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Boris Johnson rules himself out of Conservative leader race –
Ex-London mayor Boris Johnson has ruled himself out of the race to be the next Conservative leader and prime minister. In a speech in London – billed as his campaign launch – Mr Johnson said he did not believe he could provide the leadership or unity needed. It comes after Justice Secretary and fellow Brexit campaigner Michael Gove’s surprise announcement on Thursday morning that he would run for leader. Home Secretary Theresa May is among the candidates. Nominations closed at noon. Also in the running are Energy minister Andrea Leadsom and former Defence Secretary Liam Fox – who campaigned to leave the EU – and Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb, who backed Remain. The contest was sparked after David Cameron announced he would resign following the EU referendum result, which saw the UK vote by 52% to 48% to leave the EU. Mr Johnson’s unexpected – and dramatic – announcement that he would not stand for Tory leader or prime minister, positions he is long thought to have harboured ambitions for, has dramatically altered the race. Mr Gove and his team of advisors clearly did not believe Boris Johnson had the spine to fully divorce Britain from the EU. Nor did a number of Tory Mps trust Mr Johnson to deliver the promises he was making in terms of personnel and jobs. When Mr Gove made his move, hardened Brexit believers instantly went with him, sinking Boris Johnson. The irony of course is that Boris Johnson, who did so much to take Britain out of the EU, has seen his own ambitious crushed in the aftermath. It could be that the big winner from this vicious Tory drama is the woman in charge of law and order – Theresa May. [BBC]
Boris Johnson

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Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
  • An Afghan National Security Forces convoy outside Kabul was attacked in a coordinated ambush including suicide bombers and heavy machine guns resulting in over 40 deaths. (BBC)
• Boko Haram insurgency
  • At least 15 people are killed and 50 are wounded following two suicide bombings in Cameroon‘s Far North Region. (AP via The New York Times)
• Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
  • Battle of Fallujah (2016)
    • According to reports, at least 250 ISIL militants were killed during fighting in the city of Fallujah while fighting Iraqi Army forces with assistance from U.S. airstrikes. (Reuters via Euronews)
• 2016 Istanbul airport attack
  • A Turkish official reports the three suspected Islamic State suicide bombers who killed 44 people and wounded 238 others, were Russian, Uzbek, and Kyrgyz nationals. (Reuters)
• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • A 17-year-old Palestinian stabs and kills a sleeping 13-year-old Israeli girl in her bedroom. The assailant is fatally shot by security guards. (AP via Post-Bulletin) (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• European migrant crisis
  • At least 10 people drown off the coast of Libya when their dinghy sinks. The Italian Navy managed to rescue over 100 more people. (BBC)

International relations

• Armenia–Russia relations
  • Armenia’s parliament, by a 102-8 vote, ratifies an agreement to create an Armenia-Russia joint Air Defense system. (Reuters) (Armenpress)
• The United Nations agrees to appoint an observer to investigate violence against LGBT people, despite opposition from various countries. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Law and crime

• Colombian, Italian, and U.S. police seize 11 tonnes of cocaine smuggled to various countries and arrest 33 people across Colombia and Italy after the discovery of seven laboratories in the Colombian jungle run by local organized criminal groups and ‘Ndrangheta. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• Conservative Party (UK) leadership election, 2016
  • British home secretary Theresa May enters into the Tory leadership contest, saying that Article 50 of the EU Treaty should not be invoked before the end of this year, implying that formal Brexit negotiations with the EU institutions be put on hold until 2017 at the earliest. (Wall Street Journal)
  • Former Mayor of London Boris Johnson rules himself out of running in the Tory leadership contest, a move believed to be influenced by Michael Gove‘s announcement earlier in the day to run for the leadership. (BBC)
• Presidential transition of Rodrigo Duterte
  • Rodrigo Duterte is inaugurated as President of the Philippines and Leni Robredo as Vice President. (The Manila Bulletin), (The Wall Street Journal)
• Political reshuffle in the Communist Party of China
  • Luo Huining leaves his position as party chief of Qinghai and becomes party chief of Shanxi province, replacing Wang Rulin. (SCMP)
  • Qiang Wei leaves his post as party chief of Jiangxi; Governor Lu Xinshe becomes the new party chief of Jiangxi. (SCMP)
  • Hubei governor Wang Guosheng becomes party chief of Qinghai province. (SCMP)
  • Lu Wei is replaced as head of the Cyberspace Administration of China by Xu Lin. (SCMP)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina officially releases its first census report since the end of the Bosnian War after multiple delays, showing that the country had lost one fifth of its population from 4.4 million to 3.5 million between then and 2013. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
• Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu dismisses 50 high-ranking Navy officers, including Baltic Fleet Commander Viktor Kravchuk and Chief of Staff Sergei Popov, following a month-long inspection that found incompetence, deficiencies in training, and misinformation regarding the state of the fleet. (UPI) (Reuters)

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