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does not plan to try to shoot it down, several officials said. As a precaution, the U.S. has arrayed in the Pacific a number of missile defense Navy ships, tracking radars and other elements of its worldwide network for shooting down hostile missiles.
• The tensions playing out on the Korean peninsula are the latest in a long-running drama that dates to the 1950-53 Korean War, fed by the North's conviction that Washington is intent on destroying the government in Pyongyang and Washington's worry that the North could, out of desperation, reignite the war by invading the South.
• The mood in the North Korean capital, meanwhile, was hardly so tense. Many people were in the streets preparing for the birthday April 15 of national founder Kim Il Sung -- the biggest holiday of the year. Even so, this year's big flower show in Kim's honor features an exhibition of orchids built around mock-ups of red-tipped missiles, slogans hailing the military and reminders of perceived threats to the nation.
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Today in History
The Associated Press
• Today is Saturday, April 13, the 103rd day of 2013. There are 262 days left in the year.
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• Today's Highlight in History:
• On April 13, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., on the 200th anniversary of the third American president's birth.
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• On this date:
• In 1613, Pocahontas, daughter of Chief Powhatan, was captured by English Capt. Samuel Argall in Virginia and held in exchange for English prisoners and stolen weapons. (During a yearlong captivity, Pocahontas converted to Christianity and ultimately opted to stay with the English. )
• In 1742, Handel's "Messiah" had its first public performance in Dublin, Ireland.
• In 1743, the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, was born in Shadwell in the Virginia Colony.
• In 1860, the Pony Express completed its inaugural run from St. Joseph, Mo. to Sacramento, Calif. in 10 days.
• In 1861, at the start of the Civil War, Fort Sumter in South Carolina fell to Con (Continued on page 30)
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