News diary 5-11 August: Kamala Harris to announce VP pick, Olympics final week, News Corp and NYT results

A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda next week, from the team at Foresight News.

Vice President Kamala Harris standing at a lectern at night and laughing at something to the side of the camera. She's wearing a pale pink blazer, white round-necked top and gold necklace — Kamala Harris. Picture: Shutterstock/DT phots1

A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda next week, from the team at Foresight News.

Leading the week

Following a week where far-right protesters have attacked police officers and torched cars, Brits will be hoping Keir Starmer’s speech calling for the Southport community to be given space to grieve will be enough to prevent further violence. There are planned protests by far-right groups around the country over the weekend and plans for a march in Newcastle on Saturday (August 10), so further unrest over the coming week could necessitate another political response and firmer police intervention.

The case of Lucy Letby comes into focus again with Channel 5 becoming the first broadcaster to air a documentary on the serial killer. The contents of the programme airing on Monday (August 5) and its title, ‘Lucy Letby: Did she really do it?’ are said to have infuriated families of her victims. The programme features interviews with Cheshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service, as well as medical experts and will increase publicity on a growing movement calling for a retrial in her case. Former cabinet minister David Davis plans to raise a number of questions in Parliament regarding her conviction when it returns from recess. Pro-Letby campaigners may also use the one-year anniversary of her verdict on August 18, where she was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six while working as a nurse at the Countess of Chester hospital, as a further opportunity for publicity. Her appeal against her convictions earlier this year failed and the CCRC has confirmed there are currently no plans to open her case.

Eluned Morgan is highly likely to be installed as the new First Minister of Wales next week as the Senedd is recalled for a vote on Tuesday (August 6) following the resignation of First Minister Vaughan Gething in early July after just three months in post. Dogged by scandals and controversies stemming from a controversial £200,000 campaign donation made by a businessman convicted of environmental offences, Gething’s short tenure split opinion within Wales’s ruling Labour party. This eventually led to the resignation of three senior government ministers, including Morgan herself, in mid-July. In the resulting leadership contest, Morgan was the only candidate to put herself forward for the role, and the former Welsh Minister for Health and Social Services is expected to command the support of all 30 Labour MSPs in the Welsh Parliament, out of a total of 60. Although other parties could put forward alternative candidates for the chamber’s consideration, Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds’ decision to abstain ensures Morgan will almost certainly be voted through as the new Welsh First Minister and be tasked with restoring stability in the devolved administration.

Looking abroad

The DNC’s virtual roll call formalizing Kamala Harris’ nomination as the Democrats’ presidential candidate will take place on Monday (August 5), and Harris is now expected to announce her choice of running mate that day before the pair hold their first rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday (August 6). Events follow in Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday (August 7), North Carolina on Thursday (August 8), Georgia and Arizona on Friday (August 9), and Nevada on Saturday (August 10) as the campaign hopes to capitalize on the momentum generated by the new dynamics in the race.

The list of potential VP picks has shifted over the last week, with North Carolina’s Governor Roy Cooper having ruled himself out of the running. The choice of Pennsylvania for the first event has fuelled speculation that she might select Governor Josh Shapiro, though Arizona Senator Mark Kelly continues to be viewed as a potential choice while Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear are among other names in the mix. Donald Trump, meanwhile, has so far only announced one event next week, a rally on Friday (August 9) in Montana, a state where Republicans are hopeful of flipping the Senate seat come November.

The final week of the Olympics will see a host of star names in some of the competition’s biggest events, with British hopefuls competing for medals in athletics, cycling, and skateboarding before the Paris Games comes to a close on Sunday (August 11). Monday (August 5) will see Simone Biles compete in her final two events of the competition, the beam and floor, after becoming the most decorated US Olympic gymnast in history. In track and field, keep an eye out for Swedish pole vaulting phenomenon Mondo Duplantis, the current Olympic and world champion who broke his own world record earlier this year and could do so again in the final on Monday evening. Team GB’s Keeley Hodgkinson will be hoping to go one better than her silver at the Tokyo games in the 800m final.

On Tuesday (August 6) highlights include the final in the women’s 200m track finals, where Team GB’s Dina Asher-Smith will be aiming to be in the mix for a medal in a race also likely to feature America’s Gabby Thomas, the fastest woman over the distance this year, Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson and St. Lucia’s Julien Alfred. In skateboarding, keep an eye out Team GB’s Sky Brown, who is competing in her second Olympics after winning a bronze in Tokyo at the age of 13, making her Britain’s youngest ever Olympic medallist. She’s competing despite dislocating her shoulder this week. The women’s skate park final prelims take place on Tuesday morning followed by the finals in the afternoon.

On Wednesday (August 7) the pick of the day is likely to be the men’s 400m track final, where Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith, the fastest man this year, will likely face Team USA’s Quincy Hall, the only other man to have run a sub 40 seconds this year. On Thursday (August 8) it’s the men’s 200m track final with Team USA’s Noah Lyles the favourite coming in to the race after running a world-leading 19.53 at the US trials, though Zharnel Hughes, the fastest-ever British male sprinter, will be hoping to be on the podium too. Thursday also sees the men’s sprint final, where Team GB’s hopes will be carried by Tokyo silver and bronze medallist Jack Carlin.

On Friday (August 9) there’s the always exciting men’s and women’s 100m relay finals on the track, where Team GB’s strong sprint squads are always competitive. Katarina Johnson-Thompson, competing in her fourth games, will be seeking a first Olympic medal when the women’s heptathlon concludes on Friday evening. Breakdancing will make its Olympic debut in the Place de la Concorde with the B-Girls competition, followed by B-Boys on Saturday (August 10). Competitors are scored on five categories – musicality, vocabulary, originality, technique and execution. Brit Laura Muir is another who’ll be looking to improve on the silver medal she secured in Toyko in the women’s 1500m, and former world 1500m champion Jake Wightman is competing over a shorter distance in an attempt to win a first Olympic medal in the men’s 800m. On Sunday (August 11) the women’s track sprint final will be a target for Emma Finucane, who claimed World and European titles last year at the age of 20 to become Britain’s first female world champion in a decade.

Also look out for:

August 5

Sentencing of former British Virgin Islands premier on drug trafficking charges
First batch of China’s G60 Starlink satellites expected to launch
Plea deals may be entered by three alleged 9/11 co-conspirators (this week)

August 6

SQA exam results
US hosts AUSMIN consultations
US NTSB board meeting on Alaska Airlines door blowout

August 7

NIESR quarterly economic forecast
Ruling due in Kimberlee Singer extradition case
Team GB hosts an evening with Mark Cavendish in Paris
One week ago: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran

August 8

Sentencing of employees at UK nuclear waste site over security failings
Nominations open in Scottish Conservative leadership election
Public debut of San Diego zoo’s new pandas

August 9

Inquest hearing into death of Brianna Ghey
English Football League season begins

August 10

FA Community Shield: Manchester City v Manchester Utd
International Olympic Committee session
Apprentice Boys march in Derry

August 11

Hugo Awards

Statistics, reports and results:

August 5

UK services PMI
SMMT car sales figures
OECD Consumer Price Indices
Fortune Global 500 listing
Results from: BioNTech

August 6

UK construction PMI
British Retail Consortium Retail Sales Monitor
Results from: Saudi Aramco, Uber, Airbnb, Bayer AG, Amgen, FIS Global, Caterpillar, Baxter International, Fox Corporation, InterContinental Hotels, abrdn, Yum! Brands, Molson Coors

August 7

Halifax House Price Index
Blue Book 2024 advanced aggregate estimates
Results from: SoftBank, Walt Disney Company, New York Times Company, Glencore, Honda Motors, Lyft, Sony, Olympus, WPP, Hiscox Group, Quilter, TP ICAP, Commerzbank, Novo Nordisk, Ferrexpo, CLS Holdings, Legal & General, Emerson Electric, Devon Energy, CVS Caremark, A.P. Moeller-Maersk, OXY

August 8

Police funding in England and Wales
Statutory homelessness statistics
NHS key services performance data
Monthly accident and emergency quality indicators
Deaths associated with hospitalisation
Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development
HIS Markit/REC Report on Jobs
Indian central bank interest rate decision
Results from: Siemens, News Corp, Paramount, Persimmon, Gilead Sciences, Eli Lilly, Harbour Energy, Take-Two Interactive, Rocket Lab

August 9