This newspaper does not yet have a position on yesterday's announcement that the Island will resettle four Uighurs previously held at Guantanamo Bay.

It is a reasonably complex story, and it seems pretty clear that more will come out on it over the next few days.

But here are some early observations and questions:

What's in it for Bermuda in real terms? Palau apparently has got $200 million in aid from the US for taking 17 Uighurs "temporarily". So what's Bermuda's payoff?

Premier Dr. Ewart Brown apparently wants to turn this into a fight with Britain, who apparently knew nothing about the deal until yesterday morning. Britain may not agree to this, because of the risks of alienating China, a massively important trading partner.

If Dr. Brown wants a fight, he needs to be careful. Most early reaction from the general public to this has been fairly negative, so he may not have much support for a fight with Government House over sovereignty on this issue.

He certainly won't get much support from the expatriate community, as they are term- limited off the Island while four people from a country most residents had never heard of until yesterday suddenly have permanent residence.

On the other hand, is anyone talking about gambling today?