BBC NEWS with NeilNunes.
The Polish president Bronislaw Komorowski has acknowledged defeat in a run of election held on Sunday. The official results are not due until later today, but exited polls indicate Mr. Komorowski and ally of center-right government has lost by 53% to 47% to his conservative opponents Andrzej Duda. From Warsaw, Adam Easton has this report.
“If confirmed ,this is remarkable victory for Andrzej Duda, a relative unknown against the popular president. It will be the first electoral victory for Mr.Duda’s Conservative Law and Justice party in ten years. After eight years in office, it seems polls’s become weary at the center-right government led by the Civic Platform party,the backer of president Komorowski. Sustaining economic growth means the Poland is gradually catching up to West Europe’s living standards. But many of Poles don’t feel benefit of that growth and voted for change.”
The governing People’s Party in Spain has suffered heavy losses in regional and local elections as voters expressed their disapproval of austerity economics. It was seen as a test before parliamentary election expected in November. The PP lost its majority in many of their strong holds including the capital Madrid. In Barcelona, a left-wing coalition has swept the poll, the big winners are two protest movements, the left-wing Podemos and Ciudadanos on the center-right. The Podemos’s leader, Pablo Iglesias, said it was a pivotal moment for Spain.
“This is a magic night. It is historical night in Spain which point directly to change. It is the matter of pride for us to be the engine for that change. The story of the end of bipartisan politics in Spain begins to be written today. The parties in power have had one of the worst results in their history.”
The Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi has told the BBC that his forces will liberate the city of Ramadi from Islamic State militants within days. Eariler an Iraqi military spokesman rejected strong criticism of the US Defense Secretary that Iraqi army lost the will to fight, and this was the major reason why IS fighters have been able to advance. The leader of the Shiite Hezbollah movement Hassan Nasrallah has said the world faces a danger unprecedented in history from Islamic State and al-Qaeda-linked militants fighting in Syria.
"Everyone should feel in danger. This is not a threat existed in Lebanon or to one specific state, or to the regime in Syria, or to the government of Iraq, or to the group in Yemen. No, this is a danger to everyone. No one should bury their heads in sand.”
Sheik Nasrallah acknowledged for the first time that Hezbollah was fighting throughout neighboring Syria in support of the embattled president.
World news from the BBC.
The prominent Venezuela opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez has announced he’s gone on hunger strike, demanding the release of all political prisoners. In a video leaked from the prison where he’s been held for over a year, Mr. Lopes urged Venezuelans to join peaceful demonstration across the country next Saturday to call for a change of government.
Forces loyal to Libya’s internationally-recognized government have carried out an airstrike on the ship docked in the city of Sirte, which is in the hands of a rival government. The spokesman for the attacking force said the vessel was targetted because it was unloading fighters and weapons. But reports from Sirte said the ship had been bringing in fuel.
The poll has closed in Ethiopia that the first general election since the death of former long-term leader Meles Zenawi. His successor, Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to win a landslide victory. Our BBC correspondent in the capital Addis Ababa said there seems to be a big turnout with long queues at polling stations.
The France drama Dheepan has won the Palm Award at the Cannes Film Festival. The film tells of the struggles of former Tamil Tiger rebel to build a new life in France after fleeing the aftermath of the civil war in Sri Lanka. Vincent D is in Cannes.
"Dheepan is about a hugely permanent issue. It's about immigration, Dheepan, very very simply is an immigrant, he's a Tamil Tiger, if you'll put it like that, from Sri Lanka. And he comes to France, he lives a slightly kind of basic level, not totally impoverished. But he gets into trouble, his family get into trouble. It's a tough drama. It's not a list of winners which has got a huge number of actors in it. But sometimes that kind of story goes in Cannes with very strong films here. "
France's Vincent Lindon won the Best Actor awards, and the Best Actress prize was shared between Rooney Mara and Emmanuelle Bercot.