WORLD
April 13, 2012 | By Ken Dilanian, Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON - The spectacular failure of a North Korean rocket, and the humiliation it presumably caused the nation's young new leader, makes it likely the regime will soon test a nuclear device or take other provocative actions, according to U.S. officials and outside analysts. The United Nations Security Council condemned North Korea for Friday's launch, saying it violated two previous U.N. resolutions. And the White House said it would not honor a promise to provide 240,000 metric tons of food aid to the impoverished nation.
WORLD
April 6, 2012 | By Tina Susman and Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times
NEW YORK — A federal court judge sentenced convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to 25 years in prison on Thursday, but in a swipe at prosecutors said there was no convincing evidence that he would have committed crimes they alleged if he had not been the target of a sting operation. Judge Shira Scheindlin gave the 45-year-old Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death," the minimum mandatory sentence for conspiring to acquire and use antiaircraft missiles. She also sentenced him to 15 years on three other counts of conspiracy to kill Americans and conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC.
WORLD
March 27, 2012 | By Kathleen Hennessey and Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times
SEOUL — President Obama has said he plans to continue negotiations with Russia this year involving a U.S. missile defense system to protect Europe and is not trying to "hide the ball" in dealing with the matter. Obama said Tuesday that he wants to spend time this year working through technical issues with the Russians. In a private conversation made public by a live microphone, President Obama on Monday appeared to be putting off diplomatic talks with Russian leaders about the controversial missile defense system until after the November election, prompting quick attacks from the president's Republican rivals.
NATIONAL
February 27, 2012 | By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
This post has been updated. See note at the bottom for details. A retired British businessman was expected to make his first appearance in a federal court in El Paso on Monday after he was extradited last week on charges that he tried to sell missile batteries to Iran in 2006. Christopher Tappin, 65, turned himself in Friday after fighting extradition for two years and was taken to El Paso by federal marshals. Daryl Fields, spokesman for the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, told The Times that Tappin was scheduled to have an initial hearing on Monday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Castañeda.
WORLD
February 10, 2012 | By Alex Rodriguez, Los Angeles Times
An apparent U.S. drone strike early Thursday in northwest Pakistan killed a top Pakistani Taliban commander also serving as a key Al Qaeda operative, local officials said. The death of Badar Mansoor, 35, comes as the United States steps up its pace of drone missile attacks following a six-week hiatus after an airstrike accidentally killed Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border in November. Thursday's predawn strike occurred in North Waziristan, the volatile tribal region that serves as a sanctuary for several militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban and the wing of the Afghan Taliban known as the Haqqani network.
WORLD
November 30, 2011 | By Mark Magnier and Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Myanmar on Wednesday for a landmark three-day visit to the long-isolated nation focused on encouraging further political reforms, assessing recent progress and providing a road map for forging closer ties with the United States and Europe. But the highest priority of a meeting with Myanmar's foreign minister, according to a senior State Department official traveling with Clinton, will be to seek assurances that the Southeast Asian nation will halt purchases of missile technology from renegade North Korea.