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What North Korean Photos Say about New Ballistic Missile

North Korea released dozens of photos Thursday of the Hwasong-15, a new intercontinental ballistic missile it claims can reach any target in the continental United States. The photo dump, published in the paper and online editions of the ruling party's official daily, is a goldmine for rocket experts trying to parse reality from bluster.

Their general conclusion is that it's bigger, more advanced and comes with a domestically made mobile launcher that will make it harder than ever to pre-emptively destroy. But there's a potentially major catch: it might not have the power to go much farther than the West Coast if it is loaded down with a real nuclear warhead, not a dummy like the one it carried in its test launch on Wednesday.

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Trump Stokes Anti-Muslim Sentiment; Censured in US, Abroad

Stoking the same anti-Islam sentiments he fanned on the campaign trail, President Donald Trump on Wednesday retweeted a string of inflammatory videos from a fringe British political group purporting to show violence being committed by Muslims.

The tweets drew a sharp condemnation from British Prime Minister Theresa May's office, which said it was "wrong for the president to have done this." May spokesman James Slack said the far-right Britain First group seeks to divide through its use of "hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions."

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Pope Lands in Bangladesh after Contentious Myanmar Visit

Pope Francis on Thursday arrived in Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya refugees have sought sanctuary after fleeing a crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar, in the second stage of a tour dominated by the plight of the persecuted minority.

The pope will spend three days in mainly-Muslim Bangladesh, which is also grappling with a rise in Islamist extremism that has seen Catholics attacked for their faith.

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Thamer al-Sabhan: Firebrand Saudi Minister who Led Campaign against Hizbullah, Iran

Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince relies on a small core group of advisers, none more provocative than Thamer al-Sabhan, the fiercely anti-Iran government official whose fingerprints were on the hurried and ultimately unsuccessful resignation of Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri earlier this month.

As Saudi minister for Gulf affairs, al-Sabhan has a hand in helping shape the kingdom's high-stakes gambles to counter rival Iran.

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Thousands of Foreign Troops in Syria _ But Will They Leave?

Syria's long-running civil war may be winding down slowly, but the country is awash in weapons and a confounding array of local militias and thousands of foreign troops, some of which may never leave.

With crucial aid from allies Iran and Russia, President Bashar Assad has regained control over large areas of Syria in advances that appear to have put to rest the possibility of a military overthrow, at least for now. But his rule is extremely reliant on continued assistance from Iranian-sponsored militias, which have spread across the war-ravaged country.

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Hariri Threatens to Quit over Hizbullah Interference

Prime Minister Saad Hariri said that he will resign if Hizbullah refuses to accept a new power-sharing arrangement for Lebanon, speaking as consultations got underway in Beirut between political leaders over the government's future.

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Report: Israel Says 'Nasrallah a Target' in Next Hizbullah-Israel War

Israel said that Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah “would be a target for assassination” in any future war between Israel and Hizbullah, Israeli media reports said on Tuesday.

Israeli military chief spokesman, Ronen Manelis, was quoted as saying that “there won’t be a clear victory picture in the text war (with Hizbullah), though it’s clear that Nasrallah is a target.”

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Iraq to Receive Bids for Developing Oil, Gas Fields in June

Iraq said Monday it will start receiving bids next June for projects to develop nine oil and gas fields in an attempt by the war-ravaged nation to boost energy revenues.

Abdul-Mahdi al-Ameedi, who heads the Oil Ministry's Licensing and Petroleum Contracts Department, said that detailed energy information on the nine areas in question will be disclosed at the end of this month.

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Egypt's President Orders Mausoleum Construction

10:55 a.m.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has ordered the construction of a mausoleum in memory of the 235 people killed by Islamic militants inside a mosque in northern Sinai.

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US Backtracks on Decision to Close Palestinian Office in DC

The Trump administration backtracked Friday on its decision to order the Palestinians' office in Washington to close, instead saying it would merely impose limitations on the office that it expected would be lifted after 90 days.

Last week, U.S. officials said the Palestine Liberation Organization mission couldn't stay open because the Palestinians had violated a provision in U.S. law requiring the office to close if the Palestinians try to get the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israelis. The move triggered a major rift in U.S.-Palestinian relations that threatened to scuttle President Donald Trump's ambitious effort to broker Mideast peace before it ever got off the ground.

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