10 things you need to know today: April 17, 2017

Pence warns North Korea not to test U.S. resolve, Turkey's president claims victory in vote giving him sweeping new powers, and more

Vice President Mike Pence visits the DMZ
(Image credit: JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images)

1. Pence warns North Korea not to test Trump's 'strength and resolve'

Vice President Mike Pence started a 10-day Asia trip in South Korea shortly after Pyongyang marked a key national holiday with a failed missile test, warning that the latest "provocation" demonstrated how dangerous the isolated communist nation had become. Pence warned Pyongyang on Monday not to test President Trump, saying the U.S. leader showed his "strength and resolve" recently by bombing Syria, and the Islamic State in Afghanistan. Tensions had risen on speculation that North Korea was planning its sixth nuclear test to mark the holiday, but the White House said it saw no need to respond to an unsuccessful missile launch. "If it had been a nuclear test, then other actions would have been taken from the U.S.," an adviser told reporters on Pence's plane. President Trump said Sunday that his administration was working with China on addressing "the North Korea problem."

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.