LA Times News

LA Times News

At Mexico City park, statue of Azerbaijan leader elicits protest

Posted: 19 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Mexican activists object to a statue of Heydar Aliyev in the Polanco neighborhood. Azerbaijan paid millions to erect the statue of the late dictator there.

MEXICO CITY — The leafy green parks of Mexico City's elegant Polanco neighborhood have their politically comforting statues.

Opening of Northern Ireland's first abortion clinic draws protests

Posted: 19 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

The clinic, run by Marie Stopes International, vows to operate within the law. Some officials in Belfast have launched legal challenges.

LONDON — The opening of Northern Ireland's first private abortion clinic Thursday in Belfast drew hundreds of noisy demonstrators, who hoisted placards with messages such as "Keep Ireland abortion-free."

Optimists see an opening for better India-Pakistan ties

Posted: 18 Oct 2012 06:03 PM PDT

As cross-border trade between the nations grows, so does hope that increased trust can lead to resolution of their long-simmering conflicts.

ATTARI, India — Real estate prices have jumped sharply in recent months in this area where India meets Pakistan, as resorts and roadside restaurants sprout up, eating into the lush wheat fields of northern Punjab state.

Afghanistan forces prepared for NATO withdrawal, Karzai says

Posted: 18 Oct 2012 06:01 PM PDT

Afghan President Hamid Karzai also nixes foreign advisors to Afghanistan's Election Complaints Commission for the 2014 presidential election.

KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai said Thursday that Afghan security forces were ready to protect the country if the U.S.-led NATO force speeds up its withdrawal before a scheduled 2014 departure date.

In Syria, more than 40 deaths reported in airstrike

Posted: 19 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

The city of Maarat Numan has been the site of clashes and government shelling. In Damascus, Syria's capital, rebels claim responsibility for a car bomb.

BEIRUT — More than 40 civilians, many of them women and children, were killed Thursday in an airstrike on the northern city of Maarat Numan, activists said, in another bloody day in Syria during which more than 200 people reportedly were killed.

Twitter blocks neo-Nazi group Better Hannover in Germany

Posted: 19 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Under German law, Twitter is asked to block the account of right-wing Besseres Hannover, or Better Hannover, banned by the state of Lower Saxony for spreading nationalist socialist ideology.

BERLIN — Twitter on Thursday blocked users in Germany from viewing the messages of a neo-Nazi group as the company for the first time withheld content in a specific country under a policy aimed at complying with local laws while allowing free speech.