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   PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) - A South Korean Defense Ministry official says North Korea has completed preparations for a missile test that could come any day.

   The warning Wednesday came as Pyongyang prepared to mark the April 15 birthday of its founder Kim Il Sung, historically a time when it seeks to draw the world's attention with dramatic displays of military power.

   In Pyongyang, however, the focus was more on beautifying the city ahead of the nation's biggest holiday. Soldiers hammered away on construction projects and gardeners got down on their knees to plant flowers and trees.

   The official in Seoul said the North's military is capable of conducting multiple missile launches involving Scud and medium-range Rodong missiles, as well as a missile transported to the east coast recently.

   He spoke on condition of anonymity.

   BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A spokesman for the Illinois National Guard and Air National Guard says more than 1,300 of its civilian employees will be taking unpaid furloughs as part of the automatic federal spending cuts that kicked in last month.

   Capt. Dutch Grove tells the Belleville News-Democrat workers will be taking 14 days of furloughs through the end of this fiscal year. Those workers include 230 at Scott Air Force Base in southwestern Illinois.

   He says those furloughs are set to start in mid-June, but that details on how that will play out remains unclear.

   The Scott base employs almost 5,600 civilian workers. It is located near Mascoutah. Base officials say those exempted from the furloughs include firefighters and others who hold jobs are considered essential for base safety and security.

   BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - Serbia's health officials say 13 people have been killed when a man went on a shooting spree in a village near Belgrade.

   Belgrade emergency hospital spokeswoman Nada Macura said the 60 year old man identified only as Ljubisa B. used a gun to kill six men, six women and a child. The motives of the Tuesday shooting were not immediately given.

   Macura says the man than tried to kill himself and his wife, who both remain severely injured. Another person was also injured.

   The apparently random killings happened in the village of Velika Ivanca, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Belgrade.

   Macura says that the killer was apparently not a deranged person.

   Police are investigating.