Rishi Sunak has been sweating under the media spotlight this week, after facing the threat of a major Conservative rebellion over his controversial Rwanda policy.
Dozens of Tories had threatened to rebel over the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, on the grounds that government plans to send some asylum seekers to the African nation were not robust enough to survive legal challenges. But in the end, only 11 Conservative hardliners, including former home secretary Suella Braverman, voted against the legislation, which passed by 320 votes to 276 in the Commons on Wednesday.
As the prime minister braced for another battle in the House of Lords, where the bill is likely to face significant opposition, his party's campaign chief, Isaac Levido, dismissed polling that predicted the Tories would face a thrashing at the next general election as "false" and "orchestrated" to "undermine" his boss.
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Whoever wins the election may face a shake-up of the UK's relations with the US, after Donald Trump enjoyed a decisive victory in Monday's Iowa caucuses. If Trump goes on to win the GOP nomination, he faces a bitter rematch against Joe Biden at this year's presidential elections, with latest polls putting them neck and neck in the race to claim the White House.
As the Republican and Democrat front-runners battle to woo voters, immigration reform is a hot topic in the US as well as the UK. And according to pundits, presidential politics are at play as US lawmakers clash horns over how to deal with their borders crisis.
To find out how closely you’ve been paying attention to the latest developments in the news and other global events, put your knowledge to the test with our Quiz of The Week.
1. Who became Spain’s first parliamentarian with Down's syndrome?
Agustín Matía Amor
Carlos Mazón
Fintan Bray
Mar Galcerán
2. Sunday 21 January 2024 is the centenary of which Russian revolutionary's death?
Leon Trotsky
Vladimir Lenin
Joseph Stalin
Lev Kamenev
3. Which British royal was hospitalised for up to two weeks following abdominal surgery?
Catherine, Princess of Wales
King Charles
Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh
Princess Beatrice
4.Which Republican candidate was the runner-up in the Iowa caucuses?
Nikki Haley
Donald Trump
Vivek Ramaswamy
Ron DeSantis
5. NHS Scotland this week advised people to do what to avoid slipping on ice during the winter chill?
Wear specialised snow boots
Drive or stay at home
Walk like a penguin
Spray liquid de-icer before taking each step
6. Welsh rugby union star Louis Rees-Zammit is quitting to pursue a career playing which other sport?
American football
Hockey
Wrestling
Darts
7. Which US actor fuelled a long-running viral joke at Monday's Emmy Awards by giving "a shout-out to my people" in Ireland?
Melissa McCarthy
Ayo Edebiri
Jennifer Coolidge
Aubrey Plaza
8. Which tech giant surpassed Apple last Friday to become the most valuable publicly traded company in the world?
HP
Samsung
Microsoft
Sony
9. Which hit 1990s game show returned to TV screens last Saturday in a BBC reboot?
"Robot Wars"
"Fort Boyard"
"Supermarket Sweep"
"Gladiators"
10.Which sub-Saharan African nation was declared malaria-free this week?
Cape Verde
Benin
Mali
Senegal
(Image credit: The Week)
1. Mar Galcerán The 45-year-old has made history by becoming Spain's first parliamentarian with Down's syndrome, after being voted into Valencia's regional assembly. Galcerán has been involved in politics since the age of 18, when she joined the conservative People’s Party.
2. Vladimir Lenin The Bolshevik leader and architect of Soviet Russia continues to wield a profound influence over the nation. But the centenary of his death is expected to be met with silence from Vladimir Putin, who has condemned Lenin as a destabiliser of the state.
3. Princess of Wales Kate Middleton is recovering after having planned abdominal surgery at The London Clinic, a private hospital in Marylebone, on Tuesday. King Charles is also scheduled to be admitted to hospital next week, for treatment related to an enlarged prostate.
4. Ron DeSantis The governor of Florida claimed 21% of the vote in Monday's Iowa GOP caucuses, narrowly beating Nikki Haley on 19%, but trailing far behind Donald Trump on 51%. Vivek Ramaswamy came in fourth and has now dropped out ahead of the next vote in the Republican presidential nominating contest, in New Hampshire on 23 January.
5. Walk like a penguin
As an amber alert for snow was put in place in northwest Scotland and the Northern Isles, NHS Scotland said that "penguins know best" and advised adopting a penguin-like, waddling gait to prevent slips in icy conditions. For more stories from the stranger side of life, sign up to The Week's Tall Tales newsletter.
6.American football The 22-year-old winger stunned the rugby world on the eve of the Six Nations by y quitting the sport with immediate effect to pursue a career in the NFL. Find out more with The Week Unwrapped podcast.
7. Ayo Edebiri The Emmy-winning "The Bear" star was born in the US city of Boston but has been claimed as "Ireland's own" after repeatedly quipping about being Irish during awards speeches and red carpet interviews. Her tongue-in-cheek connection to Ireland began during last year's award season and has become an ongoing joke among social media users.
8.Microsoft The Washington-based tech company's stock market value was higher than that of Apple by the end of last Friday's US trading session, at $2.887 trillion and $2.875 trillion respectively. Microsoft's valuation has risen by more than $1 trillion in the past year, as the multinational takes the lead in generative artificial intelligence through an investment in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.
9. Gladiators More than three decades since debuting on ITV, the hit game show returned to the small screen last Saturday, on BBC One. Gladiators originally aired for 13 series between 1992 and 2000, before Sky attempted a short-lived revival in 2008, and is now back with father and son duo Bradley and Barney Walsh presiding over the action.
10.Cape Verde The island nation, off the coast of West Africa, has been declared malaria-free by the World Health Organization, which said that no locally-transmitted cases had been reported in three years. Cabo Verde is the fourth country in Africa to be certified malaria-free, after Algeria (2019), Morocco (2010) and Mauritius (1973).
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Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.
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