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 debate over pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses looks set to continue into next week as the conflict grinds on and commencement season gathers steam. Although Columbia University has now cancelled its main ceremony, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke is likely to address the controversy surrounding protests when she speaks at the law school’s ceremony on Monday (May 13). A House Judiciary Committee subcommittee will then on Wednesday (May 15) become the latest Congressional panel to hold a hearing on campus antisemitism as Republicans seek to leverage the issue for political point scoring. Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the most vocal defenders of student protesters, is then scheduled to deliver the University of New England’s commencement address on Saturday (May 18) in Portland, while President Joe Biden could face a backlash from students critical of his stance on the protests when he heads to Atlanta on Sunday (May 19) to deliver a speech at Morehouse College’s commencement ceremony.
Following the at times graphic testimony this week from Stormy Daniels in former president Donald Trump’s hush money trial, the prosecution will continue to make its case with Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen expected to take to the witness stand as soon as Monday (May 13) in what is shaping up to be a busy week in the courts. Besides the Trump case, the trial of New Jersey’s Senator Bob Menendez is due get underway on Monday with jury selection as he fights accusations of involvement in a wide-ranging corruption scheme to help the Egyptian and Qatari governments in exchange for lucrative bribes. Then, on Tuesday (May 14), Ippei Mizuhara, the former long-time interpreter for Japanese baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani, will make his first appearance in court since prosecutors announced that he had agreed to a plea deal after being accused of stealing nearly $17 million to fuel his gambling habit.
In business news, next week will see Fed Chair Jay Powell take part in a discussion on Tuesday (May 14) in Amsterdam ahead of the release of the all-important consumer price index on Wednesday (May 15), when retail sales figures are also released. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation chair Martin Gruenberg will make the first of two scheduled appearances next week before Congress when he appears on Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee. The hearing is the first opportunity for lawmakers to grill Gruenberg since the release this week of a scathing report on the toxic workplace culture at the FDIC that has led to calls for his resignation; Gruenberg is due to appear again on Thursday (May 16), this time before the Senate Banking Committee. Lastly, shareholders of troubled aircraft manufacturer Boeing will gather virtually for their annual meeting on Friday (May 17), the first such gathering since CEO David Calhoun announced he would be stepping down at the end of the year.
Looking abroad
Lawmakers in Georgia are scheduled to hold the third and final reading of the country’s controversial ‘foreign agents’ bill on Friday (May 17). The legislation has prompted major pro-European Union protests amid fears it will be used to crack down on free speech and opposition voices ahead of elections expected at the end of October, as well as damaging Georgia’s prospects of joining the EU. Although Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has said she will veto the bill, the ruling Georgian Dream party and its allies have the votes to override her.
Cannes Film Festival opens in France’s Côte d’Azur on Tuesday (May 14) amid swirling rumors this year’s gathering may be upended by the publication of a list of figures from the French film industry accused of sexual impropriety. Last year’s festival featured premieres of three films which went on to receive nods for Best Picture at the Oscars, and there are a slate of releases from major directors this year that could repeat that feat, along with an out of competition premiere for the latest instalment of the Mad Max franchise. Cinema great Francis Ford Coppola is among nominees for the prestigious Palme d’Or for his latest Megalopolis, alongside auteur David Cronenberg and Poor Things director Yórgos Lánthimos. Screen legend Meryl Streep, meanwhile, is set receive an honorary award at the opening ceremony on Tuesday in what will only be her second ever appearance at the festival after the event opens with a comedy by French filmmaker Quentin Dupieux. The Palme d’Or is awarded at the festival’s conclusion on May 25.