in japanese politics. and our other main story this lunchtime: durham police confirmed they are not fining keir starmer and angela rayner over allegations they broke lockdown rules last year. the race is on to replace borisjohnson as conservative leader and britain s next prime minister the first contenders throw their hats in the ring. another big rise in the number of people with covid in the uk infections are up 18%. and i am at wimbledon where britain s cameron norrie will play the six time champion novak djokovic for a place in the men s final. and coming up on the bbc news channel: former fifa president sepp blatter expresses his relief as he and former uefa boss michel platini are both found not guilty of fraud following a trial in switzerland. good afternoon. world leaders have been expressing their shock and grief after the assassination of japan s former prime minister shinzo abe. he was shot while making a speech in the city of nara, and later died in hospital.
Of the prime minister s successor. just two confirmed contenders so far in the race to succeed borisjohnson tom tugendhat and the attorney general, suella braverman. but plenty more are considering their prospects. there are eyes onjeremy hunt, rishi sunak. are you going to be - the next prime minister? ..and other names in the mix but who are yet to declare include the former health secretary, sajid javid, the foreign secretary, liz truss, former defence secretary, penny mordaunt, and the new chancellor, nadhim zahawi. such was the animosity towards borisjohnson by the end from some within his party that there were calls for him to step aside straight away and labour wants to keep up the pressure. what we d said to the conservatives is that they should draw a line now and tell borisjohnson he has to go and he has to go immediately. but if he doesn t do that then the labour party will bring a vote of no confidence forward before the house, before we break up for recess. the conservat
Injapan, where gun crimes are extremely rare and political violence is almost unheard of. so, ever since the first news alert came in saying that he was attacked at around 11:30am local time, my phone just hasn t stopped ringing because all my friends, family members, are talking about it. and he was taken to hospital in the city of nara, where he was attacked. butjust after 5pm local time, he was pronounced dead after losing too much blood and so on. as you said, he was a very influentialfigure. just a few decades ago, japan was known for a revolving door of prime ministers. and i have to say, mr abe s first term was one of that part of that. but then he came back as the prime minister and he stayed and he became the longest serving prime minister ofjapan. so, as a result, he became the face of the country to a lot of the global leaders. he was a very divisive figure, i have to say. his supporters loved him for his very nationalist views.
Tackled to the ground. he d fired two shots at the former prime minister with what appears to be a home made weapon. japan has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world and the attack has come as a profound shock. beneath the blue sheet, shinzo abe is carried away for emergency treatment, critically wounded with gunshots to the neck. and japan held its breath for the former prime minister. at hospital, shinzo abe was given surgery and a huge blood transfusion, but his heart was damaged and his injuries were too severe. translation: mr shinzo abe was taken in today at - 12:20pm at the emergency care centre. he was in a state of cardiac arrest. he was given intensive care, but, unfortunately, he passed away today at 17:03pm. this is how news of his death was announced, the motive of his killer not yet known. and then a shaken prime minister
But he s done a few good things. so are you happy with him staying on for the time being? for the time being, while i find someone else, i would say yes. malcolm s been a season ticket holder at wolves since the 50s and knows this city inside and out. he s a boris fan and is happy for him to stay on as interim pm. he did a good job in the pandemic, he is doing a good job with the ukraine situation, brexit i wanted done and he s going to deliver that. but i think the party. well, theyjust stabbed him in the back too much. they did the same with maggie thatcher years ago, didn t they? you know. but i think he d done. had made too many mistakes, he had got some bad advice, i think. who s your favourite for the next leader and prime minister? well, i think truss, myself. liz truss? liz truss, i think so. back at the fish mongers, richard says whoever takes over has to sort the economy out, starting with petrol prices. whoever is going to come, we need something done l on the diesel, mostly