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
After some tough talk at yesterday’s press conference, Rishi Sunak can now look forward to a Rwanda-free week in the House of Commons as scrutiny of his plans moves over the second chamber, with the Lords scheduled to debate a motion on Monday (January 22) that could delay the UK-Rwanda treaty from being approved. While this first attempt to stymie the prime minister in the upper house may become a headache in the longer-term, Sunak can at least look forward to a week without backbench machinations as he works on rallying the party troops before peers reportedly begin the debate proper on January 29.
Following jury selection this week, the prosecution in the highly-publicised trial of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon gets underway on Wednesday (January 24). The pair made national headlines when they were reported missing by Marten’s father on January 5 last year, after their abandoned car was found alight near Bolton. After reported sightings up and down the country, the couple were found and arrested on February 27, and the body of their baby daughter, Victoria, was found in an allotment shed near Brighton days later. The pair deny charges of manslaughter, concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice. Much has been made of Marten’s privileged upbringing, growing up on the £100m estate of Crichel House in Dorset with parents connected to the royal family.
This week’s hearings into the Post Office Horizon scandal were difficult for Fujitsu: European chief Paul Patterson apologised to MPs for its role and said the company has a ‘moral obligation’ to contribute to compensation payments, which led to a $1bn overnight fall in the Japanese firm’s share value. Questions over the company’s culpability and ongoing involvement in UK public sector contracts aren’t going away, but next week the inquiry at the heart of the scandal will turn its attention to Post Office probes into those accused of embezzling money. Three days of hearings featuring investigators involved in the prosecution of Scottish sub-postmaster William Quarm start on Tuesday (January 23), followed by a session focusing on Northern Irish victims Alan McLaughlin and Maureen McKelvey on Friday (January 26). The sessions will likely follow up on claims of investigator bonuses and the suggestion that Post Office executives’ remuneration may have included money wrongly taken from branch managers.
Round two of the Barbenheimer battle heats up on Tuesday (January 23) with the announcement of this year’s Oscar nominations. The two blockbuster films, released on the same week in July, are joined by Martin Scorsese’s blockbuster, Killers of the Flower Moon, as the films most likely to win the coveted Best Picture award. Unlike at the box office, critics predict Oppenheimer will claim the crown, as well as the best actor gong for Irishman and Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy. British attention will be on the best actress category, where Emily Blunt could receive a nomination for her role in Oppenheimer, as well as the best animated feature category, which could see a nod for the team at Aardman Animations for Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel presents the awards for the fourth time.
Looking abroad
All eyes will be on New Hampshire on Tuesday (January 23) for the Granite State’s presidential primaries, with much attention likely focused on Nikki Haley’s performance. Haley came in third in Iowa, where former president Donald Trump secured a dominant victory that some are already arguing shows the race for the GOP nomination is effectively over. If under-pressure Haley fails to at least come close to Trump on Tuesday, expect many more voices to declare Trump the party’s presumptive nominee. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is a distant third in New Hampshire polls, returns to South Carolina over the weekend, though he’s due back in New Hampshire next week ahead of Tuesday’s primary.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who used his annual press conference this week to announce Moscow had rejected proposals to resume nuclear arms control talks because of Washington’s support for Ukraine, will be in New York on Monday (January 22) to attend a Security Council meeting expected that day on the conflict. On Tuesday (January 23), he’ll participate in the Council’s quarterly debate on the situation in the Middle East, likely dominated by the conflict in Gaza but now almost certain to also include a discussion on US-led strikes on Yemen’s Houthis in response to attacks on ships in Red Sea. All three conflicts will also be on the agenda at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday (January 22), who will be joined by counterparts from Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan as well as Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Following his visit to Davos earlier this week, firebrand Argentinian president Javier Milei will face the first major challenge to his radical policy prescription for the ailing Latin American country when unions hold a general strike and major protest on Wednesday (January 24). The shows of opposition are timed to take place the day before a planned vote on Milei’s omnibus legislation, with a modified version of the bill due before the National Congress on Thursday (January 25) following committee sessions earlier in the week.
Amid tensions with Moscow, new NATO member Finland votes on its next president on Sunday (January 28). With popular president Sauli Niinistö, once dubbed the ‘Putin whisperer’ for his contacts with the Russian leader prior to the invasion, stepping down after two six-year terms in office, polls suggest a close race between right-leaning triathlete Alexander Stubb and Pekka Haavisto, the main left-leaning candidate who would make history by becoming the country’s first gay president. The Finnish president has considerable powers, notably when it comes to foreign and security policy, but unfortunately for Russia there’s little daylight between Stubb and Haavisto when it comes to the threat posed by Moscow. A runoff, if needed, takes place on February 11 and the winner will take office at the start of March.