The isolationist Trump has had a change of heart. Instead of his promise to keep out of the Middle East, he has launched an attack against the Syrian government. This new American intervention in the Syrian civil war, along with sabre-rattling by the US President over North Korea, reflects not the strength of US imperialism, but the weakness of the Trump administration.

The last three weeks have seen a rapid rise in the polls for Jean-Luc Melenchon, the candidate of the Rebellious France movement for the presidential election, on the back of a radical left programme. The Establishment is now terrified of the prospect of a Le Pen / Melenchon second round – a contest that the left-wing firebrand could win.

The power-sharing deal in the North of Ireland, established with the Good Friday Agreement, has broken down. The old system of rule no longer works, an indication of the pressures that flow from the economic crisis. Gerry Ruddy looks at why and how this has come about.