LA Times News

LA Times News

Syria army pounds rebels around Damascus

Posted: 02 Dec 2012 07:01 PM PST

The government in Syria appears intent on creating a security cordon around the capital and the international airport.

BEIRUT — Fierce clashes and heavy government bombardment were reported Sunday on the outskirts of Damascus as the Syrian military pressed an offensive aimed at securing the capital and its vulnerable international airport.

Power struggle paralyzes South Africa's ruling ANC party

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST

South African President Jacob Zuma is under attack within and outside his party. An ANC vote this month will decide his future.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Political analyst Mark Gevisser described South African President Jacob Zuma's term in one word: "Disastrous."

Egypt court postpones ruling as protesters mass at chambers

Posted: 02 Dec 2012 06:21 PM PST

Judges accuse Islamist backers of President Mohamed Morsi of blocking their chambers and their work on deciding the legitimacy of the constitutional assembly.

CAIRO — Egypt's highest court Sunday postponed ruling on the legitimacy of the constitutional assembly after judges accused Islamist supporters of President Mohamed Morsi of blocking their chambers in a deepening struggle over the country's political future.

Corruption scandals dominate Russian headlines

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST

Allegations have involved Russia's defense and agriculture ministries and even the space program. Some wonder whether the regime is cracking down or fracturing.

MOSCOW — More than 200 years ago, the renowned Russian historian Nikolai Karamzin summed up the situation in his country in two words: "They steal."

Egypt's highest court suspends work amid protests

Posted: 02 Dec 2012 05:07 AM PST

CAIRO -- Egypt's highest court postponed ruling on a case against the constitutional assembly after Islamist supporters of President Mohamed Morsi blocked judges Sunday from entering their chambers in an escalating struggle over the nation's political charter.

7 missing in collapse of highway tunnel in Japan

Posted: 02 Dec 2012 06:38 AM PST

Rescue efforts are hindered by heavy smoke from a burning vehicle.

At least seven people were feared missing and several dead after about 150 concrete panels fell from the roof of a tunnel on the main highway linking Tokyo with central Japan.

After a billion, what's next for Facebook?

Posted: 01 Dec 2012 08:43 PM PST

Not complacent at a billion users, Facebook is parachuting into markets all over the globe. But overseas growth that once seemed to come so easily is slower now.

MENLO PARK — In just eight years, Facebook signed up more than half the world's Internet population.

A father's long battle for his daughters

Posted: 02 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST

The case of Luis Ernesto Rodriguez exemplified the struggle many deported parents go through to reunite their families. But circumstances conspired against him.

Luis Ernesto Rodriguez eyed the metal door as he waited for his little girls. Now 6 and 5 years old, they were his only children, inseparable, with thick black hair and mischievous smiles that reminded people of little mermaids.