S. Korea: Senior North Korean Korean diplomat based in London defects
By HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG A senior North Korean diplomat based in London has defected to South Korea, becoming one of the highest Northern officials to do so, South…
Political defections
Iran says it executed nuclear scientist in US spy mystery
By NASSER KARIMI and JON GAMBRELL Iran executed a nuclear scientist who defected to the U.S. and returned to the Islamic Republic under mysterious circumstances a year later, an official…
Venezuela’s No. 2 distances himself from defecting bodyguard
The powerful head of Venezuela’s congress moved Wednesday to distance himself from a bodyguard who defected to the United States and reportedly has implicated his former boss as head of…
Town once run by polygamist leader is sharply divided
By BRADY McCOMBS As polygamist leader Warren Jeffs awaited his fate in a Texas prison, he sent an order to his followers on the Utah-Arizona border: Build me a new…
OPPOSITION: EX-RWANDAN INTELLIGENCE CHIEF KILLED
By RAY FAURE and MICHELLE FAUL JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Rwanda’s former spy chief has been found dead in a hotel in South Africa, and police said Thursday they have opened…
S. SUDAN GOV’T LOSES CONTROL OF PROVINCE CAPITAL
By CHARLTON DOKI and TOM ODULA Choul Laam, the chief of staff for the secretary general for the ruling Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement speaks during a press conference in Nairobi,…
NKOREA DEFECTOR TESTIFIES AT UN RIGHTS PROBE IN US
By MATTHEW PENNINGTON Jin hye Jo wipes a tear as she testifies during a hearing of the United Nations mandated Commission of Inquiry about the human rights situation in the…
SYRIAN PRESIDENT CASTS DOUBT ON PEACE CONFERENCE
By BASSEM MROUE and RYAN LUCAS In this photo, which AP obtained from Syrian official news agency SANA and which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP…