May urges ‘tone of trust’ in Brexit speech

ENGLAND: Speaking in Florence, Italy, today, Prime Minister Theresa May asked for a “tone of trust” in a major speech on Brexit that calls for a two-year transition period in the United Kingdom’s separation from the European Union. May made clear the U.K. would separate from the EU’s single-market economy and its courts and organizations but called for continued cooperation on migration and terrorism: “We may be leaving the European Union, but we are not leaving Europe.” Her transition proposal could push formal separation to 2021.

UNITED STATES: In a related vein, President Donald Trump’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week is still drawing attention for its strong defense of state sovereignty and aggressive, “totally destroy North Korea” tone. I used to read transcripts of speeches by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama because their delivery often was distracting (my problem), but it’s sometimes important to watch Trump during his speeches. His emphasis on U.S. military posture starting in the third paragraph seems more fitting to the 9/11 era than an era in which the United States is taking a back seat to Russia in Syria and Ukraine, to Iran in Iraq, etc. Overall, his UN debut was one-third national security adviser H.R. McMaster Trump, one-third U.S Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley Trump, and one-third Trump Trump.

UNITED NATIONS: A long time coming, the UN Security Council (perhaps following the Trump-McMaster-Haley push) unanimously adopted a resolution yesterday supporting Iraq in prosecuting members of ISIS (Daesh) for crimes committed against religious minorities in the region. The initiative, for the first time, launches an international team to collect and correct genocidal crimes committed in Iraq.

IRAQ: Here’s more amazing photojournalism from French photographer Laurence Geai, plus a brief look at Mosul’s Old City, once the center of Christian life in ancient Nineveh, after its liberation from ISIS.

SYRIA: Tensions are rising in the Syrian desert between U.S.-supported Kurdish and Arab militias and the Russian-backed forces of Bashar al-Assad, with Moscow issuing a blunt warning to the United States that it will fire on coalition forces.

EUROPE: A homemade bomb injured 30 people on a packed London subway train during rush hour last week, as across Europe media report several attacks that could be terror-related.

GERMANY: Sunday’s election looks likely to make Chancellor Angela Merkel, next to the Queen of England, the longest-serving head of state in Europe (shown here in graphics). At one point Merkel appeared vulnerable, with rising German anger over her welcome for a flood of Middle East migrants in 2015, but no more. Her coalition is polling 14 percentage points ahead of the nearest opposition.

BURMA/MYANMAR: Reasons abound for Christians to care about the plight of Rohingya Muslims.

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