The News in 5 Minutes: Chilcot, the pound, Tory leadership and Patrick Stewart in a cowboy hat

06/07/2016
david

CommonSpace brings you the news so you don’t have to go looking for it

TODAY’S (6 July) INSTALMENT of the the CommonSpace daily news roundup includes the Chilcot report, Theresa May’s surge ahead in the Tory leadership race, Andy Murray’s Wimbeldon semi-final and Patrick Stewart in a cowboy hat.

News: Chilcot report to be published and pound hits new low

Chicott report expected to criticise individuals and institutions over Iraq war

The Chilcot report into the Iraq war is set to be published today (6 July), seven years after it began collecting evidence. The report is expected to be critical of both individuals and institutions involved in the planning and implementation of the UK/US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Critics of the war and the families of many veterans and soldiers killed in the conflict have demanded that then Prime Minister Tony Blair face legal repercussions for the conflict. Read CommonSpace’s breakdown of the war and the Chilcot report here.

Pound hits 31-year low after Brexit

The value of the pound sterling has hit a 31-year low amid Brexit economic shockwaves, falling to a dollar value of $1.2798 at its lowest point last night (5 July) as reported on the BBC. The fall in value is bad news for British holiday makers, but irrelevant news for the leadership of the Leave campaign, whose various political bungles and resignations mean their lives are all holiday now.

Politics: Theresa May inches closer to 10 Downing Street and Hillary Clinton takes a knock

Tory leadership race sees Theresa May pull ahead

Theresa May moved closer to becoming Britain’s next prime minister last night after two of her opponents dropped out of the tory leadership contest and she picked up the support of more than half of Tory party’s MPs. Pro-Brexit MP Liam Fox was eliminated after gaining the support of just 16 Tory MPs and Stephen Crabb dropped out of the race, both going on to lend their support to the front runner the BBC reports. The two remaining pro-Brexit candidates, Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom face an uphill struggle to beat May.

Hillary Clinton faces set-back in presidential campaign against Trump

US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has suffered a set-back in her race for the White House against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump after the FBI criticised her handling of sensitive information. The FBI criticised Clinton heavily for using a private email address to carry out her work as secretary of state under President Obama, but said it was not a criminal matter. Trump said the decision showed the system was rigged in Clinton’s favour.

Sport: Murray taking nothing for granted ahead of Wimbledon semi-final and Wales in the Euros

Murray fighting on at Wimbledon

Scots tennis star Andy Murray has said he is preparing for what he expects to be a tough match against  "one of the best grass-court players in the world", Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Despite beating the 29 year old in 12 of their 14 previous matches, Murray said that previous encounters had been “hard”.

Meanwhile, Wales and Portugal are set for their Euros semi-final clash in Lyon. The football tournament has been dominated by small countries on the fringes of the European continent. But not Scotland, obviously.

Culture: Mumford and Sons cancel festival appearance over sexual assaults

The popular band Mumford and Sons have cancelled their scheduled appearance at a Swedish music festival after a spate of 17 sexual assaults against women were reported. Other music acts have also expressed their dismay at the high number of attacks. Mumford and Sons posted a message on facebook saying they would not play at the festival until measures were put in place to tackle the assaults, the BBC reports.

Weather: Rain and shine at T in the Park

Weather at this weekend’s T in the Park festival is expected to be a very Scottish mixture of rain, rain, overcast skies and even some sunshine. And some rain, as reported in the Daily Record.

And another thing

It’s Patrick Stewart, he’s a cowboy. Enough said.

Picture courtesy of JasnPaul HudsonAndrew ParnellMarianne BevisConservatives

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