LA Times News

LA Times News

Tennis star may bring shine back to Serbia's tarnished reputation

Posted: 04 Jun 2011 03:28 PM PDT

Novak Djokovic is preparing for Wimbledon and embodying the hopes of a nation that also just extradited war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic.

He's everything his country wants to be: confident, successful, comfortable in his own skin and able, at last, to put a violent past behind him.

Yemeni president to be treated in Saudi Arabia, source says

Posted: 04 Jun 2011 02:21 PM PDT

A Saudi government official says President Ali Abdullah Saleh is en route to the neighboring country to receive medical care and that warring factions in Yemen have reached a truce. His statement came shortly after Yemeni officials denied that Saleh was leaving the country.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has agreed to travel to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, a source close to the Saudi government said late Saturday, while Yemen's powerful neighboring country also had pushed the different warring factions to agree to a truce.

Robert Gates predicts 'modest' U.S. troop reduction next month in Afghanistan

Posted: 04 Jun 2011 01:35 PM PDT

Defense Secretary Robert Gates makes a farewell visit to Afghanistan, where he plays down the chance of far-reaching changes in U.S. strategy this summer and acknowledges the U.S. public is war-weary.

On a farewell visit to Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates predicted Saturday that the initial drawdown of American troops next month would be "modest" and played down the possibility of far-reaching changes in U.S. strategy this summer.

Top Al Qaeda-linked militant reportedly killed by drone attack in Pakistan

Posted: 04 Jun 2011 10:43 AM PDT

Ilyas Kashmiri, an Al Qaeda-linked operative blamed for high-profile attacks in Pakistan and India, was killed in South Waziristan, say news reports and a statement by his militant organization.

An overnight attack by an unmanned aircraft killed Ilyas Kashmiri, an Al Qaeda-linked operative blamed for several high-profile attacks in Pakistan and India, local news reports and a statement by his banned militant organization said Saturday.

NATO helicopters join Libya mission

Posted: 04 Jun 2011 10:43 AM PDT

French and British helicopters attack targets around Port Brega, the first use of such aircraft in the NATO campaign. Rebel leaders hail the move, but it is unclear whether it will signal a new rebel offensive.

French and British attack helicopters hit targets in Libya in the first use of such aircraft as part of the NATO-led campaign against the government of Moammar Kadafi, authorities said Saturday.

Al-Qaeda militant killed in U.S. strike in Pakistan

Posted: 04 Jun 2011 07:11 AM PDT

A top al Qaeda commander and possible replacement for Osama bin Laden was killed in an American drone-fired missile strike close to the Afghan border, a fax from the militant group he heads and a Pakistani intelligence official said Saturday.

Gates pays Kabul a farewell visit, speaks of war-weariness at home

Posted: 04 Jun 2011 04:53 AM PDT

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, six service members die in 24 hours. A U.S. troop drawdown could begin next month

Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a farewell visit to Afghanistan on Saturday as the NATO force announced the deaths of six service members in 24 hours.

Attack on Yemen's president adds fuel to a heated conflict

Posted: 04 Jun 2011 04:16 AM PDT

President Saleh blames the bombardment on an 'armed gang of outlaws' and urges the military to rid the nation of such foes. The attack killed four.

Five senior Yemeni officials were sent to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment after a rocket attack wounded Yemen's president in his personal mosque and appeared to end hopes for a peaceful resolution to a tribal conflict that is pushing the country toward civil war.

Boat carrying migrants from Libya capsizes; 200 feared dead

Posted: 03 Jun 2011 10:42 PM PDT

At least 200 passengers, mostly West Africans and South Asians, are missing and feared drowned in the Mediterranean. Tunisian rescuers saved 570 of the Italy-bound passengers.

At least 200 migrants, mostly sub-Saharan Africans and South Asians, were missing and feared drowned after an overcrowded boat that left Libya bound for Italy capsized in the Mediterranean, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday.

Dozens reported killed as Syrians continue protests

Posted: 03 Jun 2011 10:42 PM PDT

Security forces open fire on protesters in several cities as thousands turn out across Syria against Bashar Assad's regime. Analysts see a protracted, bloody standoff.

Thousands of antigovernment protesters marched in Damascus, Homs and other Syrian cities Friday in opposition to President Bashar Assad, chanting, "These are the last days of your season."

Gates reassures Asia of U.S. military commitment

Posted: 03 Jun 2011 10:42 PM PDT

At a key Asian security summit, Pentagon chief Robert Gates seeks to reassure allies and warn adversaries that the United States will not pull back forces from the Pacific Rim or scale back its military commitments.

Despite mounting pressure to cut the U.S. Defense budget, the Pentagon is investing in new weapons systems, expanding military alliances and formulating a combat doctrine to counter a modernizing China and other potential rivals in Asia, according to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.

House resolution requires Obama to explain Libya objectives

Posted: 03 Jun 2011 04:32 PM PDT

The resolution halted a liberal-led proposal to immediately withdraw U.S. forces from the North African country. Both measures come amid growing opposition in Congress to overseas military action.

The House voted Friday to require President Obama to swiftly report to Congress the rationale behind continued U.S. military engagement in Libya, launching a potential showdown over federal funding for the NATO-led operation.

Freed hiker fasts for two men still in Iran

Posted: 03 Jun 2011 10:42 PM PDT

Sarah Shourd is one of many taking part in a 'rolling hunger strike' for the prisoners, who are awaiting trial. One is her fiance and the other a friend.

During the nearly 14 months Sarah Shourd spent in an Iranian prison cell, she went on a hunger strike four times. It was the only way she had to protest her prolonged detention.