LA Times News

LA Times News

For Afghan Scouts, 'Be prepared' takes on a new meaning

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 07:47 PM PDT

Members risk death to attend meetings and earn merit badges related to life in a war zone.

KABUL, Afghanistan –- Mohammad Aziz Ayob adjusts his Boy Scout scarf, leans over and settles a sapling into the dry Kabul soil as two NATO helicopters pass overhead, the clack-clack of their blades echoing off the neighboring mountains.

Snowden's spying allegations spur Chinese to criticize U.S.

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 07:10 PM PDT

China's state media turn the tables and demand the U.S. answer allegations by Edward Snowden that the NSA spied on China and Hong Kong.

BEIJING — Officially, the Chinese government has nothing to say about Edward Snowden.

Colombia refuge for forlorn wild animals fights for survival

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 07:18 PM PDT

Ana Julia Torres takes in abused and castoff wildlife at Villa Lorena in Cali. But the money has finally run out, she says.

CALI, Colombia — Ask Ana Julia Torres how many children she has, and she'll say 652: two human offspring plus the hundreds of tigers, lions, mules, snakes, monkeys and other species residing at her refuge north of here. The creatures have typically been seized from or cast off by narcos, circuses, animal traffickers and bored collectors.

Nicaragua canal project is approved despite few details

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 06:33 PM PDT

Critics accuse President Daniel Ortega of pushing through the sea-to-sea Nicaragua canal project to benefit his family and inner circle.

MEXICO CITY — The project is of mind-boggling proportions: It would cost $40 billion, take a decade to complete and be more than twice the length of the mighty Panama Canal.

U.S. says Syria used chemical weapons, will send arms to rebels

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 06:20 PM PDT

White House declares that the government of Bashar Assad crossed a 'red line' with sarin gas in spring. Some U.S. lawmakers call for more forceful action.

WASHINGTON — The White House declared Thursday that Syria had crossed a "red line" by using chemical weapons in that country's civil war, and in response, U.S. officials said, President Obama had authorized sending arms to some rebel groups.

Global Voices: Fukushima made ex-premier a 'no nukes' crusader

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 05:00 AM PDT

After the cascade of disasters that befell Japan 27 months ago, then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan took the brunt of withering criticism for shoddy nuclear safety standards at the crippled Fukushima reactor complex and the government's chaotic emergency response to the crises.

Edward Snowden intends to stay in Hong Kong, fight extradition

Posted: 12 Jun 2013 06:17 PM PDT

The former U.S. government contractor who says he leaked NSA secrets is planning 'to ask the courts and people of Hong Kong to decide' his fate.

BEIJING — Edward Snowden, the former U.S. government contractor who says he leaked National Security Agency secrets, told Hong Kong media Wednesday that he intended to remain in the self-ruled Chinese territory and fight extradition to the United States.