Los Angeles Times

The council members stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a city park adorned with massive letters reading “Defund Police.” Days earlier, George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer a few blocks away, unleashing massive protests nationwide. Now hundreds of protesters had gathered in the park. They wanted justice. They wanted accountability. They wanted reform. “We should and can abolish our current Minneapolis police system,” Councilwoman Alondra Cano said at the time. On Tuesday, more

In June, a 70-year-old Filipino American man was punched in the face at Don Knabe Community Regional Park in Cerritos. The assailant told the man to “go back to your country.” A month later, dozens of Asian American senior citizens practiced self-defense moves in the same park where the attack occurred. Wearing sun visors and fanny packs, the seniors kicked, punched and jabbed. Sovanna Yeang, 65, was practicing groin kicks, slamming her leg into a foam pad that a volunteer held in front of h

In June, a 70-year-old Filipino American man was punched in the face at Don Knabe Community Regional Park in Cerritos. The assailant told the man to “go back to your country.” A month later, dozens of Asian American senior citizens practiced self-defense moves in the same park where the attack occurred. Wearing sun visors and fanny packs, the seniors kicked, punched and jabbed. Sovanna Yeang, 65, was practicing groin kicks, slamming her leg into a foam pad that a volunteer held in front of h

Months ago, the banging of pots and pans each night by residents of Myanmar’s largest city symbolized resistance to the military coup that deposed the country’s elected government. Now, the thud of bomb blasts marks the defiance against the military, known as the Tatmadaw, since its Feb. 1 takeover and brutal crackdown on dissent that activists say has resulted in more than 1,100 civilian deaths. The explosions ring out in Yangon as urban guerrillas step up their attacks on the security forces

The crowd at the Little Tokyo gym roared as the basketball player, his team down a dozen points, dodged a defender, spun and hit a fadeaway shot. Despite the flashy drive, the contest on a Sunday night in June was mainly one-sided, with a final score of 73-33. For players on both teams and their supporters, the outcome was not what mattered most. The game — Japanese American teenagers playing hoops at a new athletic facility in Los Angeles’ most iconic Japanese neighborhood — was a victory for

As U.S. and NATO troops withdraw from war-torn Afghanistan, the Taliban is advancing and claiming more territory. The radical Islamist group controlled about two-thirds of the country as of Wednesday — including a number of provincial capitals seized in recent days — and it appeared that at some point its fighters would go for control of the national capital, Kabul.

I must have been too busy in the winter of 1998 to pay attention to the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. I missed the story of the first snowboarder to win a gold medal, and the craziness that ensued after a drug test found a vanishingly small amount of THC in his urine. But Thursday, that snowboarder, Ross Rebagliati of Canada, recounted his strange tale on a podcast called “Great Moments in Weed History,” hosted by cannabis writers David Bienenstock and Abdullah Saeed. It was a timely

Curtis Zunigha remembers shedding tears when he heard the age of one Native American whose remains were part of a reburial ceremony in Ohio several years ago. It was a girl, 11 when she died. Her young age, which reminded Zunigha of his granddaughter, along with the girl’s inclusion among the many Indigenous people throughout U.S. history who experienced indignities such as being moved from their homelands, left him shaken.

The line for grilled pork skewers was 30 deep. Nearly as many were waiting for fried sushi on a stick. Others elbowed their way through crowds, clutching boba slushies or ramen burgers, as Carly Rae Jepsen and Bruno Mars blared in the background. It seemed like a normal night at the 626 Night Market, a summer extravaganza that draws foodies from around Southern California — or almost normal. On opening night last Friday at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, people wore masks here and there. Admissi

There is growing scrutiny over a 17-million-gallon sewage spill into the Santa Monica Bay, with many asking how the spill occurred and why it took so long to alert the public. “What happened yesterday was unacceptable and irresponsible,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said Tuesday. “We need answers from L.A. City Sanitation about what went wrong and led to this massive spill, but we also need to recognize that L.A. County Public Health did not effectively communicate with the public

An ice cream truck in Pittsburg, Calif., was carrying more than just frozen treats. After a tip from a parent, police in the Bay Area city say, they found a stash of M-1000 fireworks and other firecrackers in the truck Friday. “Oh no! The Ice Cream Man. Say it isn’t so!” the Pittsburg Police Department said in a Facebook post. The owner of the truck was issued a citation, according to the post. The red and yellow truck featured images of Spider-Man, Tweety, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Soni

To many people, the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic appear to be over: The rescheduled Tokyo Olympics are set to begin next month — albeit with safety restrictions — countries have taken steps to try to restart their economies, and 3 billion doses of vaccines have been administered across the globe. But the highly contagious Delta variant is serving as a harsh reminder of the unrelenting nature of a virus: To stay alive, it adapts and mutates.

When the clean water system failed at the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon this week, thousands of residents relied on members of nearby communities to come to the reservation’s aid with bottled water. It was not the first time clean water had become difficult to find at Warm Springs, two hours southeast of Portland, or at many other Native American reservations across the United States. The nonprofit U.S. Water Alliance says 58 out of every 1,000 Native American households don’t have access to indoor plumbing.

Almost half of the U.S. has been in a drought since the start of 2021. Compounding factors, including low rainfall and snowpack, climate change and persisting droughts from previous years, have escalated into extreme dryness. The prolonged dryness means low water levels are endangering fish species in Oregon and Colorado, 30% of California’s population is in a drought emergency, and the nation’s two biggest reservoirs on the Colorado River — Lake Powell and Lake Mead — are two-thirds empty.

As Kathy Lemly tells it, the beachside confrontation that led her and her husband, Don Lemly, to the federal courthouse in Santa Ana this month began with an ominous comment from a state park ranger. “I heard someone say, ‘You’re not going to feed these people, are you?’” she recalled on the witness stand. “I turned to my husband and said, ‘I think we can expect trouble today.’”

It’s a fowl topic that has pitted neighbor versus neighbor over some brilliantly plumed invaders: peacocks. For lovers of the birds, the peacocks are a cultural treasure worthy of being fed and tended and allowed to run free and unfurl their tail feathers across streets and lawns of homes in the western San Gabriel Valley. For the anti-peacock contingent, they are a menace that blocks traffic, destroys gardens, screeches incessantly and poops on roofs and cars. There are peacock fans who welco

Rick Warren, the founder of a sprawling megachurch, a bestselling author and one of the most influential figures in American evangelicalism, is retiring as lead pastor of Saddleback Church in Orange County. In a video service streamed to thousands of congregants on Sunday, Warren explained that he will take the title of “founding pastor,” and that the church he has led for over 40 years will soon begin a search for a successor. “This isn’t the end. It’s not even the beginning of the end. It’s

“It was almost every day that I saw an ambulance trapped,” Widyatmoko said. “Even if they switched on their sirens, the drivers would ignore them. I was so sad.”

"The Pomona Assembly Center and Japanese incarceration camps like Manzanar that came later are part of California’s shameful history of immigrant detention, expulsion and exploitation, particularly to those of color."

"As with Ma’Khia, my Blackness and propensity to resort to bullying and fighting in my teens could have easily gotten me killed by police. And many of you would have shrugged your shoulders, perhaps briefly lamented the tragedy, and moved on."

The 26-year-old student has never touched a gun, but she is heading into the jungles to enlist with rebels seeking to overthrow the military junta in a nation tumbling toward civil war. The student, who lives in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, will soon embark on a treacherous journey snaking past military checkpoints close to the border with Thailand. Her hope of studying in Europe has been set aside so she can train in guerrilla warfare alongside ethnic insurgents, including her fellow majori

"In California, more than 14 million tons of food were never consumed. That’s a nearly 12% increase in the U.S. since 2010 — despite a leveling off in recent years. This means we are nowhere close to meeting the goals U.S. and global institutions have set to cut food waste in half by 2030. Wasted food has tremendous environmental and economic impacts. It accounts for about 4% of greenhouse gas emissions and 2% of U.S. gross domestic product. Think about it this way: We are tossing out nearly 125 billion meals a year while a projected 45 million Americans are struggling to put food on the table."

Fears that Myanmar’s military would launch a brutal crackdown to mark Armed Forces Day were realized Saturday when security forces reportedly killed more than 110 people across the country in the bloodiest massacre since the army seized power in a coup last month. While soldiers paraded on the empty streets of the isolated capital, Naypyidaw, in front of dignitaries from countries including Russia and Thailand, security forces across the nation gunned down scores of unarmed protesters and passe

The roads were clear of cars, restaurants sat empty behind metal gates, and convenience stores, the nerve center of so many neighborhoods, remained silent and dark. It was a scene repeated across Myanmar on Wednesday as anti-coup protesters called for a “silent strike” to increase pressure on the military government, which seized power last month and, since, has killed more than 420 civilians, including at least 114 Saturday in a spasm of violence that also left several children dead. The stri

"Los Angeles-area municipalities are currently less than 10% of the way toward completing stormwater pollution reduction goals. As a result, rain events still release a toxic stew into rivers and onto the coast, including oil, metals, dangerous bacteria, pesticides, herbicides and harmful nutrients — as well as a staggering amount of plastic waste. On its current path, Los Angeles may not hit established water quality targets until as late as 2082 — 60 years behind schedule."

Aung Ko Ko trembled with fear as the nighttime curfew wore on. He could hear the soldiers and police outside his window firing gunshots and ransacking his neighbors’ homes in a Muslim enclave in the center of Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon. The uniformed gunmen skipped his door, but they didn’t miss that of his longtime friend Khin Maung Latt. Security forces smashed their way into the 58-year-old’s home, beat him and dragged him away. The next morning, authorities told Khin Maung Latt’s famil

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services have once again developed new food guidelines for Americans. Ethnic variations have been suggested for years, but there is still little guidance given to Americans of different backgrounds on how to eat more healthfully.

Biden has abandoned many of Trump’s hardline immigration policies but it does little for people fleeing Central America now.

Some 7,500 Honduran migrants and asylum seekers, many of whom lost everything to hurricane flooding, are making their way through Guatemala.

Xinlu Liang was a summer 2020 reporting intern on the COVID-19 team at the Los Angeles Times who contributed to “The Pandemic’s Toll: Lives Lost in California” in partnership with the Pulitzer Center and USC. Originally from the southern city of Guangzhou in China, she specializes in creative writing at Sun Yat-sen University and holds a master’s degree in journalism from USC Annenberg. Her print and digital work have been featured in South China Morning Post, Reuters, Los Angeleno, Ampersand an