Saddam loyalist killed, officials say

Saddam loyalist killed, officials say

BEIRUT

Izzat Ibrahim, a fugitive confidant of former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein who helped spearhead a deadly insurgency against U.S. troops and later formed an alliance with Islamic State militants, was shot dead Friday by security forces, Iraqi officials said.

Ibrahim, a former vice president known for his trademark ginger mustache and black beret, was dubbed the king of clubs in the deck of playing cards that the Pentagon issued to identify the most-wanted members of Saddam’s government.

Pro-government militiamen killed Ibrahim and nine bodyguards as they traveled in a convoy north of the city of Tikrit, Iraqi Gen. Haider Basri told state television.

Espresso maker arrives at ISS

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

The SpaceX supply ship arrived at the International Space Station on Friday, delivering the world’s first espresso machine designed exclusively for astronauts.

Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti captured the Dragon capsule, which arrived three days after its Florida launch, with the help of a giant robot arm. The cargo carrier holds more than 4,000 pounds of much-needed groceries, experiments and equipment.

Italy provided the espresso maker for Cristoforetti, who’s been stuck with instant coffee since her mission began in November.

“It’s been just amazing,” Cristoforetti said after snaring the Dragon over the Pacific. “Lots of science and even coffee’s in there, so that’s pretty exciting.”

Gas-line blast closes highway, injures 11

FRESNO, Calif.

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims says 11 people were injured in a large gas-pipeline explosion that shut down a major highway in the region.

Mims says three of the people injured are in critical condition and one is in serious condition. They are at a burn and trauma center in Fresno.

Officials initially said 15 people had been injured.

It was not clear what caused the explosion at the Fresno County Sheriff’s gun range that brought traffic in the area to a halt.

But authorities say it occurred while a county equipment operator was working with a jail-inmate crew to expand a road on the range alongside heavily traveled Highway 99.

Colombia’s president wants rebels to set deadline for peace

BOGOTA, Colombia

President Juan Manual Santos delivered a sharp rebuke to Colombia’s largest rebel group Friday, calling on its leaders to set a deadline to reach a peace deal after this week’s slaughter of 11 soldiers while they were sleeping.

Santos didn’t propose any cutoff date to conclude peace talks taking place the past two years in Cuba between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. But he warned the guerrillas that the country’s patience is wearing thin.

20 migrants with burns rescued at sea

MILAN

The unabated flow of migrants fleeing instability in Libya brought a new horror Friday: the discovery of 20 migrants adrift at sea who had suffered grave burn injuries in a cooking-gas explosion before departing Libya, and then were forced onto a smuggler’s boat without treatment.

Italian ships have picked up 10,000 people, many of them refugees of war and persecution, over the past week, an unprecedented number in such a short period.

Friday’s rescue comes after the feared drowning of more than 400 migrants in two shipwrecks in the past week.

Combined dispatches