Snails are being released back into the wild after a successful Breeding Programme at chester zoo. Hello, a very good morning to you. Welcome to bbc newsroom life. The first round of voting in the conservative leadership contest is under way, tory mps have their first chance, this morning, to vote for the person they want to see lead the party in the country. At least one of these ten candidates vying to be oui of these ten candidates vying to be our next Prime Minister is going to be knocked out of the race today. The mps are holding a private ballot, with contenders needing a minimum of 17 votes to carry on. Voting started in the house of commons this morning at around 10am, with a result expected to be announced by the 1922 committee at around 1pm this afternoon. Further ballots will be held next week with the two most popular mps moving to a run of five tory Party Members. The winner is expected to be announced in the week of the 22nd ofjuly. Lets talk now to our political assistant editor norman smith. The vote is taking place in private but what is the atmosphere like outside the Committee Room . Its tediously convivial. Everyone seems to be chatting away in a friendly fashion. Most, i think, chatting away in a friendly fashion. Most, ithink, all of chatting away in a friendly fashion. Most, i think, all of the candidates, have now voted themselves except for Boris Johnson. Andrea leadsom, esther mcvey were both sitting outside the Committee Rooms eyeballing candidates, may be, you know, please vote for us. They probably look as if they might be the most vulnerable to be knocked out today. Mark harper might. I guess you might also be in some difficulty. Rory stewart was working the media. Hes made much of his campaign outside of westminster trying to communicate to a broader audience. Michael gove emerged and i asked him who he voted for, he said he voted for the best man, make of that what you will. Question marks about whether his campaign is in some difficulty following not so much the drugs charge, but the hypocrisy charge that followed it. Sajid javid was there too, he launched yesterday, i think the consensus was that was better than many people had expected. This morning a clear warning about the danger of no deal. I dont accept it would be disorderly, but i do accept that it would be very challenging for the country, at least for the first few months. Eventually you come to some sort of agreement, but it would be challenging. Ive never shied away from that. I dont think anyone should pretend that no deal is absolutely perfect. It is a challenging enough that some people could lose their jobs . It depends what government reaction is. One of the things we havent done as a government today is properly set out, or at least plan for ourselves, what would be the Government Action in terms of economic policy. That will make a big difference. Massive stimulus for the economy. You have to have a stimulus for the economy,. There was some muttering in the Committee Corridor about the danger that this is going to turn into a men only contest, because, as i say, to have the most vulnerable are the remaining women in the contest, esther mcvey and angella hudson. This was Andrea Leadsom this morning. Are you confident, will you pull out if you have enough support . Im definitely not going to pull out and im very confident, thank you very much. If you lost in the first round who would you support afterwards . Im working on my own campaign, thank you. Among the other contenders is matthew hancock, he turned up this morning, backing him is damian green. Before we talk about matt hancock, its beginning to look like this is a runaway win for borisjohnson. Nobody should ever assume anything in conservative leadership election races. We know the history, the front runner has never won. We have to wait for the result of the first ballot. That is likely to be the first of a number of ballots before it goes out to the membership. We are in the early stages what do you make of Boris Johnson are in the early stages what do you make of borisjohnson has michael ducking and diving and doubts over whether he would take part in a Live Television debate . Its up to par is how he answers questions in the media. I think the tv debates are very important though. Every candidate should take part. And, frankly, i think any candidate that tries tojog away frankly, i think any candidate that tries to jog away from them will do themselves damage, were notjust electing a party leader, inevitably, most of the Party Members wont get to the hustings, so they will be reliant on tv and other media to ta ke reliant on tv and other media to take their views. But we are electing a Prime Minister and i think its an important part of the democratic process that we have these tv debates and every candidate commits to taking part. A lot of the focus will be on who gets knocked out, and two winds, but crucial is who comes second. How much of a chance do you think matt hancock has, and how important a second place . We are optimistic. Weve had increasing support in recent days, but, the true theirs, weve had about two thirds of people say that they are going to vote one way or they are going to vote one way or the other. Lets assume that my colleagues are honest and are saying the same thing to all teams. Even then, youve got a third of the electorate where nobody knows which way they are going to go. So, you know, whether we come second or not is less important than the number of votes compared to expectations. This will be a game of momentum as much as anything. We had a big vote in the commons last night, the ramifications are still being mulled over, about no deal. And whether it is possible for parliament to block no deal. Do you think it is any longer possible for mps to thwart a Prime Minister who chose to take britain out of the eu without an agreement . I think it is possible. We know the maths in parliament. It is a hung parliament, even with the dup, the conservative party has a majority 110w conservative party has a majority now of five. So, you know, you can do the maths and it doesnt take many people to go the other way. Whoever the Prime Minister is, they could lose their majority. There is still a lively possibility that people could come back again to try and stop a no deal brexit. And how credible is it to leave the European Union by october 31, yesterday we were told it is not possible. It is if you have a different plan. Matt hancock has put forward a detailed plan, with a timetable attached, saying that we would have an in principle vote on the deal, which is different from, excuse me, the governments existing deal. We hope to have that before the summer recess to get negotiations going early enough that you would be able to get it through before october 31. There is a council of the eu between 110w there is a council of the eu between now and then, so they would be a chance to take that decision. Damian green, thank you very much. Todayis damian green, thank you very much. Today is just the first ballot, we will have another one on tuesday, when candidates have to get over 32 mps to back them. The bar goes up, and another ballot on wednesday, then on thursday, there could be two on thursday, the way things are looking at the moment it looks as if borisjohnson has pretty much got Cruise Control on. His team were handing out these. I dont know what it says about his team, if they are the most organised on most well funded, but anyway, the most organised on most well funded, butanyway, it looks the most organised on most well funded, but anyway, it looks as if borisjohnson will come funded, but anyway, it looks as if Boris Johnson will come first today. Who comes second is up for grabs. We will keep a very close eye on that. Just to say all ten candidates have 110w just to say all ten candidates have now voted in this first round ballot. This secret ballot that is taking place right now. Esther mcvey was first to cast her vote, and the last to go and was borisjohnson. The Prime Minister, theresa may, has cast her vote but when asked who she was backing she didnt say. Coming up was backing she didnt say. Coming up on bbc newsroom alone in around half and know ill be talking to a conservative insider turned writer and politicaljournalist, conservative insider turned writer and political journalist, and conservative insider turned writer and politicaljournalist, and laura trott, former head of Strategic Communications at number ten when David Cameron was Prime Minister. Stay with us for that at 1135. The home secretary and conservative leadership candidate says hes not happy about being left off their guest list for the state banquet for donald trump. He had previously tweeted in response to the president treating britain first the priming president has endorsed the views of a group that hates me and people like me, i believe he is wrong and i refused to say nothing. Appearing this morning he was asked if he knew why he hadnt been invited to the banquet. I have asked, but i havent. I was just told that normally home secretaries arent invited. So i dont know. You were the only holder of a great office of state who wasnt invited. Michael gove, for example was invited. How do you feel about not being invited . For the reason that youve just being invited . For the reason that youvejust said, i dont like it. It is art. Odd. My office did ask number ten and they said no. Do you think it was because of your muslim background . No, i really dont know. Two ta n ke rs two tankers in the gulf of oman have been damaged in a suspected attack. When shipping company says fire broke out after an explosion. The incident happened in the gulf of oman, a key oilshipping route between the Arabian Peninsula and iran. The us navy to smuggle 50 feet says it is assisting after receiving separate distress calls from two oil tankers in the gulf of oman, the two ships have been identified a spokesman said the 21 crew members on one of them was safe after abandoning the ship. Tension is high in the region after four tankers we re in the region after four tankers were damaged last month. A security correspondent is investigating the story for us. What more do we know about the nature of the attacks on the ships, first of all . They appear to be far more serious than the ones a month ago. Exactly a month ago they were four tankers damaged, to saudi, one uae, one norwegian. They were hit pretty much on the water line, but not enough to cause a majorfire. This is far more serious. Distress calls went out this morning, these were monitored by the us navy, and these appear, but no one is confirming it yet, they appear to be the result of explosions. There is some speculation it was caused by a torpedo, but it does appear to have been some kind of attack. It serious enough for people to have been evacuated. It is a developing story where people come various reports appearand where people come various reports appear and get contradicted. One of the two vessels as reported to have sunk but its been disputed by the illness. Already there are investigations under way as to what caused it, and who is behind it. This is against the background of rising tension between the us and iran. This is a busy shipping lane, over 20 of the worlds oil passes through here every day, as well as millions of pounds worth of other goods. So its a vital shipping lane. If thats going to have the risk, its going to drive up oil prices, insurance, and discourage trade from going through there. So its a real problem. Explain, if you would come a little more about the tensions in the area at the moment. The incident that you referred to last month, the us blame that on iran, and the United Arab Emirates says it was a sophisticated attack but didnt blame a named country. What about the background of this . The background is that there is huge tension between the us and iran. The Donald Trump Administration has torn up Donald Trump Administration has torn up its part of the Nuclear Treaty with iran, it has withdrawn from it unilaterally, and slapped really heavy sanctions on iran. Its quite clear that the Washington Administration is looking to put some kind of a stranglehold on irans economy and its ability to export oil. The us is saying if you buy oilfrom export oil. The us is saying if you buy oil from iran, export oil. The us is saying if you buy oilfrom iran, you cant do business with us. So, thats making it very difficult, and emits that tension, along with that, the us are saying that it has detected signs, preparations by iran, which iran denies, to attack us interests in the region. The us dispatched an Aircraft Carrier, something the us essay to the gulf, to reinforce forces there, along with b 52 bombers. It has caused people to say, are we going to see a war between iran and the us . Neither side say they want that. It is in neither cytoplasmic interest and would be damaging to the world economy. It would be very damaging to the countries of the region. How difficult would it be to prove who carried out these attacks, last month saw the latest . Its not impossible. There was a report, a very carefulforensic, impossible. There was a report, a very careful forensic, scientific report put together and submitted to the Un Security Council a few days ago by the countries, saudi arabia, uae, and norway, the three countries who earned the tankers attack two months ago. That report looked into it and months ago. That report looked into itand said months ago. That report looked into it and said this was the work of a state actor. They didnt know who that actor was. Privately, americans and others are saying its iran. Iran denies it and it is suggested that it could be israel. It is still murky and weve got to stick to the technicalfacts, and murky and weve got to stick to the technical facts, and try to avoid speculation. Frank, thank you very much. Our security correspondent. The headlines for you now. The first round of voting in the conservative leadership race is under way with results expected at lunchtime. Dozens of crew members have been rescued after abandoning two oil tankers hit by explosions in the gulf of oman. And almost three quarters of english hospitals miss nhs targets to treat Cancer Patients quickly enough. And in the sport. The british cyclist chris froome is in intensive care after he suffered serious multiple fractures when he hit a brick wall whilst travelling at almost a0 miles an hour. Rain has hit the womens world cup once again with a delayed start to indias match against new zealand but we are expecting play in an hours time. And its the start of the third golf major of the year with a resurgent tiger woods back amongst the favourites for the us open at pebble beach. More on that in the headlines, about nearly three quarters of nhs services in england failing to treat new Cancer Patients within 62 days after an urgent referral, according to research by the bbc. Cancer charities express their concern about the figures. Nhs england says its due to increasing demand on services. When a gp makes an urgent referral for cancer treatment, nhs guidelines say 85 of patients should begin treatment within 62 days. But figures show that almost 32,500 patients across england werent seen within that timeframe in the past year. Bbc analysis of waiting times shows that maidstone and Tunbridge Wells nhs trust in kent was the worst performing, treating just 61 of patients within the two month period. It is followed by wolverhampton, weston area health, southend, and bradford. Kingston hospital nhs trust in london topped the list, seeing 96 of patients within the timeframe. Frimley health, bolton, mid cheshire, and tameside and glossop also performed well. Cancer is a diagnosis which, when people receive it, it turns their world upside down. It is a really difficult experience for people to go through, and the longer people have to wait to get that diagnosis and treatment, the more it will impact them, their health and well being, just going through that experience. In a statement, an nhs england spokesperson said. The nhs Long Term Plan outlines how it aims to diagnose more cancers sooner, but Charities Say right now it is a system in crisis. Lauren moss, bbc news. Asian shares have slumped as the Hong Kong Market was hit for a second straight session following a day of street protests. The hang sengindex day of street protests. The hang seng index was down 8 today, extending yesterdays 1. 7 loss. Authorities in hong kong closed government offices for the rest of the week after clashes broke out over controversial extradition laws. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets and clashes with demonstrators yesterday as tensions heightened. Proposals would allow extradition from hong kong to Mainland China, opponents say the plans would be abused by beijing to pursue political enemies. Our correspondent is in hong kong, at the entrance of the council building. Here at the entrance of the Legislative Council it is much quieter than it was this time yesterday, when we saw chaotic running street battles between police and protesters. We still have a small group of demonstrators, as you can see here, they have braved the weather to come out here, and they are holding up signs calling on they are holding up signs calling on the police to take michael not to fire on protesters. That follows the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, and the like, to clear the streets. In between them and they building today is a barricade. And also, riot police on the oth