Los Angeles Times - Near East

• newAmerican journalist Philip Jacobson released from prison in Indonesia, may be deported
  Jacobson, an editor for a nonprofit environmental news website, was jailed for a visa violation after meeting with indigenous rights activists in December.
  - 5 hours ago 26 Jan 20, 3:05pm -
• newAustralia's fires are burning through a key part of its economy — tourism
  Many small towns untouched by Australia's flames are nonetheless paying a steep price. Australia estimates its $152-billion tourism industry will take a $4.5-billion hit this year because of the bush fires.
  - 7 hours ago 26 Jan 20, 1:00pm -
• newBernie Sanders shaped this small city, and it gave him a moonshot to the national stage
  Burlington shaped Sanders as Sanders shaped Burlington, so much so that it's hard to consider one without the other.
  - 7 hours ago 26 Jan 20, 1:00pm -
• new75 years after being freed from Auschwitz, he can't stop going back
  Fewer than 2,000 Auschwitz survivors are still alive. One is returning to Poland from Southern California for the fourth time.
  - 9 hours ago 26 Jan 20, 11:00am -
• newChinese President Xi Jinping calls situation serious as China scrambles to contain virus
  Cities from central China to Hong Kong are scrambling to stop the spread of an illness that has infected more than 2,000 people and killed at least 56.
  - 16 hours ago 26 Jan 20, 3:39am -

• newCoronavirus full coverage: Cases grow around the world as China scrambles to contain the virus
  The new virus comes from a large family of what are known as coronaviruses, some causing nothing worse than a cold. It causes cold- and flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever and, in more severe case, shortness of breath. It can worsen to pneum…
  - 22 hours ago 25 Jan 20, 10:02pm -
• Pompeo lashes out at reporter, but doesn't dispute all of her claims
  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo doesn't deny heated exchange with a reporter in which he reportedly said Americans don't "care about Ukraine."
  - 1 day ago 25 Jan 20, 7:31pm -
• The coronavirus from China is new, and that makes everything dicier
  Any time a "novel" virus appears on the scene, things immediately become much more complicated. That's certainly the case with the coronavirus from China.
  - 1 day ago 25 Jan 20, 3:00pm -
• In a small field, men reenact an oft-overlooked war that remade the U.S., Mexico and the border
  The Mexican-American War of remade the U.S. and Mexico — and the much-debated border that separates the two countries. But it remains a relatively overshadowed conflict in American history. In Montebello, a group of men and women try to educate peo…
  - 1 day ago 25 Jan 20, 1:00pm -
• Vietnamese flock to this park to 'catch' a tourist — and learn English for free
  Vietnam's hard-charging economy has boosted demand for English speakers. Many can't afford classes, so they flock to September 23 Park in Ho Chi Minh City to strike up conversations with passing tourists.
  - 1 day ago 25 Jan 20, 1:00pm -
• In New York City's Chinatown, residents and doctors brace for coronavirus' arrival
  Residents of New York City's Chinatown expect the coronavirus to arrive from China as people travel abroad to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
  - 1 day ago 25 Jan 20, 1:00pm -
• How the paths of Saudi Arabia's crown prince and the world's richest man crossed
  Mohammed bin Salman, the heir apparent to his father's kingdom, traded numbers with Amazon's CEO at a 2018 event in Los Angeles. That's when the trouble began.
  - 1 day ago 25 Jan 20, 12:00pm -
• Call it torture if you want, military judge says at Guantanamo hearing
  Walter Ruiz, a defense lawyer for one of the 9/11 defendants, repeatedly used the word as he questioned a CIA psychologist who devised the harsh interrogation methods used on detainees after 9/11.
  - 2 days ago 25 Jan 20, 3:00am -
• In Beijing, more surgical masks but business as usual despite coronavirus outbreak
  Surgical masks but not much panic as Lunar New Year begins in Beijing. Meanwhile, the death toll continues to grow and millions of people are on lockdown at the center of the coronavirus outbreak.
  - 2 days ago 25 Jan 20, 12:05am -
• By turning back caravans, Mexico is acting as Trump's border wall, critics say
  In turning back migrant caravans, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador embraces a drastic change in immigration policy.
  - 2 days ago 24 Jan 20, 11:21pm -
• Thousands rally in Baghdad to demand U.S. troops leave Iraq
  Thousands of supporters of an influential radical Shiite cleric gathered in central Baghdad to demand that American troops leave the country.
  - 2 days ago 24 Jan 20, 6:53pm -
• The American dream may help the poorest among us live longer. Here's why
  Americans living in counties with more opportunities to get ahead live longer than those living where it's most difficult to improve their lot in life.
  - 2 days ago 24 Jan 20, 6:20pm -
• Can Elizabeth Warren beat Trump? Katie Porter points to her own Orange County win to make the case
  Rep. Katie Porter of Irvine is one of Elizabeth Warren's most forceful supporters, drawing on her Iowa upbringing and personal bond with the senator to make the case.
  - 2 days ago 24 Jan 20, 1:00pm -
• Fear spreads throughout China as officials take unprecedented measure to stop coronavirus
  Hundreds of people in China have fallen ill and 26 have died from the new coronavirus strain
  - 3 days ago 24 Jan 20, 7:50am -
• L.A. Mayor Garcetti foresees progress on homelessness via talks with HUD Secretary Ben Carson
  Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti hopes to reach a preliminary agreement with the Trump administration on a joint plan to help combat the city's swelling homeless crisis.
  - 3 days ago 24 Jan 20, 3:44am -
• Will thousands of Rohingya refugees be sent to a remote island?
  A plan by Bangladesh to move 100,000 Rohingya Muslims to an uninhabited island in the Bay of Bengal is moving forward despite opposition from refugee leaders and human rights groups.
  - 3 days ago 24 Jan 20, 2:00am -
• Children as young as 6 are taking up arms in Mexico
  Child soldiers — some as young as 6 — are being conscripted into a vigilante group in Guerrero state.
  - 3 days ago 24 Jan 20, 1:31am -
• 3 U.S. firefighters killed in Australia air crash amid bush fires are identified
  An aviation company has identified the three firefighters who died in an air crash in Australia, where they were flying in a California-based C-130 and helping to battle wildfires.
  - 3 days ago 23 Jan 20, 11:47pm -
• It's too early to declare China coronavirus outbreak an 'emergency,' WHO says
  The new coronavirus in China that has sickened hundreds of people is not yet a global health emergency, according to the World Health Organization.
  - 3 days ago 23 Jan 20, 9:09pm -
• Everything you need to know as the China coronavirus spreads
  How big is the threat posed by the new coronavirus from China? Here's a look at what experts know as the outbreak spreads.
  - 3 days ago 23 Jan 20, 8:19pm -
• Governments everywhere are targeting journalists. The latest: An American in Indonesia
  Philip Jacobson, who faces up to five years in prison for an alleged visa violation, works for a website that has exposed corruption and environmental degradation in Indonesia.
  - 3 days ago 23 Jan 20, 3:25pm -
• Obama paintings from National Portrait Gallery will go on a five-city tour
  Smithsonian says the celebrated portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama will come to Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Houston.
  - 3 days ago 23 Jan 20, 2:00pm -
• Trapped in the Senate, presidential candidates work to stay in touch — and stay awake
  Four Senate Democrats running for president are pinned down in the chamber for Trump's impeachment trial, keeping them from campaigning ahead of Iowa's caucuses. But they do have some tricks up their sleeves.
  - 3 days ago 23 Jan 20, 12:00pm -
• Earthquake: Magnitude 6.2 quake reported near Tanaga volcano in Alaska
  A magnitude 6.2 earthquake was reported Wednesday at 9:53 p.m. Pacific time 13 miles from the Tanaga volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands, according to the USGS.
  - 4 days ago 23 Jan 20, 6:26am -
• Health insurers take on Big Pharma, plan to manufacture their own drugs
  Frustrated by high prices, health insurers plan to start manufacturing generic prescription drugs.
  - 4 days ago 23 Jan 20, 5:01am -
• Waterboarding of detainees was so gruesome that even CIA officials wept
  James Mitchell, an architect of the "enhanced interrogation techniques" that human rights experts have condemned as torture, testified about the tactics in a pretrial hearing at Guantánamo Bay.
  - 4 days ago 23 Jan 20, 3:38am -
• House and White House impeachment legal teams offer stark contrast on facts and style
  After the opening day of the Senate impeachment trial proved so toxic that the chief justice rebuked both sides, the rhetoric cooled Wednesday — except from President Trump.
  - 4 days ago 23 Jan 20, 3:09am -
• South Korea orders dismissal of transgender soldier
  Byun Hui-su, a staff sergeant who underwent sex assignment surgery, was dismissed from the military because of 'mental and physical disability.'
  - 4 days ago 23 Jan 20, 2:02am -
• Tear gas and clashes greet Lebanon's new government
  In the four months since widespread anti-government protests erupted, the Lebanese have danced and cheered in spasms of nationalistic pride.
  - 4 days ago 22 Jan 20, 11:57pm -
• Auschwitz was liberated 75 years ago. But politics are complicating the celebration
  Holocaust survivors join heads of state to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. But politics are thwarting unity.
  - 4 days ago 22 Jan 20, 11:27pm -
• Ready to move, Californians tour their top destination: Texas
  More than half of California voters have considered moving out of state. Many who do choose Texas, where lower housing costs come with trade-offs.
  - 4 days ago 22 Jan 20, 8:19pm -
• In Davos, Trump talks impeachment trial, targets Thunberg and dismisses troop injuries
  As he leaves the World Economic Forum, President Trump alludes to his Senate impeachment trial, saying his economic success has driven Democrats 'crazy.'
  - 4 days ago 22 Jan 20, 6:14pm -
• China coronavirus: 440 cases reported, including 9 deaths, as millions travel for the Lunar New Year
  The coronavirus outbreak, which has killed 9, began at a seafood and live animal market in Wuhan. It can spread among humans, officials confirm.
  - 5 days ago 22 Jan 20, 4:48am -
• Psychologist who waterboarded self-proclaimed 9/11 plotter says, 'I would do it again'
  James Mitchell, the CIA psychologist who waterboarded Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, was unapologetic as he testified before a U.S. military commission in Cuba.
  - 5 days ago 21 Jan 20, 7:54pm -
• Q&A: What is coronavirus? What you should know about the virus behind the outbreak in China
  Health officials around the world are keeping a close watch on an outbreak of a virus in China. Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus.
  - 5 days ago 21 Jan 20, 7:32pm -
• Meet the California firefighters helping Australia battle epic bush fires
  More than 170 U.S. firefighters are helping their Australian counterparts battle the nation's worst blazes ever, an assignment that requires adjustment to a new terrain, culture and lingo.
  - 5 days ago 21 Jan 20, 1:00pm -
• Leaning in: Elizabeth Warren makes a pitch to women in the Iowa home stretch
  Elizabeth Warren, who has been consistently dogged by doubts about her electability, is making a more explicit gender appeal in the final weeks before the Iowa caucuses.
  - 5 days ago 21 Jan 20, 1:00pm -
• Finding peace and harmony at the 'End of the Earth'
  A Spanish town plays host to religious pilgrims, but to some they are 'hippies' and 'troublemakers'
  - 5 days ago 21 Jan 20, 11:00am -
• In 9/11 proceedings, once-forbidden topic is front and center: Torture
  The coming trial of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed before a military commission will focus not on what he did — orchestrate the deaths of 2,973 people — but on the torture inflicted on him as a result.
  - 6 days ago 20 Jan 20, 8:44pm -
• This craft brew pub thrives, thanks to a secret ingredient: Workers with disabilities
  A craft beer pub and a pizzeria in suburban Denver are run almost entirely by people with disabilities. The bartenders have autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. Some are blind, deaf or have traumatic brain injuries.
  - 6 days ago 20 Jan 20, 11:00am -
• 'No fish': How dams and climate change are choking Asia's great lake
  Cambodia's Tonle Sap lake is suffering its worst fishing season in memory, with potentially devastating effects for millions in Southeast Asia.
  - 6 days ago 20 Jan 20, 11:00am -
• Malaysia sends back trash, says it won't be the 'rubbish dump of the world'
  Malaysia has sent back 150 containers of plastic waste to 13 mostly wealthy countries, including the United States.
  - 7 days ago 20 Jan 20, 6:34am -
• FBI: Saudi Arabia 'almost certainly' helps citizens charged with crimes flee the U.S.
  In one case, a Saudi exchange student disappeared from the U.S. just before his 2017 trial on a manslaughter charge in Portland.
  - 7 days ago 20 Jan 20, 1:27am -
• New cease-fire in Libya's intractable conflict announced after Berlin summit
  U.N. summit announces new ceasefire in Libya's intractable conflict
  - 7 days ago 20 Jan 20, 12:32am -
• Trump's lawyers say no crime in impeachment charge. Democrats call it 'absurdist'
  Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz says no constitutional basis for abuse of power charge. Democrats say that's because president has no defense.
  - 7 days ago 19 Jan 20, 8:00pm -
• Trump's lawyers decry House impeachment case as 'defective'
  President Trump's legal team accuses House Democrats of trying to overturn the 2016 election in an angry response Saturday to the impeachment trial.
  - 8 days ago 19 Jan 20, 1:50am -
• Why Hong Kong protesters aren't cheering this police officer's arrest
  Hong Kong authorities say the riot officer was trying to post pro-democracy signs near a rail station. Some protesters see hope in divided police ranks.
  - 8 days ago 18 Jan 20, 11:52pm -
• Iran's leader talks tough, but the knives are out for him
  Iran is fast losing the support of its own people. Did Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's Friday sermon help bring unity, or exacerbate tensions?
  - 9 days ago 18 Jan 20, 12:56am -
• Coronavirus screenings to begin at LAX, two other U.S. airports amid outbreak in China
  Federal authorities in three U.S. airports will begin screening travelers arriving from Wuhan, China, for signs they may be infected with a new coronavirus spreading in Asia.
  - 9 days ago 17 Jan 20, 7:42pm -
• India's largest state is trying to fine Muslims — for crimes they say they didn't commit
  Rather than face accountability for using excessive force, authorities in India's largest state are investigating residents over damage resulting from antigovernment unrest.
  - 9 days ago 17 Jan 20, 7:19pm -