Free Republic

N. Korea Weapons Expert Said Detained in China 1 hour, 27 minutes ago Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo! BEIJING (Reuters) - A North Korean biological weapons expert has been detained while trying to slip into the Australian consulate in China's southern city of Guangzhou to seek political asylum, an anti-Pyongyang activist said on Saturday. Reuters Slideshow: North Korea Norbert Vollertsen, a German doctor-turned-activist, said plainclothes security agents had detained Ri Chae Woo, who planned to testify in the United States against Pyongyang's chemical and biological weapons program. Vollersten, quoted on a human rights Web site, said Li had...

<p>MONTEBELLO, Calif. - A female Cuban gymnast has joined two of her teammates by defecting during the World Gymnastics Championships.</p> <p>Janerky De La Pena, 20, left her team's hotel in Anaheim late Saturday and was picked up by the uncle of 24-year-old teammate Michel Brito Ferrer, who defected Aug. 17.</p>

Rep. Juba Diez Switches Parties Citing That Republicans Are the Party of Economic Development At the Stampede to Victory reception Friday night, the Republican Party picked up yet another state legislator as Rep. John "Juba" Diez switched parties becoming the 51st state Republican legislator. The trend of switching to the Republican Party continues as elected officials are beginning to realize that a century of Democrat control over state government has brought nothing but economic populism, which continues to cripple Louisiana's economy. "We need to start looking at new ways to strengthen our state's economy, not the old ways of more...

Washington File 21 April 2003 State Department Briefing Transcript(Korea, Australia, Syria, Russia, Iraq, Israel/Palestinians, Amb. Blackwill) (11340) State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher conducted the department's daily briefing April 21. Following is the State Department transcript: (begin transcript) Daily Press Briefing Richard Boucher, Spokesman Washington, DC April 21, 2003 INDEX: KOREA -- Multilateral Talks on April 23-25 in Beijing -- Participants and Agenda for Multilateral Talks -- Envoy to Stop in Tokyo and Seoul NAURU -- Defection of Top North Korean Nuclear Scientists AUSTRALIA -- Alleged Seizure of North Korean Ship SYRIA -- Possibility of Iraq Transferring Weapons to Syria...

Nuclear scientists 'defect' as North Korea defies AmericaFrom Elaine Monaghan in Washington NORTH KOREA has apparently thrown down the gauntlet in its nuclear standoff with the United States by claiming that it was reprocessing more than 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods that could be used to make atomic bombs. The country’s Foreign Ministry said that the American-led war in Iraq had taught Pyongyang “it was necessary to have a powerful physical deterrent force”. “As we have already declared, we are successfully reprocessing more than 8,000 spent fuel rods at the final phase, as we sent interim information to the...

The CIA has stopped trying to persuade Iraqi generals and political leaders to defect after underestimating their "hatred" of America. A three-month campaign using telephone calls, e-mails and face-to-face appeals has failed to convince any help overthrow Saddam Hussein. "We misjudged their tenacity," an American intelligence official has told USA Today. "These guys are driven by a hatred of the US that we may have underestimated." Potential defectors were promised asylum, money and a position in a post-war Iraqi government. Some refused to desert until Saddam was captured or killed because they feared retribution. Others resisted changing sides because they...

---Filing Deadline Roundup--- President Pro Tempore Travis Little (formerly a Democrat) files as a Republican but faces a republican challenger.

Dickerson Converts... Republicans pick up one more in their quest to gain parity in the Senate as Dickerson qualifies

U.S. Returns Cuban Coast Guard Boat After Defection WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States returned on Sunday a Cuban patrol boat used by four members of the Communist-run Caribbean island's coast guard to defect, the State Department said. Cuba had earlier demanded the United States send back the boat and the crew, who slipped into the Florida resort town of Key West on Friday, docking their vessel at a hotel marina at and turning themselves into police. It was not immediately clear whether the men, who had handguns and rifles when they reached Florida, remained in the United States. But,...

Okay, uh, I ran across this site tonight, and it freaked me out, because it is ACTIVELY CALLING FOR MILITARY TO DESERT. Go look and judge for yourself. And it's located in *Washington (the state)*. Someone tell me this is government propaganda...*please*...whois information listed below -- it's hosted by EARTHLINK! If this thing is for real they should get FReeped HARD! Enter the site and check out: "Coming; "Who do you serve?" A page for military and law enforcement personnel." PUBLIC WHOIS INFORMATION: Organization: Roger Bullock Roger Bullock 2101 South 324th St. #16 Federal Way, WA 98003 US Phone: (253)...

<p>TOKYO (AP) -- An American serviceman who defected to North Korea later married a Japanese woman who had been abducted by North Korean agents, and both are now living in the North's capital, Pyongyang, a senior Japanese official said Wednesday.</p>

21 Korean defectors arrive by fishing boat INCHEON - A group of 21 North Koreans arrived in South Korea yesterday after a dramatic two-day journey aboard a small fishing boat in the Yellow Sea. The defectors, comprising three families, included 10 children aged eight to 18. 'Thank you for the warm welcome,' said Mr Soon Jong Sik, 70, representing the group after their arrival at the western port of Incheon. 'We prepared for this for a long time. I am from South Korea and my lifetime dream was to see my hometown again before I die.' The defectors looked...

MADRID, Spain - A group of Cubans seeking political asylum in Spain have been put up at Madrid's international airport while authorities decide their cases, officials said Tuesday. Two hundred Cubans, reportedly the most to seek asylum in recent years, arrived on separate flights over the weekend, Cadena SER radio said. It said 123 men, women and their children sought asylum on a stopover from Havana to Moscow. There was no immediate information on who the Cubans were. An Interior Ministry spokeswoman confirmed there was a large group was seeking asylum at the airport but would give no other details....