LA Times News

LA Times News

Arrest warrant for Kadafi may complicate Libya conflict

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 07:59 PM PDT

The move by the International Criminal Court further isolates the Libyan leader but may make him more reluctant to give up power.

The international arrest warrant for crimes against humanity issued against Moammar Kadafi and members of his family has further isolated the Libyan leader, but may also increase his determination to fight on rather than relinquish power or seek sanctuary outside the country.

U.S. steps up efforts for talks with Taliban

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 07:59 PM PDT

Increased U.S. military pressure on the Taliban has made the militants more willing to talk, officials say, with both sides setting aside their preconditions for negotiations. It may still not mean a speedy U.S. exit from Afghanistan.

As Obama administration officials look beyond the planned drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, one path dominates their thinking about how to finally exit the war — a negotiated deal with the Taliban.

Mexican priest alleges mass kidnapping of Central American migrants

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 07:59 PM PDT

Father Alejandro Solalinde says witnesses told him that at least 80 people were abducted from a train by masked gunmen in Veracruz state.

A Roman Catholic priest who has long championed the cause of migrant workers on Monday denounced what he said was another mass kidnapping of undocumented Central Americans purportedly yanked from a train by masked gunmen in southern Mexico.

France's Sarkozy announces $1.43-billion nuclear investment

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 05:56 PM PDT

Despite safety issues, the French president says there is 'no alternative' to atomic power.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a $1.43-billion investment in atomic power Monday, going against Europe's antinuclear tide following the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

Prosperity brings remarkable change to Lima

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 05:00 PM PDT

The fastest-growing economy in Latin America brings a dynamism and an optimism to Peru's capital that did not exist in the 1980s and '90s. Still, poverty and the legacy of war linger.

Lima was always gray. The Peruvian capital, for much of the year, had this overcast dullness; the sun rarely shone, it never rained, it was just damp and gray. Your hair didn't dry. Your clothes molded, literally, in the closet.

Confusion as Sudan president arrives day late in Beijing

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 01:56 PM PDT

Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir misses a meeting with his main ally, Chinese President Hu Jintao, who faces criticism for hosting an alleged war criminal. Sudanese officials say his flight got diverted because his plane did not have permission to fly over Turkmenistan.

Sudan's President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir showed up 24 hours late Tuesday for a meeting with his most important ally, an embarrassing example of what might happen when you host a head of state who is also an alleged war criminal.

Former Russian spymaster convicted of treason

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 12:04 PM PDT

Russian Col. Alexander Poteyev is found guilty in absentia and sentenced to 25 years in prison for giving the CIA the names of 11 agents working in the United States. He fled Russia last year, but his whereabouts are unknown.

A Russian military court sentenced a former spymaster to 25 years in prison Monday for betraying an espionage ring operating in the United States, a revelation last year that briefly strained relations between the two nations and turned one of the spies into a celebrity at home and abroad.

Egyptian policeman sentenced to death for killing protesters

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 12:04 PM PDT

Mohamed Ibrahim Abdul Monem, still at large, was sentenced for firing at protesters gathered a Cairo police station, killing 23. Egyptians brace for more trials of officials from the former regime, including ousted President Hosni Mubarak in August.

The first Egyptian police officer sentenced to death for killing protesters during the January revolution remained at large Monday as the country braced for a summer of trials on the police brutality that defined President Hosni Mubarak's regime.

International Court issues arrest warrant for Kadafi

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 05:52 AM PDT

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants Monday for Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi, his son and his brother-in-law, alleging that they committed crimes against humanity in Kadafi's campaign to hold on to power and crush the rebellion against his iron rule.

Egypt's pro-democracy activists feel their grip slipping

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 09:38 PM PDT

Opposition groups seek to postpone September elections amid fears that the more unified Muslim Brotherhood and members of the former regime will gain too much influence.

Sensing the revolution that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak is slipping from their grasp, activists and opposition groups are pressuring the ruling military council to postpone Egypt's elections in September amid fears that Islamists and members of the former regime will gain too much power.

Public art rubs Seoul the wrong way

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 09:38 PM PDT

Critics of an urban improvement effort in the South Korean capital that requires developers to provide public art say the law generated too many works that many find objectionable. It has been changed.

Perched outside the Posco steel company office, the jarring 30-foot-tall object looks like the remains of a plane crash — all crushed steel and gnarled parts — because that's what it is.