England

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - Britain's government will hold a confidence vote in itself on Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's political spokeswoman said on Wednesday, after blocking an effort to bring one by the opposition Labour Party after ministers objected to its wording.

Johnson has said he will step down once the governing Conservative Party chooses a new leader, but the Labour Party wanted a vote of confidence against both the government and Johnson to try to force him to leave earlier.

LONDON (AP) — Conservative Party lawmakers in Britain are casting ballots Wednesday in the first round of an election to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The internal party contest will replace the flamboyant, scandal-ridden Johnson — a figure famous in Britain and around the world — with a new and much lesser-known prime minister.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s economy showed unexpectedly strong growth in May, with the three major components of production— manufacturing, construction and services — all posting gains.

The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday that gross domestic product expanded 0.5% in the month, compared with economic forecasts of about 0.1%. GDP declined 0.2% in April.

LONDON, July 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Pres Joe Biden will make his first visit as US president to Saudi Arabia on Friday, where he will seek to persuade Riyadh to pump more oil to bring down prices that are fuelling inflation to the highest levels in decades. 

Prior to his election, Biden had vowed that Saudi should be a “pariah” state following the 2018 murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in a recalibration of relations with the oil-producing country that is a kingpin of the OPEC oil cartel.

LONDON, July 12 (Reuters) - Former British health minister Sajid Javid on Tuesday dropped out of the leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister.

"There is an abundance of both ideas and talent in our party. One of the candidates will be given the honour of becoming prime minister," Javid said in a statement.

"I look forward to seeing the debate unfold and to see colleagues working together as a united Conservative Party once the leadership election is concluded."

LONDON, July 12 (Reuters) - Eight candidates will compete to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party, the committee in charge of organising the leadership contest said on Tuesday.

The nominated candidates were Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak, Tom Tugendhat, Liz Truss and Nadhim Zahawi.

LONDON (AP) — British health officials say there have now been 1,735 confirmed cases of monkeypox and that three-quarters of those cases are in London, according to data released on Tuesday.

LONDON (AP) — A BBC investigation alleged Tuesday that British special forces killed dozens of detainees in suspicious circumstances during counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan a decade ago.

Citing newly obtained military documents, the broadcaster alleged that one SAS unit may have unlawfully killed 54 people in the southern Helmand province in 2010 to 2011. It also alleged that the former head of U.K. special forces knew about the alleged killings, but didn’t pass on the evidence to a murder inquiry.

LONDON (AP) — London’s Heathrow Airport is capping daily passenger numbers for the summer and telling airlines to stop selling tickets as it steps up efforts to quell travel chaos caused by soaring travel demand and staff shortages.

Britain’s busiest airport said Tuesday that it’s setting a limit of 100,000 passengers that it can handle each day through Sept. 11. The restriction is likely to result in more canceled flights even after airlines already slashed thousands of flights from their summer schedules.

LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - The contest to replace British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gathered pace on Sunday as five more candidates declared their intention to run, with many pledging lower taxes and a clean start from Johnson's scandal-ridden premiership.

Johnson on Thursday said he would resign as prime minister, after lawmakers and cabinet colleagues rebelled over his handling of a series of scandals, including breaches of lockdown rules in gatherings at his Downing Street office.

He said he would stay on until a new leader was elected.