England

LONDON (AP) — A British Cabinet minister tipped to be a frontrunner in the Conservative Party’s leadership race ruled himself out of the contest Saturday.

Defense Minister Ben Wallace said after “careful consideration” and discussion with colleagues and family, he will not be running to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative leader and the country’s next prime minister.

Wallace was seen by some as the favorite choice among Conservative party members in what’s set to be a wide open leadership race following Johnson’s resignation announcement on Thursday.

LONDON (AP) — Former British Treasury chief Rishi Sunak formally launched his campaign to replace departing Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday, leaping to the front of what is set to be a large pack of Conservative Party contenders — even as some party lawmakers pushed to get the scandal-tarnished Johnson out of office before his replacement is elected over the summer.

Johnson announced his resignation on Thursday — a dizzying about-face after months of insisting he would stay in the job despite mounting ethics scandals and growing Conservative discontent.

LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - British defence minister Ben Wallace was the favourite among Conservative party members to be the next party leader, the results of a YouGov poll showed on Thursday, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was expected to resign.

LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - The opposition Labour Party will call a parliamentary no confidence vote in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government if his Conservative Party don't get rid of him immediately, Labour Party chief Keir Starmer said in a statement on Thursday.

"His own party have finally concluded that he's unfit to be prime minister," Starmer said. "If they don't get rid of him, then Labour will step up in the national interest and bring a vote of no confidence because we can't go on with this prime minister clinging on for months and months to come."

LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - Britain's new finance minister Nadhim Zahawi told Boris Johnson to resign on Thursday, less than 48 hours after the prime minister promoted him to the job, saying the crisis engulfing the government would only get worse.

"This is not sustainable and it will only get worse, for you, for the Conservative Party and most importantly of all the country," Zahawi said on Twitter after more than 50 ministers and aides resigned from the government.

"You must do the right thing and go now."

LONDON (AP) — Boris Johnson wanted to be like his hero Winston Churchill: a larger-than-life character who led Britain through a time of crisis. He was felled by crises of his own making, as a trickle of ethics allegations became a flood that engulfed his government and turned his own party against him.

Johnson agreed to resign Thursday after the chorus of disapproval from within his own party became too much for him to withstand.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said it is “clearly the will” of his Conservative Party that there should be a new leader as he announced his resignation.

Johnson said Thursday he will remain as British prime minister while a leadership contest is held to choose his successor.

Critics say he should not be allowed to remain as caretaker prime minister and he should be removed from office as soon as possible.

The announcement came after the latest ethics scandal around his leadership led some 50 senior lawmakers to quit the government.

LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) - Russian-backed separatists have seized two foreign-flagged ships in the eastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, saying they are now "state property", in the first such moves against commercial shipping, letters seen by Reuters showed.

Mariupol, on Ukraine's southern coast, fell under the control of Russian and separatist forces in May after a months-long siege. Russia, which invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, is fighting to seize the whole of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

LONDON (AP) — A defiant British Prime Minister Boris Johnson battled to remain in office Wednesday, shrugging off calls for his resignation after two top ministers and a slew of junior officials said they could no longer serve under his scandal-tarred leadership.

Members of the opposition Labour Party showered Johnson with shouts of “Go! Go!” during the weekly ritual of Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons as critics argued the leader’s days were numbered following his poor handling of sexual misconduct allegations against a senior official.

LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) - The Russian government will be able to compel businesses to supply the military with goods and make their employees work overtime under two laws to support Moscow's war in Ukraine that were approved in an initial vote in parliament on Tuesday.

The measures will effectively place Russia on a war economy footing, nearly 19 weeks into the invasion which it describes as a "special military operation".