Hamid Khan

As a child in Pakistan, Hamid Khan recalls playing cricket in the dusty courtyard outside his home while his mother drank chai and discussed politics with neighbors. He often listened as they criticized their country's leadership and lamented the massive displacement after the partition from India. By the time he was a teenager, he was politically active himself, regularly participating in anti-government demonstrations. Khan's passion for politics has continued here in the U.S.

As a child in Pakistan, Hamid Khan recalls playing cricket in the dusty courtyard outside his home while his mother drank chai and discussed politics with neighbors. He often listened as they criticized their country's leadership and lamented the massive displacement after the partition from India. By the time he was a teenager, he was politically active himself, regularly participating in anti-government demonstrations. Khan's passion for politics has continued here in the U.S.

Two Pakistani students taken into custody after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks pleaded not guilty in federal court in Los Angeles Monday to charges of visa fraud. Ahmed Atta and Salman Hyder, both 19, of Orange County and former students at Irvine Valley College, face felony charges of lying about immigration status to take jobs. A third man, Salman Hamid Khan, pleaded not guilty Monday to the same charges.

When Maminul Haque greets friends, he uses the Bangla "Kamon aachen!" When he is hungry, he drops by one of numerous Bangladeshi eateries for a plate of curry -- more spicy than the Indian version, devotees agree. Although he is standing in the heart of Koreatown, he and many other Bangladeshi Americans say the name does not reflect all its inhabitants. Now, the community is seeking recognition of its own "Little Bangladesh" within the area west of downtown popularly known as Koreatown.

A nonprofit agency that has managed taxicabs at Los Angeles International Airport for years has been recommended for another LAX contract, although a 2007 city audit found that the company had mismanaged money and violated state workers' compensation laws. After evaluating competing proposals from two companies, the staff of Los Angeles World Airports recommended Friday that airport commissioners at the Jan. 11 meeting award a new five-year concession contract to Authorized Taxicab Supervision Inc. An evaluation panel concluded that the firm was the most qualified bidder.

In a stone-throwing melee in the heart of Pakistan's capital, riot police Saturday fired tear gas and beat lawyers and human rights activists protesting President Pervez Musharraf's plans to have himself reelected while serving as chief of the military. Dozens of people were reported injured in the daylong clashes, which marked an escalation in the political tensions that have roiled Pakistan for months as a nationwide grass-roots movement to oust Musharraf has gained strength.

Decrying their cabs as "sweatshops on wheels," about 150 taxi drivers circled Los Angeles City Hall on Tuesday, demanding that officials revamp rules that the cabbies say have left them struggling to make a decent living. The drivers assailed the city's decision last month to award a consultant $250,000 to help it develop a new process regulating the taxi industry without holding a public hearing. "We are honest, hard-working people, but the money we earn goes into someone else's pockets," said Tamirat Chilot, an Ethiopian-born driver whose taxi was among the procession of brightly colored cabs honking their horns in unison and driving slowly around City Hall.

The City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to grant a new 10-year contract to a firm that has coordinated taxicabs for years at Los Angeles International Airport but was accused in a 2007 city audit of mismanaging funds and other irregularities. Taxi customers at the airport would see increased fares if the new deal is approved. Under the terms of the proposed concession pact, the surcharge that taxi clients pay for rides from the airport would increase from its current level, $2.50 per trip, to $4. The fee provides revenue for LAX and the taxi management firm, Authorized Taxicab Supervision, which assigns taxis to terminals and manages an airport-area holding lot. According to official estimates, the new deal would net LAX an almost fourfold increase in revenues — from the current payout of $700,000 per year to an average of $2.7 million annually during the 10 years of the contract.

Buoyed by perceptions of a bright political climate for immigration reform, thousands of activists plan to rally today in Los Angeles and nationally for migrant and labor rights. But even as President Obama, a Democratic Congress and many immigrant activists agree on the major outlines of a reform package, some Southern California activists say differences among them have shattered previous unity and resulted in plans to field separate marches.

Artesia's Pioneer Boulevard bustles with sari stores, jewelry boutiques and Indian restaurants that cater to the thousands of South Asian immigrants who have settled into the neighborhood. Though many of those immigrants are seniors, few have ever ventured to the nearby Artesia Senior Center, popular among native-born residents and earlier generations of Portuguese and Dutch immigrants. Language barriers and vegetarian diets have kept some Indian seniors away, while others simply didn't know about the center and the meals and activities offered there.

Aiming to accelerate the integration of immigrants into Southern California life, a leading California foundation will announce today that it is issuing $900,000 in grants to help ease conflicts between blacks and Latinos in Pasadena, promote worker rights in Artesia, organize to bring supermarkets to minority neighborhoods and other initiatives. The grants represent the first outlays in the California Community Foundation's five-year, $3.