Nearly eight out of 10 North Korean escapees believe that defections by the North's officials from its overseas missions will likely hasten the collapse of the regime, a survey showed Monday.Among 314 respondents, 78.5 percent said that defections by North Korean diplomats and other officials working abroad are expected to deal a blow to North Korea, according to the poll on 400 defectors by North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity.Asked how to induce more high-level defections, 40.5 percent of thos

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced his resignation on Monday, hours after learning he had suffered a crushing defeat in a referendum on constitutional reform."My experience of government finishes here," Renzi told a press conference, acknowledging that the No campaign had won an "extraordinarily clear" victory in a vote on which he had staked his future.Interior Ministry projections suggested the No camp, led by the populist Five Star Movement, had been backed by 59.5 percent of those

Shelley Mack says she didn't know the converted Oakland warehouse known as the “Ghost Ship” was an illegal residence until after she moved in, when she was instructed to tell visitors it was a 24-hour workspace for artists. The building was often freezing cold. Water and power were sometimes stolen from neighbors, who would get angry and shut them off. Once, a generator blew up, and residents quickly doused the flames, she said. Mack, a 58-year-old tech sales worker and jewelry maker, lived in t

North Korea has condemned South Korea for imposing new unilateral sanctions on Pyongyang, calling them a "pipedream," Pyongyang's state media said Monday.A North Korean committee issued a statement on Sunday in response to Seoul's latest announcement of its punitive measures, including blacklisting more key North Korean officials and entities."The 'independent sanctions' announced by the (South Korean President) Park (Geun-hye) group are nothing but a pipedream," said a spokesman at the National