U.S. Navy set to challenge China’s steep sea claims
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy is preparing to sail a warship near artificial islands built by China in the South China Sea in a long-anticipated challenge to what it considers Beijing’s “excessive claim” of sovereignty in those waters, two U.S. officials said Monday.
The officials said the White House approved the movement by the USS Lassen, a guided missile destroyer, around the Spratly Islands archipelago, a disputed group of hundreds of reefs, islets, atolls and islands in the South China.
The move is expected to take place within a day or so.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter in advance of the Lassen’s movement.
The Obama administration has long said it will exercise a right to freedom of navigation in any international waters, including in the South China Sea.
Ole Miss removes state flag, Confederate symbol
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi quietly removed the state flag from its place of honor on Monday, heeding the calls of those who say the banner’s Confederate battle emblem is harming the school’s future.
Interim Chancellor Morris Stocks waited until the flag was gone before announcing he had ordered it taken down and sent to the university’s archives. Campus police officers furled it from the flagpole where it flew under the U.S. flag, between the white-columned administration building and a marble statue of a saluting Confederate soldier.
Days earlier, the student and faculty senates voted to urge its removal from the Oxford campus. A group of university leaders then met Sunday night and agreed to take it down.
EU takes steps to tighten borders as winter looms
BELGRADE, Serbia – With freezing weather setting in, tens of thousands of migrants surging across Europe could face even more hurdles after European Union leaders pledged to stem their flow by introducing tighter border controls.
EU leaders committed at a weekend summit to helping the Balkans handle the flow of people making their way through the region en route to more prosperous countries. But with record numbers arriving from the Middle East, Asia and Africa, the moves will likely make their journeys more difficult.
In a statement seeking to paper over deep divisions about how to handle the crisis, the EU and Balkan leaders meeting in Brussels committed to bolster the borders of Greece as it struggles to cope with the wave of refugees who cross over through Turkey. They also pledged to boost the capacities of reception centers in Greece and along the Balkans route to shelter 100,000 more people as winter looms.
3,500-year-old treasure discovered in Greece
ATHENS, Greece – Authorities say a 3,500-year-old, treasure-filled grave of a warrior has been discovered near an ancient palace.
The Culture Ministry says the grave is the most spectacular discovery of its kind from the Mycenaean era in more than six decades. It contained about 1,400 artefacts, including gold and silver jewelry, cups, bronze vases, engraved gemstones and an ornate ivory-and gilt-hilted sword.
The grave escaped plunderers who looted a monumental beehive tomb discovered decades ago in the area, near the palace of Pylos one of the most important Mycenaean administrative centers.
Associated Press
