David Cameron has resigned as Prime Minister after the UK public voted to leave the European Union in the referendum.
A tearful Mr Cameron - his wife by his side - said the UK needed "fresh leadership" and that he had already spoken to the Queen about his decision.
The PM campaigned to remain in the EU but the public rejected his arguments and chose to leave the EU by 51.9% to 48.1%.
Speaking to masses of reporters outside Downing Street, the PM said he would aim to have new leader in place by the Tory party conference in October.
"The British people have voted to leave the European Union and their will must be respected," Mr Cameron said.
"The country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction," added the PM.
"I will do everything I can as Prime Minister to steady the ship over the coming weeks and months, but I don't think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination.
"This is not a decision I've taken lightly but I do believe it's in the national interest to have a period of stability and then the new leadership required."
Mr Cameron said he had fought the "only way I know how ... head, heart and soul" to stay in the EU but that voters had chosen a different path.
With tears in his eyes, his voice cracking slightly, the PM said: "I love this country, and I feel honoured to have served it and I will do everything I can in the future to help this great country succeed."
Friday, June 24, 2016
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Goodbye EU Campaign: Hello Referendum Result
The UK last had a referendum on European membership in 1975.
Now, 41 years later, it has held a second vote, once again brought about by an incumbent Prime Minister's attempts to hold his divided party together. Back then, Harold Wilson was Labour Leader, today David Cameron is Conservative Prime Minister.
Today’s referendum became inevitable when the Conservatives won an outright majority in the General Election last year – holding it was a pledge in the Tory manifesto which he was now obliged to deliver.
Cameron negotiated what he said was a binding new deal for the UK with his 27 European Union partners, and on his return from Brussels on 20 February 2016 he announced that the Referendum would be held on 23 June.
Even though the Government's official position was to remain in, the Prime Minister guaranteed that ministers could campaign on the side of their choice without endangering their careers.
As Brexit became a catchphrase, Cabinet Ministers Michael Gove, Chris Grayling, Theresa Villiers and John Whittingdale signed up, along with Iain Duncan Smith, who resigned from the Government in protest, he said, at George Osborne's budget.
After much public dithering, Boris Johnson threw in his lot with them, denying it was because he thought it was the quickest way to become Prime Minister.
Neither campaign got off to a good start.
The chair of the Britain Stronger in Europe, businessman Stuart Rose, had difficulty remembering his organisation's clunky name and little more was heard of him after he suggested leaving the EU could mean higher wages for British workers.
Two different groups battled for designation as the official Out campaign: Vote Leave, the Conservative dominated grouping, and Leave.EU, later rebranded Grassroots Out, dominated by the UKIP leader Nigel Farage and his main financial backer, Arron Banks.
Vote Leave won the designation but as the campaign wore on they increasingly made their case on Mr Farage's terms, suggesting they could curb immigration as their trump card.
Economic arguments dominated for the Remain campaign. Leading economic authorities, including the IMF, the governor of the Bank of England and Office of Budget Responsibility backed them up - all agreeing Britain would take a financial hit if it left the EU.
The experts roundly condemned Vote Leave's claim, emblazoned on their battle bus, that Britain sends £350m each week to Brussels, or that, once out, such sums would be readily available for the NHS. Challenged on Sky News, the Out campaigner Michael Gove retorted "people have had enough of experts".
However, few experts endorsed the claims from the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne that families would be worse off by £4,300 a year in the event of Brexit or that it would mean he would have to raise taxes and cut spending in an emergency Budget.
The two sides squabbled fruitlessly about which of them would have been endorsed by unimpeachable historical figures including Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Margaret Thatcher and the Queen.
When David Cameron mentioned war graves and said the EU had helped "anchor peace and stability", Boris Johnson called him "demented" for conjuring up "bubonic plague and World War 3".
Meanwhile, world leaders, with the exception of Donald Trump and a silent President Putin, backed David Cameron's position. President Obama warned that a UK outside the EU would find itself "at the back of the queue" trying to negotiate trade deals with the US.
With opinion polls showing the two sides deadlocked, voters said they wanted more information and complained about the "nastiness" of the campaigns, which reached ludicrous levels when rival flotillas of small boats confronted each other on the Thames opposite parliament.
The Leave camp accused their opponents of "Project Fear" scare tactics. Remain countered that the Brexiteers were guilty of "Project Hate" because of their concentration on immigration.
They made this charge strongly after Nigel Farage produced his "Breaking Point" poster showing the long lines of desperate migrants from Africa and the Middle East.
A week ago the Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered outside her constituency surgery.
Campaigning was suspended for three days. When it resumed Brendan Cox said his wife had been killed by "hate" and highlighted her active backing for Britain remaining in the EU.
Back in 1975 UK citizens voted to stay in the European Community (the Common Market) by a margin of two to one.
Whichever side wins, the result is universally expected to be much closer this time on the question of membership of what has become the European Union.
Jagger's Vinyl Cancelled After One Season
Sir Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese's television series about the music industry in the 1970s will not be returning for a second season.
US cable network HBO has cancelled Vinyl, which starred Bobby Cannavale and Olivia Wilde.
HBO had originally picked the series up for a second season after its first episode premiered in February but has now reversed its position.
The broadcaster issued a statement saying it was "not an easy decision" to make.
It said: "After careful consideration, we have decided not to proceed with a second season of Vinyl.
"Obviously, this was not an easy decision. We have enormous respect for the creative team and cast for their hard work and passion on this project."
Vinyl's February premiere on HBO was watched by 764,000 viewers, according to figures from US measurement company Nielsen.
The big-budget series ended its 10-episode run in April with a disappointing season average of 650,000 viewers.
Vinyl, which aired on Sky Atlantic in the UK, is one of the most high-profile series to be cancelled by HBO after only one run.
It revolved around the sex and drugs-fuelled music industry as punk, hip hop and disco were in their infancy.
It also starred Sir Mick's son James Jagger as rebellious British singer Kip Stevens.
North Korea Says Missiles Can Hit US Bases
Kim Jong-Un claims North Korea has the capability to strike US military bases across the Pacific following its latest test of a mid-range missile.
The supreme leader was in attendance as Pyongyang launched two mid-range missiles, dubbed Musudan, off its eastern coast on Wednesday.
The first launch failed over the Sea of Japan, according to South Korean and US officials.
A second was test-fired hours later in the direction of Japan and reached a high altitude before it fell into the sea about 250 miles away, according to the North's KCNA news agency.
"We have the sure capability to attack in an overall and practical way the Americans in the Pacific operation theatre," Kim was quoted as saying, as he applauded a "great event".
Images released by the secretive state showed a clearly elated leader watching the tests and celebrating with military officials.
In one photograph he could be seen hugging an official, while in another he appeared to be almost dancing with delight surrounded by his top guns.
The rockets have a range of about 1,860 miles - so South Korea, Japan and the US territory of Guam are potentially within reach.
North Korea is banned from using any type of ballistic missile technology, but has regularly fired short-range rockets from its eastern coast.
Washington and Seoul condemned the move, while Japan described it as a "grave provocative action".
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the tests were "brazen and irresponsible" as they triggered emergency UN Security Council talks on curbing Pyongyang's nuclear programme.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter urged the expansion of missile defence systems in the region.
"We need to stay ahead of the threat," he said.
Meanwhile, Japan has started its examination of the suspected nose cone of a North Korean rocket fired by Pyongyang on 7 February.
It washed up on a beach on its west coast and officials said they hoped analysis of the material would give them some idea of the level of technology used.
Armed Man Shot Dead In Cinema Hostage-Taking
A masked man apparently armed with a rifle has been killed after taking people hostage at a cinema complex in southwest Germany.
Initial reports suggested up to 50 people had been hurt but police say there were no injuries.
The man entered the Kinopolis cinema complex in Viernheim at around 3pm and fired a number of shots.
A police spokeswoman at the scene, Christiane Kompus, said he took several hostages.
Officers "successively entered the cinema and were able to locate the man and the people he was holding," she said.
There was a threat situation and the man was then shot dead by a colleague."
Ms Kompus said police were at the scene for about three hours and no-one else was hurt.
She had no information on the assailant's identity and motives.
Another police spokesman, Bernd Hochstaedter, said that "there are no indications at present of an Islamist background".
Hesse state's interior minister, Peter Beuth, said it was not clear if the attacker's weapon was real.
He told the regional legislature in Wiesbaden the man was masked and apparently fired four shots.
He was carrying a rifle or a "long gun" and appeared to be a "disturbed man".
The Kinopolis, a multiplex theatre, is located in a shopping mall in Viernheim, which is near the city of Mannheim.
It was a hot afternoon and the cinema was relatively empty at the time of the incident.
Armed Man Shot Dead In Cinema Hostage-Taking
A masked man apparently armed with a rifle has been killed after taking people hostage at a cinema complex in southwest Germany.
Initial reports suggested up to 50 people had been hurt but police say there were no injuries.
The man entered the Kinopolis cinema complex in Viernheim at around 3pm and fired a number of shots.
A police spokeswoman at the scene, Christiane Kompus, said he took several hostages.
Officers "successively entered the cinema and were able to locate the man and the people he was holding," she said.
There was a threat situation and the man was then shot dead by a colleague."
Ms Kompus said police were at the scene for about three hours and no-one else was hurt.
She had no information on the assailant's identity and motives.
Another police spokesman, Bernd Hochstaedter, said that "there are no indications at present of an Islamist background".
Hesse state's interior minister, Peter Beuth, said it was not clear if the attacker's weapon was real.
He told the regional legislature in Wiesbaden the man was masked and apparently fired four shots.
He was carrying a rifle or a "long gun" and appeared to be a "disturbed man".
The Kinopolis, a multiplex theatre, is located in a shopping mall in Viernheim, which is near the city of Mannheim.
It was a hot afternoon and the cinema was relatively empty at the time of the incident.
Spy Satellite Spotted By Amateur Space Watchers
A secret spy satellite has been pinpointed by amateur space watchers - but no one knows exactly what it's up to.
The world's largest rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral last week, carrying the secret satellite.
The launch's live feed was cut after a few minutes due to the payload's secrecy.
Just days later, an Australian observer spotted the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) satellite.
It was located near longitude 104E, over the Strait of Malacca, a stretch between the Malaysian Peninsula and the Indonesian Island of Sumatra.
The blog of Dutch satellite tracker Marco Langbroek helped guide amateur astronomer Paul Camilleri toward the discovery.
The satellite appears to be drifting west, Mr Langbroek wrote.
"My guess (and no more than that) is that it will eventually stop drifting near either 80E (south of Sri Lanka) or perhaps 10 E (over central Africa)," he said.
"The reason for the initial placement near 104E is likely that in this position it is initially well placed for the Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility ground station in central Australia during the initial check-out phase."
There has been speculation that it is a Mentor satellite, which picks up electronic signals from ships, aircraft, ground stations and other satellites.
The signals are processed on board the Mentor satellites, and encrypted before being sent back to authorities in the US.
The NRO is described on its website as a government agency used when the US "needs eyes and ears in critical places where no human can reach - be it over the most rugged terrain or through the most hostile territory".
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