Iranian Nuclear Scientist Defects to US
THE TELEGRAPH: A leading Iranian nuclear scientist has defected to the United States and is working with the CIA.

Shahram Amiri, a nuclear physicist in his early thirties, disappeared in June 2009 after arriving in Saudi Arabia on a pilgrimage.

An ABC report said that US intelligence agents had described the defection as "an intelligence coup" in US efforts to undermine Iran's nuclear program.

Mr Amiri's disappearance "was part of a long-planned CIA operation to get him to defect," the ABC reported, citing unnamed people briefed on the operation by US intelligence officials.

On October 7, Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, charged that there was US involvement in Mr Amiri's disappearance.

"We have obtained documents that show US interference in the disappearance of Shahram Amiri in Saudi Arabia," Mr Mottaki was quoted as saying by Iran's Fars news agency.

He suggested that Mr Amiri had been arrested in Saudi Arabia and the United States was involved.

"We consider Saudi Arabia responsible for the situation of Shahram Amiri and we consider Americans to have been involved in his arrest," Mr Mottaki was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. >>> | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Obama Secures Senate Super-majority after Republican Arlen Specter Defects
Arlen Specter, who said the Republican party was now too right wing. Photo courtesy of TimesOnline
TIMESONLINE: Democrats today were set to secure a 60-seat super-majority in the US Senate for the first time in a generation after the dramatic defection from Republican ranks of Arlen Specter.

The five-term Pennsylvania Senator announced at lunchtime after a brief conversation with President Obama that he will run for re-election next year as a Democrat because "the Republican Party has moved far to the right".

His decision means that Democrats should now have the votes needed to overcome delaying tactics known as filibusters in the Senate if, as expected, Al Franken overcomes final legal challenges preventing him from taking his seat after a razor-thin election victory in Minnesota.

"I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary," said 79-year-old Mr Specter, in a statement. "I am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers and have my candidacy for re-election determined in a general election."

He added: "Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans." >>> Tom Baldwin in Washington | Tuesday, April 28, 2009