TEL AVIV—The body bags arrive by the dozen in a refrigerated truck first thing every morning. Some contain corpses, some only fragmentary remains, burned almost to ash. Another shipment usually comes before noon. Three weeks after the bloody massacre that killed 1,400 people in southern Israel, the cramped yellow building that houses Israel’s government forensic laboratory is still inundated with unidentified remains. The bags line the morgue hallway, on gurneys and the floor, spilling into an outdoor courtyard.…TEL AVIV—The body bags arrive by the dozen in a refrigerated truck first thing every morning. Some contain corpses, some only fragmentary remains, burned almost to ash. Another shipment usually comes before noon. Three weeks after the bloody massacre that killed 1,400 people in southern Israel, the cramped yellow building that houses Israel’s government forensic laboratory is still inundated with unidentified remains. The bags line the morgue hallway, on gurneys and the floor, spilling into an outdoor courtyard.WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement At a makeshift military outpost abutting a natural gas field in eastern Syria, the signs of the country’s violent upheaval are everywhere. Bombed-out concrete buildings lie in ruins. The pipes that once carried liquefied natural gas are shredded and twisted.A tattered U.S. flag strung between 40-foot-tall gas processing towers flies high over the base, a visible symbol that American troops are here — and not planning on leaving soon.“We’ve got the flagpole planted,” said Army Lt. Alan Favalora, a Louisiana National Guard soldier at...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement At a makeshift military outpost abutting a natural gas field in eastern Syria, the signs of the country’s violent upheaval are everywhere. Bombed-out concrete buildings lie in ruins. The pipes that once carried liquefied natural gas are shredded and twisted.A tattered U.S. flag strung between 40-foot-tall gas processing towers flies high over the base, a visible symbol that American troops are here — and not planning on leaving soon.“We’ve got the flagpole planted,” said Army Lt. Alan Favalora, a Louisiana National Guard soldier at...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement President Biden tried to reassure U.S. allies Friday that he is turning the page on his predecessor’s “America first” approach, and restoring a foreign policy that values cooperation with the world’s major democracies to tackle global challenges.In two virtual appearances before world leaders, his first as president, Biden emphasized that he would be restoring and building upon the Obama administration’s diplomatic achievements, including the 2015 multination nuclear deal with Iran and the 2016 Paris climate accord, and would be...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement President Biden tried to reassure U.S. allies Friday that he is turning the page on his predecessor’s “America first” approach, and restoring a foreign policy that values cooperation with the world’s major democracies to tackle global challenges.In two virtual appearances before world leaders, his first as president, Biden emphasized that he would be restoring and building upon the Obama administration’s diplomatic achievements, including the 2015 multination nuclear deal with Iran and the 2016 Paris climate accord, and would be...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement President Trump on Wednesday vetoed a major defense bill that the House and Senate passed by overwhelming margins, setting the stage for Congress to override his veto for the first time, just weeks before he leaves office.Trump said he was vetoing the annual National Defense Authorization Act because it does not repeal a 30-year-old rule, known as Section 230, shielding online platforms from liability for statements made by users; he and allies claim Twitter and other platforms censor conservatives, which the companies deny. Trump...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement President Trump on Wednesday vetoed a major defense bill that the House and Senate passed by overwhelming margins, setting the stage for Congress to override his veto for the first time, just weeks before he leaves office.Trump said he was vetoing the annual National Defense Authorization Act because it does not repeal a 30-year-old rule, known as Section 230, shielding online platforms from liability for statements made by users; he and allies claim Twitter and other platforms censor conservatives, which the companies deny. Trump...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | When Taliban insurgents attacked Sangsar village in late October, they were fighting for lost ground again within their reach.Fighters besieged the mud-walled town, ringed by corn and cannabis fields. They gunned down six police officers who had run out of ammunition after three days of fighting. “It was the first time in many years they were that strong,” said Raqya Aslam, a 30-year-old villager.It was in Sangsar, 25 miles outside the southern city of Kandahar, that the Taliban movement was founded in 1994 by a one-eyed local cleric. A decade...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | When Taliban insurgents attacked Sangsar village in late October, they were fighting for lost ground again within their reach.Fighters besieged the mud-walled town, ringed by corn and cannabis fields. They gunned down six police officers who had run out of ammunition after three days of fighting. “It was the first time in many years they were that strong,” said Raqya Aslam, a 30-year-old villager.It was in Sangsar, 25 miles outside the southern city of Kandahar, that the Taliban movement was founded in 1994 by a one-eyed local cleric. A decade...WW…

Copyright © 2020, Los Angeles Times | | | |For months, Bui Van Thuan, a chemistry teacher turned crusading blogger in Vietnam, published one scathing Facebook post after another on a land dispute between villagers and the communist government.In a country with no independent media, Facebook provides the only platform where Vietnamese can read about contentious topics such as Dong Tam, a village outside Hanoi where residents were fighting authorities’ plans to seize farmland to build a factory.Believing a confrontation was inevitable, the 40-year-old Thuan condemned the country’s leaders in...…Copyright © 2020, Los Angeles Times | | | |For months, Bui Van Thuan, a chemistry teacher turned crusading blogger in Vietnam, published one scathing Facebook post after another on a land dispute between villagers and the communist government.In a country with no independent media, Facebook provides the only platform where Vietnamese can read about contentious topics such as Dong Tam, a village outside Hanoi where residents were fighting authorities’ plans to seize farmland to build a factory.Believing a confrontation was inevitable, the 40-year-old Thuan condemned the country’s leaders in...WW…