LA Times News

LA Times News

Pakistan's prime minister rejects backlash on Bin Laden

Posted: 09 May 2011 07:55 PM PDT

Gilani denies accusations of collusion or incompetence. Pakistani news media seek to expose the CIA station chief in Islamabad.

In signs of worsening relations with Washington, Pakistan's prime minister angrily rejected claims that collusion or incompetence allowed Osama bin Laden to hide near the Pakistani capital for years, and news media made public what they claim is the name of the top CIA agent in the country.

Libyan rebels caught in an uneasy lull

Posted: 09 May 2011 07:55 PM PDT

Rumors of renewed fighting with Kadafi's troops abound in Ajdabiya. The stalemate born of NATO's airstrike aid continues with no end in sight.

Rumors of renewed fighting circulate in the mostly abandoned city of Ajdabiya in eastern Libya, even without any recent pitched battles between rebels and forces loyal to longtime leader Moammar Kadafi.

Mexico's president offers to meet with anti-violence movement

Posted: 09 May 2011 06:01 PM PDT

President Felipe Calderon says he would like to try to bridge the gap with organizers of the March for Peace, which drew tens of thousands of Mexicans to the streets to demand a new strategy in the drug war.

A day after tens of thousands of Mexicans joined in anti-violence protests, President Felipe Calderon offered Monday to meet with organizers to explain a government drug war that has produced growing worry as deaths climb.

Scores arrested as Syrian forces seek to crush protests

Posted: 09 May 2011 04:15 PM PDT

Activists say protesters across the country are being met with tanks, waves of arrests and brutality and more than 1,000 have been picked up since Friday. The regime claims it is hunting armed militants who its says are stirring the unrest.

A massive crackdown by Syrian security forces continued Monday as troops with armored vehicles flooded cities and towns, sweeping up scores of activists in what critics are calling arbitrary arrests and shooting others dead in the streets.

Pakistan TV unmasks supposed top CIA agent but reportedly gets it wrong

Posted: 09 May 2011 11:54 AM PDT

It is the second time in recent months that Pakistani media have revealed what they say is the name of the CIA's station chief in Islamabad. A wire service report disputes the claim.

A private Pakistani television network has divulged what it claims is the name of the CIA's current station chief in Islamabad, the second time in six months that local media have attempted to unmask the agency's top spy in the South Asian nation.

Japanese plant in harm's way will suspend nuclear power production

Posted: 09 May 2011 04:15 PM PDT

The Chubu company's Hamaoka facility is considered vulnerable in the case of a strong earthquake and tsunami.

A Japanese utility agreed Monday to take its reactors off-line at a seaside nuclear power plant, just days after Prime Minister Naoto Kan called for the shutdown over concerns that a strong earthquake and tsunami could provoke another nuclear crisis.

Autism rates may be higher than thought

Posted: 08 May 2011 10:36 PM PDT

In a South Korea study, the first to take a broad look at the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders, researchers find one case in every 38 children. The incidence may be similar in the U.S.

The incidence of autism may be much higher than previously thought in the United States and elsewhere in the world, according to a rigorous, comprehensive study of the condition conducted in South Korea, researchers reported Monday.

Several protesters killed as Syria continues crackdown

Posted: 08 May 2011 09:22 PM PDT

A 12-year-old boy and at least four women are among the dead, according to activists who said protests continued in cities across Syria.

Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar Assad appeared determined to stop persistent antigovernment protests Sunday, with clashes in several cities leading to several deaths, scores of injuries and hundreds of arrests, activists said.