May 7, 2015

Top News Stories –

British Election 2015: Exit poll puts Tories close to majority –
The Conservatives are set to be the largest party in the Commons but just short of a majority, according to the general election exit poll. The survey taken at polling stations across the UK suggests the Tories will get 316 MPs to Labour’s 239 when all the results have been counted. It suggests the Lib Dems will get 10 MPs, the SNP 58, Plaid Cymru 4, UKIP 2 and the Greens two. The exit poll was conducted by NOP/MORI for the BBC, ITV and Sky. [BBC] See List of the Day for previous election actual results
Exit Poll predictions BBC Exit Polls

Putin’s new tank designed to ‘outclass the West’ breaks down –
A new Russian tank announced with much fanfare as superior to Western machines stalled during a dress rehearsal for Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on Thursday. The T-14 Armata, making only its second public appearance, ground to a halt on Red Square, opposite Vladimir Lenin’s mausoleum.
Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minster, was reportedly forced to approach the tank to find out what had happened; servicemen then tried to hook it up to another military vehicle and tow it away. [Daily Telegraph]

Sam Smith to have surgery on vocal cords –
Singer Sam Smith has told his fans he needs “surgery” on his vocal cords. The 22-year-old singer pulled out of the rest of his Australian tour last week, after doctors discovered a haemorrhage on the vocal cords. Smith has since flown to the United States to see a specialist. In a post on Twitter, he said: “I am very upset to announce I have been battling to get my vocal cords better [over] the last 10 days but unfortunately they haven’t recovered and I’m going to need surgery.” [Daily Telegraph]
Sam-Smith-2014Sam Smith

Video of the Day –

Magic Mike XXL – Official Trailer

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May 8, 2015

Top News Stories –

British General Election results in a surprise Conservative majority and the resignation of three opposition leaders –
Summary of the major stories [BBC]:

2015-UK-Election-results
[BBC]

 

Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions –
Jerry Nixon, a Microsoft development executive, said in a conference speech this week that Windows 10 would be the “last version” of the dominant desktop software. His comments were echoed by Microsoft which said it would update Windows in future in an “ongoing manner”. Instead of new stand-alone versions, Windows 10 would be improved in regular instalments, the firm said. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Rain’s Dirty Little Secret

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May 6, 2016

Top News Stories –

Labour’s Sadiq Khan elected London mayor –
Sadiq Khan has been elected the new Mayor of London – boosting Labour after it slumped in Scotland’s elections. Mr Khan is the city’s first Muslim mayor, after beating Tory Zac Goldsmith by 1,310,143 votes to 994,614. The result bolsters leader Jeremy Corbyn after Labour was beaten into third in Scotland by the Tories and lost some English councillors.
In Scotland, the SNP said it would form a minority government after winning its third election in a row. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is celebrating what she said was an “emphatic” victory, her first as party leader, after the SNP emerged as the largest party at Holyrood with 63 seats, ahead of the Conservatives on 31 and Labour on 24. But she played down talk of another independence referendum after falling short by two seats of an overall majority. In Wales, Labour remains as the largest party, with 29 out of 60 seats, but was denied a majority as Plaid Cymru and UKIP both made notable gains. [BBC]
Sadiq_Khan Sadiq_Khan

China bans ‘erotic’ banana-eating live streams –
Chinese live-streaming services have banned people filming themselves eating bananas in a “seductive” fashion. New regulations mean that live-streaming sites must monitor all their output round-the-clock to ensure nothing untoward is going on, keeping an eye out for any “erotic” banana-eating, according to New Express Daily. It’s not just fruit that’s on their radar though – the paper adds that wearing stockings and suspenders while hosting a live stream is now also forbidden. The move is the authorities’ latest attempt to clamp down on “inappropriate and erotic” online content, state-controlled CCTV reports. In April, the Ministry of Culture announced it was investigating a number of popular live-streaming platforms for allegedly hosting pornographic or violent content that “harms social morality”. Despite the government’s concerns, such sites are attracting more and more users in China. Particularly popular are webcam sessions where young women – and sometimes girls under 18 – entertain a predominantly male audience, often singing Chinese songs or chatting to their viewers. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Inside a 6ft Air Balloon – 4K – The Slow Mo Guys

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks
Law and crime
  • A man is killed, and two others are injured (a man in critical condition and a woman with non-life-threatening injuries), in the parking lot of Westfield Montgomery Mall in Potomac in Montgomery County, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. Soon after, a woman is killed at a grocery store some miles away. Police suspect that the same shooter may be behind both crime scene incidents. Police in both Montgomery County and neighboring Prince George’s County are also examining whether this person is the same as the male involved in the fatal shooting the previous day of a woman, Gladys Tordil, who was allegedly shot (a bystander who tried to help was also wounded) by her estranged abusive husband, tentatively identified as Eulalio Tordil, 62, a former Federal Protective Service officer. (MSN) (CNN)
Politics and elections
Science and technology
Sports

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December 13, 2019

United Kingdom Election result

The Conservative Party has won a big majority after sweeping aside Labour in its traditional heartlands.

Boris Johnson – new British Prime Minister

What’s happened?

  • The Conservative Party has won a majority of at least 78, its biggest general election victory since 1987
  • With one constituency left to declare, the Conservatives have 364 seats, Labour 203, the SNP 48, the Liberal Democrats 11, the DUP 8, Sinn Fein 7, Plaid Cymru 4, the SDLP 2, the Green Party 1, the Alliance Party 1
  • St Ives, Cornwall, is yet to declare
  • The SNP has won more seats than in 2017
  • For the first time, nationalist parties in Northern Ireland have taken more seats than unionists
  • Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party failed to win a seat

The Brexit effect

The Conservatives increased their vote share in many areas that voted Leave in the 2016 EU referendum.

vote share changes in leave and remain areas

By contrast they lost votes in strong Remain constituencies such as those in Scotland and London. But Labour lost votes in both strong Remain and strong Leave areas.

Strong Leave and strong Remain constituencies are those where an estimated 60% or more of the electorate voted for that option at the EU referendum.

These estimates of constituency Brexit votes were modelled by Professor Chris Hanretty, as the 2016 referendum result was only recorded by local authority and not by Westminster constituency.

The Conservatives were clear winners in constituencies estimated to have voted majority Leave in 2016. They won almost three quarters of all these seats.

By contrast, there was no clear winner among Remain backing constituencies, with a crowded field of parties all winning substantial numbers of seats.

[BBC]

Twitter trends UK [from Trendinalia]

Other News Stories –

Business and economy

  • China–United States trade war
    • Both countries announce an initial deal where new tariffs to be mutually imposed on December 15 would not be implemented. China says it “will buy more high quality of American agricultural products”, while the United States says it will halve the existing 15% tariffs. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

Politics and elections

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