In Venezuela, the arrest of opposition leaders and the establishment of a new assembly with no opposition representation is a major rupture with the nation's democratic past. At the same time, economic breakdown could imminently lead to a 'complete social collapse', says our correspondent in South America Tom Hennigan. But newly applied U.S. sanctions on President Maduro will do more harm than good to both the country's fortunes and those of Maduro's opponents.

Meanwhile, the decision to expel U.S. diplomats from Russia in retaliation to new sanctions imposed by Congress shows just how badly wrong the once-warm relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has gone. Isabel Gorst has the view from Moscow.