LA Times News

LA Times News

Al Qaeda operative key to 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings killed in Somalia

Posted: 11 Jun 2011 03:36 PM PDT

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was an experienced planner who played a big role in getting African militant groups involved in insurrections to join Al Qaeda's global fight, U.S. officials and experts say.

In a blow to Al Qaeda's efforts to control havens in East Africa, the Al Qaeda operative believed responsible for the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya has been gunned down by Somali security forces, U.S. officials said Saturday.

Turkey elections likely to reshape constitution

Posted: 11 Jun 2011 05:56 PM PDT

The suspense over Sunday's vote centers on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and whether his party makes enough gains to solidify his status as leader.

Turkish voters head to the polls Sunday for critical parliamentary elections that will likely shape the country's constitution, its conflict with a restive Kurdish ethnic minority and its definition of citizenship.

In Libya, sustained fighting renewed near capital

Posted: 11 Jun 2011 04:48 PM PDT

The battles in a strategic port and refinery city mark the latest blow for Moammar Kadafi's regime. New explosions rock Tripoli as intensified NATO raids continue.

Rebels and forces loyal to Moammar Kadafi reportedly were battling in a strategic port and refinery city in western Libya on Saturday, apparently forcing the closure of a crucial highway linking Tripoli with the Tunisian border.

Roadside bomb kills 15 Afghan civilians

Posted: 11 Jun 2011 04:06 PM PDT

At least 21 are killed in a series of attacks across the country, including one Western service member. Eight of those killed in the minivan were children, officials say. The blast occurred in a volatile southern district where U.S. forces last year staged a major offensive against the Taliban.

A roadside bomb Saturday killed 15 Afghan civilians, including eight children, in a volatile southern district where U.S. forces last year made a major push to dislodge the Taliban, provincial officials said.

Family, activist among 11 killed in Iraq attacks

Posted: 11 Jun 2011 12:09 PM PDT

Violence is raking Iraq as the Shiite-led government and other political factions are debating a request for some American forces to remain in the country beyond the Dec. 31 deadline for all U.S. troops to withdraw after more than eight years.

Twin car bombings in the northern Iraq, and separate attacks on the homes of a schoolteacher and a human rights activist left at least 11 people dead on Saturday, government officials said.

Roadside bomb kills 15 Afghan civilians

Posted: 11 Jun 2011 03:08 AM PDT

The victims were riding in a single crowded minivan outside Kandahar when the IED went off. Among the dead are eight children. In Khost, a suicide bomber hits a police headquarters.

A bomb planted by a road killed 15 Afghan civilians Saturday, including eight children, in a volatile southern district where American forces last year made a major push to dislodge the Taliban, provincial officials said.

A battered Germany recovers from E. coli outbreak

Posted: 11 Jun 2011 12:23 AM PDT

But Berlin's reputation is left muddied as it faces questions about the time it took to identify the source — 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.

Hopes are low as Afghanistan's Karzai visits Pakistan

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 08:24 PM PDT

Analysts say they see little hope of progress on forging a truce with militants. Separately, CIA chief Leon Panetta, picked to be the next U.S. Defense secretary, meets with Pakistan's army and intelligence heads.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived in Islamabad on Friday for a two-day summit with his Pakistani counterparts that is expected to focus on efforts to forge a truce with the Taliban after years of militant violence in both countries.