CL A US warship crossed the Taiwan Strait today, timed ahead of a planned meeting with Xi Jinping. That is one way to arrive at a negotiating table with an escort. Washington calls it routine. Beijing will not, and Beijing gets a vote on that.-- CL

MB Ottawa spent the day declaring war on its largest trading partner. Washington called it policy, not hostility, the sort of framing gap that precedes someone losing a great deal of money. Tehran promised to neutralize an economic war it also insists isn't happening. Everyone agrees on the facts. Nobody agrees on the noun.-- MB