Hermit Kingdom: Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, told Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to chill out on North Korea and “come back to the right track of a negotiated settlement.”

Tillerson has announced that negotiations with North Korea are over, but that China has agreed to try to convince Pyongyang to “change course,” though he didn’t give further details.

Always willing to fan the flames, President Trump tweeted, “North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been ‘playing’ the United States for years. China has done little to help!”

North Korea is pressing ahead with its ballistic missile development. Dictator Kim Jong Un today watched a test of a new type of high-thrust engine.

Last week Tillerson threatened military action if North Korea does anything to threaten US or South Korean forces. NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof writes in his blog that,

“The problem is that if North Korea responds to a strike, it can destroy Seoul with artillery, not to mention chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. It could probably also devastate Tokyo with missiles.”

Come Again: One day after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House, President Trump gave her what amounted to a boot in the tail, tweeting the following: “Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes …vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!”

Okay, that was a boot in the tail to the press as well.

Merkel appeared to find Trump and his “America First” approach to trade and foreign relations to be somewhat appalling. But on the issue of NATO, Germany is on track to meet its full obligation by a 2024 deadline, and experts on the subject say Trump just doesn’t understand how the system works, and where the money goes.

All in the Family: George Conway III, the husband of Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway, has been chosen to head the civil litigation division of the Justice Department. His appointment requires Senate confirmation.

Conway would oversee everything from national security issues to consumer protection. Part of his beat will be to defend President Trump’s travel and immigration ban, as well as defending him against lawsuits claiming his mixture of business and politics violate the Constitution. Conway is a partner in a big New York law firm.

Madness: There will be no repeat championship for Villanova, which was knocked out of the NCAA tournament yesterday 65-62 by Wisconsin. And the brief first-time playoff ride for Northwestern is over. They lost to Gonzaga 79-73.

The Obit Page: Chuck Berry, whose songs “Johnny B. Goode” and “Roll Over Beethoven” helped define Rock and Roll music, has died at home in Missouri yesterday at age 90.

Berry was a breakout star in a time when white musicians prospered by sounding black, and black musicians were relegated to the back. Berry was loud, wild, a genius on the guitar, and a big hit with white kids. The NY Times says, “While Elvis Presley was rock’s first pop star and teenage heartthrob, Mr. Berry was its master theorist and conceptual genius, the songwriter who understood what the kids wanted before they knew themselves.”

Berry merged country and blues into the foundation of rock. He was playing in clubs when the great blues man Muddy Waters set Berry up with Chess records in Chicago, where he recorded “Maybelline” with that famous lyric, “Maybelline, why can’t you be true?” It’s as loud and in-your-face today as it ever was.

Social Notes: Former NY Yankee great Alex Rodriguez is dating singer Jennifer Lopez. See how long that lasts.

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