News diary 22-28 January: Telegraph Ofcom/CMA deadline, Oscar noms, Adam Johnson inquest opens London Journal

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

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. 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 the Irish 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.

Also look out for

January 22

Scottish health chiefs appear at Covid-19 inquiry
Trial of former British Virgin Islands premier on drugs charges
MPs debate offshore licensing bill
Donald Trump may testify in E. Jean Carroll damages trial
Narendra Modi attends Shri Ram Temple Ayodhya opening
Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron meet in Berlin

January 23

Wes Streeting and Sajid Javid address IfG Government 2024 conference
BMA referendum on NHS consultants pay offer closes
CAT hearing in class action case against Mastercard
Ukraine Defense Contact Group meets
Nicholas Rossi appears in court in Utah
Doomsday Clock press conference
Carabao Cup semi final: Chelsea v Middlesbrough

January 24

Rishi Sunak faces Keir Starmer at PMQs
Parole hearing for Gary Glitter
Gillian Keegan at opening morning of BETT
Chief of the General Staff at International Armoured Vehicles conference
Carabao Cup semi final: Fulham v Liverpool

January 25

Humza Yousaf and Alister Jack at Covid-19 inquiry
Strike by Amazon staff at Birmingham fulfilment centre
London Assembly session on draft 2024/25 budget
Lucy Frazer speech at Onward event on philanthropy in the UK
Mark Drakeford in conversation at the IfG
Alabama inmate due to be executed using nitrogen gas
French Constitutional Court rules on controversial new immigration law
US Q4 GDP
Tuvalu elections

January 26

Ofcom/CMA deadline for report on Telegraph acquisition
Inquest opens into death of ice hockey player Adam Johnson
Family of Sara Sharif appear in court
Donald Trump addresses Arizona Freedom Fest
Nicholas Rossi back in court on separate rape charge
China and Saudi Arabia reports adopted at UN Human Rights Council UPR session
Emmanuel Macron in India to mark 75^th Republic Day

January 27

Australian Open women’s final
FA Cup fourth round
Joe Biden visits South Carolina

January 28

Australian Open men’s final
Annual Bloody Sunday commemoration march
NFL Conference championship games

Statistics, reports and results

January 22

Centre for Cities Cities Outlook
FSB Small Business Index

January 23

Public sector finances
JRF annual report on poverty in the UK
HPV vaccine coverage in England 2022/23
IEA Electricity Market Report 2024
Japan interest rate decision
Results from: Netflix, Johnson and Johnson, General Electric, Halliburton, Associated British Foods, Raytheon, Verizon, Visa, Procter and Gamble, United Airlines, Ericsson

January 24

Biannual police workforce statistics
DWP cold weather payment statistics
NAO report on government support for biomass
CBI Industrial Trends Survey
Flash UK PMI
Bank of Canada interest rate announcement
Results from: Tesla Motors, IBM, AT&T, Freeport McMoRan

January 25

Quarterly stats on crime in England and Wales
Population estimates by marital status and living arrangements
NHS sickness absence and workforce statistics
SMMT automotive production
CBI Monthly Survey of Distributive Trades
ECB, Turkey and South Africa interest rate decisions
South Korea Q4 GDP
Results from: Dow, Capital One, Union Pacific, Nokia, Southwest Airlines, Comcast, Eurotunnel, Halfords

January 26