Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that the Irish government would expect to have a “real and meaningful involvement” in Northern Ireland if efforts to bring back power-sharing at Stormont fail. He said he would not support a return of direct rule from Westminster, and his government would make a fresh bid for a deal in the new year. It’s been almost a year since the Northern Ireland Executive. Mr Varadkar said that there would be only two options if talks fail; to call another Stormont assembly election, or convene the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (BIGC).

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, clashed over the issue of alleged Russian meddling in last year’s Brexit referendum. Other issues discussed were Syria and North Korea; according to media reports little progress was made on either. In a joint press conference, Mr Lavrov outright denied Russian interference in western votes, and said Mr Johnson himself had said there was “no evidence of Russian interference in the Brexit referendum”. Mr Johnson corrected the Russian minister: “‘Not successfully’ is what I said.”

Conservative MP Damian Green was sacked as First Secretary of State after admitting he lied about the presence of pornographic images on his House of Commons computer. An investigation by Downing Street’s cabinet secretary found that Mr Green’s denials after a Sunday newspaper reported that porn had been found on his computer were “inaccurate and misleading”. His departure is a personal blow for Theresa May; he is the third cabinet minister to have stepped down since early November, following the departures of Michael Fallon and Priti Patel.

America’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, blasted the body for disrespecting the US in criticising its policy toward Israel and warned of repercussions. The UN moved to criticise America for its decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and transplant the US embassy there. Noting that America is the “single largest contributor” to the UN, Ms Haley argued “we have an obligation to demand more for our investment… and if our investment fails, we have an obligation to spend our investment in more productive ways.”

North Korea described the latest UN sanctions imposed on the country as an “act of war” and maintained that strengthening its deterrence is the only way to frustrate the US. A statement from the country’s foreign ministry claimed that the measures were tantamount to a total economic blockade. The UN Security Council’s new sanctions – which follow a US-drafted resolution – were imposed in response to Pyongyang’s ballistic missile tests in November. North Korea is already subject to various sanctions from the US, the UN and the EU.

Also published on Medium.