For A Tuesday

Plenty to ponder...



A tribunal has rejected China's claims in the South China Seas which I am sure China will take under advisement:

An international tribunal rejected China's extensive claims in the South China Sea in a landmark ruling Tuesday that also found the country had aggravated the seething regional dispute and violated the Philippines' maritime rights by building up artificial islands that destroyed coral reefs and by disrupting fishing and oil exploration.

While the decision is seen as a major legal declaration regarding one of the world's most contested regions, China immediately rejected it as a "farce" and the true impact is uncertain given the tribunal has no power of enforcement.

While the findings cannot reverse China's actions, it still constitutes a rebuke, carrying with it the force of the international community's opinion. It also gives heart to small countries in Asia that have helplessly chafed at China's expansionism, backed by its military and economic power.

(Sidebar: is "opinion" a new word for ship-to-ship missile? Because I think that would be more effective.)

Now is the time for a new pan-Asian alliance. China can plow through Filipino fishing boats but they might think twice if the aforementioned boats are mobbed up with India.





Oh, dear:

At least 25 people died and dozens were injured on Tuesday when two passenger trains collided head-on at high speed in southern Italy, sending debris flying into surrounding olive groves.

Three carriages were torn apart by the violence of the impact after the two trains hit each other while traveling down the same stretch of track linking the small towns of Corato and Andria in the southeastern Puglia region.

Rescue operators raised the death toll to 25 on Tuesday evening after a day of frantic rescue operations, and warned that it could climb higher as some of the 50 injured were in serious condition.

Purged e-mails about an attempt to oust Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu have been discovered:

A State Department official deleted emails that included information about a secret campaign to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the country’s last election, according to a Senate investigatory committee that determined the Obama administration transferred tax funds to anti-Netanyahu groups.

Obama could not be reached as he was in Dallas blaming the victims for being shot. Workplace violence and all that.


(Merci)



 

If you remember nothing else from PM Trudeau's visit to Auschwitz, remember this:

Instead, the PM was accompanied by an elderly former inmate:

The hardest part for him, he told Trudeau, was looking at the display of hair shaved from the heads of victims, which is sealed behind a glass wall.

I’ll bet that was the hardest part for Justin, too. Back at the hotel later, he probably tearfully treated his beloved mop to an extra dollop of conditioner.

David Cameron might be leaving but Larry the Cat will stay:

Larry has been stalking the corridors of power since 2011, when he was brought into the prime minister's office to handle pest control affairs.

Larry had a lingering look up at May as she entered Number 10 on Tuesday for Cameron's final cabinet meeting as prime minister.

And he did not seem perturbed by her trademark leopard-print kitten-heel shoes.

There had been fears that Larry would be following the Camerons out of the door when May takes over as prime minister on Wednesday.

But while government members nervously await their fate, officials insisted the nine-year-old brown and white tabby was staying on and would survive May's forthcoming reshuffle.

"It's a civil servant's cat and does not belong to the Camerons," a Cabinet Office spokeswoman said.

"He will be staying."

 

He's doing it for England... or something.