Los Angeles Times - Top News

A story of shock, chaos and bravery unfolds in Ft. Hood shooting

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Eyewitnesses say the gunman sat and appeared to pray before calmly firing on his comrades. Officials say he got 100 rounds off before civilian officers brought him down in a firefight.

In the end, the shooting rampage at Ft. Hood came down to a gunfight between two civilian base police officers toting standard sidearms and a 39-year-old psychiatrist armed with .357 Magnum and a pistol equipped with laser sighting and extra bullets, officials said.

Unemployment rate rises above 10% ; Obama signs jobless benefit extension

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 09:34:00 -0800

The jobless rate rose to 10.2% in October from 9.8% in September -- first time in the double digits since 1983. Employers cut 190,000 jobs last month, although the pace of job losses continues to slow

As the nation's unemployment rate surged to 10.2% in October, reaching double digits for the first time in 26 years, President Obama signed a measure today providing additional aid for the jobless as well as expanding and extending a home buyer tax credit to help spur economic growth.

Jason Rodriguez : Shooting at downtown Orlando office building leaves 5 hurt, 1 dead

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 19:11:00 -0800

Amanda Tighe stepped out of the elevator of the Gateway Center on Friday and into the panic that had swallowed her building.

More than 38 million vaccine doses available against swine flu

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

'As supplies increase things should go better,' says a CDC official, who adds that flu activity is widespread in 48 states and 'virtually everything is H1N1.'

More than 38 million doses of vaccine against pandemic H1N1 influenza are now available, 11 million more than were available last week and double the number available two weeks ago, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

Honduras' ousted leader declares pact 'totally dead'

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Manuel Zelaya says the accord to end the national crisis collapsed after the de facto rulers formed a new 'reconciliation government' without him.

The political crisis in Honduras deepened Friday after ousted President Manuel Zelaya declared "totally dead" a U.S.-brokered agreement that he had believed would restore him to power.

CalPERS to consider requiring placement agents to register as lobbyists

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Advocates see the plan as a way to limit political pressure on the pension fund, which some believe may have occurred in dealings with agent Alfred Villalobos. Opponents say it's counterproductive.

Highly paid financial intermediaries at the center of a growing uproar over the way California's huge public pension plan invests its money may soon be required to register as government lobbyists and regularly report their fees and clients.

High hopes for a malaria vaccine

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 19:11:00 -0800

The makers of Mosquirix announce a trial involving thousands of children in Africa. They aim to seek marketing approval as soon as 2012 and have a vaccine that reduces infections by 80% by 2025.

Each year, malaria kills more than 1 million people -- 90% of them in sub-Saharan Africa and 80% of them younger than 5 -- and makes 300 million people seriously ill. Major progress in controlling the disease has been made by the widespread adoption of bed nets to keep mosquitoes from attacking children at night and by the use of artemisinin-based therapy, which is the most effective treatment for infections.

Babies are found to cry in their mother tongue

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Just days after birth, German and French infants' wails mimicked the patterns of their native languages. Researchers believe they started to pick up on the melodies in the third trimester.

They may not be old enough to talk, but babies less than a week old know how to cry in their native language.