Chatter: Worrying sights at North Korea's nuclear site

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Need to know:
A new analysis of satellite images shows North Korea has recently stepped up work at its nuclear test site.

Images taken by US commercial satellites over the past month show heightened activity at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in North Korea's northeast. South Korean officials said last month that North Korea was digging a new tunnel in what appeared to be preparation for another nuclear test at the site.

The news comes a day after the top US envoy to North Korea, Glyn Davies, warned Pyongyang that an atomic test would result in "swift and sure" punishment.

Want to know:
Yemen says it will continue its "war on terror," after a branch of Al Qaeda claimed the suicide attack yesterday that killed 96 soldiers as they rehearsed for a military parade. Another 300 were wounded.

The parade, supposed to take place today to mark the 22nd anniversary of Yemen's unification, was called off this morning. 

President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi has vowed to fight "terrorism regardless of the sacrifices." 

Dull but important:
Egyptians go to the polls
 tomorrow to choose their first ever civilian president. But just how much power will Egypt's new leader have?

The president-elect, whether Islamist, secular, or of the old regime, will be forced to navigate often-competing power bases – and none greater than the Egyptian military, the institution that has supplied every modern Egyptian leader to date and presided over the country's ongoing transformation.

How the newly elected president approaches the military will give shape to Egypt's nascent democracy for years to come. GlobalPost asks whether we can expect this week's historic election to knock the armed forces from their perch.

Just because:
There were more than 100 arrests and at least 90 reports of police brutality at the past week's NATO protests in Chicago. But you know what, that's not so bad.

"There have been isolated incidents, but in 1968 it was different," one veteran protester, a grandmother from Indiana who was present for Chicago's infamous Democratic National Convention 44 years ago, told GlobalPost. "The police have actually been pretty good."

See for yourself in these photos from the ground.

Strange but true:
Lady Gaga has been given the go-ahead for a second concert in the Philippines tonight, after watchdogs decided that her first date didn't violate their standards.

Gaga has been under close watch by morality police throughout her Asian tour: a sold-out show in Jakarta, Indonesia, was canceled after hard-line Islamists threatened to picket it in protest at her notoriously scanty stage costumes, while conservative Christians have accused the performer of promoting immorality.

Last night's show in Manila, however, neither "exhibited nudity" nor "abused religion," according to authorities. What? Not even a little? Good news for Gaga's tour bookers, but not so great for her hype. 

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