SUNAK 4TH IN CONSERVATIVE POLL

Indian-origin Rishi Sunak was pushed to fourth place as Conservative top choice to succeed Boris Johnson as UK PM in a poll of party members that gave wild card candidate Kemi Badenoch, a former equalities minister, the lead. It could be a setback for former treasury chief Sunak, the frontrunner among Conservative lawmakers. The ConservativeHome poll of 851 Tory party members, published Saturday, gave Badenoch an 11-point lead with 31% of members saying she should be the next leader of the Conservative Party. Foreign secretary Liz Truss beat junior trade minister Penny Mordaunt to second place at 20%. Mordaunt was third at 18% and Sunak was fourth at 17%, nine votes behind Mordaunt, while Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, was infifth place.

This puts the view of the Tory grassroots at loggerheads with a large chunk of Conservative MPs for whom Sunak is the clear frontrunner. In the parliamentary ballots currently taking place, Sunak secured the backing of 101 MPs in the second ballot and 88 votes in the first ballot, coming top in both. The third ballot will take place on Monday.

It is the party members who get to make the final decision on their next leader and the future PM once Tory MPs have whittled down the candidates to the final two. There are now question marks as to how popular Sunak is with Conservative members who seem to have taken a shine to Badenoch after a Channel 4 debate on Friday.

Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who is backing foreign secretary Liz Truss, blamed Sunak on Sunday for the high inflation in Britain. He told Sky News: “Over a year ago the Bank of England kept on printing huge sums of money which has inflated the economy. It was the Treasury that signed off on that money printing, the chancellor, no less. ” he said, referring to Sunak. He also slammed Sunak for his reluctance to lower taxes to help the UK cost of living crisis.

JOE BIDEN DISPUTES SAUDI ACCOUNT OF KHASHOGGI MURDER DISCUSSION

US President Joe Biden hints the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia was not being truthful in his account of the US leader’s meeting with the kingdom’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).

Biden was referring to comments made by Adel al-Jubeir, who told Fox News he did not “hear” the US president tell MBS that he directly blamed him for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi during their discussion in Jeddah on Friday.

“I didn’t hear that particular phrase,” al-Jubeir told Fox News correspondent Alex Hogan in an interview on Saturday.

“The president mentioned that the US is committed to human rights because since the founding fathers wrote the constitution and he also made the point that American presidents – this is part of the agenda of every American president.”

Upon returning to the White House early on Sunday after his four-day Middle East trip, Biden was asked by reporters if al-Jubeir was telling the truth in recounting his exchange with MBS. Biden pointedly replied: “No.”

Biden, who visited Saudi Arabia, Israel and the occupied West Bank in his first trip to the region as US president, previously told reporters he brought up Khashoggi’s killing at the top of his initial meeting with the Saudi crown prince.

ON 100th DAY OF PROTESTS, LANKANS SAY THEY WILL ‘ABOLISH PRESIDENCY’

Sri Lankan protesters have vowed to continue their struggle for a complete change of the system by abolishing the presidency, as the popular uprising that ousted Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president marked the 100th day on Sunday. The anti-government protest began on April 9 near the presidential office and has been continuing without a break. “We will continue our fight till we achieve our goal for a complete change of the system,” Father Jeewantha Peiris, a leading activist of the movement, said. “This is a freedom struggle. We managed to send home an authoritarian president through people’s power,” Peiris said.

“On July 5, we issued an action plan. Foremost of that was removing Gotabaya and defeating Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Rajapaksa regime,” Peiris said. “We press for the abolition of the presidency to make it a true realisation of our action plan,” he said. “We do not fear the government,” the protesters chanted in chorus. Social media activist and protest campaign supporter Prasad Welikumbura said Wickremesinghe too should go. “Its been 100 days since it started,” Welikumbura said on Twitter. “But, its still far from any concrete change in the system. #GoHomeRanil, #NotMyPresident. ” Now the Rajapaksas’ SLPP party — which has more than 100 MPs in the 225-member parliament — is backing Wickremesinghe in the vote due Wednesday. A spokesman for the protesters said: “We are now discussing with groups involved in the ‘Aragalaya’ (struggle) on turning the campaign against Ranil Wickremesinghe. ”

What started as a small protest by a handful of individuals demanding basic necessities turned into a tsunami that uprooted the once-powerful Rajapaksa family in what was Sri Lanka’s ‘Arab Spring’ moment, but the road to recovery from the country’s worst economic crisis in decades looks distant and painful. ‘Arab Spring’ was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s staterun Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) on Sunday reduced the diesel and petrol retail prices, the first decrease after five hikes since February as the severe foreign exchange shortage hampered the import of fuel and other essentials in the country reeling under worst economic crisis in decades.

The new prices will be effective from 10pm (local time) on Sunday. The diesel and petrol retail prices have been reduced by Rs 20 each. Both had been raised by Rs 50 and 60 at the end of May.

TEMPLE, HOMES ATTACKED IN BANGLADESH

A temple, shops and several houses of the Hindu community have been vandalised in southwestern Bangladesh by some unidentified persons over a Facebook post allegedly belittling Islam, in the latest spate of violence targeting the religious minority in the country, according to media reports on Sunday.

Police fired warning shots to disperse a mob that vandalised several homes and torched one of them in Sahapara village in Narail district on Friday evening, bdnews24.com, an online newspaper quoted Haran Chandra Paul, an inspector at the local police station, as saying.

RUSSIA PREPARING FOR NEXT STAGE OF OFFENSIVE IN DONETSK, SAYS KYIV

Russia is preparing for the next stage of offensive in Ukraine, a Ukrainian military official said, after Moscow said its forces would step up military operations in “all operational areas”. Russian rockets and missiles have pounded cities in strikes that Kyiv says have killed dozens recently.

“It is not only missile strikes from the air and sea,” Vadym Skibitskyi, a spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence, said on Saturday. “We can see shelling along the entire line of contact, along thefront line. There is an active use of tactical aviation and attack helicopters. “Clearly preparations are underway for the next stage of the offensive. ”

The Ukrainian military said Russia appeared to be regrouping units for an offensive toward Sloviansk, a symbolically important city held by Ukraine in the eastern region of Donetsk. The British defence ministry said on Sunday that Russia was reinforcing its defensive positions across the areas it occupies in southern Ukraine after pressure from Ukrainian forces and pledges from Ukrainian leaders to force Russia out. Ukraine says at least 40 people have been killed in Russian shelling of urban areas in the last three days.

Rockets hit the northeastern town of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv region on Friday, killing three people, said regional governor Oleh Synehubov. To the south, over 50 Russian Grad rockets pounded Nikopol city on the Dnipro River, killing two people, said governor Valentyn Reznichenko.

UKRAINE WAR: ZELENSKY FIRES SECURITY CHIEF AND TOP PROSECUTOR

President Volodymyr Zelensky has fired the head of Ukraine's security agency (SBU) and the prosecutor general, citing many cases of treason in the two powerful organisations.

He said more than 60 former employees were now working against Ukraine in Russian-occupied areas.

A total of 651 collaboration and treason cases had been opened against law enforcement officials, he added.

The sacked officials, Ivan Bakanov and Iryna Venediktova, have not commented.

In his video address late on Sunday, Mr Zelensky said: "Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the national security of the state... pose very serious questions to the relevant heads [of the two organisations].

"Each of these questions will receive a proper answer," the Ukrainian president added.

The sacking of SBU chief Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend of Mr Zelensky's, follows the high-profile arrest of a former SBU regional head in Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014. Oleh Kulinych is suspected of treason.

FM: PAKISTAN TO GET $4BN FROM FRIENDLY NATIONS TO SHORE UP FOREX

Islamabad : Pakistan is likely to get $4 billion from friendly countries this month to bridge a gap in foreign reserves highlighted by the IMF, finance minister Miftah Ismail has said, two days after the cash-strapped nation reached a deal with the global lender for the revival of a $6 billion loan facility. Ismail on Saturday referred to the shortfall in foreign reserves highlighted by the IMF) Dawn newspaper said. “As per the IMF, there is a $4 billion gap,” the minister said. “We will, God willing, fill this gap in the month of July. ” “We think that we will get $1. 2 billion in deferred oil payment from a friendly country. We think that a foreign country will invest between $1. 5-2 billion in stocks on a G2G (governmentto-government) basis, and another friendly country will perhaps give us gas on deferred payment and yet another friendly country will make some deposits,” he said without naming the nations.

The staff-level pact with the IMF paves way for release of the $1. 18 billion loan tranche that had been on hold since earlier this year.

U.S. IS PROVOKING TENSIONS IN WEST ASIA, SAYS IRAN

Tehran on Sunday accused Washington of provoking tensions in the West Asia, a day after U.S. President Joe Biden ended a tour to Iran’s rival Saudi Arabia and arch-foe Israel.

Washington “has once again resorted to the failed policy of Iran-phobia, trying to create tensions and crises in the region,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said.

The comments come after Mr. Biden on Saturday vowed that the U.S. would not “tolerate efforts by any country to dominate another in the region through military buildups, incursions, and/or threats”, in a transparent reference to Iran.

Mr. Biden’s first visit to the region came just a few days before Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to visit Tehran on July 19.

Mr. Biden in a speech in Jeddah said that Washington would remain fully engaged in West Asia. “We will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran,” Mr. Biden said. He was speaking at a summit that brought together the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq.

The leaders underscored diplomatic efforts to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and notably called for enhanced joint deterrence capabilities “against the increasing threat” posed by unmanned aerial vehicles — a likely reference to Tehran, which on Friday unveiled ships and submarines capable of carrying armed drones.

HEATWAVE: MORE EVACUATIONS AS MEDITERRANEAN WILDFIRES SPREAD

France has evacuated more than 14,000 people threatened by wildfires in the south-west, as fires also spread in Spain, Croatia and Greece.

Authorities in France's Gironde, a popular tourist region, have evacuated guards from campsites - the tourists left earlier. Fires have spread in the Teste-de-Buch and Landiras areas.

In southern Spain, more than 3,200 people fled fires in the Mijas hills, though later some were able to return.

Portugal's fires are contained for now.

However, the Portuguese government says 659 people have died - mostly elderly - from the heat over the past week.

The Mijas fires in Spain are not far from Málaga, a popular tourist area. Elsewhere in Spain, wildfires have broken out in the provinces of Castilla y León, Galicia and Extremadura.

Across the Mediterranean - from Morocco in the west to Crete in the east - thousands of firefighters and many waterbombing aircraft have been deployed. Since Tuesday, the whole region has been sweltering in severe heat, leaving vegetation bone dry.

Heatwaves have become more frequent, more intense, and last longer because of human-induced climate change. The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to carbon emissions.

CANADA TO RESUME RANDOM COVID TESTS FOR INT’L ARRIVALS

Canada will from July 19 resume random Covid testing for fully vaccinated international arrivals at four of its major airports — Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal. Canada had paused mandatory random testing for those entering the country by air on June 11 to transition testing for air travellers outside of the airports.

In a statement, the Public Health Agency of Canada said: “Testing remains an important part of our surveillance programme to track importation of Covid virus and identify new variants of concern. Mandatory random testing will resume as of July 19. ”

It added that all testing for air travellers — for both those who qualify as fully vaccinated and partially or unvaccinated people — will be completed outside of airports, either via an in-person appointment at select testing provider locations and pharmacies, or a virtual appointment for a self-swab test. Travellers who do not qualify as fully vaccinated, unless exempt, must continue to test on Day 1 and Day 8 of their mandatory 14-day quarantine.

“Mandatory random testing also continues at land border points of entry, with no changes,” it stated.

Air travellers who qualify as fully vaccinated and who are selected for mandatory random testing, as well as air travellers who do not qualify as fully vaccinated, will receive an email notification within 15 minutes of completing their customs declaration. “The email will help them arrange for a test with a testing provider,” it said.