The Ulster Unionist Party confirmed North Antrim MLA Robin Swann as its new leader at a meeting of the party’s AGM. Taking on the role, he did not rule out a UUP return to the Executive should the Stormont talks resurrect the institutions. He also said that a single unionist party would “limit choice and stifle debate and quickly result in the depletion of unionist votes at the ballot box.”

In the Republic of Ireland, relations between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have continued to deteriorate over water charges; more specifically, due to a dispute around whether there should be a charging regime for those who waste water. On Thursday, Housing Minister Simon Coveney wrote to the Oireachtas committee on water charges outlining his concerns over its recommendations. The absence of a charge for excessive usage of water, he said, contravenes EU law. As reported by The Irish Times, both parties believe in the policy but have differing views on how to penalise such households. Members of the committee criticised Mr Coveney’s intervention. Planned weekend discussions between the two parties were abandoned after the correspondence.

Basque separatist group Eta handed over its inventory of weapons to authorities at a ceremony in the French city of Bayonne. The group killed more than 800 people over 40 years of violence in pursuit of an independent country. It announced a ceasefire in 2011 but did not disarm. Reacting to the move, Reverend Harold Good, who was an independent witness to the decommissioning of IRA arms, hailed a “very significant day today.” He said there were many parallels between the processes in Ireland and the Basque region.

US President Donald Trump eased his ‘America First’ policy, launching a missile attack on a Syrian air base in retaliation for Bashar al-Assad’s regime’s gas attack on its own citizens. The chemical attack killed 89 people. Mr Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, had decided against direct military intervention there, judging Syria as not posing a threat to US national security. Mr Trump had been a staunch opponent of military action, but said the strikes were in US national security interests. Chemical weapons use, he said, must be countered to send a signal to the rest of the world.

UK Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon claimed Russia is to blame for “every civilian death” in last week’s Syrian attack. Writing in The Sunday Times, he described the attack as “barbaric, immoral and illegal”; Donald Trumps’ response was “the right call”. He said Mr Assad must depart and allow the search for stability to begin. Sir Michael’s comments came after UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson cancelled a visit to Moscow, a move the Russia foreign ministry called “absurd”. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit Moscow as planned this week.