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Facebook Ads: Social Media Giant Announces New Transparency

Under pressure in advance of hearings on Russian election interference, Facebook is moving to increase transparency for everyone who sees and buys political advertising on its site.

Executives for the social media company said Friday they will verify political ad buyers in federal elections, requiring them to reveal correct names and locations. The site will also create new graphics where users can click on the ads and find out more about who's behind them.

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Art Exhibit in Lebanon Takes on Civil War's Old Wounds

Zena El Khalil's art exhibit has tapped into wounds that are more than 40 years old in war-scarred Lebanon.

"Sacred Catastrophe: Healing Lebanon" is being hosted in a landmark building in the center of Beirut that is a powerful reminder of the country's 1975-1990 civil war. Pockmarked and riddled with bullet holes, the building stands on the former demarcation line that bisected Beirut into warring sections: east and west, Christian and Muslim.

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Pentagon Chief Accuses NKorea of Threatening 'Catastrophe'

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis accused North Korea on Friday of building a nuclear arsenal to "threaten others with catastrophe" and said the Trump administration remains committed to compelling the North to accept complete nuclear disarmament.

Calling the North a threat to global order, Mattis stood inside the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas and pledged solidarity with the South.

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Experts Blame Syria for Chemical Weapons Attack in April

Experts from the U.N. and the chemical weapons watchdog are blaming Syria's government for a sarin nerve gas attack that killed over 90 people last April.

Their report, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, says leaders of the expert body are "confident that the Syrian Arab Republic is responsible for the release of sarin at Khan Sheikhoun on April 4, 2017."

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Tillerson Calls for Assad Departure as U.N. Envoy Announces New Peace Talks

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson doubled down Thursday on Washington's call for Syrian President Bashar Assad to leave power, looking past recent battlefield gains by his Russian-backed forces to insist that "the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end."

Tillerson made the comments after what he called a "fruitful" meeting with U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, who later announced plans to resume U.N.-mediated peace Syrian talks on Nov. 28. It will be the eighth such round under his mediation in Geneva since early 2016.

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U.S. House Approves Bill to Sanction Iran for Ballistic Missiles

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved bipartisan legislation Thursday that would slap new sanctions on Iran for its pursuit of long-range ballistic missiles without derailing the 2015 international nuclear accord that President Donald Trump has threatened to unravel.

Reps. Ed Royce and Eliot Engel sponsored the bill, which requires the Trump administration to identify for sanctions the companies and individuals inside and outside of Iran that are the main suppliers of Tehran's ballistic missile programs.

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At Least 4 Killed in Finland Train Crash

A train collided with a military vehicle at a railroad crossing in southern Finland early Thursday, killing at least four people, police and military officials said.

The crash in Raseborg, about 85 kilometers (53 miles) southwest of Helsinki, also left several people injured.

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New Screenings Begins for Passengers on US-Bound Flights

New security screenings have begun for all passengers onboard U.S.-bound flights, including airlines interviewing travelers about their trip and luggage.

The new measures began on Thursday.

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Brazil's Temer Survives Corruption Vote, But Can He Lead?

President Michel Temer may have saved his job by convincing a small majority in Brazil's Congress not to suspend him and put him on trial for corruption, but his scandal-rocked government appears more weakened than ever.

The vote late Wednesday marked the second time in three months that Temer survived a legislative vote that could have suspended him for a trial, but analysts said he has spent so much political capital it raises the specter of a lame duck administration unable to enact a proposed overhaul of pensions and work rules aimed at reviving Brazil's economy.

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Vice President Pence to Visit Israel and Egypt in December

Vice President Mike Pence announced Wednesday that he will travel to Israel and Egypt in late December, and said the U.S. will redirect funds aimed at helping persecuted Christians and other minorities away from the United Nations.

Pence discussed his plans at a religious dinner in Washington, where he stressed the Trump administration's commitment to helping Christian minority groups across the Middle East.

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