LA Times News

LA Times News

Record-keeping Ratko Mladic's own words may help convict the former Bosnian Serb commander

Posted: 28 May 2011 05:31 PM PDT

War crimes prosecutors in The Hague are assessing the significance of a cache of Ratko Mladic's notebooks and other items discovered in 2010. Recently seized in Serbia, he awaits likely extradition.

If Ratko Mladic is extradited on charges of mass murder, as even he now seems to believe is inevitable, his own words may come back to haunt him. Thousands of them.

Mubarak, other former Egypt officials fined $91 million for blocking cellphones, Internet

Posted: 28 May 2011 04:22 PM PDT

The former president, prime minister and interior minister are found guilty of 'causing damage to the national economy,' according to state TV.

A judge fined former President Hosni Mubarak and two officials about $91 million Saturday for cutting cellphone and Internet services during the protests this winter that forced Mubarak to step down.

Q&A: Taking on Russian corruption

Posted: 28 May 2011 04:22 PM PDT

Alexei Navalny is a Moscow lawyer and blogger who has been confronting Russia's state-controlled energy companies. Now the Kremlin has hit back. He discusses his work and the action the government has taken against him.

Moscow lawyer and blogger Alexei Navalny has been singlehandedly taking on Russia's state-controlled energy giants, accusing them of large-scale embezzlement and corruption.

Egypt permanently opens Gaza border crossing

Posted: 28 May 2011 01:53 PM PDT

The Egyptian move will allow thousands of Gazans to move freely in and out of the area -- heightening Israeli fears that militants and weapons could easily reach its doorstep.

Egypt lifted a 4-year-old blockade of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, greatly easing travel restrictions on the 1.5 million residents of the Palestinian territory in a move that bolstered the Hamas government while dealing a setback to Israel's attempts to isolate the militant group.

Suicide bomber kills six at Afghan governor's compound

Posted: 28 May 2011 12:27 PM PDT

The bomber, wearing an Afghan army uniform, attacked a security gathering in Afghanistan's Takhar province. The dead include two senior Afghan police commanders and two German soldiers; among the injured are the provincial governor and the NATO commander in northern Afghanistan.

A suicide bomber struck a security gathering in Afghanistan's north on Saturday, injuring a provincial governor and the German commander of foreign troops in the region, and killing at least six people — including two senior Afghan police commanders and two German soldiers, Afghan and coalition officials said.

Suicide bomber kills two police officials at Afghan governor's compound

Posted: 28 May 2011 07:46 AM PDT

The bomber attacks the heavily guarded compound in the northern province of Takhar during an official gathering. In the south, two NATO service members are reported killed.

A suicide bomber struck the heavily guarded governor's compound in a northern province during an official gathering on Saturday, killing at least two senior police commanders and injuring a number of other people, provincial officials said.

Obama seeks Poland's help in aiding Arab democracies

Posted: 28 May 2011 12:25 PM PDT

The president likens Poland's overthrow of its communist regime to this spring's protests in the Middle East and North Africa.

Holding out Poland's transformation to democracy as a model for the world, President Barack Obama on Saturday exhorted Western allies and the American public alike to extend their support, energy and vision to those now reaching for democracy in the Middle East and North Africa.

Mexico law aims to reduce risks to migrants passing through

Posted: 27 May 2011 11:10 PM PDT

The measure decriminalizes entering Mexico without papers and entitles the undocumented to education and health services. It also promises a big overhaul of the scandal-plagued immigration agency.

They looked like spooky, glow-in-the-dark Gumby figures. Hundreds of migrants from eight countries packed cheek to jowl in the back of two cargo trucks, stretching and contorting to find space and air.

World leaders pledge $40 billion to bolster 'Arab Spring'

Posted: 27 May 2011 10:10 PM PDT

At the G-8 summit in France, Obama wins support for aid to shore up emerging democracies and movements. Aid groups are skeptical, noting that the G-8 is behind on previous financial pledges.

World leaders vowed to put more money behind emerging democratic governments in North Africa, announcing plans for $40 billion in aid and support from wealthy nations as well as international development agencies.

Serbian youths hope to finally shake off bitter legacy

Posted: 27 May 2011 09:19 PM PDT

'We're labeled as a genocide nation,' says one student. Now the arrest of Bosnian Serb fugitive Ratko Mladic, wanted on charges of war crimes and genocide, may end the taint some feel lingers from the Balkans war.

Jovana Vujcic is too young to remember the war that ravaged the Balkans in the early 1990s but old enough now to experience its baleful legacy.