LA Times News

LA Times News

U.S.-Saudi rivalry intensifies

Posted: 18 Jun 2011 07:46 PM PDT

The quest for greater influence includes a tug of war over Jordan, just one example of the contest between the longtime allies split over the democracy uprisings sweeping the region.

Senior U.S. diplomats have been dropping by the royal palace in Amman almost every week this spring to convince Jordanian King Abdullah II that democratic reform is the best way to quell the protests against his rule.

Mexico launches high-profile crackdown on lower-grade crime

Posted: 18 Jun 2011 07:46 PM PDT

The eight-day push by state and local police targets car thefts, muggings and other offenses. It makes for great PR, but Mexicans are skeptical.

Police across Mexico have awakened in recent days to a bold new assignment: enforcing the law.

Iran sanctions need work, some in Israel say

Posted: 18 Jun 2011 07:46 PM PDT

After an embarrassing U.S. crackdown last month, many in Jerusalem are pushing the government to strengthen trade measures.

Even as Israel rallies other nations to boycott Iran, its own commercial sanctions against the Islamic Republic are outdated, vague and poorly enforced, say lawmakers and legal analysts in Jerusalem who are pushing the government to strengthen such measures.

Ex-British envoy sees war as wrong focus in Afghanistan

Posted: 18 Jun 2011 07:46 PM PDT

Onetime diplomat Sherard Cowper-Coles says instead of pursuing a futile obsession with military supremacy, the U.S. and its allies should lay down arms and concentrate on achieving a political deal with the Taliban.

From 2007 to 2010, Sherard Cowper-Coles served as Britain's ambassador and special representative to Afghanistan, giving him an inside view of the struggle on the battlefield and in the corridors of power to stabilize the war-torn country.

In Myanmar, hemlines test the dress code

Posted: 18 Jun 2011 07:46 PM PDT

The ruling generals' embrace of pro-business policies has had the unintended effect of exposing the conservative nation to foreign influences. And for fashionistas, there's no going back when it comes to short skirts.

It's a sweltering afternoon, but crowds at the Yankin shopping center hardly notice, transfixed by the models parading along a makeshift runway in white boots, hot pants and short skirts.

U.S. has contacted Taliban about an Afghan peace deal

Posted: 18 Jun 2011 10:58 AM PDT

President Hamid Karzai confirms rumors that the U.S. has reached out to the Taliban with the goal of negotiating a political settlement to the war. Meanwhile, suicide bombers attack a Kabul police compound, and two NATO troops are killed in southern Afghanistan.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed Saturday that the United States had been in contact with the Taliban about a possible political settlement in the war here, which has dragged on for nearly a decade.

UN backs gay rights for first time ever

Posted: 18 Jun 2011 09:51 AM PDT

The UN gay rights resolution expressed "grave concern at acts of violence and discrimination, in all regions of the world, committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity."

The United Nations endorsed the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people for the first time ever Friday, passing a resolution hailed as historic by the U.S. and other backers and decried by some African and Muslim countries.

Suicide bombers kill 9 at Kabul police station

Posted: 18 Jun 2011 05:48 AM PDT

The attack also leaves two policemen and 10 civilians wounded.

Three suicide bombers attacked a police compound in Kabul's old city Saturday, killing four police officers and five civilians before they were overcome by police.