L.A. Times - Asia

U.S. Afghanistan debate curbs Gates on Canada visit

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Defense Secretary Robert Gates attends a conference but, with the Obama administration wrestling over its Afghan strategy, isn't in a position to push Canada to reconsider a troop withdrawal plan.

As the Obama administration wrestles over its new Afghanistan strategy, the domestic debate is having far-reaching implications for the United States' ties with its allies in the war.

16 Afghans killed in suicide attack

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Afghanistan officials think Farah Gov. Rohul Amin may have been the target; he was not injured. The attack comes a day after President Karzai appealed to militants to put down their arms.

Authorities on Friday were investigating whether a blast that hit a crowded marketplace in western Afghanistan was aimed at a provincial governor considered friendly to the United States.

Obama sets the pace in China

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

For reporters covering him, the sightseeing is just a blur. They can only take it a step at a time -- make that 30.

If it's 3:40 p.m., this must be the Great Wall.

New York man arrested in 1982 Koreatown killing

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

LAPD cold-case detectives use DNA evidence to tie the suspect to the stabbing of a 63-year-old woman, who also was sexually assaulted.

More than 27 years after Hazel Hughes was found stabbed to death in her Koreatown apartment, Los Angeles Police Department cold-case detectives have arrested a New York man in the slaying, police said.

White House calls Obama's Asian tour a success

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:42:00 -0800

Trying to counter perceptions that the trip failed to bring about solid results, advisor David Axelrod says, 'Things don't change overnight.'

Even before President Obama boarded his home-bound flight for Washington, capping a grueling weeklong Asian tour, the White House was scrambling to combat perceptions that the trip failed to produce concrete results.

U.S. aims to hold Afghanistan's Karzai to his pledges of reform

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

U.S. officials say aid will be cut off to any Afghan agency in which corruption persists. The Afghan president, at his second inauguration, also indicates he wants most foreign troops out in 5 years.

The United States is developing a set of benchmarks to ensure that Afghan President Hamid Karzai keeps a promise delivered at his inauguration to fight corruption and inefficiency, U.S. officials said.

Pakistan suicide bomber kills 19 at Peshawar courthouse

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The attack on the Peshawar courthouse is the 10th bombing in the city in six weeks as Taliban militants retaliate for a Pakistani military offensive in South Waziristan.

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Peshawar, Pakistan -- A suicide bombing at a crowded courthouse in Peshawar killed 19 people Thursday, the 10th such attack in six weeks for a city bearing the brunt of retaliation from Taliban militants battling Pakistani troops along the Afghan border.

Chinese officials rip Obama interview from newspaper

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Many copies of the Southern Weekend were missing the page carrying Obama's exclusive interview, even though it didn't cover anything controversial.

Even after he left Beijing, President Obama apparently fell afoul of the Chinese censors.

U.S. in standoff with Beijing over Chinese currency

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

By reducing the value of the yuan in lock step with the declining dollar, China is making it difficult for American exporters to gain ground in overseas markets.

As President Obama's trip to Beijing proved, the days when U.S. leaders could jawbone China into making major changes in economic policy appear to be gone. Not only did the Chinese brush off Obama's appeals this week, they harangued the United States for its own shortcomings.

Man unable to enter China languishes in Tokyo airport

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:12:00 -0800

Activist Feng Zhenghu has been sitting near the customs booths at Narita International Airport for nearly three weeks, refusing to enter Japan in hopes his protest will gain him entry back home.

He is a man caught between two countries, a political protester who has stubbornly steeled himself inside the sterile purgatory of Tokyo's Narita International Airport.