this is bbc news broadcasting in the uk and around the world. i'm ben brown. our top stories. the battle to become britain's next prime minister. two former health secretaries — sajid javid and jeremy hunt — join the growing list in the conservative leadership contest. with tax emerging as a central issue in the race. sri lanka's deepening economic crisis — the us appeals to politicians to act swiftly — as the president says he'll step down after huge demonstrations. the economic situation is not going to change overnight. it is going to be a difficult recovery period. the international community will need to come in and help and that is why the un was warning there is an impending humanitarian emergency.

an impending humanitarian emergency. at least 15 people have been shot dead in a bar in the south african township of soweto. voters injapan are choosing members of the country's upper house of parliament — in elections overshadowed by the assassination of former prime minister, shinzo abe. and in the tennis — defending champion novak djokovic faces nick kyrgios in the men's final at wimbledon later today. hello and welcome to bbc news. the battle to become britain's next prime minister is intensifying. nine candidates have now announced they will stand in the contest to replace borisjohnson as leader of the conservative party. the ukjunior trade minister penny mordaunt is the latest to come forward.

she follows the former health secretaries, sajid javid and jeremy hunt — with both pledging to cut taxes. the foreign secretary, liz truss, is expected to declare in the coming days. our political correspondent, jonathan blake reports. the two newest entrants to the race are the first to set out detailed plans and both focus on economic policy. jeremy hunt, who lost to borisjohnson in the final two last time round promises to cancel a planned rise in corporation tax and reduce it further. he also would cut business rates to zero in the most deprived areas. sajid javid his resignation triggered the prime minister's final downfall, said he would scrap the recent rise in national insurance, cut income tax and are then planned and reduce fuel duty further. the plans set the two apart from the early frontrunner, the former chancellor rishi sunak

who suggested that tax cuts would have to wait. yet to formally enter the contest is liz truss, the foreign secretary. but supporters of hers say she would move swiftly to ease the cost of living. the new chancellor announced he was running yesterday along with the transport secretary. the list of candidates is likely to get longer still before tory mps whittle it down to a final two for a vote by conservative party members. penny mordaunt has also announced that she's to enter the race to become the next conservative leader. the conservative mp posted a campaign video on twitter and said: "our leadership has to change. it needs to become a little less about the leader and a lot more about the ship." some of the nine leadership contenders have been campaigning this morning — including the former health secretaryjeremy hunt. including the former health he says tackling inflation will be one of the biggest challenges for the next prime minister,

and outlined his plans to cut corporation tax. no conservative should offer unfunded tax cuts and i think no conservative should raise taxes either. what you need are smart tax cuts that will grow the economy. the corporation tax, i set up my business because nigel lawson, margaret thatcher created a pro—enterprise environment. i was actually the only one of my friends leaving university went off and set “p leaving university went off and set up their own business. i want more people to do that but if we are going to increase corporation tax which is one of the biggest taxes businesses pay so that is more than more thanjapan and america but more than france and germany then people won't want to set up businesses. another former health secretary, sajid javid, has explained why he decided to quit earlier this week — and denied being naive by believing what he was told by borisjohnson when he defended his conduct. i don't think it is naive at all. i

think that, first of all, i certainly wasn't the only one and if anything, i was probably the first one to not believe and so i think that when you are in government it is a huge responsibility. we are all bound by collective responsibility. it's trusting each other. it's about being a team and that for me from day one has been the priority and i think it is important when you hear things, think things that you think might not be the case to give the benefit of the doubt and i think actually walking out of your job benefit of the doubt and i think actually walking out of yourjob is actually walking out of yourjob is a really big thing to do. joining me now to discuss the process for selecting the new conservative leader, and some of the wider issues around what the party might be looking for, is journalist and author jo—anne nadler, who was also an adviser to the conservative party. it isa it is a very, very crowded field, isn't it? and it's going to take some time for a new leader to emerge

and it may not be until september. yes, that is possible although, actually, it might even be sooner than that. there are a number of different factors involved in the timing of this, not least the elections to the 1922 committee which is the backbench committee which is the backbench committee which runs the elections and they may tweak the rules, the current rules. for instance, to raise the threshold, the number of mps required by each candidate in terms of going forward with their candidacy so at the moment i think we are up to nine formally declared and expecting two or three other so there may be as many as 12 candidates coming forward and the question will be can they all raise their support of what is likely to be 20 or even 25 backbench mps to take that candidacy forward to the point of being voted on by mps. does it worry you — point of being voted on by mps. does

it worry you that _ point of being voted on by mps. does it worry you that it _ point of being voted on by mps. does it worry you that it is _ point of being voted on by mps. does it worry you that it is already quite bloody and there is a briefing war with candidates sort of slagging each other off?— each other off? since i started to take an interest _ each other off? since i started to take an interest in _ each other off? since i started to take an interest in these - each other off? since i started to take an interest in these things, | take an interest in these things, this is the eighth conservative leadership race that i've paid any attention to and it is certainly has the potential to be one of the most interesting but i do think the extent to which these things are a blood sport is sometimes slightly exaggerated by particularly lobby journalists. people in amongst the mps who get very febrile and worked up mps who get very febrile and worked up about this sort of thing. it is very important with these kind of thing is to recognise they are all conservatives. quite a of them have sat in the cabinet until very recently. and they can't allow some of their less disciplined tenants to go off and brief in this slightly erratic and damaging fashion. feel

seem to be — erratic and damaging fashion. feel seem to be piling into rishi su nak especially over tax. you make that is because sheets in a casa he came out first with this very slick campaign video and he is obviously extremely well—known. he has differentiated himself from the other candidates on this issue of tax really by not making any immediate change and it is actually very interesting that the candidates are running so heavy untaxed radar. this is very much about appealing to each other and the parliamentary party in terms of their vote but i do think they need to remember that they are running a government and it is notjust about economic policy as critical as that is at this moment. there are other very big issues they need to confront such as how to keep

the union together, how to protect british borders, for instance, and a plethora of other issues that they're going to need to expand on as well. do think that whoever it is, they don't know if you think who it is going to be, but whoever it is will be and should be a very different prime minister than boris johnson? it different prime minister than boris johnson? , ., ., ., johnson? it is fair to say that whoever _ johnson? it is fair to say that whoever it — johnson? it is fair to say that whoever it is _ johnson? it is fair to say that whoever it is will _ johnson? it is fair to say that whoever it is will be - johnson? it is fair to say that whoever it is will be a - johnson? it is fair to say that whoever it is will be a very i whoever it is will be a very different prime minister because borisjohnson is and was a man of his own. and that was one of the reasons why he was selected as one of the reasons why actually he still has wide appeal which should not be forgotten. but also prime minister were some quite deep character flaws. you make is an eccentric. who doesn't have character flaws. the question is not so much about his character but his personality, in a

sense and that bubbly boosterism did not translate into the necessary attention to detail for someone who is the chief executive of the country, effectively. you have now replaces him is going to be a very different personality which ever one of these 12, 13 or whatever it is because none of them will have that particular quality that he had but of course they will have their own qualities. did of course they will have their own uualities. , , ., ~' of course they will have their own uualities. , , ., ~ , ., qualities. did you think it should be and will _ qualities. did you think it should be and will be. _ qualities. did you think it should be and will be. i _ qualities. did you think it should be and will be. i think _ qualities. did you think it should be and will be. i think that - qualities. did you think it should be and will be. i think that is - qualities. did you think it should be and will be. i think that is a l be and will be. i think that is a genuinely _ be and will be. i think that is a genuinely very _ be and will be. i think that is a genuinely very open _ be and will be. i think that is a genuinely very open field. - be and will be. i think that is a genuinely very open field. if. be and will be. i think that is a i genuinely very open field. if you had asked me a week ago i think my money was on the dean because having looked at a lot of leadership elections in the past there's been a tendency for unexpected characters to come in to the middle and he seems to be a businessman, right—winger, pro brags it but he's also got a very conciliatory nature

and is well liked but i think, in a way, yes you did momentum to some of the other candidates not least by accepting the role and the treasury. that does not mean that by any stretch of the imagination a good come through now but one of very positive things about this election for the conservative party, although they must not be arrogant about it, it is a strong slate of candidates. all of these people are very intelligent and capable and can make a compelling case to be the leader and whatever like to see in the final two is that one of those should either be a women because i think there's two women have been particularly clear in their agenda and i think they have extended it beyond just talking about tax cuts but to the other person should be, well, the field is wide open at the moment. irate

well, the field is wide open at the moment. ~ , ., ., , , , moment. we will see what happens. thank ou moment. we will see what happens. thank you very _ moment. we will see what happens. thank you very much _ moment. we will see what happens. thank you very much indeed. - the united states has appealed to sri lanka's politicians to act promptly to resolve their country's economic crisis. an announcement that the sri lankan president, gotobaya rajapaksa, would step down on wednesday, came after protesters seized his official residence and set the prime minister's home on fire. the country is dealing with rampant inflation and food, fuel and medicine imports are drying up. mark lobel reports. burning fury for all to see. the sri lankan prime minister's house set alight. flames fuelled by protesters' anger at economic mismanagement that has left suffering. it has become the norm now to see people staying and sleeping in vehicles, to get fuel in that rangers to three to four days sometimes. many actually walked for hours to get to the protest sites.

the president's office was also stormed. there was an impromptu pool party at the palace. it is rumoured the president has taken to the high waters, as his country finds itself politically and economically all at sea. it is time we got all our stolen money back to this country, and also the air—conditioning is running in the presidential palace where people don't have electricity in their homes. it is a far cry from the once—blossoming tourist hotspot. a country of 22 million people, recovering from a brutal civil war, which has been ruled by two brothers for years.

there are three things that have brough sri lanka down. - the first is authoritarianism. the second is corruption and that is chauvinism. i now foreign currency is running dry humping imports of food, fuel and medicine and forcing schools to close. at the beginning of april, angry protests prompted a state of emergency. 12 days later, the government could not pay its foreign debt for the first time in its history. the prime minister resigned in may. a month on, the un warned of a humanitarian emergency. now, with the storming of the president's home, parliament speaker had this message from the president. he asked me to tell the country that he will resign on the 13th ofjuly, on wednesday, to ensure a peaceful handover of power. therefore, there is no need to destabilise the country any longer. these protests have achieved the resignations of both the prime minister and president, but whoever takes over will inherit a humanitarian and law and order crisis as they are urged to restore stability quickly by the united states and the imf so that talks on an economic bailout package can resume.

earlier i spoke to our south asia editor, anbarasan ethirajan, who'se been outside the presidential office. these are extraordinary times for shillong cup. just behind me as the president's office and just hours ago hundreds of people stormed the building. this was one of the most protected buildings here in sri lanka. rememberyou protected buildings here in sri lanka. remember you cannot even come near this road during the civil war. now families, men were men, people who took part in the anti—government protests and is able i taking pictures to remember this and i was speaking with many of these visitors here and they say this is a great occasion for sri lanka because the people's power have one. now we are forced these two leaders, they have

agreed to resign and that is a great victory and a victory for the people of sri lanka and that is why we see children, men, women, they are celebrating and even though we saw a group of soldiers behind those stairs, sri lanka is now waking up to the new reality where they believe they can have a government without the brothers. aha, believe they can have a government without the brothers.— without the brothers. a victory for eo - le without the brothers. a victory for people power. _ without the brothers. a victory for people power. as _ without the brothers. a victory for people power, as you _ without the brothers. a victory for people power, as you say, - without the brothers. a victory for people power, as you say, but - without the brothers. a victory for| people power, as you say, butjust talk as to the grievances of the people behind you. what has driven them to this point? what has made them to this point? what has made them so angry? 5ri them to this point? what has made them so angry?— them so angry? sri lanka is one of them so angry? sri lanka is one of the developed _ them so angry? sri lanka is one of the developed countries, - them so angry? sri lanka is one of the developed countries, if - them so angry? sri lanka is one of the developed countries, if you - them so angry? sri lanka is one of i the developed countries, if you want to describe, in south asia. the quality of life used to be higher than countries like india and bangladesh are now the people here, many of them had students use outside petrol stations for days to get petrol or diesel which means they cannot travel anywhere. many are drivers. they have lost the

income and food prices have escalated. inflation last month was about 55%. that was hyperinflation and meal prices have tripled in the last six months so cooking gas cylinders are not available meaning people are struggling to cook at home and people have lostjobs. and people cannot even go to the hospital if they are sick because there are no vehicles to take them. many doctors are not going to the hospital. they are struggling. health workers are struggling even though the government says health workers can get feel they cannot get to hospital so we have not realised the real social impact of this crisis for the past few months but this is a warning for the developing countries who want to borrow money for infrastructure projects that if they do not have enough to repay this debt, they will meet the same fate as sri lanka. this debt, they will meet the same fate as sri lanka.

at least 15 people are reported to have been shot dead in a bar in the south african township of soweto. a number of others were wounded, some of them critically. a police commissioner said it appeared that several people had entered the bar at random, and began shooting at drinkers inside. and in the country's east, four people were also killed during a shootout in a bar in pietermaritzburg on saturday night. britain has sent fighterjets to finland and sweden — where they've been taking part injoint training exercises. the ministry of defence in london said the deployment was part of an increased presence in the region .meanwhile in ukraine russian missile and rocket strikes have caused more widespread damage in towns and cities across eastern and southern regions of the country, local officials have said. joining me now is dr patrick bury — a defence and security expert at the university of bath, and a former nato analyst british army officer. thank you very much indeed for being with us. what do you make of this raf deployment in finland and

sweden. is it a sort of show of strength against vladimir putin and against russia? i think it is two things, really. 0ne it is symbolic in that it is putting some weight behind the security agreements signed by the prime ministerjohnson in the last six weeks with finland and sweden and this is sort of the first step of that so it is symbolic in that the uk are sending a thing for typhoon fighters and another two, the f 35 which is much more capable to conduct high intensity warfighting with capable to conduct high intensity war fighting with the swedes and the finns. the uk has a lot of experience and in the baltic region air patrol missions and there is a sort of the next step up to go, if the russians decided to have a go we need to make sure we can operate with the finns and swedes as easily as possible. how do you actually

fly. what are your constraints? what are your logistical constraints? what are your bases bike etc etc and i would be fight together, you know, how would we do our targeting? how would we do a joint mission planning etc etc? it has a symbolic element and a practical element.— and a practical element. another messa . e and a practical element. another message to _ and a practical element. another message to the _ and a practical element. another message to the kremlin, - and a practical element. another message to the kremlin, if- and a practical element. another message to the kremlin, if you l and a practical element. another l message to the kremlin, if you are thinking invading any other countries in the region nearby don't think about it.— think about it. there is definitely that ttoin think about it. there is definitely that going on- — think about it. there is definitely that going on. there _ think about it. there is definitely that going on. there is _ think about it. there is definitely that going on. there is always i that going on. there is always messaging going on with military deployments but one of the interesting things here is that the swedes have a fighter and the finns have their hornet and they are fourth generation fighters and the typhoon is a little bit more than them, four and typhoon is a little bit more than them, fourand a typhoon is a little bit more than them, four and a half but the technology is 20 years old and reviewers probably think about it

like a car around in the 2000s. a decent car, very capable. technology is moving onwards. the f 35 stealth. it is networked, it is linked into enough a lot of intelligence and surveillance and much more linked up in terms of the information. it is a next level. a bit like a tesla car today. it is automated and high spec aircraft so also sending the f 35 it shows this is what the capability of this aircraft is. the fins have already put an order in for some of them. the swedes may be thinking about it because what will you want is everybody to be singing from the same hymn and can all talk to each other especially platforms that are this advanced and the network taken

on a lot of information and giving it into others on the battlefield so an element of that going on as well. you very much indeed on that latest joint training exercise. thank you very much. japan's governing liberal democratic party looks set to retain control of the upper house of parliament, in an election overshadowed by the assassination of the former prime minister, and leading ldp statesman, shinzo abe. 0pinion polls suggest the party is on course to increase the number of seats it holds. 0ur correspondent mariko 0i is tokyo, and spoke to me a little earlier. it has only been two days since the shocking assassination but today's collections have gone ahead as scheduled and we have been speaking to some voters inside and many of them are still in a state of shock but it has been interesting that

many of them told us that while the attack does not change to the vote for it has really reminded them of how important it is to vote and there have been online campaigns, if you like, and social media with so many hashtags like let's go and vote. this is our election, saying that violence is not the answer to any political disagreements. the ldp is expected to win although it was always expected to win. even before friday's incident. it is interesting that in terms of the turnout, as of 2pm local time it is a lot higher compared to the last election. so maybe, the incident on friday has impacted people's mindset in that way. it is interesting, that former prime minister, he was still very much involved injapanese politics. and he was shot he was making that

election speech and very influential when he died injapanese politics. absolutely, he still had a huge influence over the administration and the last administration who had to run the tokyo 0lympics and the last administration who had to run the tokyo olympics in the midst of the pandemic. you read reports about he gave them a call, the current by minister would give him a call and seek advice and so on and even as recently as february or march, after russia invaded ukraine he started speaking out about how japan needed to increase military spending so that the country can defend itself and japan has that pacifist constitution he so wanted to change and we started hearing from the current prime minister talking about military spending so in terms of the influence that he had, he definitely was one of the

very influential figures of the ruling party. very influential figures of the ruling party-— very influential figures of the ruling party. very influential figures of the rulint -a . ~ ., ., ruling party. when do we find out the results? _ ruling party. when do we find out the results? voting _ ruling party. when do we find out the results? voting closes - ruling party. when do we find out the results? voting closes at - ruling party. when do we find out| the results? voting closes at 8pm local time so _ the results? voting closes at 8pm local time so in _ the results? voting closes at 8pm local time so in just _ the results? voting closes at 8pm local time so in just under - the results? voting closes at 8pm local time so in just under three i local time so in just under three hours and then about midnight local time, 1am local time we should find out the results. the men's singles final of the wimbledon tennis championships is being held later today, with the serbian player, novak djokovic, aiming to win a fourth consecutive title. it would be his 20 first grand slam. he's up against australia's nick kyrgios, who's won both times the players have met previously. take a look at these pictures. it's the moment an enormous shark was spotted circling off the coast of south wales. a bike mechanic had been enjoying an evening in his dinghy in tenby, when he filmed this footage of what is thought to

be a basking shark — which is completely harmless to humans. temperatures are continuing to build day on day for the next couple of days for many of us. heatwave criteria across many areas. today it is going to feel very warm. warmer than yesterday and some so strong sunshine which is more widespread through the rest of today. a big area of high pressure keeping things dry and settled. very little breeze out there as well. we have got a bit more cloud still lingering across parts of northern western scotland. a little bit of cloud for the irish sea coastal areas as well, but tending to burn back for the day. a little bit patchy fair weather cloud developing in the south—east as well but it is going to feel warm with temperatures across scotland and northern ireland about 21, perhaps 2a or 25 in the warmest spots, up

to possibly 30 degrees in the south. high levels of uv for many of us, and moderate levels in the west. it is the final at wimbledon. it is going to be hot with temperatures in the high 20s, possibly 30 degrees with a little breeze, too. warm and dry as we end the day with some late sunshine for top most of us keep the clear skies overnight. a little bit of mist and though cloud here and particularly enclosed towards the and west. temperatures falling to 11—16 to the day. another fine mess sunny, hot day. a bit like today will see cvs are developing around the coast so cooler there. inland, we will see the hottest of the weather, so up to possibly 32 degrees. up in the mid 20s for northern ireland and scotland but turning breezier as this frontal system approaches. rain in the far north—west but as it pushes south through into tuesday it is going to be petering out so

not much useful rainfall. tuesday — we have cloud sitting across england and wales but it is still going to feel hot. fresher for scotland and northern ireland by that weather front with sunny spells and perhaps just the odd shower here. temperatures high teens, low 20s in the north but again, towards the south—east, another day above 30 degrees on tuesday. through into the middle of the week, is that weak weather front slips its way slowly south, we'll see something a little bit fresher for a time for wednesday into thursday as well. high pressure not far away. a lot of dry, settled weather through much of the week ahead. and that they temperatures will be on the up again towards next week.

this is bbc news. the battle to become britain's next prime minister — trade minister penny mordauntjoins former health secretaries sajid javid and jeremy hunt on the growing list of candidates in the conservative leadership contest.

sri lanka's deepening economic crisis — the us appeals to politicians to act swiftly as the president says he'll step down after huge demonstrations. at least 15 people have been shot dead in a bar in the south african township of soweto. voters injapan are choosing members of the country's upper house of parliament in elections overshadowed by the assassination of former prime minister shinzo abe. and in the tennis, defending champion novak djokovic faces nick kyrgios in the men's final at wimbledon later today. now on bbc news, click serves up a sports tech special.