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
The Supreme Court confirmed this morning that its final opinions of the term will be announced on Monday (July 1), meaning it’s now certain that’s when it will rule in the blockbuster case over Donald Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution over his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
During arguments at the end of April, the justices appeared inclined to reject Trump’s claim to absolute immunity from prosecution. But the court’s conservative majority seemed receptive to arguments that certain official conduct by a president might indeed require immunity, prompting suggestions of a ruling that could delay the trial beyond November. Others, though, argue that there are various scenarios that could still result in a trial getting underway before the election.
Whatever the court rules, its decision will further ratchet up tensions in the run up to what is fast becoming one of the most contentious elections in America’s history, particularly after Thursday’s CNN debate led to frenzied speculation that Joe Biden could be forced to drop out of the race over his dismal performance.
Beyond the Trump immunity case, a ruling will also come on Monday in a pair of First Amendment cases over Florida and Texas laws limiting the ability of social media companies to remove certain political posts or accounts.
The build up to this year’s Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog-Eating Contest on New York’s Coney Island on Thursday (July 4) has been overshadowed by the hard-to-swallow news that 16-time Mustard Belt champ Joey Chestnut has been barred from the competition.
The reluctant decision to exclude Chestnut, described by Major League Eating as ‘the greatest eater in history’, was due to his deal with plant-based brand Impossible Foods, something organizers said violated a core principle that competitors not represent rival hot dog brands.
Chestnut’s absence means that for the first time in years the contest will be competitive. While only ranked fifth on MLE’s eating rankings, Australian James Webb is considered the favorite. Not only does Webb have six records to his name this year – including at the ManorPalooza World Texas Sausage-Eating Championship in May – he also defeated Chestnut himself last September at the US Chicken Wing Eating Championship, when he polished off 276 wings in 12 minutes, 36 more than Chestnut could manage in the same time.
For those who still yearn to see Chestnut in action, Netflix have announced plans for a live contest on Labor Day (September 2) that will see Chestnut take on another legendary veteran of the sport, Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi, in their first competition since 2009.
Looking abroad
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak came out swinging in the final TV debate this week ahead of the UK’s election on Thursday (July 4), repeatedly calling on voters to not ‘surrender’ to Labour as he picked fights with opposition leader Keir Starmer over border controls, taxation and welfare. But despite an improvement in his personal performance, the status quo remains and the prospect of Sunak and his party overturning a daunting poll lead for Labour looks remote.
Despite the best efforts of Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey and Reform leader Nigel Farage over the last six weeks, this election has always been a straight fight between Labour and the Tories, and with just five days of campaigning left until voters go the polls, it looks highly likely that the UK will have a change of government for the first time in 14 years. Sunak said last month he would remain an MP for five years if he’s ousted as prime minister, but it’s hard to imagine there being much support for his leadership if the party’s losses are as heavy as the projections. Given the pre-election manoeuvering to replace Sunak, the prospects seem high of a fourth leadership election in five years taking place in short order.
The all-important second round of France’s snap elections takes place on Sunday (July 7) with Emmanuel Macron’s decision to dissolve parliament looking riskier by the day. The far-right Rassemblement National is leading polls going in to the first round this Sunday (June 30), followed by the far-left Nouveau Front Populaire bloc, with the Macron-supporting Ensemble bloc trailing in third place.
Technically, any candidate gaining more than 12.5% of votes can choose take part in a second round of voting, but Ensemble will face tremendous pressure to withdraw their candidates to reduce the chances of an RN majority in parliament. And a hung parliament appears a very real possibility, potentially triggering a period of political instability that would effectively render Macron a lame-duck president until his term ends in 2027.
Hungary takes over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on Monday (July 1), putting Budapest in charge of the EU’s agenda for the next six months. The theme for its presidency is Make Europe Great Again, a characteristically unsubtle nod to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s embrace of fellow strongman Donald Trump. Orban, sometimes referred to as Europe’s enfant terrible, is widely viewed as Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in Europe, prompting concerns Hungary might use the influence that comes with the presidency to deprioritize talks on Ukraine’s accession to the bloc, which officially opened earlier this week.
Orban’s recent vocal opposition to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s reappointment and the postponement of planned visit next week by von der Leyen and the College of Commissioners to Budapest to mark the start of Hungary’s presidency both suggest tensions between Hungary and the EU may be on full display over the next six months.