latimes.com - Print Edition

World of Warcraft's strong bonds

Wed, 9 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Josh Schweitzer and his guild, the Dread Pirates, share more than just countless hours of online gaming. Deep friendships come into play when you're battling monsters and talking strategy.

Getting divorced was a lonely experience for Josh Schweitzer. Spending his days overseeing construction workers and his evenings caring for his 3-year-old son, he had no one to talk to. But there was one group of people who helped him pull through -- even though he'd never laid eyes on most of them.

Partial recount ordered in Afghanistan election

Wed, 9 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

U.N.-backed monitors cite 'clear and convincing evidence of fraud' in the vote, nullifying a new tally that for the first time found President Karzai winning outright.

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan, Istanbul, Turkey, and Washington -- A U.N.-backed watchdog group cited "clear and convincing evidence of fraud" as it ordered a partial recount Tuesday of Afghanistan's deeply troubled presidential election, dealing a new blow to the Obama administration's hope that the balloting would help stabilize the country.

Congress may consider tax on executives' health plans

Tue, 8 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Lawmakers are looking at a levy on top-tier medical coverage - the kind that most corporate executives enjoy - to help finance healthcare reform. Some fear that such a tax could trickle down badly.

As the chief executive of TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., John Plant received the company's generous healthcare benefits last year, as well as special "executive medical" coverage worth an additional $38,272.

Three Britons convicted of plot to blow up planes

Tue, 8 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

A London jury finds the men guilty of a 2006 Al Qaeda plot to smuggle liquid bombs onto transatlantic flights.

Three young Britons were declared guilty Monday in a London court of planning to blow up transatlantic planes in a spectacularly scaled Al Qaeda terrorist plot that could have killed thousands of people.

No joke, these Pakistani lawyers are thugs

Tue, 8 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The nation's lawyers were seen as champions of democracy during anti-Musharraf protests, but videotaped assaults by some against police and journalists threaten to knock them off that pedestal.

Television reporter Shaheen Attique and his cameraman, Nasir Masood, were finishing a live shoot on the steps of a Lahore courthouse when the gang strode menacingly toward them.

In Iraq, U.S. troops learn to cope with rejection

Mon, 7 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

It's been an adjustment as Iraqi officials rigidly enforce rules keeping U.S. troops out of cities. Sometimes soldiers are turned away by the very Iraqis they trained. They view it as progress.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Daniel Raschke realized how much things had changed for U.S. troops in Iraq when his team was politely but firmly turned away from two Baghdad police stations -- by officers he had helped train.

Obama set to make final healthcare push

Mon, 7 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

After a chaotic summer that solidified Republican opposition to the plan, the president and congressional Democrats prepare to compromise. They expect passage by the end of the year.

President Obama and his congressional allies are entering the next phase of their push to overhaul healthcare with lower expectations of what can be accomplished -- but with far greater certainty that significant legislation will be enacted by the end of the year.

Vegas dreamers go all in

Sun, 6 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Four transplants found opportunity in a booming city: shiny cars, new homes, high-paying jobs. Then came the recession.

An arctic evening in Minnesota: Tracy Bridges shivered near her apartment window, weary of snowstorms and slender paychecks. She was 27, making $23,000 dealing blackjack at an Indian casino in Duluth, and couldn't shake thoughts of those dealers who had flown in from Las Vegas.

Pursuing God and sex

Fri, 4 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The warring obsessions of Phillip Garrido's life.

As Phillip Garrido maneuvered the Ford Pinto toward the storage unit he had equipped as a hidden lair for raping women, he talked about his sexual fantasies, said Katherine Callaway, who was handcuffed and bound in the back seat.

China's favorite Internet craze: 'Jia Junpeng, your mom is calling you to come home and eat.'

Sat, 5 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The post appeared on a computer gaming forum in July and became a viral joke, popping up on T-shirts and ads and celebrated in song and doctored photos. Its author and motive are unknown.

In the United States, video of a wedding party boogieing down the aisle was about to become a summer sensation on YouTube, viewed more than 20 million times.