News of the Day From Around the World, April 12

There were also sporadic exchanges of gunfire in other parts of the country after the truce between the Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognized government, and the Shiite rebels known as Houthis went into effect at midnight Sunday.

The truce is meant build confidence between Yemen’s warring sides ahead of the U.N.-sponsored peace talks scheduled to take place in Kuwait on April 18.

2 Defection: A colonel from North Korea’s military spy agency fled to South Korea last year in an unusual case of a senior-level defection, Seoul officials said Monday.

The case had put Israel’s military justice system in a difficult spot and drew attention to the dual legal systems in the West Bank — one for Palestinians and one for Israelis.

At least 12 Afghan army recruits were killed Monday in a suicide bomb attack near the eastern city of Jalalabad, a hospital official said.

6 Somalia violence: A car bomb exploded Monday outside a restaurant packed with lunchtime customers in the capital of Mogadishu, killing at least five people, including school children, witnesses said.

Al-Shabab, which has ties with al Qaeda, has been carrying out a campaign of deadly violence targeting government officials and international troops, as well as hotels and restaurants in the capital.