News diary 27 May – 2 June: Trump trial closes, elections in South Africa and Mexico, Murdoch wedding

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

Rupert Murdoch in June 2023. Picture: Victoria Jones/PA Wire

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

Leading the week

After last week’s soft launch, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak finally fired the starting gun on Wednesday for a general election campaign that’s been looming all year. Speculation about the date had been growing steadily more intense through the day before a rain-drenched Sunak stood outside Number 10 to say the nation would go to the polls for the first July election since 1945. The campaign has been brewing for months as the prime minister and Labour leader Keir Starmer rattled sabres at PMQs and backbenchers indulged in some fractious mud-slinging, and Starmer last week unveiled a very campaign-friendly set of new pledges.

Questions have already been raised over Sunak’s decision to call an election now, with Labour surging into a huge lead in the polls and the Conservatives losing a series of damaging by-elections before this month’s disappointing local results, but the prime minister seems to have decided that the positive economic news from the last couple of weeks is a strong enough platform to take to the country. Parliament is being prorogued today after a few outstanding bills are rushed through wash-up, but before dissolution on Thursday (May 30) marks the formal end of the current term, we can look forward to seeing and hearing a lot more from Sunak and Starmer over the next week as the electioneering proper begins.

In Scotland, Labour and the SNP will be given another opportunity to outline their offers to the electorate at the Prosper Forum business conference on Thursday (May 30), where both Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar are due to deliver keynote addresses. With Labour inching ahead of the SNP in pre-election polling following the chaos that marred Humza Yousaf’s departure as first minister, Sarwar will be keen to expand upon Labour’s plans for Scotland as he bids to restore Labour’s place as the biggest party in the country.

Looking abroad

After Donald Trump’s legal team rested its case without the former president testifying in his own defence, closing arguments are now scheduled on Tuesday (May 28) in what appears to be the only criminal case against Trump that will go to trial before November’s election. Jury deliberations are slated to begin as soon as Wednesday (May 29), with a unanimous verdict required to convict Trump on any of the 34 counts he faces, which each carry a maximum sentence of up to four years in prison. But there’s no guarantee the judge would impose a prison sentence at all in the event of a guilty verdict, given Trump’s lack of a previous criminal record and the non-violent nature of the alleged crimes.

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Following the controversial announcement at the start of this week from ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan that he’s seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, the conflict looks set to continue to dominate international news next week. EU foreign ministers will take stock of the latest developments when they gather in Brussels on Monday (May 27), joined by Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the UAE, and Qatar.

The gathering comes ahead of the joint recognition of Palestinian statehood by Ireland, Spain and Norway, which is scheduled to take effect on Tuesday (May 28). The countries’ coordinated announcement earlier this week prompted a furious response from Israel, with Foreign Minister Israel Katz promising serious consequences for the trio over their decision ‘to reward Hamas murderers and rapists, who raped girls and burned babies, with a gold medal’. On Wednesday (May 29), there is likely to be further recriminations from all sides when the UN Security Council meets to discuss the conflict.

The ‘year of elections’ continues on Wednesday (May 29) when South Africa holds what are being described as its most important parliamentary and presidential elections since 1994, amid speculation the ruling ANC is set to receive its lowest-ever vote share. Former president Jacob Zuma, who has been barred from running as a candidate, may still end up as a kingmaker if his new uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party performs strongly.

In Mexico, where presidential and parliamentary elections take place on Sunday (June 2), all eyes are on the ruling Morena party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum, who will become the country’s first female president if she can capitalise on her frontrunner status. Sheinbaum is facing off against another woman, opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez, meaning regardless of who wins, the election will be a watershed moment in a country where women did not gain full voting rights until 1953.

Also look out for

May 27

World Health Assembly opens: deadline for submission on pandemic preparedness accord
Yoon Suk-yeol hosts trilateral summit between South Korea, Japan and China
Emmanuel Macron speech in Dresden
French parliament begins debate on end-of-life legislation
State of emergency expires in New Caledonia
Brussels VII Conference on Syria
Small Islands Developing States Conference (SIDS4)
Spring Bank Holiday

May 28