LA Times News

LA Times News

In South Africa's black townships, being gay can be fatal

Posted: 27 May 2011 06:08 PM PDT

Noxolo Nogwaza died because she dressed like a man and wasn't afraid of anyone, friends and backers in Kwa-Thema say, one of the latest of a series of brutal rapes and killings of black lesbian women.

A feather of acrid smoke drifts across an open drain choked with bulrushes and plastic bottles beside a muddy lane. It's a forlorn place that will always belong to Noxolo Nogwaza. This is her murder scene.

In Yemen and Syria, 25 slain as violence continues

Posted: 27 May 2011 04:18 PM PDT

Airstrikes leave as many as 17 people dead after opposition fighters storm a government base in Yemen. In Syria, eight people are killed in clashes between security forces and protesters in several cities.

Violence claimed more lives in Yemen and Syria on Friday as the countries' autocratic regimes again turned to military power to quell months-long popular uprisings.

Egypt protesters gather for 'second revolution'

Posted: 27 May 2011 03:21 PM PDT

Thousands fill Cairo's Tahrir Square to call for the Mubarak regime's prosecution and delayed elections. Some analysts say the rally proves Egypt's progressives have failed to organize themselves into a unified political force.

Thousands of protesters filled Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday for what was billed as a "second revolution," chanting their demands: Try former President Hosni Mubarak and his cronies immediately, end military courts, replace the military government with civilian leaders, reform the constitution and delay the September elections.

North Korea to release California man

Posted: 27 May 2011 03:21 PM PDT

Orange County businessman Jun Young-su will be freed on humanitarian grounds, the official news agency reports. Jun, who has been held since November, reportedly faced charges of proselytizing in the communist nation.

North Korea announced Friday that it will release a California businessman who has been imprisoned since November and reportedly faced charges of proselytizing, which is illegal in the country.

Angry Pakistan rejects U.S. appeal, plans to review drone campaign

Posted: 27 May 2011 05:06 PM PDT

Despite a visit by Hillary Clinton to mend ties, Pakistani leaders reject appeals not to close military intelligence sharing centers and say they will review the U.S. drone campaign. Clinton presses Pakistan to do more against militants.

Pakistani officials angered by the secret U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden declared they would conduct a full review of operations by U.S. drone aircraft over the country and rebuffed an appeal by visiting U.S. officials not to close military intelligence liaison centers, U.S. and Pakistani officials said.

War crimes suspect Ratko Mladic can be extradited, judge rules

Posted: 27 May 2011 06:52 AM PDT

The decision clears the way for Ratko Mladic to be sent to the war crimes tribunal at The Hague to face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. His son says the 69-year-old suspect is 'very, very frail.'

A judge ruled Friday that captured war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic is fit for extradition to The Hague to face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Clinton arrives in Pakistan to smooth relations

Posted: 26 May 2011 10:02 PM PDT

The U.S. wants to reassure Islamabad after the Bin Laden raid, but also tell Pakistan it must renew its commitment to wiping out havens for militants.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Pakistan on Friday to repair badly frayed relations after the killing of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden at a comfortable hideout not far from this capital city.

North Korea preparing to release Orange County man

Posted: 27 May 2011 04:03 AM PDT

The businessman, accused of Christian missionary activity, could be freed in a bid for U.S. food aid in return.

North Korea said Friday that it was preparing to release an Orange County man who has been held since November, a concession to Washington that might be aimed a securing food aid.

Pakistan shuts down U.S. 'intelligence fusion' cells

Posted: 26 May 2011 10:10 PM PDT

Pakistan also tells the U.S. to cut back its troops in the country, in a move amid deepening mistrust after the U.S. raid to kill Osama bin Laden and a CIA contractor's shooting of two Pakistani men. Joints Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen heads to Pakistan for talks.

In a clear sign of Pakistan's deepening mistrust of the United States, Islamabad has told the Obama administration to reduce the number of U.S. troops in the country and has moved to close three military intelligence liaison centers, setting back American efforts to eliminate insurgent sanctuaries in largely lawless areas bordering Afghanistan, U.S. officials said.

Georgian police crush antigovernment protest

Posted: 26 May 2011 10:10 PM PDT

Two are killed and dozens injured before a military parade marking the 20th anniversary of the country's independence.

Georgian police early Thursday violently dispersed an antigovernment rally in Tbilisi, crushing protesters' attempts to prevent a military parade marking the country's 20 years of independence since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Egyptian activists seek a 'Second Revolution'

Posted: 26 May 2011 10:10 PM PDT

Pro-democracy activists, angered by the slow pace of transition and the continued use of the Mubarak-era emergency law, plan a huge rally in Tahrir Square. The interim prime minister pleads for time.

Mohamed al Beheiry was reading the newspaper Feb. 28 when he spotted a photograph of his younger brother, Amr, who had disappeared two days earlier while attending an antigovernment protest.

Alleged CIA operative criticizes 'extraordinary rendition' of Muslim cleric

Posted: 26 May 2011 05:37 PM PDT

Sabrina De Sousa, one of those convicted in Italy in the kidnapping case, says that Abu Omar wasn't a significant threat. She is suing the U.S. to provide her diplomatic protection during her appeals process.

It stands among the most public American foul-ups in the war on terrorism: A 2003 CIA operation to snatch an Islamic cleric from the streets of Milan and secretly deliver him to an Egyptian prison was exposed in embarrassing detail by an Italian prosecutor, who won convictions against 23 Americans on kidnapping and related offenses.

Obama presses for Egypt, Tunisia aid at G-8 summit

Posted: 26 May 2011 08:10 PM PDT

Meanwhile, he comes under renewed pressure from European allies to boost the U.S. role in Libya.

President Obama pressed world powers at an international summit Thursday to swiftly aid the stricken economies of Egypt and Tunisia, but at the same time he faced renewed pressure from European allies to increase the U.S. military role in Libya.