LA Times News

LA Times News

Young men of Misurata feel the rush of war

Posted: 06 May 2011 06:09 PM PDT

The Libyan rebel fighters are living as if in an action movie, dismayed when their friends are killed but getting a kick out of wielding weapons and explosives.

They moved through the night with names like "the Birds." The fight was primal, about survival from block to block. But at the same time, it was fun for the young men of Misurata, an adrenaline rush, like a Jean-Claude Van Damme film come to life.

Criticism of Calderon mounts over Mexico drug violence

Posted: 06 May 2011 05:22 PM PDT

Outrage over the rising death toll has generated sporadic street protests, and a massive demonstration is set for Sunday in Mexico City to denounce the government's failure to stem the bloodshed.

Public dismay over Mexico's drug violence mixed with election-season jockeying have put President Felipe Calderon on the defensive amid finger-pointing over the carnage.

Al Qaeda threatens revenge against U.S.

Posted: 06 May 2011 03:00 PM PDT

In an Internet statement, the terrorist network vows to strike 'soon' in response to the raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden.

Al Qaeda vowed to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden with retaliation against the U.S. "soon," in a warning that the terrorist network posted this week on militant websites.

British elections: Triumph for Scottish Nationalist Party; defeat for Liberal Democrats

Posted: 06 May 2011 12:20 PM PDT

The independence-minded Scottish Nationalist Party wins a majority in the Scottish Parliament, the first time any group has done so. The Liberal Democrats, the junior partner in Britain's governing coalition, suffer humiliating defeats in local races.

A party advocating independence for Scotland has won a surprising mandate in the regional assembly there, according to election returns Friday that also showed the junior partner in Britain's governing coalition, the Liberal Democrats, getting thrashed in local races across the country.

Tens of thousands protest across Syria

Posted: 06 May 2011 07:12 PM PDT

Despite a security crackdown, demonstrators hold a 'day of defiance' against President Bashar Assad in a dozen cities after Friday prayers. Witnesses, online videos and tweets report gunfire by government forces.

Demonstrations spread to numerous Syrian cities Friday, with thousands braving a security crackdown in what protesters dubbed a "day of defiance" against President Bashar Assad's government, according to witnesses and videos posted online.

Workers enter damaged Fukushima reactor

Posted: 05 May 2011 05:08 PM PDT

They are the first to go inside since the earthquake nearly two months ago. The team begins to install ventilation machines to lower radiation levels.

For the first time since the magnitude 9 earthquake and the tsunami struck Japan nearly two months ago, workers on Thursday entered a damaged reactor at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

In Libya, a long-dead hero rises again in east

Posted: 05 May 2011 08:09 PM PDT

Omar Mukhtar, a resistance fighter executed by Italian occupiers 80 years ago, has become the spiritual leader of the Libyan revolution.

In eastern Libya, the spectral image of an elderly, bearded man in a skullcap or Bedouin cloak is everywhere — on bumper stickers and posters, military vehicles and checkpoints, even press IDs issued by the rebel government here.