LA Times News

LA Times News

Gbagbo's rule violently divided Ivory Coast

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 06:20 PM PDT

During his decade in power, the president's supporters, including a youth militia, terrorized his foes. Northerners, Ivorians of foreign descent and the French were among their targets.

During the decadelong rule of Laurent Gbagbo, his subjects in Ivory Coast learned to pay attention not to his words but to his deeds.

Ivory Coast leader trapped in Abidjan as fighting continues

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 06:19 PM PDT

Die-hard loyalists are defending Laurent Gbagbo at the presidential residence. The city's residents are trapped without food or electricity.

Embattled Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo on Thursday remained trapped in his presidential residence in Abidjan under the protection of 200 heavily armed loyalists, while many other residents of the country's commercial capital struggled to find food.

Syrian leader seeks to calm Kurdish unrest

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 07:08 PM PDT

As minority Kurds join the pro-democracy movement, President Bashar Assad announces that the long suppressed community in the northeast will be given citizenship rights.

Syrian President Bashar Assad made new concessions Thursday to the country's minority Kurdish population after some members joined pro-democracy demonstrators, threatening to create a new flank in Assad's political crisis.

Libya opposition says another NATO airstrike has killed rebels

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 05:21 PM PDT

The alliance says it's looking into the incident near Port Brega, which the opposition says left four rebels dead.

Four Libyan rebels were killed in an airstrike Thursday that the opposition's top general blamed on NATO.

Venezuela polarized over Chavez's land policy

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 04:13 PM PDT

President Hugo Chavez's decree has put the force of law behind his longtime practice of urging the poor to occupy vacant buildings or unproductive farmland. The result is strife between his beneficiaries and those who believe in private property rights.

When Elbert Santiago, a poor messenger service employee and father of three, heard about a chance to trade up from his "hole" of a slum apartment to a place a short stroll from the presidential palace, he didn't think twice.

Palestinian killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 04:21 PM PDT

Israeli forces hit nine targets after militants fire an antitank missile that hit an Israeli school bus, injuring a 16-year-old and the driver.

At least one Palestinian was killed and two Israelis were injured Thursday amid escalating violence between Israel's military and militants in the Gaza Strip.

The voice of Libya's rebellion is up and spinning

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 02:09 PM PDT

The burgeoning radio, TV and press empire of the rebels in eastern Libya is giving Moammar Kadafi's foes information and outlets many have never had. Not that the coverage is exactly balanced.

Salah from central Benghazi was on the line, sounding indignant.

Europe scrambles to rescue Portugal from debt crisis

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 11:52 AM PDT

Debt-ridden Portugal's request for aid is no surprise, but it comes amid a political upheaval that has left Lisbon with a caretaker government that may not have the authority to agree to a bailout package.

European officials began scrambling to find ways to lend financial aid to Portugal on Thursday after the debt-ridden Iberian nation bowed to market pressure and decided it had no choice but to ask for help.

Japan hit with magnitude 7.1 aftershock; tsunami warning briefly issued

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 09:18 AM PDT

There were no reports of damage from the aftershock centered off the northeast coast. Officials warned of tsunami heights of up to 6.6 feet, but the warning was lifted after 90 minutes. A nuclear plant in Miyagi lost three of its four power sources, while no damage was reported at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant.

A magnitude 7.1 aftershock struck northeastern Japan late Thursday night, prompting a brief tsunami warning for areas already ravaged by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami, according to the nation's meteorological agency.

7.1 magnitude earthquake hits off Japan coast, tsunami warning issued

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 08:42 AM PDT

Japan was rattled by a strong aftershock and tsunami warning Thursday night nearly a month after a devastating earthquake and tsunami flattened the northeastern coast.

Rio school shooting: 11 children killed in rampage

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 09:17 AM PDT

A former student went on a shooting rampage at a Rio de Janeiro elementary school Thursday killing 11 children, officials said.

Gunmen, suicide bombers attack Afghan police complex

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 08:36 AM PDT

The Taliban claims responsibility for the attack in which at least six Afghan security officers are killed. Three suicide bombers are shot and killed, but a bomb-rigged ambulance later explodes.

Taliban gunmen and bombers attacked a police complex Thursday on the outskirts of the southern city of Kandahar, killing at least six members of the Afghan security forces and rattling residents of a metropolis whose security has been deemed a top priority by the NATO force.

Taliban attackers kill 6 at Afghan police site

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 04:24 AM PDT

Three suicide bombers strike first, then a gunfight rages for hours in and around the Kandahar police compound.

A squad of Taliban gunmen and suicide bombers attacked a police complex Thursday on the outskirts of the southern city of Kandahar, killing at least six members of the Afghan security forces and rattling residents of a metropolis whose security has been deemed a top priority by the NATO force.

China accuses dissident artist Ai Weiwei of 'economic crimes'

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 01:31 AM PDT

Ai Weiwei, best known for designing the 'Bird's Nest' stadium for the 2008 Olympics, was seized as he was about to board a flight to Hong Kong. The U.S. and EU have protested his detention.

Chinese authorities accused Ai Weiwei, one of the nation's most celebrated artists and dissidents, of "economic crimes" Thursday as criticism poured in from the United States and elsewhere about Beijing's crackdown on dissent.

China accuses dissident artist Ai Weiwei of 'economic crimes'

Posted: 06 Apr 2011 10:25 PM PDT

Ai Weiwei, best known for designing the 'Bird's Nest' stadium for the 2008 Olympics, was seized as he was about to board a flight to Hong Kong. The U.S. and EU have protested his detention.

Chinese authorities accused Ai Weiwei, one of the nation's most celebrated artists and dissidents, of "economic crimes" late Wednesday as criticism poured in from the United States and elsewhere about Beijing's crackdown on dissent.

Thousands across Mexico protest drug violence

Posted: 06 Apr 2011 09:29 PM PDT

Marches are held in several cities, prompted by the killing of seven people, one of whom was the son of a prominent poet, Javier Sicilia.

In what is becoming a familiar ritual, people in several cities demonstrated Wednesday to call for an end to violence in Mexico — this time after the son of poet Javier Sicilia was found dead along with six other people.

Mexican officials find 59 bodies in mass graves

Posted: 06 Apr 2011 09:29 PM PDT

Officials investigating the kidnapping last month of bus passengers find the bodies in eight graves in Tamaulipas; it is not clear whether they were among those seized. Five captives are rescued and 11 suspects arrested.

 

Kadafi letter asks Obama to end 'unjust war'

Posted: 06 Apr 2011 07:36 PM PDT

The Libyan leader also says he hopes Obama will be reelected.

Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi sent an unusual personal letter to President Obama, complaining about the West's "unjust war" against his embattled regime but also endorsing Obama for a second term in the White House.