Election fever has gripped the UK press this week, with early results from the so-called Super Thursday voting spree pointing towards a string of victories for Boris Johnson’s Conservatives.
Labour suffered a historic defeat in the by-election in Hartlepool, which the party had held since 1974. And the opposition was braced for further painful losses in the battle to secure local council and mayoral seats,
North of the border, voters nervously awaited the final result of the Scottish parliamentary election. Nicola Sturgeon has argued that a majority win for her Scottish National Party would give a clear mandate for a second independence referendum - setting up another clash with Westminster.
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The US has joined a growing group of countries calling for a global waiver on Covid vaccine patents. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that “extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures” - but pharmaceutical companies and some European leaders remain unconvinced.
Meanwhile, a post-Brexit row over fishing rights has caused a wave of unrest around Jersey, with Johnson dispatching Navy gunboats to the Channel Island as around 60 French boats blockaded a port. The head of the Jersey Fishermen’s Association, Don Thompson, described the blockage as “pretty close to an act of war”.
Relations between the EU and China have also been put under further strain, over a decision to delay the ratification of an investment deal between Brussels and Beijing. EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told press that the deal would be suspended “for the moment” after the European Parliament slapped sanctions on a number of Chinese officials.
Over in Israel, the long-running political stalemate continued as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu missed the deadline for forming a coalition government following yet another inconclusive parliamentary election, in March. Israel’s longest-serving leader now faces an uncertain future as his rivals are handed the opportunity to form their own coalition.
And in Belgium, a farmer accidentally redrew the country’s border with France by moving a large rock that was blocking his tractor. A local historian who noticed the shift while out walking in woods near the village of Erquelinnes revealed that the rock had moved by 2.29 metres - and that it marked the border between the two nations.
