LA Times News

LA Times News

Snowden's bid for Ecuador asylum could take weeks to approve

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 05:18 PM PDT

The NSA leaker, believed to be in a Russian airport 'transit zone,' might want to go to the Ecuadorean Embassy, an official says.

MOSCOW — Edward Snowden's request for political asylum in Ecuador could take up to two months to approve, the country's foreign minister said Wednesday, and he suggested that the U.S. fugitive could end his airport-layover limbo by seeking sanctuary inside the Ecuadorean Embassy here.

France's Hollande comes crashing down after a euphoric start

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 05:24 PM PDT

A poor economy, record unemployment, scandals and President Francois Hollande's mixed messages lead to rock-bottom approval ratings.

PARIS — Satirists and critics call him "Flanby," after an oft-derided French custard treat that's wobbly, soft and faintly ridiculous.

Riots in China's Xinjiang region leave 27 dead

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 06:11 PM PDT

It's unclear who launched the mob violence, but Uighurs and ethnic Han Chinese have clashed before in restive Xinjiang.

BEIJING — Knife-wielding mobs attacked a police station, a government building and a construction site in northwestern China on Wednesday, state media reported. It was the deadliest outbreak of violence for years in the region, where tension has simmered between minority Muslims and ethnic Han Chinese.

Nelson Mandela receiving prayers for 'a peaceful, perfect end'

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 08:48 AM PDT

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Nelson Mandela remained in critical condition in a Pretoria hospital Wednesday, as elders from his AbaThembu clan traveled from the Eastern Cape to see him.

Russian lawmakers suggest U.S. is violating Snowden's human rights

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 08:32 AM PDT

MOSCOW -- The upper house of Russia's parliament decided Wednesday to create a special group to investigate whether the United States is violating the human rights of leaker Edward Snowden by pursuing him on espionage charges.