Six In The Morning Friday 24 June 2019

 

Theresa May expected to announce her resignation – live news

Latest news as prime minister widely expected to bow to pressure from Tory MPs and reveal the date she will leave Downing Street

This is an interesting thread from the Guardian’s Paris bureau chief, Angelique Chrisafis, who visited the north west to write this pieceabout the fallout from the Brexit chaos from a European perspective. “No idea how this all ends,” she concludes.

Angelique Chrisafis

@achrisafis

Went back to north west England to look at political fallout from Brexit chaos from European view
Some things I noticed –
Britain has a level of disillusionment with the political system that is greater than in almost all other EU countries & growing 1/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/may/24/disaffected-voters-boost-brexit-party-across-north-west?CMP=share_btn_tw 

India braces for Kashmir backlash as ‘most wanted’ militant shot dead by security forces

Zakir Musa was leader of an al-Qaeda affiliate in disputed region between India and Pakistan

Adam WithnallDelhi @adamwithnall

India says it has killed the separatist leader Zakir Musa, a man widely referred to as the country’s “most wanted terrorist”, during an operation in southern Kashmir.

Musa was the head of an al-Qaeda linked group in Indian administered Kashmir, and the most prominent armed militant working to oppose Delhi’s rule over the restive region.

Colonel Rajesh Kalia, an Indian army spokesman, said security forces tracked Musa to a village in the southern Tral area of the valley and encircled the civilian home where he was hiding, in what is known as a “cordon and search” operation.

Netherlands poll surprise: Anti-EU parties fall short

Pro-European parties in the Netherlands are predicted to win most of the country’s European Parliament seats, exit polls show. Dutch voters were among the first to take part in four days of voting across the continent.

Dutch pro-EU parties were on track for a surprise win in the European Parliament election, according to an exit poll Thursday that suggested that populist Euroskeptics had failed to make previously forecasted gains.

The Labor party of European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans looked set to win five out of the 26 seats allocated for the Netherlands, according to the Ipsos poll for the Dutch public broadcaster NOS.

After years of fierce debate, Taiwan celebrates the first same-sex weddings in Asia

Updated 0828 GMT (1628 HKT) May 24, 2019

Beaming in the bright sunshine, Amber Wang took the hand of her new wife, Kristin Huang, on the steps of the Xinyi District office in Taipei, Friday, making history as one of the first same-sex couples to marry in Asia.

As of 10am, 166 same-sex couples had already registered their marriages across Taiwan, according to the island’s Interior Ministry.
But just kilometers away, in the city’s outer suburbs, emboldened opponents of marriage equality announced to the press that they would create a new political party to fight for a ban on same-sex marriage at the 2020 election.

Iran vows no surrender – even if bombed by ‘enemies’

War rhetoric ratchets up again as Iranian president says his people will never give up the fight for their independence.

Iran will not surrender to US pressure and will never abandon its goals even if it is attacked, President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Iran’s top military chief said the standoff between Tehran and Washington was a “clash of wills”, warning any enemy “adventurism” would meet a crushing response, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Tensions are festering between the two countries after Washington sent more military hardware to the Middle East in a show of force against what US officials say are Iranian threats to its troops and interests in the region.

School students walk out in global climate strike

School students in Australia and New Zealand have gone on strike, marking the start of a worldwide day of climate change protests.

Organisers expect more than one million young people will participate in at least 110 countries on Friday.

The protesters are calling for politicians and businesses to take action to fight climate change.

The strikes are inspired by school student Greta Thunberg who protested outside Sweden’s parliament in 2018.