Hello Australia!! - The Trump administration threatens war in Asia and manages to insult insult its closest ally - Israel's anti-missile system is a hit - A court assigns responsibility in the Fukushima nuclear disaster - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned of a possible military strike on North Korea in response to the hermit kingdom's nuclear program and missile tests:  "Let me very clear: The policy of strategic patience has ended," he said in Seoul on his first trip to Asia as America's top diplomat, referring to President Barack Obama's strategy of waiting out North Korean belligerence until it blows over.  "But obviously if North Korea takes actions that threaten the South Korean forces or our own forces, then that will be met with an appropriate response," he added.  Tillerson heads to Beijing on Saturday, where he is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump at the White House was an incredibly and painfully awkward affair.  First, the orange toddler for some reason refused to shake hands with her, smirking instead.  Nor did Trump offer the usual warm words for the country of the visiting dignitary.  Instead, Trump criticized Merkel over her open-door refugee policy, declaring that "immigration is a privilege, not a right".  Merkel said that it is "much, much better to talk to one another and not about one another" - a reference to the many times Trump slammed her while campaigning last year.  Merkel glowered as Trump accused a German reporter of engaging in "fake news", his standard catch phrase for questions he is too stupid or too cowardly to answer.  Finally and in reference to Trump's idiotic accusation that President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower last year, Trump turned to face Merkel and said, "at least we have something in common, perhaps," an apparent reference to revelations that the US National Security Agency (NSA) monitored Merkel's communications.  Merkel refused to acknowledge it.

But Trump has offered absolutely no proof of his idiotic accusation, hasn't shown the character to simply retract it, and constantly shifts his story.  And that's causing friction with America's closest allies in London.  Trump now claims that Mr. Obama somehow got the UK's answer to the NSA - the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) - to tap Trump tower.  The British spy agency called the assertions "nonsense" and "utterly ridiculous", while a spokesman for Number 10 said, "We've made clear to the administration that these claims are ridiculous and should be ignored." Critics blasted Trump and his minions for alienating America's ally: "The cost of falsely blaming our closest ally for something this consequential cannot be overstated," said former Obama administration National Security Advisor Susan Rice.

Trump and the Republicans managed to screw-up the simplest of diplomatic tasks, receiving Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny for the annual Saint Patrick's Day visit.  First, Vice President Mike Pence - who claims Irish heritage - greeted the gathering with, "Top of the morning!"  Irish social media exploded:  "NOBODY SAYS THAT," said one journalist; "I've literally only ever heard that said by Americans," another person said.  After some more cringe-worthy cliches of four-leaf clovers, Trump went on to recite a rather bizarrely aggressive "Irish proverb" that was actually written by a Nigerian Muslim poet:  "Always remember to forget the friends that proved untrue, but never forget to remember those that have stuck by you."  Uh, okay Don Corleone.  Finally, US House Speaker Paul Ryan (second in line to the US presidency) falsely attributed the Scottish sport of Golf to the Irish, and toasted the gathering with a flat glass of Guinness - which offended many because Guinness must ALWAYS be served with a big foamy white head. 

Could the day be any more embarrassing for the US?  Yes!  A Secret Service agent left a laptop computer containing detailed floor plans of Trump Tower in her car in New York City.  It was stolen.

Israel's "Arrow" anti-missile defense system appears to have worked in its first use.  Syria had launched surface-to-air (SAM) missiles at Israeli jets as they returned from an air raid in Syria; Israeli forces responded with the Arrow system, which took down at least one of the Syrian SAMs.  Syria claims to have downed a warplane, but Israel says none of its aircraft were "compromised".  Even if Israel hit non-government Hezbollah targets, the fact that the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) is admitting it carried out raids in Syria represents a serious escalation in tensions between the two. 

The UN official who commissioned a report that accused Israel of apartheid against the Palestinians has resigned.  Under Secretary General Rima Khalaf said she quit because she was pressured to take back the report.  Secretary General Antonio Guterres had distanced himself from the explosive accusations, and it has been taken off of the world body's website.

A helicopter opened fire on a boat full of refugees traveling from African to Yemen, killing at least 42 people.  It's not clear which participant in Yemen's multi-sided civil war operated the helicopter.

For the first time, a Japanese court has found the government partially responsible for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster in 2011.  It comes in a case brought by people forced to evacuate their homes after three of the reactors melted down, with all three cores going through the containment vessels and deep into the ground somewhere - no one knows exactly where to this day.  Japan's pro-nuclear government says the ruling won't deter it from reopening reactors that were shuttered after the disaster.