Astronaut heads back after year in space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Astronaut Scott Kelly closed the door Tuesday to an unprecedented year in space for NASA, flying back to the planet and loved ones he left behind last March.

Kelly and his roommate for the past 340 days, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, checked out of the International Space Station on Tuesday night.

By the time their capsule lands in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, the pair will have traveled 144 million miles through space, circled the world 5,440 times and experienced 10,880 orbital sunrises and sunsets.

UN delays vote on N. Korean sanctions

UNITED NATIONS – A UN Security Council vote on the toughest sanctions on North Korea in two decades has been postponed until Wednesday morning at Russia’s request, the United States and France said Tuesday.

The U.S. and North Korea’s traditional ally China spent seven weeks negotiating the new sanctions, which includes mandatory inspections of cargo ships leaving and entering North Korea, in response to Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test and rocket launch. Both are in defiance of previous council resolutions. But Russia, which received the new draft Thursday along with other council members, asked for time to study the lengthy text and suggested changes.

Associated Press