this is bbc news. i'm chris rogers and these are the latest headlines: the defence secretary ben wallace rules himself out of the race to become the next conservative party leader and prime minister. chanting protesters in sri lanka storm the president's official residence over the handling of the country's worst economic crisis in decades. the country's prime minister says he's willing to stand down. police injapan admit there were flaws in the security for to the former prime minister, shinzo abe, who was shot dead on friday. elon musk is threatened with legal action after pulling out of a 36 and a half billion pound deal to buy twitter. tennis — the two finalists for the women's singles title at wimbledon are currently battling

it out for a place in the history books. health warnings are issued as southern and eastern areas of the uk prepare for a heatwave that could bring record—breaking temperatures over the next week. the defence secretary ben wallace has ruled himself out of the conservative leadership race, saying it was not an easy choice to make. other mps are expected to launch their campaigns this weekend, with the former equalities minister, kemi badenoch, becoming the latest to confirm she intends to stand. the former chancellor, rishi sunak has put himself forward, taking the number confirmed

candidates to four. here's our political correspondent, david wallace lockhart. morning. he's the former chancellor, but could rishi sunak be the next prime minister? he certainly wants to be, launching his campaign yesterday evening with a slick social media video. soft piano music plays i've told you a little bit about my story, but i'm running to be our next prime minister because it's your stories that matter most. his supporters have taken to the airwaves, insisting he's the man to lead the country. he's got the experience, he's got the ability, he's got the vision and i think at this moment in time we need to move to someone who is going to walk into number ten and take over the reins of the country. they need to have that level of experience and ability. but there are elements of the tory party who are uneasy about the idea of rishi sunak as next prime minister. a number ten source accused him of having a short memory and criticised how he'd handled resigning from the government. they added that the loyalty borisjohnson showed to him wasn't reciprocated.

one prominent backbencher says that while he's fond of the former chancellor, he doesn't like his tax policies. i believe that taxes in this country are too high at their current levels, so high that they'll be doing more harm than good at these levels. now, unfortunately, because rishi's record is of saying he wants low taxes, but then putting them up, he has now got to double down on that record during his campaign. so who are the alternatives? joining mr sunak as official candidates are the select committee chair, tom tugendhat, and attorney general, suella braverman. former minister kemi badenoch launched her campaign yesterday evening, promising tax cuts and small government. the field could get crowded. sajid javid, liz truss, nadhim zahawi could all run. defence secretary ben wallace has said he won't run. priti patel and grant shapps are all thought to be mulling bids. former leadership candidate jeremy hunt may well fancy another run, also. on monday, the 1922 committee, the body that represents backbench

conservative mps, will announce the rules for the upcoming leadership contest. it's expected that tory mps will whittle the candidates down to a final two. that pair will then be put to the party membership, thought to be around 180,000 people. they'll pick the next prime minister, who is expected to take office by september. westminster may be quiet today, but the field in this leadership contest could get very busy indeed. david wallace lockhart, bbc news, westminster. well, earlier david popped into the studio and had his latest analysis on the news that defence secretary ben wallace no longer plans to run... he is popular in the party, very popular with the membership, the website which does surveys of conservative members, he has regularly been coming

out on top of them. he has regularly been coming his spear heading of the ukraine policy has played quite well there. he has said he is not going to go for it, he's going to stick in his currentjob and focus on that. perhaps there is an element of the fact the policy in ukraine is clear, it has support in the country, and when you are prime minister you have to oversee every government department, and perhaps slightly disappoint others, he has decided he is happier doing what he is doing currently. what is interesting now is who does he get behind? because of all that support he has in the party and with the members, you imagine that his endorsement would mean a lot to the current leadership candidates. if he does want to stay on as defence secretary, that might depend on who ends up as prime minister. what other names can we expect to see pop up over the coming hours and days? we were expecting ben wallace to be one of those names, we know he will now not be. all eyes turn now to people like liz truss, the foreign

secretary, priti patel, the home secretary, sajid javid, grant shapps, and evenjeremy hunt who got down to the final two against borisjohnson in 2019. we understand he is someone who is considering a bid as well. it could potentially be a very crowded field, we do not have the rules for this leadership contest yet, they will be published by the 1922 committee, the backbench committee of conservative mps on monday. it will be interesting if they set certain thresholds of support for someone to get into the first stage of the contest. last time round they lead you have to have eight mps backing you, they could even make that number a bit higher if they wanted to make sure that only candidates who have a significant base of support can run in this contest. can we talk about the education minister andrea jenkyns, who explained on twitter her rude gesture as she entered downing street the other day.

there is the tweet. some people may have seen the video circulating online. it appears andrea jenkyns went to downing street to watch borisjohnson�*s resignation speech, and there were protesters outside the gates, and she made a rather rude one—fingered gesture, but she has put up this tweet explaining, rather than apologising, for what happened. she said she suffered a lot of abuse like this over the years, and got to the end of her tether. she does say she should have had more composure, but is only human. of course she was only appointed education minister after this all happened, but i think borisjohnson is at the stage where he is struggling to fill a few of his posts, so she was appointed to that position. i would say that she was explaining rather than apologising,

well, joining me now is the assistant editor of political blog conservative home, william atkinson. good afternoon to you. i know that you don't have a position as it stands at the moment, unless something is changed in the last half hour about who you would like to see as the leader of the conservative party, but let's talk about ben wallace, definitely the bookies�*s favourite, do you think it is a blow to the conservative party's ambition is to remain in government in two years time? i government in two years time? i think ben is an incredibly popular defence secretary, he has been in the role for three years, he is a former squaddie himself, no matter

what, he may have been leaving our survey polls for the last few months, but i think that is based on his excellent performance during the ukraine crisis, and clearly he would like to focus on that role for the foreseeable future. in terms of his popularity with the wider public, various surveys have been done, and so far we have seen candidates with the greatest name recognition performing the best. what we may see over the next few weeks is, as more candidates come to the attention of the general public, is that they start to do better in those surveys as well. ben wallace was the clear front runner. as well. ben wallace was the clear front runner-— front runner. compared to other leadership _ front runner. compared to other leadership races, _ front runner. compared to other leadership races, and _ front runner. compared to other leadership races, and let's - front runner. compared to other leadership races, and let's be i leadership races, and let's be frank, there have been a few of them in the last four years, there are some new names, there is fresh blood in there, but do we know enough about them? i in there, but do we know enough about them?— in there, but do we know enough about them? ., , ., about them? i would save those that were dedicated _

about them? i would save those that were dedicated followers _ about them? i would save those that were dedicated followers of - about them? i would save those that were dedicated followers of the - were dedicated followers of the conservative party and its various frustrations would certainly have heard of them. we have seen figures such as liz truss leading the pack, as well as rishi sunak. there is acknowledgement of candidates to the general public have not heard of as much... �* ., , ., general public have not heard of as much... �* . , , much... and that is a problem is it not? not necessarily, _ much. .. and that is a problem is it not? not necessarily, if— much... and that is a problem is it not? not necessarily, if you - much... and that is a problem is it not? not necessarily, if you look l much... and that is a problem is it| not? not necessarily, if you look at john not? not necessarily, if you look at john major. — not? not necessarily, if you look at john major. his _ not? not necessarily, if you look at john major, his rise _ not? not necessarily, if you look at john major, his rise was _ not? not necessarily, if you look at john major, his rise was quite - john major, his rise was quite rapid, and his arrival on the political scene, the nature of that, and is contrast to mrs thatcher, that allowed him to win a general election. i that allowed him to win a general election. , ., ,., ,

election. i get your point, but whoever the _ election. i get your point, but whoever the prime _ election. i get your point, but whoever the prime minister l election. i get your point, but l whoever the prime minister will election. i get your point, but - whoever the prime minister will be, they are the country's prime minister, notjust the conservative party's, and we can see in the polls that there is a lack of faith, a lack of trust, and a lot of people feel very let down not only by boris johnson, but also by the conservative party, that is governing the country. theirjob is notjust governing the country. theirjob is not just to be governing the country. theirjob is notjust to be competent, and to win another election, but also to win trust in politics, because otherwise nobody is going to turn out and vote. , ~ nobody is going to turn out and vote. , ,, ., ., ., ., vote. yes, i think a lot of that dissipation — vote. yes, i think a lot of that dissipation of _ vote. yes, i think a lot of that dissipation of trust _ vote. yes, i think a lot of that dissipation of trust is - vote. yes, i think a lot of that i dissipation of trust is associated with the prime minister and recent scandals themselves. i'm not entirely sure what you're saying, you have candidates that already have name recognition, such as rishi sunak and sergeant davitt, who polling suggests would beat keir starmer in an election or run him very close, but on the other hand, if looking for somebody that the

public don't associate with the scandals of recent years, such as tom tugendhat, or someone like kemi badenoch or swell braverman, either way the conservative party is only a few points behind in the polls, and at the moment you're looking at her hung parliament rather than a labour landslide, so the conservative party may not be in its most popular spot at the moment, that is not in a place where it is not going to win a general election ever again.- general election ever again. thank ou for general election ever again. thank you for your— general election ever again. thank you for your time. _ thousands of protesters have stormed the residence of sri lanka's president in colombo demanding his resignation over the country's economic crisis. huge crowds — enraged by gotabaya rajapaksa's handling of sri lanka's worst economic crisis

in decades, overwhelmed the security forces. reports say the president has been moved to a safer location. the prime minister says he is willing to resign to make a way to appoint an all—party government. the country's suffering rampant inflation and is struggling to import food, fuel and medicine. emily unia has this report. clashes in colombo. thousands of anti—government protesters took to the streets of the sri lankan capital. they are angry about rising inflation and shortages of food and feel. people travelled from across the country to join demonstrations after attempts to impose a curfew failed. soldiers and police pushed protesters back with water cannon jets and clouds of tear gas as they broke the barricades. at least 21 people, including two police, have been injured.

a crowd stormed the presidential palace, pictures posted online showed people inside splashing about in the private pool. the protesters want the president, mr rajapaksa, to resign. they hold him responsible for sri lanka's growing economic emergency. the country has run out of foreign currency to import vital goods and inflation is rising rapidly. food, fuel and medicines are running out, leading to long queues and rolling blackouts. sri lanka is looking far and wide to ease the economic crisis. this week, the president had a phone call with russia's vladimir putin to get hold of cheap fuel. discussions were described as very productive. emily unia, bbc news. earlier i spoke to kalani kumarasinghe who is the features editor at sri lanka's daily mirror.

she told me people have taken action because they are tired of suffering from a lack of essentials. it is a revolution that was born out of months and months of suffering, because i do not think there is one single person in sri lanka who has not been affected by the lack of essentials. you can see i am in complete darkness, almost complete darkness. we have been experiencing power cuts for months and months now and food is unbearably expensive and the last straw was that people were unable to travel to work, they were unable to earn their daily wages. that was the last straw and people really could not take it any more and that is what we have been seeing since this morning and the last couple of days, people have made really long, difficult journeys on foot to come to the epicentre of this protest, the gota go village, that is the presidential secretariat right here in colombo. it is a revolution that we are seeing. we are hopeful that it will not turn violent, as we have seen in the past, but yes, certainly it is a revolution.

the local police chief injapan's nara prefecture has said there were flaws in the security provided to the formerjapanese prime minister, shinzo abe, who was assassinated on friday. the official admitted the security plan for mr abe's visit was formulated the day before his arrival and it was possible not enough security was placed behind the former leader as he spoke to a crowd. mr abe's body has been taken to tokyo. an unemployed forty—one—year—old man has admitted the killing, using a homemade gun. speaking at a news conference, police chief tomoaki onizuka, said they will review their security procedures

translation: the former prime minister was _ translation: the former prime minister was shot _ translation: the former prime minister was shot whilst - translation: the former prime minister was shot whilst under i minister was shot whilst under police guard. the fact that this has happened is a matter of utmost regret. i cannot deny there were problems with the security detail, which led to such a serious outcome. police must consider concrete steps to strengthen security arrangements, or review existing measures. sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's paul. good afternoon. let's start at wimbledon where the women's singles final between ons jabeur and elena rybakina is well under way. chetan pathak is there for the bbc and chethan, rybakina is looking to take us to a deciding third set? she is, the kazakhstan player forcing her way, after ons jabeur looks to make history can become the

first african woman to win grand slam took the first set, and really looked in charge. she took that first set by six games to three, but we have had a change in momentum, elena rybakina, like ons jabeur, playing herfirst elena rybakina, like ons jabeur, playing her first final, elena rybakina, like ons jabeur, playing herfirst final, but elena rybakina, like ons jabeur, playing her first final, but the consistency of her serve, and you will see from these live pictures now, she has broken the ons jabeur serve twice, ons jabeur looking to make history, but so is elena rybakina to, she looked wobbly at the start, rybakina, but she has managed to find herself in this

match, extraordinary expectations on both managed to find herself in this match, extraordinary expectations on both of managed to find herself in this match, extraordinary expectations on both of these managed to find herself in this match, extraordinary expectations on both of these players, managed to find herself in this match, extraordinary expectations on both of these players, it managed to find herself in this match, extraordinary expectations on both of these players, it looks managed to find herself in this match, extraordinary expectations on both of these players, it looks at the moment that we may be heading towards a deciding set in the women's singles final. let me give you a result from earlier, this happened on court number three, alfie hewett and gordon reid, they in extraordinary run is over, they were going for another consecutive title, but they were beaten in straight sets, it was 6—3, 6—1. there extraordinary run as champions here, is over, beaten here, alfie hewett and gordon reid, i will keep you updated. hewett and gordon reid, i will keep you updated-—

hewett and gordon reid, i will keep ouudated. ~ , ., ,, you updated. whilst we were talking, r bakina you updated. whilst we were talking, rybakina took — you updated. whilst we were talking, rybakina took that _ you updated. whilst we were talking, rybakina took that second _ you updated. whilst we were talking, rybakina took that second set, - you updated. whilst we were talking, rybakina took that second set, so - rybakina took that second set, so thatis rybakina took that second set, so that is going the distance. england's cricketer are looking to level their three match t20 series with india at edgbaston. they won the toss and decided to bowl first. how about this, first of all he took the wicket, and since he has taken further wickets, to really halt the progress. and these are live pictures from edgbaston. and the bbc sport website. england's rugby union players have just levelled their series

in australia after victory in the second test in brisbane. eddiejones�* side lost the first match last weekend, but this was a much improved display. a billy vunipola try and 5 penalties from owen farrell gave them a 19—7 lead at halftime. australia launched a come back in the second half, but it wasn't enough. england winning 25—17. the decider�*s in sydney next saturday. earlier ireland claimed a historic first ever win over the all blacks in new zealand. the home side were reduced to 1a players afterjust half an hour when angus ta'avao was sent off for a dangerous tackle. andrew porter scored a try in each half to help the irish to a 23—12 win. the series is now tied at 1—1 ahead of next week's deciding test in wellington. max verstappen will start on pole for the sprint race at the austrian grand prix in around ten minutes time. red bull's verstappen has won two of the four sprint events so far and finished third in second practice. lewis hamilton only completed his first lap with less than fifteen

minutes of the session left — there were numerous engineers working on his car during the session. he'll start ninth for the sprint, with george russell fourth and lando norris back in 15th. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport we will, of course, be straight back to paul and his colleagues once there is something to report from wimbledon and how it all plays out, do stay with bbc news for that. a special constable serving with the metropolitan police — has been charged with rape, in connection with an incident in shropshire. ao—year—old paul hoile will appear

at kidderminster magistrates court this morning, facing a total of four charges. he's been suspended from the met and the case has been referred to the independent office for police conduct. twitter and elon musk are in an extraordinary standoff over his 36—and—a—half billion pound deal to buy the social media company. the world's richest man wants to pull out of the deal, claiming he's not received the data he asked for about the number of fake or spam accounts on the platform. but twitter�*s board says it will sue mr musk to enforce the deal. joining us now is shona ghosh, senior technology editor, business insider. do you think this is the case of the richest man in the world just thinking that he can do what he likes, or does he have a point? ida.

likes, or does he have a point? no, i think likes, or does he have a point? no, ithinkthis — likes, or does he have a point? no, i think this is _ likes, or does he have a point? iifr, i think this is properly a case of the richest man in the world bending the richest man in the world bending the rules as he sees fit. he doesn't tend to go with the established modes of doing things, and in part thatis modes of doing things, and in part that is what has made him the richest man in the world. i don't think it's ever been that clear from the very beginning of this whole saga that elon musk�*s offered to buy twitter was ever that serious, so anybody who watching it closely expected there might be a number of different outcomes, one of which might be mask trying to pull out of the deal, or trying to lower the price of twitter. at the moment elon musk is trying to potentially lower the price, potentially through conventional means —— unconventional

means. if conventional means -- unconventional means. , ., , ., conventional means -- unconventional means. , ., ., ., means. if this was a done deal, which is what _ means. if this was a done deal, which is what twitter's - means. if this was a done deal, which is what twitter's board i means. if this was a done deal, i which is what twitter's board seem to think, would it not be on elon musk to see that it's... yellow —— yellow -- you unmask as a personality _ yellow -- you unmask as a personality has _ yellow -- you unmask as a personality has a _ yellow -- you unmask as a personality has a tendency| yellow -- you unmask as a i personality has a tendency to overcome incredible odds, but having said that, he did agree to buy twitter, and it feels difficult to me to see how he is going to say, i didn't have enough information to go on. part of the agreement to buy twitter was him saying that he did have enough information to go on, or i am comfortable not having that information. i'm comfortable with the box scenario, —— box scenario.

so, i suspect a court battle will be protracted. it is partly, as i say, whether this may be an attempt to settle out of court, do the deal but in a slightly different way, and it cheaper price which seems slightly more feasible. pm? cheaper price which seems slightly more feasible.— cheaper price which seems slightly more feasible. why do you think you wanted, or more feasible. why do you think you wanted. or may _ more feasible. why do you think you wanted, or may still _ more feasible. why do you think you wanted, or may still want, _ more feasible. why do you think you wanted, or may still want, to - more feasible. why do you think you wanted, or may still want, to buy i wanted, or may still want, to buy it? there are other social media platforms, and some come and go. i platforms, and some come and go. i think there is a number of things, he is very active on twitter for a man who runs lots of companies, and he seems to have a lot of time to be on twitter. the other thing, i think, and this is a theory of why twitter may be undervalued, is that if you look at twitter in terms of

the media landscape, it is as powerful as newspapers, if not more powerful. this is perhaps a way of elon musk are doing that billionaire thing, where he buys a media platform, and perhaps it is more powerful than a tv empire or newspapers. this is one way that he could control something that is very powerful. could control something that is very owerful. , ., could control something that is very owerful. , ., powerful. yes, and you can afford it. many thanks. _ powerful. yes, and you can afford it. many thanks. -- _ powerful. yes, and you can afford it. many thanks. -- and _ powerful. yes, and you can afford it. many thanks. -- and he - powerful. yes, and you can afford it. many thanks. -- and he can i it. many thanks. —— and he can afford it. a heat—health alert has been issued for parts of the uk as temperatures are predicted to hit 30 degrees celsius — higher than in los angeles, marbella and santorini. a heat—health alert has been issued for parts of the uk parents are advised to limit their children's sun exposure. wales is expecting a prolonged period of hot weather over the weekend and into next week. joining me now isjim dale, senior meteorologist at british weather services. hello, you haven't got your tee shirt on, i have to wear a suit.

what is causing this hot weather, which i understand isn't quite a heatwave yet?— which i understand isn't quite a heatwave yet? there are certain arts of heatwave yet? there are certain parts of the _ heatwave yet? there are certain parts of the country _ heatwave yet? there are certain parts of the country that - heatwave yet? there are certain parts of the country that are - heatwave yet? there are certain parts of the country that are not j parts of the country that are not sharing in this, particularly in the north—west. if you are on the blackpool coast, the area it is only sort of 19 degrees, but if you go to other places in cumbria it is around 10 degrees. this is in the south at the moment, and what is causing it is high—pressure the azores. we've got this north—westerly draft, which is keeping temperatures down more thanit is keeping temperatures down more than it otherwise might be. the sun is very strong at this time of year, the insulation that we receive from that makes it such that you can get

sunburn very easily, particularly with a clear sky.— sunburn very easily, particularly with a clear sky. there are a lot of weather alerts _ with a clear sky. there are a lot of weather alerts around _ with a clear sky. there are a lot of weather alerts around to - with a clear sky. there are a lot of weather alerts around to stay - with a clear sky. there are a lot of| weather alerts around to stay safe, a lot of children, we don't want to be exposing them to the sun for prolonged periods of time, but in recent weeks there has been about a really good weather. every time that happens, we get warnings that this is what we need to expect, that this is what we need to expect, that this is climate change, is that true? there is always a difficult question for meteorologists to answer. if you look back at 1976, there was a great big heatwave then, and that went on for six weeks. the problem that we haveis for six weeks. the problem that we have is that we get this kind of weather every so often anyway, don't we? however, when it starts to break records, and it is not this weekend, or even monday or tuesday, we are looking to the next weekend, where the models are showing that, but we will see, but they are a bit scary

at the moment. as we move towards that, we have to be on our toes to a certain degree, and if it does break, we have to start to talk about climate change. minor changes notjust about climate change. minor changes not just about britain, about climate change. minor changes notjust about britain, we are not an island in that case, we share the weather, you have to look at other records being broken. certainly, the climate change is having an effect. do we have to look at buildings as having air conditioning, because in other parts of the world it is great? other parts of the world it is ureat? ~ . , , ., , great? we are miles behind, not 'ust in buildings. — great? we are miles behind, not 'ust in buildings. but fl great? we are miles behind, not 'ust in buildings, but in i great? we are miles behind, not 'ust in buildings, but in the i great? we are miles behind, not 'ust in buildings, but in the way i great? we are miles behind, not 'ust in buildings, but in the way that h great? we are miles behind, notjust in buildings, but in the way that we l in buildings, but in the way that we do things. weather dictates what we do, from what we eat to how we feel. it should be a greater part of the education process, from infants go all the way through to universities,

but all that's going to be put into the