• PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- As neighboring nations kept a close eye on missile movements in North Korea, people in the country's capital began celebrating a series of April holidays, including the anniversary Thursday of their leader's appointment as head of the ruling Worker's Party.
• Bracing for what South Korea's foreign minister warned could be a test-fire of a medium-range missile, Seoul deployed three naval destroyers, an early warning surveillance aircraft and a land-based radar system, a Defense Ministry official said in Seoul, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with department rules.
• Japan has deployed PAC-3 missile interceptors in key locations around Tokyo, while the South Korean and U.S. militaries raised their level of surveillance.
• "North Korea has been, with its bellicose rhetoric, with its actions ... skating very close to a dangerous line," U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in Washington. "Their actions and their words have not helped defuse a combustible situation."
• North Korea is believed to be readying a missile dubbed the "Musudan," named after the village where a northeastern launch pad is based. The missile has a range of 3,500 kilometers (2,180 miles), and is designed to reach U.S. military installments in Guam and Japan, experts say.
• ___

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate is ready to launch an emotion-charged debate on new gun restrictions, four months after the carnage at a Connecticut elementary school spurred President Barack Obama and Congress to address firearms violence.
• In an opening showdown Thursday, senators were scheduled to vote on an attempt by conservatives to scuttle the Democratic bill before debate even started. There were no real doubts the conservatives would be defeated and lawmakers would turn to the legislation, which would expand background checks to more gun buyers, toughen penalties against illicit firearms sales and offer slightly more money

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