Down in North Africa, some sort of squabble is taking place between Spain and Morocco over one of the Spanish enclaves there. Melilla, to be exact. It always amuses me to see – in the right-of-centre El Mundo anyway – how differently this issue is treated from those surrounding Gibraltar. But, then, they are, in truth, very differentiable examples of overseas possessions belonging to ex colonial nations. No?

Back here on the mainland, Ministers Salgado and Blanco are indulging in their traditional game of Left Hand-Right Hand. This time over tax increases. The objective appears to worry people generally about the need to increase taxes but then proffer relief by stressing the rich will be hit hardest. But who really knows?

So, up in France they’re expelling Romanian gypsies while here in Spain they dominate the street begging industry And perhaps one or two others as well. Can both countries be operating under the same EU laws, but with differing interpretations? Or is it just a reflection of the fact they have a right-of-centre government north of the Pyrenees and we have a left-of-centre one down here?

Is Google going downhill? I ask because they’ve gone (In Google Reader) from saying I write 6.2 posts a week to claiming I pen 7.7. As I write exactly 7, it’s rather worrying they can’t get this simple calculation right. What does is say for the accuracy of their ‘targeted’ advertising?

An item from insane Britain - In Altrincham, Greater Manchester, thieves broke into a motorcycle showroom and stole three bikes. The police watched them roar off into the night but didn’t give chase because they felt it would be unsafe to do so. The thieves weren’t wearing helmets or protective clothing and it’s national police policy only to chase motorcyclists if they’re wearing the right safety gear.

Finally . . . An article to warm the cockles of Moscow’s heart. On the anglo-centricity of us Anglos. Being a regular watcher of France24, I’m not sure things are much better, mutatis mutandis, across the Channel. I’ve learned an awful lot about some obscure African states I’ve previously hardly heard of.