LA Times News

LA Times News

Israel, Hamas keep up attacks as talks continue in Egypt

Posted: 19 Nov 2012 06:44 PM PST

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes his Cabinet, fueling cease-fire hopes. The fighting has killed more than 100 Palestinians and three Israelis.

GAZA CITY — As negotiators worked on a tenuous cease-fire deal, Israel and Hamas pounded each other for a sixth day and anger rose in the Gaza Strip over the increasing number of casualties.

Gaza conflict threatens Obama's plans for Mideast diplomacy

Posted: 19 Nov 2012 07:11 PM PST

A ground invasion by Israel could seriously damage the U.S. influence in the region, experts say, still floundering after the 'Arab Spring' uprisings.

WASHINGTON — The increasingly bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is threatening the Obama administration's plans to reinvigorate its Middle East diplomacy, creating new obstacles across the region as the president prepares for his second term.

French opposition party, after vicious fight, declares leader

Posted: 19 Nov 2012 07:25 PM PST

Jean-Francois Cope wins a narrow victory over Francois Fillon to lead the center-right Union for a Popular Movement party, after both candidates traded insults and claimed to have won.

PARIS — France's center-right political opposition was in disarray Monday after the election of a new party leader descended into an extraordinary mud-slinging match between two candidates who both declared themselves the winner.

Disputed islands belong to Colombia, court rules

Posted: 20 Nov 2012 12:00 AM PST

Ending a case that came before the International Court of Justice in 1999, the ruling rejects Nicaragua's claim to the islands but extends the country's offshore territory.

BOGOTA, Colombia — In a ruling that gave each side some of what it wanted, the International Court of Justice in The Hague on Monday upheld Colombia's sovereignty over seven Caribbean islands but ordered that Nicaragua's maritime boundary be redrawn to give it more offshore territory.

Obama visit to Myanmar mixes diplomacy and tourism

Posted: 19 Nov 2012 06:30 PM PST

President Obama meets with leaders and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, gives a speech and visits a pagoda with Hillary Rodham Clinton during his six-hour tour.

YANGON, Myanmar — Barack Obama was riding in his motorcade, the first U.S. president to visit long-isolated Myanmar, when he suddenly ordered an unscheduled detour Monday.