LA Times News

LA Times News

Ousted priest committed to peace in Syria

Posted: 08 Jul 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Rome-born Jesuit is infuriated by the perception among many Christians that an Assad ouster would lead to an Islamist takeover and ill-treatment of minorities.

BEIRUT — Resplendent in black cassock and matching skullcap, the bearded Jesuit appears in a YouTube video breaking bread with opposition activists and donating blood at a makeshift rebel clinic, highlighting his solidarity with the Syrian rebellion.

Russia floods kill at least 105

Posted: 07 Jul 2012 04:12 PM PDT

Heavy rain causes the flooding of tens of thousands of homes in the Black Sea region of Krasnodar. Bodies are reportedly seen in the streets.

MOSCOW — At least 105 people died when torrential rains tore through southern Russia, flooding tens of thousands of homes and catching sleeping people by surprise, authorities said Saturday.

Libyans vote in first free elections in decades

Posted: 07 Jul 2012 03:12 PM PDT

Libyans hope to move beyond the civil war that ended Moammar Kadafi's 42-year repressive rule. Yet distrust and tension hang over the country. 'We need law here,' one voter says.

TRIPOLI, Libya — Naima Naggar stood in a Tripoli polling station Saturday, her index finger stained with indelible ink as she voted in Libya's first free elections in decades hoping to heal tribal divisions and bring this battered nation closer to democracy.

In Libya, ethnic and tribal tension threatens democracy

Posted: 07 Jul 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Libya's national assembly election gives cause for hope. But militias hold sway in many towns, the east talks of secession and Islamists and tribes want a voice.

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyans vote for a national assembly Saturday amid sharpening ethnic and tribal tension threatening the nation's transition from Moammar Kadafi's repressive rule to the newest democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring.