LA Times News

LA Times News

Rescue ship evacuates 800 from Misurata to Benghazi

Posted: 05 May 2011 07:06 PM PDT

Most arriving in Benghazi, the Libyan rebels' stronghold, are migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa and other areas who were left stranded amid the siege by Kadafi's forces.

A rescue ship packed with migrant workers from the besieged Libyan city of Misurata arrived Thursday at the opposition stronghold of Benghazi, even as rebels received assurances in Rome of a financial aid package from the United States and other international powers.

Mystery shrouds the quiet man who built Bin Laden's compound

Posted: 05 May 2011 06:08 PM PDT

Known in Abbottabad, Pakistan, as Arshad Khan, neighbors say he lived in the fortress-like residence with a man believed to be his brother and their families. But little else is known, including whether he was the courier whose trail eventually led to Osama bin Laden.

The builder of Osama bin Laden's last lair was a polite but taciturn man who kept the neighbors at arm's length and prying eyes from discovering the identity of his boss.

French soccer officials in racism controversy

Posted: 05 May 2011 06:08 PM PDT

National team officials deny racism after they are secretly recorded discussing an unofficial quota to limit the number of Arab and African kids in training programs so as to eventually boost the number of whites on the team.

They were once hailed as a potent symbol of France's ethnic melting pot; the French soccer team, known as Les Bleus but nicknamed the "black-blanc-beur" (black-white-Arab) squad.

Syria steps up crackdown on opposition activists

Posted: 05 May 2011 05:11 PM PDT

Hundreds of people are arrested on the eve of another planned day of protests against the Baathist regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The government warns people to stay home and deploys troops around the country.

Syrian authorities intensified a crackdown on opposition activists Thursday, arresting hundreds of people ahead of another planned day of demonstrations after weekly prayers, witnesses said.

In Yemen, battle against Al Qaeda continues

Posted: 05 May 2011 05:11 PM PDT

Two alleged Al Qaeda militants are slain in what is believed to be a U.S. missile strike. Their deaths cast a spotlight on Al Qaeda's role in Yemen, where the group remains a threat even after Osama bin Laden's demise.

Two alleged Al Qaeda militants were killed when their car exploded Thursday in southern Yemen, an incident that bore the marks of a U.S. missile strike.

Britain votes on election method in a battle that has politicians boiling

Posted: 05 May 2011 02:29 PM PDT

Britons are deciding whether to abandon their 'first past the post' method of voting for members of Parliament in favor of a system that asks voters to rank candidates.

In a rare and bitterly fought referendum, Britons went to the polls Thursday to decide whether to scrap the way they've traditionally elected members of Parliament in favor of a more complex system allowing voters to rank their choices.

Pakistan army concedes failure, but warns U.S. against future raids

Posted: 05 May 2011 11:21 AM PDT

Pakistani commanders admit to 'shortcomings' in intelligence that allowed Osama bin Laden to live undetected in Abbottabad. But they issue a warning about future unauthorized U.S. raids and order a cut in U.S. troops in Pakistan.

Pakistan's top army commanders Thursday acknowledged their country's failure to detect Osama bin Laden's presence in the garrison city of Abbottabad. But they also warned the United States that any future unauthorized raid would trigger a review of military cooperation between the two countries and ordered a cutback in the number of American troops in Pakistan to "the minimum essential."

Suicide attack kills 16 at Iraqi police station

Posted: 05 May 2011 11:21 AM PDT

The car bombing during a police shift change in the city of Hillah comes as the country braces for retaliatory attacks from Al Qaeda in Iraq over the killing of Osama bin Laden. Dozens are injured.

A suicide bomber killed at least 16 people in southern Iraq on Thursday as the country braced for attacks from Al Qaeda in Iraq in the aftermath of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Suicide car bomber kills 18 Iraqi policemen

Posted: 05 May 2011 02:42 AM PDT

The bombing in Hillah is the second significant attack in Iraq since the death of Osama bin Laden.

A suicide car bomber crashed his vehicle into a barrier outside a police building in central Iraq on Thursday morning, killing 18 policemen and wounding dozens more, a local councilman said.

Workers enter Japanese reactor for first time since quake

Posted: 05 May 2011 12:47 AM PDT

The crews will install six ventilation machines to lower radiation levels in Fukushima's No.1 reactor so that cooling systems can be replaced.

For the first time since the March earthquake and tsunami, workers on Thursday entered the No. 1 reactor at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Co.