Yet again, the spectre of “bugs” in the system haunts us. 

napoleonic

French President Emmanuel Macron said that the US-led strike on Syria was legitimate, but "history will judge" whether the operation was justified. He added that neither France nor its allies are at war with the country.

The perils of coming to premature conclusions before all the facts are available has been starkly demonstrated by the latest developments in the alleged nerve gas attack upon the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English town of Salisbury on 4 March 2018.

James Mattis, the US defense secretary, has said Washington is still looking for evidence on who carried out Saturday’s chemical weapons attack in Damascus and said his main concern about a military response was how to stop it “escalating out of control”.

The Western liberal order is not in crisis because of Russian disinformation campaigns and electoral interference. Western democracies must take responsibility for a crisis that, ultimately, is homegrown – nurtured by its leaders’ own failure to confront effectively the challenges of globalization.

A Chinese embassy spokesman has said the idea that China is planning to establish a military base in Vanuatu is “ridiculous”.