LA Times News

LA Times News

U.S. vows 'justice' for consulate attack in Libya

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:37 PM PDT

The assault that left American ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens and three countrymen dead was not spontaneous but planned, officials say.

CAIRO — The attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in eastern Libya that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans was carried out by a small group of militants who arrived late at night, unleashed a fusillade from AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, then torched and ransacked the building, according to witnesses and U.S. officials.

Romney's quick criticism on Libya draws rebuke

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:32 PM PDT

President Obama and even some Republicans criticize Mitt Romney for assailing the initial administration response on the day of the attacks on U.S. diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt.

WASHINGTON — The deeply partisan nature of this year's campaign intruded abruptly into a foreign policy crisis as Republican nominee Mitt Romney sharply criticized the Obama administration for issuing an "apology for America's values" and the president retorted that his challenger was politicizing a tragedy.

'Innocence of Muslims': Mystery shrouds film's California origins

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:20 PM PDT

'Innocence of Muslims,' blamed for inciting mobs in Egypt and Libya, was filmed and released in Southern California. The producers' identities are in dispute.

In a run-down theater on a seedy stretch of Hollywood Boulevard this summer, an independent movie made its debut. The acting was amateurish, the dialogue clunky and the costumes no better than those sold for Halloween. Even with a pretty young woman beckoning pedestrians inside, fewer than 10 people attended.

German court ruling bolsters European bailout fund

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:24 PM PDT

Germany's highest court upholds as constitutional the nation's participation in the relief fund, averting an international economic crisis. Markets welcome the news.

BERLIN — Germany's supreme court ruled Wednesday that the nation can participate in a permanent European bailout fund, giving the go-ahead for a key element of European leaders' strategy for combating the continent's long-running debt crisis.

At consulate in Libya, a model diplomat is lost

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 05:12 PM PDT

U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens was idealistic, eager and brave, and seen by some in Benghazi as 'a friend to all Libyans.'

WASHINGTON — J. Christopher Stevens was in many ways the model American diplomat, committed, idealistic, willing to take risks and eager to find out what was really happening in obscure corners of the world.

Christopher Stevens, U.S. ambassador to Libya, killed in Benghazi

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:48 AM PDT

The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three American members of his staff were killed in the attack on the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi by protesters angry over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad, Libyan officials said Wednesday.

U.S. posts attacked in Egypt and Libya; American diplomat killed

Posted: 11 Sep 2012 09:47 PM PDT

Protesters break into the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, and a State Department official is killed in an assault on the consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Angry crowds attacked U.S. diplomatic posts in Egypt and Libya on Tuesday, killing an American diplomat, after a video appeared on the Internet that protesters said insulted Islam, providing a graphic illustration of the volatile mood remaining in countries that threw off authoritarian rule in the "Arab Spring" uprisings.

White House plays down reports of Netanyahu snub

Posted: 11 Sep 2012 09:13 PM PDT

Israel says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to meet with President Obama at the U.N. but was turned down. The issue threatens to spill into the campaign.

WASHINGTON — The White House struggled Tuesday to dispel reports that it had snubbed a request for a meeting this month from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as friction between the two allies again burst into the open.

China Vice President Xi Jinping's absence sets rumors flying

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 12:00 AM PDT

It's not unusual for public figures to drop out of view for a while, but the Internet and growing global interest in China give Xi's 10-day disappearance more weight.

BEIJING — Compared with other Chinese officials who have inexplicably dropped out of view over the decades, either because of ill health or shifting political winds, Vice President Xi Jinping's 10-day absence from the public stage has been but a blip.

Skateboarders among victims of Afghanistan bombing

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Young sisters and two boys, friends at Kabul's first and only skateboarding school, were among the six killed in the Kabul blast, nonprofit Skateistan says.

KABUL, Afghanistan — When 14-year-old Khorshid took to her skateboard, her face would light up with an enormous smile. For an Afghan girl whose short life had been filled with hardships, the swooping and whooshing and rocketing speed were an undreamed-of taste of freedom.