North Korea said Kim Jong Il was born under a double rainbow on a sacred mountain. Soviet records put his birth in a Siberian village. Between the myth and the record lies a life of film vaults, kidnapped stars and cognac.
Nov 13, 2026
Muammar Gaddafi received presidents in a Bedouin tent, travelled with an all-female guard and kept a photo album of Condoleezza Rice. After his fall, investigators chased billions in Libyan wealth scattered around the world.
Nov 13, 2026
Under Stalin, people who fell from favour disappeared twice - first from life, then from photographs and encyclopedias. What historians know, and what remains guesswork, about the most secretive court in Europe.
Nov 13, 2026
Mao Zedong signed a pledge in 1956 asking to be cremated. Twenty years later his successors embalmed him instead. His doctor's memoir opened a window on the secretive court of Zhongnanhai - Beijing says much of it is invention.
Nov 13, 2026
Vladimir Putin has ruled Russia for a quarter of a century, yet his family, fortune and health remain state secrets. Some of the story is documented; much is allegation. Here is what is actually known — and what is not.
Nov 13, 2026
North Korea's leader spent his teens at a Swiss school under a false name, vanished for 20 days in 2020 and rules a state that hides almost everything about him. The documented facts — and the claims that cannot be verified.
Nov 13, 2026
In 2012 Bloomberg traced millions in assets held by Xi Jinping's extended family — while stressing no wrongdoing by Xi himself — and China blocked the story. His daughter studied at Harvard under another name. What the record actually shows.
Nov 13, 2026
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif returned home after addressing the COP31 leaders' summit in Turkey, where he pressed for climate finance based on grants, not loans.
Nov 13, 2026