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Libya: wife of defecting foreign minister captured in firefight The wife of the Libyan foreign minister who defected to Britain earlier this week has been seized by Colonel Gaddafi and is being interrogated by his "internal security" officials, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. By Damien McElroy, in Tripoli and Robert Winnett 10:52PM BST 01 Apr 2011 She is thought to have been captured amid eyewitness reports of a fierce gunfight at Col Gaddafi's central Tripoli compound as the regime stepped in to stop further defections. Yesterday, local residents recalled how the most fierce firefight yet seen in central Tripoli had...

Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa defects Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister, last night defected from Col Muammar Gaddafi's government after flying to Britain, telling officials he was "no longer willing" to serve the regime. By Andy Bloxham, and Damien McElroy 11:11PM BST 30 Mar 2011 Mr Koussa flew from Tunisia, where he had been on a diplomatic mission, and landed at Farnborough airport before being shuttled to London for immediate talks with high-ranking Foreign Office officials. Mr Koussa was one of the leading figures in Col Gaddafi's government and one of the architects of Libya's recent rehabilitation in the...

Banner only at Fox News: Libya's Foreign Minister Has Defected, Britain Says

N.Korean Soldiers' Wives Flee Hardship at Home Increasing numbers of wives of North Korean soldiers are fleeing the Stalinist country despite its "songun" or military-first doctrine, Open Radio for North Korea said Thursday. Quoting a source in Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province, the Seoul-based shortwave station said the wives of active-duty servicemen "are bravely deciding to flee the North, leaving their husbands behind, because they find it impossible to eke out a living there." The source claimed a broker of his acquaintance helped four women who are married to soldiers flee the North in February alone. "They suffered even more severe...

N.Korean Dollar Earners 'Absconding' An increasing number of North Korean officials engaged in earning hard currency abroad have absconded with the dollars following financial sanctions against the North, observers say. "The North is suffering difficulties settling its overseas bank accounts as the financial sanctions continue," a senior South Korean government source said Thursday. "Many North Korean officials carry dollars in bags as stopgap solutions, but some of the dollars vanish in the process." Many North Korean officials abroad carry dollars in cash to strike deals, because it is difficult for them to settle bills the normal way. They earn the...

SEOUL: A North Korean who went missing in Nepal was a restaurant manager who defected and is now living in India, a South Korean newspaper reported Tuesday. A local media report in the Himalayan country had said last week the man, surnamed Yang, may have been an intelligence official. The South's Chosun Ilbo newspaper said he was in fact the manager of the local franchise of an overseas restaurant chain, operated by the North's regime and known as Pyongyang Okryugwan.

Two S. Koreans detained in Nepal over case of missing N. Korean SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Yonhap) -- Nepalese authorities have detained two South Koreans on suspicion of involvement in the case of a missing North Korean, a foreign ministry official said Friday. "We cannot confirm the identities of the detainees or the details of the incident due to concerns about their safety and the safety of their families," the official said on customary condition of anonymity. "The government, through the South Korean embassy in Kathmandu, is contacting relevant Nepalese authorities and requesting consular interviews," the official added. Japan's Kyodo News,...

Rumors have circulated in China that People’s Bank of China (PBC) Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan may have left the country. The rumors appear to have started following reports on Aug. 28 which cited Ming Pao, a Hong Kong-based news agency, saying that because of an approximately $430 billion loss on U.S. Treasury bonds, the Chinese government may punish some individuals within the PBC, including Zhou. Although Ming Pao on Aug. 30 published a report on its website indicating that the prior report was fabricated by a mainland news site that had attributed the false information to Ming Pao, rumors of Zhou’s...

(LEAD) N. Korean helicopter crashes in China, killing pilot: source SHENYANG, China, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean helicopter crashed in a Chinese border area, killing the pilot aboard who may have attempted to defect to Russia, intelligence sources here said Wednesday. The crash took place in Fushun Prefecture in the province of Liaoning Tuesday afternoon, the sources said, adding the pilot was the only person in the chopper when it crashed. "The pilot died on the spot," one source said, adding the Chinese authorities were able to identify the nationality of the helicopter only after the crash. Chinese...

More N. Korean soldiers had crossed border to capture defector: Seoul official SEOUL, March 4 (Yonhap) -- Two or three North Korean soldiers had crossed the border with the South to capture a defecting compatriot, but returned to their territory after warning shots were fired by South Korean troops, a military official here said Thursday. The North Korean soldier defected to the South by crossing the eastern front line late Tuesday, expressing his wish to live in the South. The South Korean government has yet to reveal the soldier's identity and is investigating the specific route and motives behind his...

Right-Wing Flame War! By JONATHAN DEE Published: January 21, 2010 Charles Johnson has been writing a blog for almost as long as the word “blog” has existed. A bearish, gentle-voiced, ponytailed man who for three decades enjoyed a successful career as a jazz guitarist accompanying the likes of Al Jarreau and Stanley Clarke, Johnson has always had a geek’s penchant for self-education, and in that spirit he cultivated a side interest, and ultimately an expertise, in writing computer code. His Web log, which he named “Little Green Footballs” (a private joke whose derivation he has always refused to divulge), was...

For much of this decade, Charles Johnson was one of the right's leading bloggers. His blog, Little Green Footballs, was famous for its focus on Islamic terrorism, but also for the role it played in "Rathergate" and in exposing various faked photography.... On Monday, Johnson made the split official, with a post headlined, "Why I Parted Ways With The Right." In it, he gave a list of reasons for the break... Johnson concluded the post saying, "The American right wing has gone off the rails, into the bushes, and off the cliff. I won't be going over the cliff with...

(LEAD) 11 N. Koreans defect to S. Korea through East Sea SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Yonhap)-- Eleven North Korean defected to South Korea through waters off the South's east coast on Thursday, a government source said. The source said the 11 North Koreans -- five men and six women -- expressed their willingness to seek asylum in the South after crossing the sea border in a ship around 6:30 p.m. and arriving in the South Korean port city of Jumunjin on the east coast. The Ministry of Defense is expected to announce details on their defection soon, according to the source.

/begin my summary N. Korea's Kim Jong-nam May Defect to China [Japanese Newspaper] (Tokyo = Yonhap News) Choi Irak = Kim Jong-nam, Kim Jong-il's eldest son, is currently staying in Macau, and could defect to China, Sankei Shimbun in Japan reported on June 5, quoting intelligence sources. According to the paper, the purge of Kim Jong-nam's associates has started as a part of rapidly laying the foundation for Kim Jong-un as the successor. N. Korea's State Security Department detained several associates of Kim Jong-nam around 8pm on Apr. 3 in Pyongyang. Upon hearing the news, Kim Jong-nam investigated on the...

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky's embattled junior senator is blaming GOP leader Mitch McConnell for losing Arlen Specter to the Democrats and costing the party Senate seats. Sen. Jim Bunning has been at odds lately with McConnell, Kentucky's senior senator. McConnell hasn't publicly asked Bunning to retire but hasn't endorsed him for re-election next year. Bunning says he's still in the race but Republican leaders have been sending not-so-subtle messages that he should retire rather than face a strong Democratic challenge.

As can be expected, John ‘F’in Kerry (who I’ve heard served in Viet Nam) is still trying to appear presidential and act as if the world revolves around his treasonous butt. It took but a few short hours for the Senator to issue a welcome statement to former RINO, Arlen Specter as he returned home to the Democrat Party, where he has belonged for some time now. Kerry’s statement said, “This is a big moment. When Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party, he was the canary in the coal mine warning of Bush era ideological excess, and Senator Specter’s decision...

Family of N. Korean trade representative in Shanghai defects to South SEOUL, April 2 (Yonhap) -- The wife and children of a North Korean trade representative in Shanghai have recently defected to South Korea and are being questioned by Seoul intelligence officials, a local report said Thursday. The Kyunghyang Shinmun cited an unidentified official of the ruling Grand National Party who said the wife, identified only by her family name Ri, defected with her son and daughter through a South Korean embassy in Singapore and arrived in Seoul about a month ago. A spokesman for South Korea's National Intelligence Service...

/begin my translation N. Koreans Going South by Boat: 6 times in this Month alone Only one out of ten wanting to return..."N. Korea beefing up shore surveillance" (Seoul=Yonhap News) Kim Kwi-geun = N. Koreans came down to the South by boat, 6 times in June alone, it has been disclosed. A government source said on June 26, "N. Korean people came into our territorial water 6 times in this month alone, both in West Sea(Yellow Sea) and East Sea(Sea of Japan.) This is highly unusual, and we are closely monitoring N. Korean reactions." He said, "In four of those...

Myanmar military officer defects to Thailand Agence France-Presse BANGKOK (AFP) - A Myanmar military officer has fled to Thailand to seek asylum, apparently because he refused orders to attack Buddhist monks in anti-junta protests, a senior Thai intelligence official said Wednesday. Major Hla Win entered Thailand with help from a non-government organization, and he hopes to apply for asylum in Norway, the official told AFP. "He is not a senior general, but is mid-ranking," the official said. Hla Win's defection is the first known case of a military official fleeing the country since the junta last week ordered a crackdown...

NASHVILLE -- The Republican majority in the Tennessee Senate was short-lived: Sen. Mike Williams of Maynardville declared an independent today and no longer a member of the Republican Caucus. Williams blamed dissatisfaction over the arrival of what he called "Washington-style partisanship and gridlock" -- which he said he wants no part of -- for the switch. His move left the makeup of the state Senate at 16 Republicans, 16 Democrats and one independent. That won't have an immediate impact on the organization of the Senate -- Republican Ron Ramsey was elected to a two-year term as the Senate speaker in...