S. Korea lawmaker arrested in plot

S. Korea lawmaker arrested in plot

SEOUL, South Korea

South Korea’s spy agency arrested a leftist lawmaker accused of plotting a pro-North Korean rebellion in a case that has triggered a political and media firestorm in a nation where even praising the North can be considered a crime.

“It’s a fabrication by the National Intelligence Service,” Lee Seok-ki shouted Thursday at a police station in Suwon, a city just south of Seoul, before being driven to a detention facility.

South Korean lawmakers voted Wednesday to lift Lee’s legislative immunity against arrest. It was the legislature’s first passage of such a motion over rebellion charges.

San Antonio OKs gay-rights measure

SAN ANTONIO

San Antonio’s leaders on Thursday approved anti-bias protections for gay and transgender residents, over the disapproval of top Texas Republicans and religious conservatives who packed a city-council hearing and occasionally shamed supporters for comparing the issue to the civil-rights movement.

The 8-3 city-council vote in favor of the ordinance was a victory for gay-rights advocates and for Democratic Mayor Julian Castro, a top surrogate of President Barack Obama.

Zimmerman’s wife files for divorce

ORLANDO, Fla.

George Zimmerman’s wife filed for divorce Thursday, less than two months after her husband was acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin and a week after she pleaded guilty to perjury in his case.

Shellie Zimmerman made the decision because of “disappointment,” her attorney, Kelly Sims, wrote Thursday in a short email to The Associated Press. The 26-year-old Zimmerman told ABC’s “Good Morning America” last week that she was having serious doubts about remaining married.

The interview came just after she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor perjury charge for lying during a bail hearing after her husband’s arrest for the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in February 2012. Her husband, who was acquitted on second-degree murder and other charges in July, wasn’t in the Sanford, Fla., courtroom as she was sentenced to a year’s probation and 100 hours of community service.

Teachers block approach to airport

MEXICO CITY

Teachers angry over the passage of a national education reform partially blocked the main approach to Mexico City’s airport Thursday, forcing many passengers to leave their cars and rush through the streets on foot to catch their flights.

Hundreds of police guarded the airport to prevent the members of a dissident teachers’ union from blocking other entrances. Airport management advised passengers to take alternate routes to the airport, including the subway.

Airport administrators used federal police pickup trucks and other vehicles to transport passengers stranded by protesters.

Afghan vets reunite with battlefield dogs

PORT JEFFERSON STATION, N.Y.

Army reunions have taken place as long as soldiers have been going off to war, yet a reunion this week was perhaps like no other in history.

National Guard soldiers from New York who befriended a stray dog while on patrol in Afghanistan were reunited with the 65-pound mixed breed and her seven rambunctious puppies after the animals arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday.

The reunion was made possible by the efforts of a Long Island pet rescue organization whose motto is: “Paws of War — No Buddy Left Behind.”

Associated Press