LA Times News

LA Times News

U.S. agents short-staffed and under the gun in Mexico

Posted: 07 Mar 2011 07:57 PM PST

A lack of resources, a policy against arming agents and staffers who don't speak Spanish hamper U.S. agents trying to stem the flow of weapons to drug cartels, say current and ex-staff members.

U.S. authorities in Mexico charged with stemming the flow of U.S. weapons to drug cartels have been hampered by shortfalls in staffing, agents with limited Spanish skills and the difficulty of recruiting new agents to the dangerous posting because they can't officially carry weapons, current and former staff members say.

Reluctant U.S. says Libya no-fly zone would have little effect

Posted: 07 Mar 2011 07:37 PM PST

Officials say a no-fly zone over Libya remains an option to help curb the bloodshed but that it would have little effect on the kind of helicopter attacks being seen.

Even as the Obama administration insists that a no-fly zone remains an option, a senior U.S. envoy said Monday that directing Western militaries to suppress Libyan air attacks on rebels would not have a great effect on the conflict.

Modern humans may have originated in southern Africa, researchers say

Posted: 07 Mar 2011 06:50 PM PST

A team from Stanford analyzes genetic markers and surmises that our oldest ancestors lived in the southern, not eastern, region. Not everyone agrees with the researchers' reasoning.

The largest genetic analysis of African populations to date suggests that modern humans originated in southern Africa about 60,000 years ago, not eastern Africa as is now commonly thought, researchers said Monday.

In Libya, mistakes are costing untrained rebels

Posted: 07 Mar 2011 06:44 PM PST

The anti-Moammar Kadafi fighters celebrated when they should have been taking crucial battlefield steps. Forced to retreat, they continue to waste ammunition by firing at nothing.

On Saturday, Libyan rebels in jeans and sneakers danced in the streets of Bin Jawwad, celebrating a victory over government forces in the hamlet by firing thousands of rounds of precious ammunition into the air.

Palestinians make risky gambit for statehood

Posted: 07 Mar 2011 05:03 PM PST

After failed peace talks, the Palestinian Authority is making a push for statehood through an international campaign for membership in the U.N. and a resolution recognizing a Palestinian state. The U.S. plans to block the effort, calling it a 'strategic mistake.'

Palestinian leaders are embarking on a risky statehood strategy that will seek to isolate Israel's hawkish government in the international community and rely less on U.S. backing, a move that reflects growing disappointment here with the Obama administration.

India's Supreme Court lays out euthanasia guidelines

Posted: 07 Mar 2011 12:44 PM PST

Justices reject a plea for its use on a woman in a vegetative state but issue guidelines allowing for the use of 'passive' euthanasia for terminally ill patients through the withholding of treatment.

India's Supreme Court on Monday laid out guidelines for the use of euthanasia in extreme situations involving terminally ill patients, even as it rejected a plea for its use in the case of a woman who has been in a vegetative state for nearly four decades.

Former Libyan prime minister calls for dialogue with rebels

Posted: 07 Mar 2011 11:35 AM PST

As Moammar Kadafi's forces strike at his foes in the east, former Prime Minister Jadallah Azzuz Talhi proposes talks during an appearance on state TV. Rebels reject the appeal, and a European Union delegation arrives to try to defuse the Libyan crisis.

Mohamad Soueid is an unlikely revolutionary against the regime of Moammar Kadafi. Until a few weeks ago he was a high-ranking government official in the city of Misurata, the man in charge of overseeing the affairs of the foreigners who lived there.

No-fly zone in Libya? Wouldn't help, U.S. envoy says

Posted: 07 Mar 2011 01:53 PM PST

As some U.S. lawmakers have pushed for the military tactic, President Obama is mum. But NATO ambassador Ivo Daalder says a no-fly zone wouldn't greatly affect the type of fighting going on in Libya. Meanwhile, the U.S. and its allies are under increasing pressure to take action in the country.

WASHINGTON — A senior U.S. envoy to NATO criticized proposals to have Western militaries suppress Libyan air attacks on rebels, saying a no-fly zone "isn't really going to impact what is happening there today" in the spreading war.

Libyan warplanes strike rebels at key oil complex in Ras Lanuf

Posted: 07 Mar 2011 09:27 AM PST

A mass evacuation eastward is triggered. Rebel fighters describe it as an upcoming attempt to retake the Libyan desert outpost of Bin Jawwad.

Libyan government warplanes struck again at rebels clinging to a key oil complex in Ras Lanuf on Monday, sending residents of the desert city into a panic and triggering a mass evacuation eastward.

U.S. set to begin withdrawing Afghanistan troops in July

Posted: 07 Mar 2011 02:43 AM PST

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates says improving security and gains against the Taliban will facilitate the troop drawdown. In a visit with President Hamid Karzai, he apologizes for the airstrike deaths of nine Afghans.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that the U.S. and its allies were on track to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in July as promised, even as he sought to tamp down tensions with President Hamid Karzai over continuing civilian casualties.

Personality, not politics, divides Haiti's presidential candidates

Posted: 06 Mar 2011 08:24 PM PST

Both are right of center, but Michel Martelly is a naughty-boy singer with no political experience and Mirlande Manigat is a 70-year-old former first lady and respected scholar.

Dozens of supporters straddle motorcycles, bobbing their heads beneath bandannas — hot pink! — that bear the candidate's name. The beat-heavy dance music that has others swaying and shaking also carries the candidate's stamp — they're his songs.