L.A. Times - World News

Iran protests draw thousands but are quickly quelled

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Clashes erupt between demonstrators and police in Tehran, as the dispute over Iran's presidential election results continues.

Violent clashes erupted Thursday in downtown Tehran between thousands of defiant protesters chanting "Death to the dictator" and security forces wielding truncheons, as the political crisis over Iran's disputed presidential election stretched into its fourth week.

Obama vows U.S. will lead the way on climate change

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 10:58:00 -0700

The president, speaking from a forum in Italy, commended efforts by assembled leaders to set guidelines, including an 80% reduction in emissions by industrialized nations by 2050.

President Obama praised efforts by industrialized and developing nations to set guidelines in the battle to control climate change and said today that the United States will increase its role in that fight.

Beneath the G-8 summit, a valley of misery for Italy quake victims

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi moved the meeting of world leaders to L'Aquila as a sign of solidarity with quake victims. But residents say they don't want symbolism, but homes, schools and jobs.

If the earthquake that killed 300 people here in April was the injury, then the Group of 8 summit underway in this ravaged town is surely the insult -- at least in the eyes of plenty of its inhabitants.

Double suicide bombings kill 34 in Iraq

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 08:10:00 -0700

The explosions, which also wounded 70, occurred in an area of northern Iraq where Arabs and Kurds are vying for control of a 300-mile stretch of land.

A double suicide-bomb attack killed at least 34 people and wounded 70 others in northern Iraq this morning, according to police.

Truck bomb in Afghanistan kills 25, many of them children

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Officials think the truck may have been headed to the capital when it ran off a highway just south of Kabul. Three U.S. soldiers die in separate attacks as violence grows in scattered areas.

A powerful truck bomb Thursday killed at least 25 people, more than half of them schoolchildren, in an eastern province near Kabul. Authorities speculated that the explosives-laden vehicle was intended for an attack in the Afghan capital.

U.S. releases five Iranians in Iraq

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 15:58:00 -0700

The men, whom the U.S. suspected of aiding Shiite militias and whom Iran said were diplomats, are handed over to Iraqi officials under the terms of the December security accord.

The U.S. military Thursday freed five Iranians who had been held since 2007 on suspicion of aiding Shiite Muslim militants, handing them over to the Iraqi government before their planned departure for Iran.

Murdoch's tabloid investigated for alleged phone hacking

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 09:10:00 -0700

The Guardian reported that journalists at the tabloid News of the World used private investigators to hack into private voice mail messages of celebrities.

Britain's most senior policeman ordered an inquiry today into claims that journalists from a tabloid owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch illegally hacked into the mobile phones of hundreds of celebrities and politicians.

Climate impasse at G-8 summit leaves nations mired

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Developing countries refuse to back targets set by the Group of 8, which balk at any swift moves of their own.

Developing nations led by China and India refused Wednesday to back lofty but long-term targets proposed by the Group of 8 industrial nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions, balking at reluctance by leaders of the world's biggest economies to move more quickly on their own.

Iranian exile speaks out against militia he once supported

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Amir Farshad Ebrahimi, a former child fighter and political prisoner, says Iran's bloody crackdown on protesters prompted him to 'out' ex-colleagues in Ansar-e Hezbollah who took part in the beatings.

For people around the globe, the images of club-wielding men on motorcycles beating demonstrators on the streets of Tehran was just another case of brutality in a far-off land.

Protesters, security forces gather across Iran

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 05:00:00 -0700

Demonstrations are planned in more than 200 cities and towns across the country, protesting last month's disputed election. Participants are advised to carry nothing heavier than a rose.

Protesters and security forces have begun to gather in the streets of downtown Tehran as the nation braces for a potential day of violent confrontations.