LA Times News

LA Times News

International conference in London plots Libya future

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 08:13 PM PDT

A few representatives of the rebels fighting Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi hovered on the fringes of the talks. Their absence from the meetings reflected how politically delicate the crisis remains.

With the U.S. handing off responsibility for military action in Libya, scores of diplomats and international officials gathered in London to start plotting the country's future and declared their resolve to maintain pressure on Moammar Kadafi until he stops attacking his own people.

Pakistan handles Islamic extremism with kid gloves

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 02:34 PM PDT

Violence and threats against those who dared to speak out against militants underscore extremism's deep reach into Pakistani society. But the government has proved powerless to stem the tide of radicalization.

Loud and combative, Fauzia Wahab is unafraid to denounce mullahs or defend deeply unpopular America. In recent weeks, however, the liberal lawmaker has sat hunkered down in her home in Karachi, rarely stepping out her front door.

Obama says events in Libya demanded quick action

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 07:16 PM PDT

In a TV interview, the president says he did not seek congressional authorization for U.S. airstrikes because lives were at stake. He says he told congressional leaders of his intentions beforehand.

Explaining why he didn't seek congressional authorization to launch airstrikes on Libya, President Obama said Tuesday he needed to "move quickly to save lives" as Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi's forces advanced on civilians.

Kidnapped German doctor's trial in French girl's killing begins

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 06:39 PM PDT

Dieter Krombach is accused of killing teenage stepdaughter Kalinka Bamberski in Germany in 1982. He was abducted and taken to France two years ago.

The trial of a retired German doctor suspected of killing a teenage girl nearly 30 years ago began Tuesday, 18 months after the doctor was kidnapped, bound and dumped outside a French courthouse.

Helping pets in post-disaster Japan

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 06:35 PM PDT

A loose network of groups is working to assist animals stressed by the ordeal and, in some cases, separated from their owners. Many find that animals' welfare is often integrally linked to that of people.

The dog had been left tied up in a yard in Fukushima, the largely emptied city synonymous with the words "nuclear disaster."

West Libya cities and towns brace for fighting

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 06:09 PM PDT

Airstrikes have opened up the area for rebel advances. Authorities show journalists a hospital and other buildings they say were damaged by the multinational coalition.

The multinational coalition executing airstrikes against forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi appears to have paved the way for a new rebel front by bombing positions near a rural stretch along the country's western border.

Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh loses grip on several provinces

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 04:00 PM PDT

A tribal insurgency in the north and Islamic militants in the south capitalize on turmoil to make territorial gains.

As Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh struggles to retain power in the face of weeks-long protests, the central government's control over restive provinces in the north and south has weakened substantially in recent days, both officials and insurgent leaders said Tuesday.

India-Pakistan cricket match has region abuzz

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 03:19 PM PDT

Wednesday's semifinal Cricket World Cup match in India between India and Pakistan is the hottest ticket in town, with national pride and claims of sports superiority on the line.

Wednesday's semifinal Cricket World Cup match between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan is the hottest ticket in town, with national pride and claims of sports superiority on the line. Mix in geopolitics, the threat of a terrorist attack and warnings against match-fixing and you've got an event that is captivating the subcontinent.

Japan's prime minister criticizes nuclear plant's owner

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 09:51 AM PDT

Naoto Kan calls out Tepco, which owns the Fukushima Daiichi plant, saying 'assumptions about tsunamis were greatly mistaken' and 'standards were too low.'

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan for the first time criticized Tepco, which owns the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, for inadequate preparations for a tsunami at the facility. The sea wall at the plant was designed to withstand an 18-foot wave, while the actual tsunami that struck after the magnitude 9 Tohoku earthquake was estimated to be more than 40 feet high.

Syrian Cabinet quits as Assad promises reform

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 04:18 PM PDT

Responding to continued protests, President Bashar Assad dissolves his government. An announcement is expected soon that a decades-old emergency law will be lifted and other restrictions loosened.

The Syrian government resigned Tuesday as President Bashar Assad sought to stem a widening rebellion by promising to reform the police state that has kept his family in power for more than 40 years in one of the Middle East's most strategic countries.

Syria's Cabinet resigns amid protests

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 06:01 AM PDT

Syrian state-run television says the Cabinet has resigned as the country sees the worst unrest in decades.

Clinton sees Kadafi foe; U.S. envoy to meet rebels in Libya

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 03:49 AM PDT

The U.S. secretary of State is in London for a conference on Libya's future. Envoy Chris Stevens' upcoming trip doesn't represent formal recognition, officials say.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met Tuesday with a representative of the Libyan opposition fighting Moammar Kadafii's regime as the Obama administration looked to expand ties with rebel leaders seeking an end to four decades of dictatorship.

Obama justifies U.S. intervention in Libya

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 09:52 PM PDT

President Obama tells Americans that the U.S. has a 'strategic interest' in stopping Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi and that he ordered military action to halt a humanitarian disaster.

President Obama told a skeptical American public that he ordered military action in Libya because circumstances allowed the U.S. and its allies to halt a humanitarian disaster, but he acknowledged that even a weakened Moammar Kadafi still may be a long way from leaving power.

Radioactive water leaking to tunnels under Japanese nuclear plant

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 09:24 PM PDT

The buildup of highly radioactive water in the tunnels beneath the Fukushima complex is hindering efforts to restore power to the facility. Traces of plutonium, which is highly carcinogenic, are detected in soil around the plant.

Japanese emergency crews are scrambling to contain rising levels of extremely radioactive water that has leaked into tunnels and basement equipment rooms at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, putting up dangerous new obstacles to workers trying to bring the reactors under control.