A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda next week, from the team at Foresight News. Delivered to your inbox on Fridays.
Leading the week
Barring any last-minute changes, history will be made on Monday (April 15) when Donald Trump becomes the first former (or sitting) president to face a trial on criminal charges as jury selection gets underway in his hush-money case in New York. While Trump’s lawyers have successfully delayed the federal cases against him, including having a deadline set in the Florida documents case this week that all-but-ensures that trial won’t begin in July, his team has seen their efforts to delay next week’s trial repeatedly rejected. While the case is generally viewed as the weakest of the four criminal trials Trump is currently facing, a conviction would still leave moderate voters asking themselves whether they want to put a felon back in charge of the country.
Over on Capitol Hill, next week is again shaping up to be a busy one following Wednesday’s latest GOP revolt against embattled House Speaker Mike Johnson over the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, which would have reauthorized Section 702 of FISA that is currently due to expire next Friday (April 19). Even if Johnson manages to get through this latest crisis before his event in Florida with Trump this afternoon, he faces a fresh one next week if he presses forward with tentative plans to advance Ukraine funding following months of delays amid opposition from the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Next week is also supposed to see the impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after Johnson delayed sending over the articles of impeachment this week due to concerns among Senate Republicans that the trial would be immediately dismissed. There are also a host of high-profile committee sessions, including House and Senate hearings with Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday and Wednesday (April 16 and 17) and what could be a bombshell hearing on Wednesday on Boeing’s troubled safety record featuring testimony from whistleblower Sam Salehpour.
With the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings taking place throughout the week, economic issues will also feature prominently following this week’s disappointing consumer inflation data. Retail sales figures are out on Monday (April 15), followed by the IMF’s flagship World Economic Outlook on Tuesday (April 16), featuring the Fund’s latest growth forecasts. On Wednesday (April 17), Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey is set to speak at an IIF event in DC following the release of UK inflation data that morning which is sure to fuel further speculation there about when a rate cut might finally come. G20 finance ministers meet on Thursday (April 18), when IMF Managing Director Kristalina Giorgieva will also hold her set-piece news conference, while Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda, who last month oversaw the first rate hike in Japan in 17 years, speaks at the Peterson Institute for International Economics on Friday (April 19).
Looking abroad
While efforts continue to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, attention turns to diplomatic developments at the UN as the Security Council prepares to meet on Thursday (April 18). The session follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments this week that a date has been set for a ground offensive in Rafah and the Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus earlier this month. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is reportedly set to attend amid warnings from the international community against an Iranian retaliation for the attack.
The meeting has also become the focus of Palestine’s renewed bid for full membership of the UN, which now hinges on whether a Security Council member – most likely Algeria – puts forward a resolution for a vote after a committee on new members failed to reach a consensus. Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour has made it known he wants the vote to happen at Thursday’s meeting, where it would have to be approved by nine of the 15 members, and not be vetoed by any of the permanent members. Russia and China have signalled support for the request, but the US hasn’t made any public change to its longstanding position that membership should only follow a peace deal.
Meanwhile, the final report from the UN-commissioned investigation into the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) could be released as early as Friday (April 19), potentially unlocking desperately needed funding that has been frozen since allegations emerged in January that 12 UNRWA employees participated in the October 7 attacks. An interim report delivered last month was kept under wraps, but said UNRWA had mechanisms in place to ensure its neutrality. The UK and Germany are among major donors that are withholding funds until the final report is published, while a US spending bill agreed last month froze funding for UNRWA until March 2025.
Antony Blinken will join his G7 counterparts for three days of talks in Italy that start on Wednesday (April 17) ahead of a leaders’ summit in June. The agenda for the Capri meeting includes the situation in the Middle East, Red Sea shipping, and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, as well as stability in the Indo-Pacific, cooperation with Africa and a range of global issues like food and energy security, climate change and AI. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has invited ministers from so-called outreach countries to join discussions on the Thursday (April 18). Meanwhile, EU leaders are set to gather in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday for a special summit focused on ‘economy and competitiveness’ as well as relations with Turkey.
Parliamentary elections get underway in India, the world’s largest democracy, on Friday (April 19). Voting for the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha takes place in seven phases over six weeks, with results announced on June 4. Narendra Modi and his BJP are favored to secure another majority and a third term in office for the prime minister. Indeed, the party’s confidence is such that it’s targeting the country’s prosperous south, where it has traditionally fared poorly, in an effort to secure political dominance over the next five years.