The Brexit news is dominated by the Rock of Gibralter, which, I am humbly corrected by the family geographer, is not an island, though possibly a peninsula. Much to my surprise it is also not precisely on the southern tip of Spain right at the mouth of the Mediterranean. Gibraltar is a little dangly bit further east.
However, it is British, will remain British and Michael Howard significantly contributed to calming the situation. He reassured us that, just as Maggie took us to war over the Falklands with 'another Spanish-speaking country', the Prime minister would show similar resolve re Gibralter - immediately interpreted by the media as the UK possibly going to war with Spain.
Fortunately, someone noticed that other regions of the UK had been overshadowed by this furore. Spain stated that it 'would not block' Scotland's EU application.
President Trump has started an investigation into the 'unfair' trade balance with a range of countries (China, Japan, Germany the main contenders) with a view to imposing trade tariffs if necessary. Before the results come in, he will be meeting the Chinese President this week. In a Financial Times interview today, he said that if the Chinese would not exert pressure on the North Koreans re their nuclear and missile programs, then the US will do it alone, which again has been interpreted as military action.
I cannot give you the actual quote because the FT copyright statement forbids copying and pasting the text here AND reusing it if quoted elsewhere, as in the Sky and BBC news I'm watching - you'll have to check it out yourself - which of course is what the FT wants.
Real news tonight is that immigrant lad badly beaten up by group in UK is recovering and the aftermath of both the Australian floods and the Columbian landslide that killed hundreds.
Watched Lilo & Stitch for the first time - reassuringly sane compared to the current world.
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