The rising tensions came the same day The Washington Post revealed that North Korea had crossed another key technological threshold on the path to becoming a full-fledged nuclear power and may already have up to 60 nuclear warheads.

Here are the key questions.

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Where could North Korea hit?

If North Korea attacks, its “nuclear weapons are going to be targeted at ports and airfields and probably some army bases where U.S. forces are,” said nonproliferation expert Jeffrey Lewis. There are a number of possible targets in Japan, South Korea and the United States, as our graphics team shows.

Why is the U.S. North Korea's archenemy?

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The Korean War, which drew to a close in 1953, explains much of the historical resentment. At the time, the United States dropped 635,000 tons of bombs there. Until today, the Kim regime constantly blames the United States for the historic destruction and more recent economic sanctions, writes Anna Fifield.

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So, how significant are this week's U.N. sanctions?

The success in getting China and Russia on board for sanctions is important. Both are major economic partners to North Korea, so if they apply pressure, North Korea will feel it, according to Adam Taylor.

But can they deter North Korea?

The sanctions can work only if Kim concludes that he has too much to lose by hanging on to his weapons. Sanctions alone might not bring about that change, one defector told Anna Fifield in a taped interview:

Four other important stories you may have missed

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1. The 100-foot wave that could soon hit Peru

Some glaciers in Peru have lost more than 90 percent of their mass in recent years. As a result, Peru has become a laboratory for how nations should adapt to climate change, and so far, it’s not going well. Scientists fear that melting glaciers could trigger a massive avalanche and a dam break, possibly killing 200,000 people.

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Read the full story by Nick Miroff in Peru.

2. Two tales of a region in turmoil

Ten years after Hamas seized control of Gaza, the economy in the seaside strip of 2 million has been strangled by incompetence, war and blockade. Young people, survivors of three wars with Israel, are bereft of opportunities — and bored out of their minds. “We are the generation that waits,” one man told William Booth and Hazem Balousha in Gaza.

In Libya, war has similarly destroyed the prospects of many young people. Under dictator Moammar Gaddafi, the oil-producing country was one of the world’s wealthiest nations. But six years after the revolution that toppled Gaddafi, the mood in Tripoli, the capital, is a mixture of hopelessness and gloom.

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Read the story by Sudarsan Raghavan in Tripoli, Libya.

3. Merkel's predecessor is now a star in the Russian energy business. And some left-wing Germans have started liking him again.

After being narrowly defeated by Angela Merkel in 2005, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder opted for a controversial career serving as a board member of several Russian-government-controlled energy consortia. Despite his obvious links to the Kremlin, Schröder has recently made a comeback among some of Germany's Social Democrats. This has stunned conservatives who are concerned about possible Russian interference during elections in September. Read the full story.

The focus on Schröder's Russian ties comes as Russian business connections among members of the Trump administration have come under growing scrutiny. What is it like for Western journalists to report on such allegations from Moscow? Read a Q&A with our Moscow team.

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4. European crime scenes: the Reichstag, an Italian basement and beaches

Meanwhile, European authorities dealt with several cases that appeared to be easier to investigate.

Two Chinese tourists were detained in Berlin after they gave Nazi salutes standing outside the Reichstag, the German Parliament building. Conviction can carry a prison sentence of up to three years, writes Isaac Stanley-Becker.

In Italy, police said they had rescued a British model who was kidnapped to be auctioned online through the “deep dark Web,” William Booth reports from London.

To catch the continent's most-wanted, the European Union's law enforcement agency has released 21 mock postcards addressed to notorious criminals. The cards are part of a broader campaign to make vacationers aware of who is on the lam this summer, because holiday destinations appear to be popular hiding places for fugitives. View some of the postcards in Amanda Erickson's story.