LA Times News

LA Times News

48 reported killed as Syria forces continue attacks on protesters

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 06:39 PM PDT

Meanwhile, a refugee crisis keeps growing in Turkey, where at least 3,000 Syrians fled across the border in recent days to makeshift tent cities set up by relief agencies and the Ankara government.

Syria plunged deeper into chaos Friday as security forces continued to open fire on peaceful pro-democracy protesters, and refugees fled into the countryside and across the border to Turkey.

Gates lashes out at NATO allies, citing shortfalls in Libya conflict

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 06:31 PM PDT

Outgoing Secretary of Defense Robert Gates condemns Europe for years of declining defense budgets that he says have forced the U.S. to shoulder the heaviest load by far in the 62-year-old alliance.

Outgoing Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates lashed out at some of America's closest European allies, complaining that NATO's shaky air assault in Libya had laid bare shortcomings that are pushing the alliance toward "collective military irrelevance."

A battered Germany recovers from E. coli outbreak

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 05:14 PM PDT

But Berlin's reputation is left muddied as it faces questions about the time it took to identify the source — bean sprouts from a farm in Lower Saxony — and the haste with which it had initially blamed produce from European neighbors.

Salad is back on the menu in Germany, but it's being served with a big helping of humble pie.

Pro-government demonstrators attack protesters in Baghdad

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 05:32 PM PDT

At least four men were beaten, say pro-democracy activists, and Iraqi soldiers stood by as armed government supporters, some reportedly bused in, attacked them.

Government-sponsored demonstrators, some armed with clubs, attacked pro-democracy protesters Friday in Tahrir Square and paraded pictures of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's chief rival, Iyad Allawi, with a red X slashed across his face.

Germany says vegetable sprouts caused deadly E. coli outbreak

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 06:34 AM PDT

An official says the tainted sprouts may have been eaten or thrown away by now, but people should still not eat sprouts. However, the warning against cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce is lifted. The outbreak killed 31.

German vegetable sprouts caused the E. coli outbreak that has killed 31 people and sickened nearly 3,100, investigators announced Friday after tracking links to the bacteria from patients in hospital beds to restaurants and then farm fields.

Shaky Libya campaign shows NATO's weaknesses, Gates says

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 03:13 AM PDT

In a Brussels address, the outgoing U.S. defense chief says the alliance faces 'collective military irrelevance' after years of inadequate spending by most members.

In one of his last major addresses before his retirement this month, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Friday that NATO's sometimes shaky air campaign in Libya had "laid bare" the shortcomings of the alliance, which he said was facing "collective military irrelevance" after years of inadequate defense spending by most of its members.

Chicago businessman convicted in terrorism case

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 01:02 AM PDT

Tahawwur Rana is found guilty of participating in an unrealized plot against a Danish newspaper, but is acquitted of charges stemming from the deadly 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack.

A Chicago businessman was convicted Thursday of participating in an aborted revenge plot against a Danish newspaper, but was acquitted of aiding a 2008 terrorist attack that killed about 170 people in Mumbai, including six U.S. citizens.

Eight troops killed as militants attack Pakistan army checkpoint

Posted: 09 Jun 2011 10:49 PM PDT

About 100 insurgents stormed the South Waziristan checkpoint with rockets and machine guns, sparking a 3-hour battle. The assault shows the difficulty of taking on militants, Pakistani analysts say.

An attack by militants on a checkpoint in a lawless tribal area near the Afghan border early Thursday underscores how overstretched the Pakistani military is and why it is resisting U.S. pressure to conduct a massive offensive in North Waziristan, analysts said Thursday.

China launches economic projects in North Korea

Posted: 09 Jun 2011 10:49 PM PDT

Chinese officials have held a series of groundbreaking ceremonies for projects intended to boost its communist neighbor's stagnating economy. But it has done so quietly, probably to avoid international criticism for supporting the isolated regime.

In the aftermath of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's visit last month, Chinese companies in recent days have held a series of low-key groundbreaking ceremonies across the border for projects designed to jump-start the moribund North Korean economy.

Libya rebel council may include extremists, Panetta says

Posted: 09 Jun 2011 10:49 PM PDT

CIA Director Leon Panetta told lawmakers that worries about some members of the Libyan rebels' ruling body are 'legitimate.'

President Obama's nominee for secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, told the Senate that he is concerned that some leaders of Libya's opposition may be extremists, even as officials disclosed that U.S. aid for those fighting Moammar Kadafi will fall far short of what the rebel group says it needs.

Soldier to receive Medal of Honor

Posted: 09 Jun 2011 10:49 PM PDT

Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry, honored for losing a hand while saving two comrades in Afghanistan, will become only the second living service member to receive the nation's highest award for valor during the current wars.

An Army Ranger from New Mexico who lost his hand throwing a grenade away from two fellow soldiers in Afghanistan will become one of only two living service members awarded the elite Medal of Honor in the current round of conflicts, Army officials said Thursday.