LA Times News

LA Times News

In Japan, a homecoming of desperation in the nuclear zone

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 06:56 PM PDT

Residents of a town near the Fukushima nuclear plant venture back to their homes for the first time since they evacuated. They grab what belongings they can and dash off again, quite possibly never to return.

The white minivan stole along back roads, careful to avoid police checkpoints. The pair inside wore face masks and white gloves. They were nervous, furtive even.

Mubarak suffers heart problems during interrogation, report says

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 06:56 PM PDT

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was being questioned by prosecutors when he had to be hospitalized for heart trouble, the official MENA news agency says. A state-run newspaper, however, describes the hospital visit as a 'pretext' to evade questioning.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was hospitalized in a Red Sea resort after suffering heart problems during questioning by prosecutors about allegations of corruption and abuse of power stemming from his nearly 30-year rule, state news media reported.

Pakistan, U.S. attempt to rebuild trust during meetings in Washington

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 05:02 PM PDT

Ties have frayed after a CIA contractor was accused of murder. Pakistani intelligence officials want the U.S. agency to keep them in the loop and reduce drone strikes.

After months of reduced cooperation between Pakistani and American intelligence agencies in the battle against Al Qaeda and Taliban militants, top officials of the two nations have been meeting in Washington this week to overcome a deep sense of mistrust intensified in January by a murder case involving a CIA contractor.

New Ivory Coast president faces divided country; fighting continues in Abidjan

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 06:19 PM PDT

Alassane Ouattara promises to form a commission to investigate postelection atrocities. Opponents accuse him of being a stooge of France or the West.

Ivory Coast's new leader took charge of a divided country Tuesday, facing continued fighting in some neighborhoods of its commercial capital and a growing humanitarian crisis.

Election time in Indian state means free flow of handouts

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 05:02 PM PDT

Candidates in Tamil Nadu state give away blenders, TVs, cars. Critics say voters get them at the cost of democracy.

Neighbors crowded around the cardboard box containing a color television, one of dozens recently distributed in this community of mud-floored huts 25 miles from the bustling city of Chennai. There's only one problem: Nobody can use them.

Popular Egypt TV religious figure raises his sights

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 03:44 PM PDT

Amr Khaled is the Arab world's paramount televangelist, a charismatic guide for millions of Muslims. Now, Egyptians are seeing him again after his return from exile and he hints at forming a party.

His 2.6 million fans on Facebook make him one of the site's 75 most popular people. His television show borrows from Donald Trump's. When he appears before thousands of adoring fans, he wears Hugo Boss suits and applies a little black makeup to his scalp to hide the gaps in his thinning hair.

Prospective left-right political marriage fizzles in Mexico state

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 03:47 PM PDT

After months of speculation, the conservative PAN and leftist PRD will field separate candidates for governor in the state of Mexico, rather than team up against the reigning party there, the PRI.

It's a maybe-possible marriage that has kept Mexico's political world aflutter: leftists and conservatives joining hands in a pivotal state before next year's presidential vote.

Rival dairy farm intentionally added nitrate to milk that killed 3 Chinese infants, police say

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 03:26 AM PDT

The report cites unresolved business disputes. Two suspects are arrested and two farms shut down in northwestern China.

Police in northwestern China announced Tuesday that milk that killed three infants and sickened 36 others was intentionally poisoned with nitrate by a competing dairy farm seeking revenge, according to the New China News Agency.

El Salvador's 'waves are a dream'

Posted: 11 Apr 2011 08:23 PM PDT

More surfers are coming to ride the user-friendly waves in El Salvador, where civil war kept most tourists away for years. The country is still trying to shake off that dangerous image.

Robert "Roberto" Rotherham stepped onto the black-sand beach before 6 a.m., cradling his well-worn surfboard.