April 25, 2024 - 5:50pm

→ Nancy Pelosi blames Russia for Palestine protests

Who’s really behind the ongoing pro-Palestine protests that have put Joe Biden on the defensive? According to Nancy Pelosi, it’s Vladimir Putin.

The former House speaker told Ireland’s RTÉ News this week that the wave of dissent against the President’s support for Israel has a certain “Russian tinge”. Sound familiar? Pelosi actually claimed in January that Russia was working behind the scenes to sour American voters on Biden ahead of November’s election. At another event during Pelosi’s Ireland visit, a student protester interrupted an event to call her a Zionist war criminal. No matter — the young lady was probably just a Kremlin stooge.

→ China is a growing threat for Americans

Maybe Donald Trump was onto something. Among all the foreign-policy issues Americans face, one in particular seems to be rising in salience: China. According to a new Pew poll, US citizens are increasingly concerned about limiting the power and influence of Beijing as a long-term goal, with the percentage of Americans who consider it a priority rising by 17 percentage points from 2018. From 32% six years ago, the figure is now 49%. A similar proportion — 50% — cited Russian influence as a major concern.

The rise of rival superpowers would appear to be more of a worry than backing countries which are outwardly American allies: support for Ukraine and Israel was a priority for only 23% and 22% of respondents, respectively. Topping the league table was protecting the US from terrorist attacks, with 73% of the public thinking it should be a long-term priority. Presumably that definition includes January 6…

→ Rishi Sunak shows off geezer credentials

Though “Rishi Sunak” and “Hardest Geezer” are not words one might expect to find together in a sentence, the Prime Minister today took time out of his busy schedule to go on a jog with the man who’s just run the length of Africa. Russ Cook, known online as “Hardest Geezer”, completed his challenge earlier this month, covering 16,000 km and 16 countries over 352 days, in the process raising more than £1 million for charity.

This morning’s jog with Sunak around Westminster looked more sedate, but the Prime Minister still found time to discuss how he took up running to impress his future wife and how national security is the issue which causes him the most stress. Travelling the length of Africa on foot is a Herculean task, but surely more manageable than avoiding a Labour general election victory.