BORIS JOHNSON WINS VOTE BUT SUFFERS LARGE TORY REBELLION

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has won the backing of a majority of Tory MPs in a confidence vote despite a significant revolt against his leadership.

The PM won 59% of the vote, meaning he is now immune from a Conservative leadership challenge for a year.

In all, 211 Tory MPs voted they had confidence in the PM's leadership while 148 voted against him.

Mr Johnson described his confidence vote win as "decisive".

Striking an upbeat tone, he said it was a "very good", "convincing" result and "an opportunity to put behind us all the stuff that the media goes on about".

The result sees the prime minister remain in office, but critics said the scale of the rebellion against him showed his authority had been weakened, with some calling on him to resign.

The vote share in support of Mr Johnson was lower than the 63% received by former Prime Minister Theresa May when she won a party confidence vote in 2018, before resigning six months later over a Brexit deadlock.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said a "divided" Conservative Party was "propping up" Mr Johnson after he survived the confidence vote.

And Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said while Mr Johnson had clung on to power, "his reputation is in tatters and his authority is now totally shot".

But Downing Street said the result "renews the PM's mandate" and allows the government to "focus relentlessly on the issues that concern our voters".

Tory MP and Welsh Secretary Simon Hart told the BBC the prime minister "has lots to prove" but insisted the result "was pretty decisive".

RUSSIAN ARTILLERY ATTACKS ERASE UKRAINE GAINS IN SIEVIERODONETSK

A day after Russia President Putin threatened to attack new targets if Western nations supplied Ukraine with long-range missile systems, Britain announced on Monday that it would join the US in providing the advanced weapons to help Ukraine hold off Russia’s assault in the east. “As Russia’s tactics change, so must our support to Ukraine,” defence secretary Ben Wallace said in announcing that Britain would supply rocket systems that can hit targets up to 50 miles (80 km) away.

President Biden said last week that the US would soon deliver a precision rocket system with a similar range, far beyond what Ukraine currently has in its arsenal, as the fighting in eastern Ukraine increasingly becomes an artillery war. President Zelensky and other top Ukrainian officials have pleaded for such weapons for months, but it could be weeks longer before they make an impact on the battlefield. Ukrainian soldiers must be trained to use the systems.

The use of overwhelming and often indiscriminate force has allowed the Russians to make limited gains in eastern Ukraine. Moscow’s forces on Monday pounded targets across the 75-mile eastern front line, according to the Ukrainian military. At the moment, Russian artillery can reach further than the weapons that the Ukrainians have at their disposal, allowing Russian forces to rain down rounds day and night, without the Ukrainians being able to effectively strike back.

As Russia presses its campaign to seize all of Donbas, the longer-range, precision Western rockets could dent Moscow’s advantage. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, questioned whether the Ukrainian government could restrain itself from using the weapons to strike targets inside Russia. The longer the range of weapons provided to Ukraine, he said a news conference Monday, the farther back Russia will push Ukraine’s army.

Meanwhile, President Zelensky met soldiers and handed out military awards near the frontline in eastern Ukraine, in a visit highlighting his role as a wartime leader and aimed at boosting morale. He travelled to the frontline city of Lysychansk, perhaps the closest he has come to active fighting in the east since the war began. It’s a perilous journey to reach Lysychansk. A highway and several back roads pass through farm fields pocked with artillery craters. Along the way, an oil refinery that has been on fire for weeks smoulders. Officials offered few details of how Zelensky reached the city, which has been bombarded by artillery and is at risk of being surrounded by Russian forces.

ACT PRUDENTLY, CHINA TELLS AUSTRALIA

Beijing on Monday warned Australia to “act prudently” or face “serious consequences” after Canberra accused a Chinese fighter jet of dangerously intercepting one of its spy planes over the South China Sea.

Australia has argued it is not unusual for it to undertake surveillance flights in the South China Sea — a region Beijing insists comes under its domain despite a 2016 Hague ruling that dismissed its claims.

China’s stance has heightened tensions with the United States and its allies, which insist on freedom of navigation in the area.

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Sunday that a Chinese J-16 fighter intercepted a P-8 surveillance aircraft late last month, in a “dangerous” manoeuvre that put the safety of the Australian Defence Force crew at risk.

But Beijing hit back on Monday, saying it would “never allow any country to infringe upon China’s sovereignty and security... under the pretext of freedom of navigation”.

“China once again urges Australia to earnestly respect China’s national security interests and core interests, act and speak prudently to avoid a miscalculation occurring that results in serious consequences,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters.

BANGLADESH DEPOT ACCUSED OVER BLAST

Bangladesh authorities accused a container depot operator on Monday of not telling firefighters about a chemical stockpile before it exploded with devastating consequences, killing at least 49 people — nine of them from the fire service.

Some containers were still smouldering on Monday, more than 36 hours after the explosion, preventing rescuers from checking the area around them for victims. Around a dozen of the 300 injured were in critical condition, and were flown to the capital Dhaka.

NO FINANCIAL EMERGENCY IN PAK, CRISIS OVER AFTER PETROL PRICE HIKE: FINMIN

Finance minister Miftah Ismail on Monday ruled out the possibility of a financial emergency being declared in cash-strapped Pakistan, claiming that after two back-to-back increase in the petroleum prices the country is out of the financial crisis. Ismail said that PM Shhebaz Sharif would at some point announce austerity measures to save government expenditures, but there is not going to be any declaration of financial emergency.

“The PM will at some point announce austerity measures to save government expenditures. But there is not going to be any declaration of financial emergency. Nor is there any financial emergency. After two increases in petrol prices, we are out of the financial crisis,” he tweeted. Ismail also rejected reports about the closure of Roshan Digital Accounts (RDA), unveiled by the previous government to facilitate the expatriates to open online foreign currency accounts in local banks and earn handsome return on their deposits. “There is absolutely no plan to freeze foreign currency accounts or RDA acounts or take over people’s private lockers,” he said. “We have never even contemplated these steps. Nor will we ever do it. Speculation on social media about this is wrong. . . ,” he said.

PAK LAWMAKER THREATENS TO CARRY OUT SUICIDE ATTACK IF IMRAN KHAN IS HARMED

A Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party lawmaker loyal to former PM Imran Khan on Monday threatened to target the current rulers of the country with a suicide attack if his leader was harmed. Attaullah, elected from Karachi in 2018 on the symbol of PTI, posted a video clip on Twitter to make clear his intention. “If a single hair on Imran Khan’s head is harmed, then those running the country be warned: Neither you nor your children will remain. I will be the first to carry out a suicide attack on you, I will not let you go. In the same way, thousands of workers are ready,” Attaullah said in the video message. Attaullah is a lawyer by profession and an ardent supporter of Khan. Khanwas ousted from power in April. His supporters have warned of threat to his life.

LANKA PRESIDENT SAYS CAN’T GO AS FAILED PREZ, WILL FINISH REMAINING 2 YRS

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa vowed to finish the remaining two years in his term despite monthslong street protests calling for his ouster, but won’t stand for re-election as he focuses on fixing a financial mess that tipped Sri Lanka into its worst-ever economic crisis. “I can’t go as a failed president,” Rajapaksa said Monday in a wide-ranging interview at his official residence in Colombo, his first with a foreign media organisation since the crisis unfolded. “I have been given a mandate for five years. I will not contest again. ” The defiance comes in the face of slogans of “Gota Go Home”, with protesters blaming Rajapaksa and his family for decisions that led to severe shortages of everything from fuel to medicine, stoking inflation to 40% and forcing a historic debt default. “This is unlikely to placate protesters,” said Patrick Curran, an economist. “With elections more than two years away, Rajapaksa’s decision to see his term through will contribute to heightened political uncertainty and could hamper reform efforts. ” Gotabaya was also sceptical about the success of a planned amendment to the constitution, which seeks to contain the executive presidency. The cabinet is due to approve the proposals as early as Monday, which would rollback wide-ranging powers Gotabaya pushed through parliament in 2019. Adraft of the so-called 21st amendment gives some powers back to the parliament and restores independence to commissions in key decisionmaking. Either the presidency should be abolished or the parliament is kept out of governing, Gotabaya said. “You can’t have a mixed system,” he said.

UK MONKEYPOX TALLY NOW 300+, LARGEST OUTBREAK OUTSIDE AFRICA

UK health officials reported 77 more monkeypox cases on Monday, raising the total to more than 300 across the country. To date, the UK has the biggest identified outbreak of the disease beyond Africa.

On Sunday, the WHO said over two dozen countries that haven’t previously identified monkeypox cases reported 780 cases, a 200% jump in cases since late May. No monkeypox deaths outside of Africa have yet been identified. So far this year, there have been more than 1,400 monkeypox cases and 63 deaths in four countries where the disease is endemic — Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo and Nigeria. Genetic sequencing of the virus has not yet shown any direct link to the outbreak outside Africa.