L.A. Times - The Courts

A win for Southern California citizenship applicants

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Hundreds of legal immigrants whose cases have been languishing for years will get resolution within six months because of a settlement with the U.S. government.

Hundreds of legal immigrants in Southern California who have been waiting years for citizenship will have their cases resolved as a result of a settlement with the federal government, attorneys announced Monday.

Merkel thanks Gorbachev on Berlin Wall anniversary

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 13:23:00 -0800

Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev crossed a former fortified border on today to cheers of "Gorby! Gorby!" as a throng of grateful Germans recalled the night 20 years ago that the Berlin Wall gave way to their desire for freedom and unity.

Dow climbs 203 points to highest close in more than a year

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Big-company stocks take the lead in the rally as investors apparently figure it's safer to stick with the most familiar and most liquid issues. The dollar continues sliding.

For Wall Street's bulls, bigger is now a better idea.

Supreme Court refuses to halt Beltway sniper's execution

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 10:26:00 -0800

John Allen Muhammad was convicted of masterminding the shooting rampage that killed 10 people in the Washington area in 2002. He is to be put to death Tuesday.

The Supreme Court today cleared the way for the execution of Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammad.

Afghanistan ill-prepared for swine flu

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

At least 11 people have died from the H1N1 virus in the capital, Kabul. The government has declared an emergency and launched an education campaign.

Zakrullah Nouri has never known a time when his country was not at war.

3 U.S. hikers face spying charges in Iran

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

A prosecutor says the three, who apparently strayed across the border while hiking in Iraq, are charged with espionage. President Ahmadinejad says they must convince a court they had no 'ill intention

Iran's president on Monday likened three Americans held in his country on possible espionage charges to drivers violating city traffic rules, saying he hoped they would have a "good response" to the court proceedings and "convince the judge that they had no ill intentions."

Fewer than half of Americans say Obama's election has improved race relations

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0800

A Gallup survey finds 41% believe relations have gotten better. But 61% believe they will improve in the future, thanks to the election of an African American president.

With the election of Barack Obama, the first African American to serve as president, an overwhelming majority of Americans believed that race relations in the United States would improve.

Poizner rejects proposal for workers' comp insurance rate hike

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

A California industry rating group is urging the state's insurance chief to boost rates paid by employers 22.8% for policies written or renewed after Jan. 1.

For the second time in a year, the California insurance commissioner has rejected an industry rating group's proposal that he recommend that insurers significantly raise rates paid by employers for workers' compensation insurance.

Supreme Court seems likely to limit life sentences for juveniles

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Most liberal justices seem inclined to rule against life terms for offenders under the age of 18 who did not commit murder. Chief Justice Roberts favors case-by-case reviews.

Confronted with the stark reality of a 13-year old sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison, the Supreme Court justices signaled Monday that they were inclined to limit, or perhaps abolish, the use of life terms for young teenagers whose crimes do not involve murder.

Vitaly Ginzburg, Nobel-winning Russian physicist, dies at 93

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Vitaly Ginzburg, a co-winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in physics who helped to develop the hydrogen bomb, died in Moscow yesterday at the age of 93, the Russian Academy of Sciences said in a statement today.