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Kim rarely traveled abroad and then only by train because of an alleged fear of flying, once heading all the way by luxury rail car to Moscow, indulging in his taste for fine food along the way.

One account of Kim’s lavish lifestyle came from Konstantin Pulikovsky, a former Russian presidential envoy who wrote the book “The Orient Express” about Kim’s train trip through Russia in July and August 2001. Pulikovsky, who accompanied the North Korean leader, said Kim’s 16-car private train was stocked with crates of French wine. Live lobsters were delivered in advance to stations. A Japanese cook later claimed he was Kim’s personal sushi chef for a decade, writing that Kim had a wine cellar stocked with 10,000 bottles, and that, in addition to sushi, Kim ate shark’s fin soup — a rare delicacy — weekly.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The only daughter of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, Svetlana Peters, who denounced communism after a Cold War defection worthy of a novel, has died in Wisconsin, authorities said on Monday.

She died November 22, age 85, from colon cancer, according to Benjamin Southwick, the county attorney in Richland County, Wisconsin. He said the county coroner had confirmed her death.

Determine your final wishes. Social scientists who have studied people in their final days report how helpful it is when a person has made the key decisions about the end of their life well in advance. Often, people are not able to make sound decisions as they near death. They often have physical and mental impairments that make such work impossible. Their families may have to make these calls for them, adding a lot of stress to what is already a difficult situation. So, would you like to die at home, in a hospital, or perhaps in a hospice facility (you probably can have hospice at home or in a hospital setting as well)? Have you executed the proper documents providing your spouse or a family member with the authority to make medical decisions should you become incapacitated? Does this person know your preferences for end-of-life care? Do you want to be buried or cremated, or perhaps donate your body to science? Is there a final resting place you have in mind? Who’s going to provide an obituary to your hometown newspaper, and what do you want it to say? Setting aside time to make these decisions will hardly rank among your happiest memories. But you will be providing your family an invaluable gift—allowing them to focus on the loving aspects of your life, not the hassles of wondering how you’d like things handled when you die.

But ultimately, Obama administration officials deemed the photos too gruesome and said DNA and face recognition technology are enough to prove bin Laden’s death.