Official Visits

Among the patchwork of ethnic communities that shape the everyday life and politics of Los Angeles, few groups have been romanced as much by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as Southern California's substantial Jewish population.

President Bush arrived in Britain on Sunday for what could be his last official visit as president, urging his close ally not to withdraw forces from Iraq unless conditions on the ground allowed. Underlining the divisiveness of the Iraq issue, about 2,000 protesters outside Parliament denounced Bush. Several were injured in scuffles with police, and 25 were reported arrested.

Back from a weeklong trip to Israel, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Wednesday touted agreements to enhance anti-terrorism efforts at Los Angeles International Airport and the harbor, and defended the cost of the 18-member delegation he led while the city faces a possible $300-million budget shortfall.

I'm not going to claim otherwise. I'm angry. About what? Come on, all you've got to do is lay down 50 cents, read the paper and hear the pounding of your pulse. Not that we don't publish cheery news as well. Take, for instance, the photos of Wall Street execs in handcuffs and roughly 400 other real estate industry miscreants charged with mortgage fraud.

America's chief diplomat found herself vouching for the purity of U.S. cattle Saturday, wading into a bitter trade dispute that for South Koreans has eclipsed the long-running drama over North Korea's nuclear activity and threatened the government of President Lee Myung-bak. Just one day after the communist North demolished the most visible symbol of its nuclear programs, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice faced a barrage of questions about the safety of American steaks, chops and burgers.

Pope Benedict XVI chose this land of majestic natural beauty to condemn the squandering of the planet's resources. He used a gathering of tens of thousands of Catholic youths to warn against sterile materialism and the exploitative manipulation of mass media and the Internet. But, as in his spring visit to the United States, one theme loomed over Benedict's weeklong pilgrimage to Australia: the sexual abuse of minors by clergy.

Barack Obama met with U.S. troops and received a military briefing on conditions in Afghanistan on Saturday during the opening leg of an overseas trip designed to showcase his appeal in foreign capitals and reassure American voters that he would make a reliable commander in chief.

Pope Benedict XVI ended his pilgrimage here today after meeting with two men and two women who were sexually abused as children by priests. The pontiff prayed and spoke with the four in the last hours of his nine-day visit to Australia for the Roman Catholic Church's global youth festival. The abuse scandal was a sour undertone to the trip for World Youth Day, which is supposed to be a celebration of faith that inspires a new generation.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez blew through Russia on Tuesday, cutting business deals, griping about the United States and pumping up the friendship between two oil-rich nations. He pressed Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to pay him a visit in Venezuela. He subtly ribbed President Dmitry Med- vedev, who has been widely portrayed as Putin's handpicked puppet.

To some of those demonstrating on Seoul's streets he is a warmongering cowboy looking to conscript South Korean soldiers into the war in Afghanistan, and the salesman-in-chief pushing the rest of the world to eat tainted American beef. To others he is the president of an ally that sacrificed its own soldiers more than 55 years ago so South Koreans could be free, and still keeps 30,000 troops here to help protect them from their bellicose, nuclear-armed cousin to the north.