LA Times News

LA Times News

Aung San Suu Kyi receives Congressional Gold Medal

Posted: 19 Sep 2012 06:44 PM PDT

Myanmar's opposition leader meets privately with President Obama after accepting Congress' highest honor, which she was awarded in 2008 while under house arrest.

WASHINGTON — Myanmar's opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, met privately with President Obama after accepting Congress' highest honor in an emotional ceremony Wednesday, signs of the stunning shift in U.S. relations with the onetime pariah Asian nation over the last year.

Somalia guerrilla artists dare to paint reality

Posted: 19 Sep 2012 06:16 PM PDT

The men work quietly by day and set up their cheeky political paintings around the capital in the dark of night. They're also training the next generation.

MOGADISHU, Somalia — The guerrilla artists come out in the darkness of the Mogadishu night. Three of them are old hands with a brush, but they've never been out on such a crazy mission at a time when sensible people stay indoors.

In Syria, Aleppo residents grapple with hardship, uncertainties

Posted: 19 Sep 2012 06:50 PM PDT

As fighting drags on, Aleppo has gone from Syria's affluent business hub to an edgy, apocalyptic city where life and commerce have yielded to homicidal mayhem.

ALEPPO, Syria — The elderly woman, covered in a long black gown and matching headdress, was despondent. Tears of anguish flooded her eyes. She stood at the entrance to the cobblestone streets of the Old City, pleading with the rebel fighter.

Alleged Colombian drug kingpin captured in Venezuela

Posted: 19 Sep 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Suspected cocaine boss Daniel 'El Loco' Barrera, Colombia's most wanted fugitive, was also under indictment by the United States.

BOGOTA, Colombia — Venezuelan police on Tuesday captured Colombia's most wanted fugitive, the notorious Daniel "El Loco" Barrera, who is suspected of smuggling 100 tons of cocaine in recent years to U.S. and European markets.