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10 Highlights Of Boris Johnson’s Resignation Speech

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The United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has announced he will stand down as Conservative leader, clearing the way for his departure as Britain’s prime minister once a successor is selected.

Here are some of the highlights from his six-minute resignation speech delivered outside No 10 Downing Street.

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– On resigning –

“It is clear now the will of the parliamentary Conservative party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister… the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week.

“And I’ve today appointed a cabinet to serve, as I will until a new leader is in place.”

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– On this week’s events –

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Boris Johnson Resigns As British Prime Minister

“The reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue to deliver that mandate in person was not just because I wanted to do so, but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation, to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019.

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“In the last few days, I’ve tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we are delivering so much and when we have such a vast mandate…

“And I regret not to have been successful in those arguments and, of course, it’s painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself.”

– On his legacy –

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“I’m immensely proud of the achievements of this government — from getting Brexit done to settling our relations with the continent for over half a century; reclaiming the power for this country to make its own laws in parliament; getting us all through the pandemic; delivering the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, the fastest exit from lockdown; and in the last few months, leading the West in standing up to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.”

– On the next leader –

“In politics, no one is remotely indispensable, and our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader, equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times, not just helping families to get through it, but changing and improving the way we do things…

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“And to that new leader I say, wherever he or she may be, I will give you as much support as I can.”

– To the British public –

“I know that there will be many people who are relieved, and perhaps quite a few who will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them’s the breaks!”

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“I want to thank you, the British public, for the immense privilege that you have given me and I want you to know that, from now on until the new prime minister is in place, your interests will be served and the government of the country will be carried on.”

– To the people of Ukraine –

“I know that we in the UK will continue to back your fight for freedom for as long as it takes.”

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READ ALSO: Partygate: Boris Johnson To Face Vote Of No-confidence

– In conclusion –

“Being prime minister is an education in itself. I’ve travelled to every part of the United Kingdom and in addition to the beauty of our natural world, I found so many people possessed such boundless British originality, and are so willing to tackle old problems in new ways, that I know that even if things can sometimes seem dark now, our future together is golden.”

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Young Catholics Converge On Rome For Pope Leo’s Vigil

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Thousands of young Catholics began assembling Saturday for an evening prayer vigil led by Pope Leo XIV, the culmination of a week-long pilgrimage and a key event in the Jubilee holy year that is expected to draw up to a million people.

The “Jubilee of Youth” — when the Vatican invites Catholics aged 18 to 35 to the seat of the global Church’s power — has seen young pilgrims from around the world flood Rome, waving flags, singing or praying in groups.

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It comes nearly three months after Leo, 69, the first American pontiff, began his papacy, and 25 years after the last such massive youth gathering in Rome under Poland’s Pope John Paul II.

On Saturday morning, thousands of young pilgrims had already gathered at the vast open space in Rome’s eastern Tor Vergata neighbourhood where the pope will lead the vigil, the ground already dotted with blankets and mattresses.

READ ALSO:Full List: 57 Lawyers Nominated For SAN Status

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Elsewhere in the Eternal City, numerous groups of young people were seen preparing to set off for the venue.

On the plaza outside the Basilica of St John Lateran, they filled water bottles, applied suncream and checked bags of food and snacks — ready to spend the next 24 hours surrounded by a swarm of people and then sleep under the stars.

Victoria Perez, who carried a Spanish flag, could not contain her excitement at seeing “the Pope up close.

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It’s the first time I’m going to see him, and I can’t wait,” the 21-year-old told AFP, excited to experience the “night of prayers under the stars”.

French pilgrim, Quentin Remaury, 26, said he had been inspired by the late Pope Francis’s rousing message to youth during a 2016 visit to Krakow, Poland.

READ ALSO:Gunmen Invade Catholic Seminary School In Edo, Kill One, Abduct Three

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Pope Francis told us to ‘get off your couches,’ and that really gave me a boost,” he said.

– ‘What is his message?’ –

Since the youth jubilee began on Monday, attendees have participated in various Church-planned events throughout the city.

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On Friday, approximately 1,000 priests were on hand to take confession at Circus Maximus, one of Rome’s top tourist spots.

Some 200 white gazebos lined the hippodrome where chariot races were once held, and youths lined up to speak to priests in 10 different languages.

Of the many languages heard on the streets of the Italian capital this week, Spanish seemed to dominate. The Vatican has said that more than 146 countries were represented, and it expects up to a million people to attend the vigil.

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READ ALSO:Okuama-Ewu identifies 11 persons Killed By Military, 413 Houses Destroyed

The pilgrimage is taking place as economic uncertainty and anxiety over climate change rise among the under-30s, with many saying they were curious to hear the Church’s position on global warming, wars and economic inequalities.

Samarei Semos, 29, said she had travelled three days from her native Belize to get to Rome.

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“We are still trying to understand his leadership,” she said of the new pope, adding she hoped he would have a strong say about “third world countries”.

As Parisian student Alice Berry exclaimed, “What does he have to say to us? What is his message for young people?”

– Raising voices –

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The youth pilgrimage also comes amid global alarm over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and more than three years of war in Ukraine.

READ ALSO:Pope Leo XIV Outlines A Path For A Modern Church That Follows Francis’ Steps

The Vatican has praised young Catholics who managed to travel to Rome from war-scarred countries, with Pope Leo saying the voices of the world’s youth “will be heard to the end of the earth”.

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In an unprecedented move, Leo hosted a mass on Tuesday for Catholic social media influencers, signalling the Vatican’s openness to supporting the Internet-savvy youth.

More than 4,300 volunteers will be working the event to welcome the young pilgrims, along with over 1,000 police, according to organisers.

Roman authorities have tightened security in the city — which has seen an unprecedented number of people, with both tourists and pilgrims inundating the city.

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Ukrainian Drone Strikes Kill Three In Russia

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Ukrainian drone strikes killed three people and wounded two others overnight in western Russia, regional governors said on Saturday.

One woman was killed and two other people were wounded in an attack on an enterprise in Penza, the region’s governor, Oleg Melnichenko, wrote on Telegram.

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An elderly man was killed inside a house that caught fire due to falling drone debris in the Samara region, Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev posted on Telegram.

In the Rostov region, a guard at an industrial facility was killed after a drone attack and a fire in one of the site’s buildings, acting Rostov governor Yuri Sliusar said.

READ ALSO:CAF Awards 2024 Final Nominees Revealed [Full list]

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The military repelled a massive air attack during the night,” destroying drones over seven districts, Sliusar posted on Telegram.

Russia’s defence ministry said its air defence systems had destroyed 112 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory — 34 over the Rostov region — in a nearly nine-hour period, from Friday night to Saturday morning.

In Ukraine’s central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, overnight Russian drone attacks left three people wounded, governor Sergiy Lysak wrote on Telegram.

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Several buildings, homes and cars were damaged, he said.

READ ALSO:Tension In Edo Over List Of Commissioner-nominees

Russian forces have claimed advances in Dnipropetrovsk, recently announcing the capture of two villages there, part of Moscow’s accelerated capture of territory in July, according to AFP’s analysis of data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War.

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Kyiv denies any Russian presence in the Dnipropetrovsk area.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire in the more than three-year conflict, said Friday that he wanted peace but that his demands for ending Moscow’s military offensive were “unchanged”.

Those demands include that Ukraine abandon territory and end ambitions to join NATO.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, said only Putin could end the war and renewed his call for a meeting between the two leaders.

“The United States has proposed this. Ukraine has supported it. What is needed is Russia’s readiness,” he wrote on X.

AFP

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Corporation For Public Broadcasting To Shut Down Following Trump’s Funding Cuts

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The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced on Friday that it will shut down operations, ending over 60 years of public media funding.

The move comes after President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers succeeded in eliminating federal support for the organization.

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Trump recently signed a rescissions bill canceling $9 billion in previously approved government spending. Of that amount, $1.1 billion had been allocated to CPB for the next two years.

Trump has long criticized public media as “biased” against conservatives and made repeated efforts to cut its funding.

READ ALSO:Trump Says Hamas Doesn’t Want A Deal, ‘Want To Die’

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Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations,” said CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison.

“CPB remains committed to fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities and supporting our partners through this transition with transparency and care.”

The organization is now focused on helping local PBS and NPR stations—especially those in rural areas—prepare for the resulting budget shortfalls.

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Harrison previously warned that some stations could be forced to close entirely.

Larger outlets may survive with help from donors and other revenue streams, but public media leaders say the national network will be severely weakened.

READ ALSO:CWC: Trump Put Your Medal In His Pocket, Took It To White House – Cucurella Tells Madueke

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The ripple effects of this closure will be felt across every public media organization and, more importantly, in every community across the country that relies on public broadcasting,” said NPR CEO Katherine Maher.

The CPB expects to eliminate most of its 100 staff positions by September 30, when the current funding expires.

A small transition team will remain until January to oversee a “responsible and orderly closeout of operations.”

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The shutdown marks a political win for Trump, who has pushed for defunding CPB since the start of his presidency. Earlier this year, he tried to remove three board members, despite lacking legal authority under the 1967 law that created the corporation.

CPB filed a lawsuit to block that attempt, but on Friday, it voluntarily dropped the case—effectively conceding defeat.

READ ALSO:US Appeal Court Rules Against Trump Birthright Citizenship Order

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REPUBLICANS HAVE TRIED DOING THIS FOR 40 YEARS, AND FAILED… BUT NO MORE,” Trump posted on Truth Social, celebrating the bill’s passage through the GOP-controlled House and Senate.

Some advocates had hoped that Congress might still restore funding through the usual budget process.

However, a draft Senate bill released Thursday included no CPB funding—suggesting those hopes are now unlikely to materialize.

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Trump and other Republicans argue that defunding CPB is a stand against liberal influence in public broadcasting.

Public media supporters say the move undermines civic life and access to reliable news.

READ ALSO:Anxiety As Trump Gives Russia 50 Days To Make Ukraine Deal

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The end of CPB is the direct result of the deep and corrupt failure of Congress and the Trump administration to invest in informing the American public,” said Craig Aaron, co-CEO of media advocacy group Free Press.

They have trashed decades of democracy-building work and will deny many journalists, artists, educators and creators the opportunity to be heard.”

Aaron said he still believes there’s a chance to rebuild publicly funded media from the ground up. He called for a new system “as a bulwark against authoritarianism that meets the civic needs of all our communities.”

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Some broadcasters are already mobilizing support. In Boston, GBH put up a sign reading, “Local. Trusted. Defunded.”

“We’re not backing down,” the station said in a fundraising message. “But we can’t do it without you. Donate now to keep public media strong and independent.”

(CNN)

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