Space station gets Easter delivery

Space station gets Easter delivery

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

The six astronauts at the International Space Station got an early Easter treat this weekend with the arrival of a supply ship full of fresh food and experiments.

Instead of the usual bunny, Saturday’s delivery came via a swan – Orbital ATK’s Cygnus capsule, named after the swan constellation. The cargo carrier rocketed away from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday night.

NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra used the station’s big robot arm to grab the capsule, as the two craft soared 250 miles above the Indian Ocean. “Excellent work, gentlemen,” Mission Control radioed. Four hours later, the capsule was bolted firmly to the complex.

N. Korea warns of strike in Seoul

PYONGYANG, North Korea

North Korea warned Saturday that its military is ready to attack Seoul’s presidential palace unless South Korean President Park Geun-hye apologizes for “treason” and publicly executes officials responsible for what Pyongyang says are plans to attack its leadership.

The warning, issued by state media in the name of a unit of the Korean People’s Army, is the latest in a barrage of threats against Washington and Seoul over joint military drills now underway that the North sees as a dress rehearsal for invasion. It also came shortly after a North Korean propaganda outlet posted a video depicting a nuclear attack on Washington, D.C.

Prairie wildfire

MEDICINE LODGE, Kan.

Firefighters trying to snuff out the biggest wildfire in Kansas history are getting help from military helicopters – and a potential assist from looming rain or snow.

Four UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the Kansas National Guard were deployed Saturday in the effort to contain the persistent prairie blazes that since Tuesday have charred at least 620 square miles in Oklahoma and southern Kansas.

Six homes have been destroyed, and some livestock has been lost, the Kansas Adjutant General’s Office said.

2 Iowa officers among 4 killed in wrong-way crash

DES MOINES, Iowa

Two police officers and a prisoner they were transporting were killed early Saturday in a fiery crash on an interstate highway in Iowa that investigators say was caused by a wrong-way driver, who also died.

Des Moines officers Susan Farrell and Carlos Puente-Morales, who had been on the job less than six months, were killed in the crash that occurred about 12:40 a.m. Saturday on Interstate 80 west of Des Moines, police spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek said.

The officers had been returning the prisoner, identified as 32-year-old Tosha Nicole Hyatt of Des Moines, from Council Bluffs to Des Moines when their sport utility vehicle was struck by a vehicle driving the wrong way on the freeway, police said.

UN chief offers condolences in Iraq

BAGHDAD

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offered his condolences Saturday to the families and friends of the 41 people killed in a suicide bombing at a soccer stadium in Iraq, adding that the “the international community stands with Iraqis in horror and outrage.”

Speaking during an official visit to Iraq on Saturday, Ban said that the battle against the Islamic State group – which claimed attack – must comply with international law, noting continued reports of arbitrary arrests and killings in IS-liberated areas.

Associated Press