LA Times News

LA Times News

Israel attack on Gaza: Familiar tension, new circumstances

Posted: 15 Nov 2012 12:00 AM PST

The changed political landscape in Egypt means Israel can't count on support it once had.

JERUSALEM — Israel's surprise air assault on Gaza Strip militants killed the top military commander of Hamas and set the rivals on a familiar course that could end with another major confrontation — but in unpredictable new circumstances created by the "Arab Spring."

U.S., Afghanistan to begin talks on post-withdrawal security

Posted: 15 Nov 2012 12:00 AM PST

The negotiations, expected to be heated, will attempt to balance the U.S. goal of denying terrorists a base of operations and Afghanistan's demands for sovereignty.

KABUL, Afghanistan — In talks that are likely to be confrontational, the United States and Afghanistan are scheduled to begin negotiations Thursday on a new security arrangement after U.S. combat troops withdraw from the war-torn country by the end of 2014.

Obama offers new Syria coalition praise but not weapons

Posted: 15 Nov 2012 12:00 AM PST

Washington is not yet prepared to recognize the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as a government in exile, he says.

WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday praised a new Syrian opposition coalition as "a legitimate representative of the Syrian people" but pointedly said Washington was not yet prepared to recognize the group as a government in exile or provide arms to antigovernment rebels.

Hearings on deadly Benghazi attack will address CIA role

Posted: 15 Nov 2012 12:00 AM PST

Four congressional committees will examine security arrangements during the militant assault in Libya, as well as the Obama administration's public response.

WASHINGTON — The scandal that forced spy chief David H. Petraeus to resign has diverted attention from another problem for the CIA: why the agency failed to anticipate or repel the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed two CIA contractors, as well as the U.S. ambassador and another American.

Kenyan information minister leads an IT revolution

Posted: 15 Nov 2012 12:00 AM PST

Since Bitange Ndemo got Kenya hooked up to high-speed Internet, there has been no stopping his cyber-progress. A 'Silicon Savannah' is now flourishing.

NAIROBI, Kenya — Along Nairobi's dusty Ngong Road, so many start-up incubators and IT labs have popped up that the busy neighborhood has been nicknamed "Silicon Savannah."