1. Sunak ‘written off as PM’
Senior Tories have written off Rishi Sunak as a potential PM following the row over his US green card and his wife’s tax affairs, reported The Observer. One former Tory minister told the paper that Conservative MPs with small majorities fear the party is in a “death spiral” with its two leading men – the PM and chancellor – both having lost respect among voters. Meanwhile, noted The Telegraph, Sunak is the first chancellor to have registered a holding in an investment fund since the creation of the official list of ministerial interests in 2009.
2. Khan ousted in Pakistan
Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan has been ousted after losing a vote of no confidence. Opposition politicians tabled the motion last Sunday and Khan responded by dissolving parliament and calling a snap election - a move the supreme court later ruled was illegal. Khan, the “former premier cricketer turned pious Islamist politician,” has been “fighting for his political life for weeks, after losing his parliamentary majority,” said The Guardian. The parliament’s lower house will meet on Monday to vote for a new PM.
3. Ventilators pulled after warning
Two thousand ventilators in UK hospitals are at risk of suddenly shutting down due to electrical faults, reported The Observer. Hospitals have been ordered to source replacement ventilators after Philips Respironics issued a warning that its breathing support devices could suddenly stop working, potentially without activating a warning alarm. Globally, there have been 389 reports of failures, including one where the patient died and four where they were seriously injured. There have been five reported cases of shutdowns in the UK, none of which involved patient harm.
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4. Le Pen boost for France poll
French voters will cast their ballots in the first round of the presidential elections today, after recent polls suggested a fall in Emmanuel Macron’s lead over his main challenger, the far-right hopeful Marine Le Pen. Four weeks ago, Le Pen was trailing Macron by 10 points but now she is seen as the favourite to challenge him for the presidency in the run-off vote. If she does make it through to the second round, opinion polls suggest a Le Pen victory is within the margin of error.
5. Johnson visits Ukraine
Boris Johnson has held talks in Kyiv with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. Following the meeting, which No 10 said was a “show of solidarity” with the Ukrainian people, the UK agreed to send 120 armoured vehicles and anti-ship missile systems to support Ukraine. Meanwhile, Zelensky said last night that Moscow’s target is “the whole European project”. He added that Ukraine is ready for a tough battle with Russian forces in the east.
6. Sweden and Finland eye NATO
Finland and Sweden could soon join NATO in moves that would “likely infuriate Moscow” and “further underscore Russia’s strategic error in invading Ukraine,” said CNN. NATO officials said that serious discussions about Sweden and Finland joining the bloc have been held and US senior State Department officials said the prospect was raised at this week’s NATO foreign ministerial, which was attended by the foreign ministers from Stockholm and Helsinki. A former Finnish PM said the move to join “was pretty much a done deal on the 24th of February, when Russia invaded”.
7. Trump son’s texts revealed
Donald Trump Jr pressured the White House chief of staff to consider strategies to overturn his father’s defeat in the 2020 US presidential election, reported CNN. Text messages show how the former president’s son told Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, “we have operational control” to ensure the Republican president could remain in power for a second term. He suggested pressuring election officials to overturn the results and filing lawsuits to challenge vote counts in crucial swing states.
8. Referendum plan for name changes
Councils will have to hold mini referendums before changing street names, under ministerial plans to stop roads from being renamed under pressure from campaigners. The plans, from Michael Gove’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, are intended to help prevent councils from erasing centuries of local heritage without consulting residents. Haringey Council in north London is changing the name of Black Boy Lane and Lambeth Council has asked residents whether streets, including Tulse Hill, should be re-named.
9. Ronaldo sorry for fan incident
Cristiano Ronaldo has apologised after footage emerged appearing to show him breaking a fan’s phone. Video was shared on social media suggesting the Manchester United star smashed the device as he left the pitch after his side’s 1-0 loss at Everton. Later, Ronaldo said on social media “it’s never easy to deal with emotions in difficult moments such as the one we are facing” but “nevertheless, we always have to be respectful, patient and set the example for all the youngsters who love the beautiful game”.
10. Save the rose campaign launched
An initiative has been unveiled to convince a new generation of gardeners to buy rose plants. Sales of home-grown rose plants have declined from 65 million a year in the 1960s to just five million last year as young people reportedly consider the bloom to be “old-fashioned and twee”. Now, a campaign championed by ITV’s David Domoney will argue that the flower does not require months of toil and can actually create “instant gardens”.
