WASHINGTON – Somebody should have looked at a map.

The State Department with great fanfare on Tuesday signed an agreement with landlocked Mongolia that will allow Mongolian ships to be searched if they are suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction.

This despite the fact that Mongolia – a vast land largely populated by nomadic yak herders – has no navy at all and lies thousands of miles from open waters.

Still, its tiny merchant marine is recognized as one of 32 “flag of convenience” countries by international maritime authorities.

Asked what Washington hoped to achieve with the agreement, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said “I’ll have to check,” but stressed it was a key part of the “Proliferation Security Initiative” that aims to halt trade in nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Artist rebuilds sculpture intended to show fragility

KENNESAW, Ga. – It took Finnish-born sculptor Eino roughly four months to rebuild the world.

His stone sculpture, “Spaceship Earth,” mysteriously collapsed in December at Kennesaw State University. The artwork was intended to remind people of the Earth’s fragility.

After working since the end of June to rebuild the globe, he said this week he’s putting the finishing touches on it.

“It really looks nice,” said Eino, who uses only one name.

Eino had called the work “Spaceship Earth” to honor environmentalist David Brower, a leader of the Sierra Club. It depicted a bronze figure of Brower standing atop the globe. The founders of California-based PowerBar had paid for the $1 million sculpture.

From Associated Press reports