LA Times News

LA Times News

U.S. designates Haqqani network a terrorist organization

Posted: 07 Sep 2012 04:26 PM PDT

The Haqqani network's Afghan warlords, who are based in Pakistan's border area, have attacked U.S. troops and Afghanistan civilians.

WASHINGTON — The State Department on Friday designated Pakistan's Haqqani network a foreign terrorist organization, opening the way for the use of new tools to thwart a complex enemy that has attacked American troops and Afghan civilians while operating much like an organized crime family.

Egypt town's Muslim-Christian unrest speaks to bigger challenges

Posted: 07 Sep 2012 05:05 PM PDT

Dahshur's strife is a test of whether Egypt's transition to democracy under Islamist President Mohamed Morsi will soothe or exacerbate religious tension.

DAHSHUR, Egypt — It began when a Christian dry-cleaning business scorched a Muslim man's shirt.

Syria funeral is focus of Kurdish anger

Posted: 07 Sep 2012 05:01 PM PDT

A bombing in Aleppo that killed a woman, two of her children and their young cousin triggers outrage among Kurds at a village funeral and throughout the region.

EFRIN, Syria — The mourners chanted, "Long live Kurdistan!" as the doleful cortege moved slowly toward the hillside cemetery, past the olive groves and pomegranate orchards.

U.S. hopes in Bahrain dealt another setback

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Bahrain has upheld harsh jail terms for 13 opposition activists, the latest blow to the Obama administration's efforts to encourage reform in the Persian Gulf kingdom.

WASHINGTON — Harsh jail terms upheld this week for 13 Bahraini activists marked a setback to the Obama administration's hope that the Sunni Muslim monarchy was ready to settle its bloody conflict with the country's restless Shiite majority. It wasn't the first time Washington has been disappointed.

U.S. economy adds a sluggish 96,000 jobs in August

Posted: 07 Sep 2012 05:39 AM PDT

The unemployment rate falls to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July, but only because more people gave up looking for work. The bleak report comes just 2 months before election day.

U.S. employers added 96,000 jobs last month, a weak figure that could slow any momentum President Barack Obama hoped to gain from his speech to the Democratic National Convention.

Soldier to be buried 62 years after death in Korean War

Posted: 07 Sep 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Remains of U.S. Army Master Sgt. Clifford Ryan, who was killed while guarding a bridge, were identified through DNA in 2011.

During an illustrious military career, U.S. Army Master Sgt. Clifford Ryan was awarded a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart. He was killed at the age of 27 in 1950 in a battle with Chinese forces in Unsan, North Korea. And there his body lay unrecovered for decades.

MPAA getting involved in Hollywood's dispute with China

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 07:05 AM PDT

For months, the Motion Picture Assn. of America has been a quiet player caught between the Hollywood studios it represents and the world's second-largest movie market China.