Northern Ireland is in election mode. Mike Nesbitt raised eyebrows by announcing that he would give his second preference vote to the SDLP. The UUP leader has previously highlighted his constructive relationship with SDLP leader, Colum Eastwood, and spoken of their shared commitment to “make Northern Ireland work.” Nesbitt’s announcement took some of his own candidates by surprise, some keen to distance themselves from his position, but it was praised by Eastwood at the SDLP’s manifesto launch.

Meanwhile, in the first televised debate of the campaign, Arlene Foster clashed with Michelle O’Neill. Sinn Féin’s newly installed leader in Northern Ireland said that she would not enter a power-sharing government with Foster as leader, at least until a public inquiry into the RHI issue had ended. The outgoing First Minister hit back: “It’s not a matter for Michelle O’Neill or Gerry Adams or anyone else in Sinn Fein to say who should lead the party.” O’Neill has indicated that Foster’s leadership would be a ‘red line’ in any post-election negotiations.

Tony Blair returned to the headlines with calls for people to ‘rise up’ against Brexit. The former prime minister said he accepted the referendum result of 23 June, but argued that plans to leave the European Union should be reconsidered when “we have a clear sense of where we’re going.” His intervention was heavily criticised by Boris Johnson as “condescending” and by Iain Duncan Smith as “arrogant.”

When the Israeli Prime Minister visited Washington, President Trump said he was “OK” with a ‘one-state solution’. For decades the US has supported a ‘two-state solution’, whereby Palestine would gain negotiated statehood alongside Israel; the apparent abandonment of the policy raises many questions. The US president also took a position on Israeli settlement building, warning that it “may not be helpful” to peace in the region.

In Florida this weekend, President Trump held a ‘campaign rally for America’. After a turbulent three weeks in office, the crowd cheered enthusiastically at the president’s repetition of key messages from his pre-election campaign and his derisive attack on the ‘fake news’ media. He defended his divisive immigration policy on grounds of national security, citing a terror attack in Sweden on Friday night. The attack did not happen.