moves beijing's official news agency describes as gimmick. patricia sabga >> joining me is greg poling director of the asian maritime transparency initiative. gordon change a contributor of force and associate editor of the diplomat. is there a court or arby for when you want to change the lines governing what belongs to who. >> yes, but they require all sides to agree with it. the overall governing arcticture of ocean, says you have do compulsory courts. this is what the philippines has started to take china too. so far the case has been moving forward, but there has only been one set of lawyers in the room. >> what is the practical consideration here? people say you can't build your own islands and say that's your own country. but what really is at steak when we see all of these countries scrambling for territory in the south china sea. >> there's also the military balance of power, and the reality is that none of these individual claimants whether it malaysia or vietnam or philippines can challenge china power. so many china chooses to ignore the ruling

. >> patricia sabga, al jazeera, new york. >>> meanwhile the supreme court is make it harder to sue forxecutive force. >>> cleaning up a sticky situation after two decades this seattle landmark is getting a facelift. ♪ >>> this coming in from washington just moments ago. the senate approving the defense bill that contains restrictions on transferring detainees from guantanamo bay. only three senators, all democrats voting against it, that of course being a key campaign component of then senator barack obama, wanting to close guantanamo bay. >>> legendary new orleans musician died in spain. he suffered a heart attack following a concert last night in madrid. his work includes the hit song southern nights, the rock and roll hall of fame calls him one of the most influential figures from the new orleans r&b scene. >>> secretary of state john kerry saying climate change is a threat to national security. he says the people and societies are under threat from rising sea levels and changing global temperatures. later today kerry will meet with students learning science and engineering fields t