom used their cellphones to frantically call for help, officials said.

6.3-magnitude quake in New Zealand topples buildings

Posted: 21 Feb 2011 09:36 PM PST

A powerful earthquake struck New Zealand's already-bruised city of Christchurch on Tuesday, killing at least 65 people as it collapsed buildings, buried vehicles under debris and sent rescuers scrambling to help trapped people.