IRAQ/SYRIA - Out of the crucible of the Syrian civil war and the discontent in Iraq’s Sunni regions, something new is emerging. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is no longer a state in name only. It is a physical, if extra-legal, reality on the ground. Unacknowledged by the world community, ISIS has carved a de facto state in the borderlands of Syria and Iraq. Stretching in a long ellipse roughly from al-Raqqah in Syria to Fallujah in Iraq (with many other non-contiguous “islands” of control in both Iraq and Syria), this former Al Qaeda affiliate holds territory, provides limited services, dispenses a form of justice (loosely defined), most definitely has an army, and flies its own flag. The United States has reacted to this reality indecisively, with policy split in half by the official, if no longer functional, internationally recognized border between Syria and Iraq. But the reality of a de facto jihadist state is not a state of affairs that can be long tolerated.

NORTH KOREA - A new image analysis suggests that North Korea has dramatically sped up the pace of work on construction projects at its main missile launch site. Commercial satellite photographs taken as recently as May 10 have revealed notable progress on "a number of important construction projects" at the Dongchang-ri rocket site, said image experts Nick Hansen and Jack Liu in a Tuesday report for 38 North. "While it is too soon to make a definitive judgment on their purpose, one working hypothesis is that the North is building a new complex to conduct future training and launches for mobile missiles such as the KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missile," the experts said.

USA/JORDAN - Roughly 6,000 US troops will take part in this year’s “Eager Lion” exercise in Jordan from May 25 to June 8, a Defense Department spokesman said. Eager Lion involves a total of more than 12,500 troops from more than 20 countries, Commander William Speaks told Military Times on Tuesday. The major US units taking part include the Army’s 17th Field Artillery Brigade, 1st Armored Division; the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade; elements of the Navy’s Task Force 51/59; and the 407th Air Expeditionary Group. The US troops taking part in the exercise will not stay in Jordan for military operations in the region, said Army Lieutenant Colonel T G Taylor, a spokesman for US Central Command.

WASHINGTON, USA - An old-fashioned turf war is brewing in the US Senate over one of the country’s most controversial counterterrorism tools: control over America’s armed drone program. Longtime Senate Armed Services Committee member Senator John McCain, Republican for Arizona, told CongressWatch last week that he hopes to insert into the Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) language that would give the Defense Department control over the program. McCain and other pro-military members want to give the military operational and budgetary control over the drone program, which for years has been the backbone of President Obama’s targeted-killing campaign against al-Qaida and similar groups.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, head of the Temple Institute, told Arutz Sheva that in recent days he received a letter from security sources requesting that he not "disturb the quiet" near King David's Tomb during the upcoming visit of Pope Francis, starting next Sunday. "This Shabbat there will be a prayer rally in the David's Tomb Compound," said the rabbi, adding "unfortunately I got a notice from the Defense Department. They're trying to frighten me like this was Russia."

RUSSIA/CHINA - President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have decided to hold joint military exercises next year, dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the victory in World War II, ITAR-TASS reported. The Chinese leader announced the decision on Tuesday during an opening ceremony of joint naval drills off China’s coast. The maneuvers in 2015 will be held “in commemoration of the victory over the German fascism and Japanese militarism on the European and Asian theaters of war of WWII,” according to a statement of the two leaders.

VATICAN - Pope Francis will take a helicopter from Jordan to Bethlehem in “a sign of recognising Palestine” as Father Jamal Khader of the Latin patriarchate in Jerusalem said. The Pope will be in the “holy land” to spiritually bestow a birth certificate to another Arab-Islamic state.

VATICAN - Pope Francis will be treading on sensitive ground on a trip to the Middle East this week that is intended to promote inter-faith dialogue but has already sparked protests from ultra-orthodox Jews and radical Islamists. The Argentine pontiff will be accompanied part of the way by two old friends from Buenos Aires - Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Islamic studies professor Omar Abboud - in a conciliatory gesture that hopes to stave off criticism.

SHANGHAI, CHINA - Russia and China are planning to increase the volume of direct payments in mutual trade in their national currencies, according to a joint statement on a new stage of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation signed during high-level talks in Shanghai on Tuesday. “The sides intend to take new steps to increase the level and expansion of spheres of Russian-Chinese practical cooperation, in particular to establish close cooperation in the financial sphere, including an increase in direct payments in the Russian and Chinese national currencies in trade, investments and loan services,” the statement said.

USA - The Obama administration announced Tuesday that it will reveal the contents of a secret document that outlines the government’s justification for using drones to kill US citizens suspected of terrorism overseas.

NIGERIA - At least 46 people were killed and a further 45 injured in two explosions that hit a busy bus terminal and market in Nigeria's central city of Jos, reports AFP quoting police sources. The official News Agency of Nigeria quoted Major General Dave Enebe confirming the two blasts but saying it was too early to give casualty figures, writes Associated Press. According to a Reuters correspondent, who was at the scene of the explosion in the main business district of the city, at least 10 people were killed. The attacks come amid a bombing campaign by Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist militant group who threaten to sell nearly 300 abducted schoolgirls into slavery.

SERBIA - Balkan authorities were on alert Tuesday as swollen rivers were due to reach new peaks, AFP reported. More than 1.6 million people have been affected by flooding of the River Sava and its tributaries. Tens of thousands of hectares of farmland have been inundated and many houses and buildings destroyed or damaged during the worst floods the central European region has suffered in a century. In Bosnia, more than 100,000 people have been evacuated so far. In Serbia, the Sava has already caused unprecedented havoc in the northwestern region bordering Bosnia and Croatia.

UK - A new study finds that if temperatures rise and more precipitation falls as rain rather than snow, it will reduce the total amount of water in rivers. It is a surprising observation. One might expect the timing of water flow to change but not the overall volume. But this is precisely what scientists discovered when they examined the histories of 420 catchment basins in the US spanning the period 1948-2001. The researchers report their work in the journal Nature Climate Change. The study compares places of similar climate and precipitation, but with differing fractions of that precipitation falling as snow and as rain.

TEMPLE MOUNT, ISRAEL - The Palestinian Authority response to a proposed Knesset bill that would allow Jewish prayer on Temple Mount may exacerbate the already fraught issue by apparently misrepresenting the bill as a bid to allow Jewish worship inside the Al Aqsa Mosque.

USA - Did you know that scientists are creating cow/human hybrids, pig/human hybrids and even mouse/human hybrids? This is happening every single day in labs all over the western world, but most people have never even heard about it. So would you drink milk from a cow/human hybrid that produces milk that is almost identical to human breast milk? And how would you interact with a mouse that has a brain that is almost entirely human?