BBC News with Jerry Smit.
As the first results begin to come in from Britain's closely-fought general election, an exit poll suggests the Conservatives, led by the Prime Minister, David Cameroon, will become by far the largest party. The poll, commissioned by the BBC and other broadcasters, pose the Conservatives on 316 seats in Parliament, just short of an overall majority. It says the main opposition, Labour Party, will trail in second place with 239 seats. Peter Kellner from the polling firm, YouGov, told the BBC there could be several reasons for today's poll.
“The first is that the exit poll is right, and all the polls that came out in the last 24 hours, ours is one of eleven, all eleven showed Conservative and Labour neck and neck. Second possibility is exit poll is wrong, and the eve of poll polls were right. Third possibility, something happened today. We interviewed six thousand people today and we could find no sign of any net movement in any direction. So I think we can rule out an on-the-day shift. Fourth possibility is it is somewhere in the middle that the Tories have done bits better than the eve of poll.”
Marco Gholf is a senior Conservative.“If this is correct, then the public responded enthusiastically to the campaign that we put forward, and rewarded David Cameroon and our team with an increased number of seats. And I have to say, if the poll's right, that's unprecedented for more than thirty years.”
The former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Paddy Ashdown, also dismissed the exit poll is wrong, and pointed to a different predicted outcome in another survey.
“If this exit poll is right, I will publicly eat my hat on your programme. I think this YouGov poll right now, which gives us not 10 seats, not 20 seats, but 31 seats. So one or other of these two polls is wrong, and I'll bet you my hat eaten on your programme for that's wrong.”
The exit poll also predicts that the Scottish National Party, which wants independence, is on course for an overwhelming victory in Scotland. The poll says the SNP will take 58 out of the 59 seats in Scotland, making huge gains from the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. The general election comes 8 months after Scotland voted in a referendum to remain part of the United Kingdom.
In other news, the Saudi-led coalition that's been bombing Houthis rebels in Yemen has said it will respond harshly after the rebels launched a number of deadly attacks on Saudi territory. A coalition spokesman said that by firing shells across the border, the rebels had crossed the red line. He was speaking hours after the Saudi government proposed a 5-day ceasefire to allow relief agencies to deliver aid to civilians across Yemen. The proposal was announced during a visit by the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry.
World news from the BBC.
The U.S. military has begun training a small group of Syrian rebels in an effort to build a force eventually capable of confronting the Islamic State militant group. The U.S. Defence Secretary, Ashton Carter, said around 90 people were being trained in what he called, a secure location.
The U.S. Senate has approved a bill that will give Congress the power to review an international nuclear agreement with Iran. The vote was a significant step in a long-running dispute with President Obama about Congressional oversight of any Iran deal. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives, which is also expected to pass it. Barbara Plett Usher is in Washington.
“The legislation would give Congress 30 days to review any final deal with Iran, and prevent President Obama from suspending Congressional sanctions during that time. It's a compromise between lawmakers, who say they've been sidelined during the nuclear talks, and the President, who believes Congressional interference would hamper negotiations. But the bill stalled in the Senate as some Republican Senators tried to add tough conditions that would had provoked a presidential veto. This vote ends that debate and approves a version Mr. Obama could accept. He would still have the power, though, to automatically reject the results of any Congressional review.”
The U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has joined Polish leaders in Gdansk at a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Many European leaders chose to attend the late-night event of the Westerplatte memorial in preference to Russia's Victory Parade in Red Square on Saturday to signal their disapproval of Russia's role in the rebellion in Ukraine.
The former Brazilian football star, Pele, has had surgery at a hospital in Sao Paolo for an enlarged prostate. Brazilian media have reported that he is doing well. Pele, who is 74, was admitted to the same hospital less than 6 months ago for emergency surgery to remove kidney stones.