LA Times News

LA Times News

Video game teaches Cambodian children to avoid land mines

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 07:06 PM PDT

Undercover UXO, shorthand for unexploded ordnance, uses an engaging platform to educate youths about what to avoid in a nation where decades of fighting left the land filled with hidden explosives.

"Turn left, turn right, go back!" her friends urge as she leads her avatar, a pet dog, into a lethal trap and the sound of an explosion rings out from the computer.

NATO strike kills Kadafi son, Libyan official says

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 05:32 PM PDT

Killed were Saif al Arab Kadafi, 29, and three of Moammar Kadafi's grandchildren, a government spokesman says. He says the Libyan leader and his wife were home at the time, but that both survived.

Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi survived a NATO airstrike in the capital that killed one of his sons and three of his grandchildren, a government spokesman said on state television Saturday.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood creates political party

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 04:46 PM PDT

A popular Islamic movement long banned and called a terrorist group, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood says the new party will put forward candidates in parliamentary elections scheduled for September.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the popular Islamic movement long banned from politics by former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, announced Saturday that it has formed a political party.

Taliban warns Afghan civilians to stay clear of planned targets

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 03:17 PM PDT

The militant group announces plans to attack foreign troops and urges 'all Afghan people' to avoid public gatherings, military bases, convoys and government buildings.

The Taliban on Saturday declared the start of a spring offensive in Afghanistan, warning that insurgents plan to attack foreign troops, Afghan security forces and government officials in coming days.

Syrian forces told to use 'any means necessary' to crush rebellion in Dara

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 02:16 PM PDT

A Syrian military source says President Bashar Assad's security forces have been ordered to quell the uprising in Dara 'even if this means that the city is to be burned down.' Tanks destroy a mosque, witnesses say, and at least four people are killed.

Syrian security forces besieging the city of Dara have been ordered to use "any means necessary" to crush the rebellion that sparked the weeks-long uprising against the regime of President Bashar Assad, a Syrian military source said Saturday.

Taliban warns of spring offensive in Afghanistan

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 12:35 AM PDT

A statement tells Afghan civilians to avoid public gatherings, military bases and government centers, all possible targets.

The Taliban declared the start of a spring offensive in Afghanistan on Saturday, warning they plan to attack foreign troops, Afghan security forces and government officials in coming days.

Government Creating New Medicare Payment Strategy to Reward Hospitals for Better Quality Care

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 12:14 AM PDT

The Obama administration finalized plans Friday to reward hospitals that provide high quality care, the first in a series of steps that are designed to fundamentally transform the way the federal government pays for healthcare.

Pentagon report sees 'fragile' gains in Afghanistan

Posted: 30 Apr 2011 12:14 AM PDT

A report to Congress says the 30,000 additional troops sent last year have 'arrested the momentum of the insurgency' in much of Afghanistan.

The Obama administration's injection of 30,000 more U.S. troops into Afghanistan in the last year has produced "tangible progress," a new Pentagon report concludes, but it warns that a renewed Taliban offensive is expected as weather warms and the traditional fighting season takes hold.

Mexico extradites drug kingpin to the U.S.

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 10:13 PM PDT

Benjamin Arellano Felix, the former leader of one of Mexico's most feared organized crime groups, had been incarcerated since his 2002 arrest. He is flown to San Diego to face racketeering and drug conspiracy charges.

The Mexican government Friday extradited to the United States drug kingpin Benjamin Arellano Felix, the former leader of one of Mexico's most feared and powerful organized crime groups, whose ruthless reign transformed northern Baja California into a major drug trafficking corridor into the U.S.