LA Times News

LA Times News

African migrant workers hope for next boat out of Libya

Posted: 26 Apr 2011 08:02 PM PDT

Laborers from Ghana, Niger, Nigeria and other African countries, suffering under both Kadafi's rockets and rebel ire, look to the sea for a way out.

The rockets slammed into the roadside refugee camp in the Libyan port city of Misurata, setting its blue plastic tarp tents on fire, killing one person and wounding at least 10. Hundreds ran up the open desert road, fearful of another onslaught.

NATO widens air war in Libya, targeting key sites in Tripoli

Posted: 26 Apr 2011 06:56 PM PDT

A state TV facility and one of Kadafi's residences have been hit. Officials deny they are targeting the Libyan leader specifically.

Frustrated at their inability to break the military deadlock in Libya and to stop the shelling of civilian areas, NATO commanders are expanding their air war by launching strikes against military command facilities and other regime buildings used by Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi and his top aides.

Syria in chaos sends shivers in region

Posted: 26 Apr 2011 05:55 PM PDT

Syria's upheaval is showing the potential to affect issues as broad as Iran's conflict with the U.S. and its allies, and as narrow as water rights. It may ultimately change the balance of power.

Unrest roiling Syria, a linchpin state in the Middle East, is shaking the region in ways that even the revolution in Egypt did not, threatening to upend some longstanding alliances and encouraging neighbors to scramble for sudden advantage.

French riot police protest ban on drinking on the job

Posted: 26 Apr 2011 04:52 PM PDT

It's not just tradition but a right to have a glass of wine or a beer with meals on duty, the CRS says. The Republican Security Companies are threatening some form of labor action, representatives say.

French riot police are up in arms over an order banning them from drinking on the job. They say having a glass of wine or beer with their meals while on duty is not just tradition but a legal right.

South Koreans flock to bathhouses offering every comfort

Posted: 26 Apr 2011 05:11 PM PDT

One man's idea for one-stop leisure brought more families out for a soak and steam, and became popular for dating singles. Hundreds such facilities now dot the nation. And are the great equalizer.

Just like the ancient Greek philosopher Archimedes more than 2,000 years before him, Yang Jun-hong had his "eureka!" moment in a tub.

Afghan official blames local and international forces for allowing prison break

Posted: 26 Apr 2011 10:50 AM PDT

Justice minister says Afghan security forces should have noticed the tunnel when they searched a nearby house 2 1/2 months ago, but he also faults Canadian and U.S. troops. Meanwhile, NATO reports death of Al Qaeda figure.

The mud house where insurgents began digging a long tunnel that at least 488 inmates used to flee an Afghan prison had been searched about 2 1/2 months before by security forces, who failed to notice anything amiss, authorities said Tuesday.

Guantanamo documents may inflame U.S.-Pakistan tensions

Posted: 25 Apr 2011 09:45 PM PDT

A 2007 paper on threat indicators for detainees that is released by WikiLeaks lists Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency among terrorist and terrorist support groups.

Authorities at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, regarded Pakistan's national intelligence agency, or ISI, as either involved in or supporting terrorism, according to leaked documents made public Monday, a designation that could anger leaders in the nuclear-armed Muslim country and worsen a relationship already marred by deep distrust.

Egypt optimistic about its future, but not warm toward U.S.

Posted: 25 Apr 2011 10:18 PM PDT

A poll finds an overwhelming number of people are glad Hosni Mubarak has left the presidency, and few want a closer relationship with the U.S. More than half want to annul the peace treaty with Israel.

Egyptians are optimistic about the future after their revolution, but they are not feeling warm toward the United States in spite of White House efforts to show support for their political reforms, according to a new poll.