Barrick Gold eyes assets, exploration as it plots new phase

TORONTO/LONDON: Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO), soon to become the world’s largest bullion miner, is interested in adding more copper assets as long as the red metal is accompanied by bullion, executives said on Friday.

Barrick, which expects to complete its $6.1 billion takeover of Randgold Resources (RRS.L) Jan. 1, outlined plans for exploration, expansion, streamlining and asset sales at an investor presentation in London.

Structured under regions in North America, South America and Africa and the Middle East, Barrick spent the last four days focusing on where to take the merged company, said Randgold Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow, who will be Barrick’s new CEO.

Barrick is open to copper assets “as long as that copper is a component or co-product to the gold,” said Rod Quick, who heads Randgold’s projects and evaluation and will do the same in the merged company. “Or, unless that copper project will enhance our strategic partner network.”

In Africa, Barrick is open to exploiting its “substantial footprint” in the Democratic Republic of Congo to acquire world-class deposits, said Willem Jacobs, who heads Randgold’s operations in central and east Africa and becomes Chief Operating Officer of Barrick’s Africa and Middle East region.

In Zambia, Barrick aims to lower costs at its “relatively low-grade” Lumwana copper mine, he added, noting the country’s new mining code stands to materially affect margins.

Barrick said it is keen on exploration outside its operating base, flagging South America’s Guyana Shield, which crosses Suriname, Guyana and French Guyana. It also wants more exposure in Canada.

Rob Krcmarov, executive vice president of exploration, said Barrick is interested in “copper opportunities” within its operating regions that meet investment criteria.

To approve projects with potential for more than 5 million ounces of gold, Barrick will require a 15-percent rate of return, based on a $1,000 gold price, said Quick. Projects with more than 3 million ounces of gold, need a 20-percent return.

Barrick expects stronger operating cash flows, non-core asset sales and lower overhead and interest costs will help it increase future dividends, said Randgold Chief Financial Officer Graham Shuttleworth, who takes the same role at Barrick.

Talks are underway to sell Barrick’s Lagunas Norte mine, said Mark Hill, COO of Latin America. Barrick said in August the Peru mine was an example of the non-core mines it would look at selling. Reuters reported last year that Barrick was exploring options, including the sale of all or part of, Lagunas Norte.

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Tajikistan launches giant dam to end power shortage

ROGUN: Tajikistan on Friday inaugurated a $3.9 billion hydro-electric power plant, a mega project that will enable the impoverished country to eliminate domestic energy shortages and export electricity to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Built on the Vakhsh River in southern Tajikistan, the plant championed by President Emomali Rakhmon is expected to reach a height of 335 metres (1,099 feet) in a decade, becoming the world’s tallest hydro-electric dam.

The first of six turbines in the Rogun hydroelectric dam goes online on Friday, with the power plant expected to reach capacity of 3,600 megawatts — the equivalent of three nuclear power plants — when completed.

At present, Rogun still resembles a vast construction site, with rocky earth covering the territory from which the powerful Vakhsh flowing through the Pamir mountains was diverted.

In 2016, Rakhmon, who is a former collective farm boss, climbed into a bulldozer at a groundbreaking for the dam, in a sign of the president’s personal attachment to the project.

It will double energy production in the country of nearly nine million people, alleviating a long-lasting, debilitating national energy deficit. Surplus energy will be sold to neighbours such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.

Plans to build a dam in southern Tajikistan date back to the Soviet era, but the project was scaled up following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

In 2017, Tajikistan raised $500 million from an inaugural international bond to help finance the construction.

Authorities hope that once the dam goes online it will generate money to finance further construction.

 ‘National consolidation’ 

Observers say the project is hugely significant for a country that lost tens of thousands of people in a civil war in the 1990s when rebel groups including Islamists rose up against the government.

Rogun has become “a concept for national consolidation,” political analyst Abdugani Mamadazimov told AFP.

There have been calls by public figures to rename the dam after Rakhmon.

Saidjafar Usmonzoda, chairman of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan which is represented in parliament, told AFP such a tribute would only be fitting given Rakhmon’s “heroic accomplishment” making Rogun a reality.

If it ever reaches the planned height of 335 metres, the dam will be 30 metres taller than the recently-built Jinping-I Dam in China and 35 metres taller than Tajikistan’s own Soviet-era Nurek dam, also on the Vakhsh River.

The project overseen by the Italian company Salini Impregilo has a number of risks.

Observers warn that the Tajik authorities do not appear to concern themselves with the environmental sensitivities of Rogun, given Rakhmon’s close involvement.

Rogun is located “in a highly seismic area, and several geological studies have warned about the risks of building such a large dam in this setting,” Filippo Menga, a lecturer in human geography at the  University of Reading in the United Kingdom, told AFP.

Geopolitical tensions surrounding the project have, for the moment, subsided in a region that suffers from water scarcity.

Uzbekistan’s late leader Islam Karimov once hinted that his downstream agriculture-dependent country might go to war over Rogun and a similar project in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan.

But Uzbek opposition to the dam has evaporated since Karimov’s death in 2016 and in an incredible turnaround, the 32 million population could become one of Rogun’s early clients.

Speaking ahead of the launch, deputy head engineer Sukhrob Ochilov summed up the celebratory mood surrounding the keystone project.

“I have been waiting for this moment,” he said.

“Rogun coming online means the construction of new factories, economic progress and jobs for our people.”

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Three tiger cubs killed by Indian train

NEW DELHI: Three eight-month-old tiger cubs have been killed by a train in western India, forest rangers said Friday.

“The cubs were hit by a train early on Thursday and their mangled remains were recovered and sent for post-mortem,” A.K. Mishra from Maharashtra state’s forestry department told AFP.

Their bodies were spotted in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district, which is famous for a thriving tiger population.

“The incident is extremely unusual and we have not spotted their mother yet and will cremate them soon,” Mishra said.

India has launched a major campaign to boost tiger numbers. At the last tiger census in 2014 the population had risen to more than 2,200 from a low of less than 1,500.

But as urban areas have expanded in the country of 1.25 billion people, conflict between humans and tigers has worsened. Poaching is also a concern.

A controversy is meanwhile raging about the death in early November of a tiger believed to have killed more than a dozen villagers, also in Maharashtra.

The tigress was shot after a months-long search using paragliders, infrared cameras, sharpshooters on elephants and even Calvin Klein perfume.

The big cat was shot dead by Asghar Ali Khan, the son of India’s most famous hunter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan, in seemingly murky circumstances.

Foresty workers were on Thursday looking for the tigress’s two cubs, with Mishra saying they had been spotted in a forest and was hopeful they would be found.

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Who has submitted letters of no confidence in UK PM May?

LONDON: Some lawmakers in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party have said they have submitted letters of no confidence in the British leader.

A leadership challenge is triggered if 48 Conservatives write such letters to the chairman of the party’s so-called 1922 committee, Graham Brady. May could be toppled if 158 of her 315 lawmakers vote against her.

Brady has not said how many letters have been submitted. It is not clear how he would announce any vote.

Lawmakers do not have to reveal publicly whether they have written a letter, but those below have chosen to do so:

1) JACOB REES-MOGG – submitted his letter on Thursday

“It is of considerable importance that politicians stick to their commitments or do not make such commitments in the first place. Regrettably, this is not the situation,” he said in his letter.

2) HENRY SMITH – tweeted a picture of his letter on Thursday

3) SHERYLL MURRAY – said on Thursday she had submitted a letter.

4) ANNE MARIE-MORRIS – said on Thursday she had submitted a letter

“I am not alone and I do it with a heavy heart but now it’s the country that matter more than absolutely anything else,” she told the BBC.

5) LEE ROWLEY – said on Thursday he had submitted a letter

“I’ve written that because sadly I have come to the conclusion that the prime minister isn’t going to change her policy and I wish she would,” he told ITV news.

6) STEVE BAKER – submitted his letter on Oct. 22.

“While I am clear these (proposals) will be defeated in the commons, there seems little point allowing the Captain to continue running the ship towards the rocks and so I write with regret to request a vote of no confidence in our leader.”

7) SIMON CLARKE – “My letter is in,” he told reporters on Thursday outside a meeting of the influential ERG eurosceptic group of Conservative lawmakers.

8) JAMES DUDDRIDGE – announced he had submitted his letter just minutes before May took to the stage for her speech at the Conservative annual conference in October

9) ANDREA JENKYNS – submitted her letter in June

“She can fight it. But I am confident she will not win it. Time to save Brexit and our party with a new leader,” she said on Twitter.

10) ANDREW BRIDGEN – submitted his letter in July

“All we have asked from the Prime Minister, is that she sticks to what she has promised on repeated occasions when she declared that ‘Brexit means Brexit’ and pledged to take back control of our money, borders and laws. But it now appears those promises are all a pretence and a charade intended to dupe the electorate,” he said in his letter, according to media reports.

11) PHILIP DAVIES – submitted his letter in July

“Politics is all about trust and once it is lost it is impossible to win back,” he said in a letter to constituents.

12) PETER BONE – submitted his letter some time ago

“I’ve always wanted the policy to change not necessarily the prime minister but when the prime minister won’t change the policy the only way to change the policy is to change the prime minister,” he told the BBC on Thursday.

13) NADINE DORRIES – submitted her letter some weeks ago

“The writing has been on the wall for some time,” she said on Twitter on Thursday.

14) MARTIN VICKERS – submitted his letter in July

“It was clear at that time further concessions were inevitable & now we have a much worse agreement that fails to deliver what my constituents voted for in the referendum when they delivered a considered verdict that we should leave,” he told a local newspaper reporter.

15) ADAM HOLLOWAY – submitted his letter on Thursday

“My letter of no confidence has now been delivered – with regret. Mrs May is a remarkable woman – just look at her fortitude today in the House of Commons, even more please remember her long career of public service.”

16) JOHN WHITTINGDALE – told the BBC on Friday

17) LAURENCE ROBERTSON – told the BBC his letter was submitted months ago

“I was concerned at the direction Theresa May was taking these negotiations and was dragging them out, and I wrote that letter some months ago.”

18) MARK FRANCOIS – said he had submitted his letter, titled “She Just Doesn’t Listen”, on Friday

“For the sake of the Conservative Party and indeed for our country’s destiny, I honestly believe that (it) is now time to seek fresh leadership that can carry this country forward outside of the European union and confidently into the world.”

19) MARIA CAULFIELD – confirmed via her office that she has submitted a letter.

20) BEN BRADLEY – confirmed via his office that he has submitted a letter.

21) CHRIS GREEN – said on Twitter he had sent a letter.

“My constituents want a clean break from the European Union, taking back control of our laws, our borders, our money and our trade. The withdrawal proposal from the prime minister will not help deliver that result.”

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CNN reporter returns to White House after judge’s ruling

WASHINGTON: The White House agreed Friday to allow CNN reporter Jim Acosta back in after a judge ruled that the star journalist was improperly banned following a testy exchange at a press conference with President Donald Trump. 

Trump spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said “in response to the court, we will temporarily reinstate the reporter’s hard pass.”

But she left open the possibility of seeking to remove Acosta’s access later and said new rules would be imposed “to ensure fair and orderly press conferences.”

Trump said that “rules and regulations” were being drafted to govern such gatherings, where the president or his representatives often accuse journalists — Acosta in particular — of being overly hostile.

“We have to practice decorum. We want total freedom of the press,” Trump told reporters, adding later in an interview with Fox News: “If he misbehaves, we’ll throw him out.”

In fact, Trump himself frequently speaks harshly to reporters, for example last week telling another CNN correspondent several times that her question was “stupid.”

He also routinely describes journalists he does not approve of, and the media in general, as “enemies of the people.”

– Free speech rights –

Acosta often aggressively questions the White House on its attitude toward journalists and has been criticized even by some in the media for becoming part of the story he is meant to be covering.

On November 7, the day he was stripped of his pass, Acosta had riled Trump by refusing to give up the microphone at a news conference when he considered that Trump was evading his question.

Trump responded by branding Acosta a “rude, terrible person.”

CNN cast the controversy as a question of free speech, which is protected under the constitution’s first amendment.

In his ruling Friday, Judge Timothy Kelly stressed that he had only found the procedure for expelling Acosta illegal and that free speech did not enter the equation.

“I want to be very clear that I have not determined that the First Amendment was violated,” he said in the Washington courtroom, adding that further hearings would be held on that aspect.

The US Justice Department’s lawyer, James Burnham, argued that Acosta had “disrupted” last week’s news conference and that “there is no First Amendment right to access the White House.”

However, major media outlets took up Acosta’s cause. Tellingly, Trump’s most friendly outlet, Fox News, joined the suit calling for Acosta’s pass to be returned.

“We are gratified with this result and we look forward to a full resolution in the coming days,” CNN said in a statement. “Our sincere thanks to all who have supported not just CNN, but a free, strong and independent American press.”

Shortly after the ruling, Acosta returned to the White House, telling fellow journalists that “this was a test.”

“Journalists need to know that their First Amendment rights are sacred,” he said.

– Unity –

The spat over Acosta has prompted an unusually public show of unity between America’s powerful media organizations.

Those backing CNN’s court action included the Associated Press, Bloomberg, First Look Media Works, Gannett, the National Press Club Journalism Institute, NBC News, The New York Times, Politico, Press Freedom Defense Fund, EW Scripps Company, USA Today and The Washington Post.

“Whether the news of the day concerns national security, the economy or the environment, reporters covering the White House must remain free to ask questions,” the media groups said in a joint statement.

After the judge’s ruling, the White House Correspondents’ Association president, Olivier Knox, cheered a decision that “made it clear that the White House cannot arbitrarily revoke a White House press pass.”

“We thank all of the news outlets and individual reporters who stood up in recent days for the vital role a free and independent news media plays in our republic,” he said.

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US Vice President Pence vows no end to tariffs until China bows

PORT MORESBY: The United States will not back down from its trade dispute with China, and might even double its tariffs, unless Beijing bows to U.S. demands, Vice President Mike Pence said on Saturday.

In a bluntly worded speech at an Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in Papua New Guinea, Pence threw down the gauntlet to China on trade and security in the region.

“We have taken decisive action to address our imbalance with China,” Pence declared. “We put tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods, and we could more than double that number.”

“The United States, though, will not change course until China changes its ways.”

The stark warning will likely be unwelcome news to financial markets which had hoped for a thaw in the Sino-U.S. dispute and perhaps even some sort of deal at a G20 meeting later this month in Argentina.

President Donald Trump, who is not attending the APEC meeting, is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Argentina.

Pence’s warning on Saturday contrasted with remarks made by Trump on Friday, when he said he may not impose more tariffs after China sent the United States a list of measures it was willing to take to resolve trade tensions.

Trump has imposed tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports to force concessions on a list of demands that would change the terms of trade between the two countries. China has responded with import tariffs on U.S. goods.

Washington is demanding Beijing improve market access and intellectual property protections for U.S. companies, cut industrial subsidies and slash a $375 billion trade gap.

There was no hint of compromise from Pence.

“China has taken advantage of the United States for many years. Those days are over,” he told delegates gathered on a cruise liner docked in Port Moresby’s Fairfax Harbour.

He also took aim at China’s territorial ambitions in the Pacific and, particularly, Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative to expand land and sea links between Asia, Africa and Europe with billions of dollars in infrastructure investment.

“We don’t offer constricting belts or a one-way road,” said Pence.

While not referring directly to Chinese claims over various disputed waters in the region, Pence said the United States would work to help protect maritime rights.

“We will continue to fly and sail where ever international law allows and our interests demand. Harassment will only strengthen our resolve.”

Just minutes earlier, Xi had spoken at length about his initiative and the need for free trade across the region.

“It is not an exclusive club closed to non-members, nor is it a trap as some people have labelled it,” Xi said of his brainchild project.

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CIA believes Saudi crown prince ordered journalist’s killing: sources

WASHINGTON: The Central Investigation Agency (CIA) believes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, complicating President Donald Trump’s efforts to preserve ties with a key U.S. ally.

The sources said the CIA had briefed other parts of the US government, including Congress, on its assessment, which contradicts Saudi government assertions that Prince Mohammed was not involved.

The CIA’s finding, first reported by the Washington Post, is the most definitive U.S. assessment to date tying Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler directly to the killing.

Both the White House and the State Department declined to comment.

“The claims in this purported assessment is false,” a spokeswoman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington said in a statement. “We have and continue to hear various theories without seeing the primary basis for these speculations.”

Trump and top officials of his administration have said Saudi Arabia must be held to account for any involvement in Khashoggi’s death, but they have also stressed the importance of the U.S.-Saudi alliance.

U.S. officials have said Saudi Arabia, a major oil supplier, plays an important part in countering what they see as Iran’s malign role in the region, and Trump has repeatedly said he does not want to imperil U.S. arms sales to the kingdom.

While the Trump administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on 17 Saudis for their role in Khashoggi’s killing, many lawmakers think the United States should take a tougher stance, and the CIA’s findings are likely to embolden that view.

Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government and a columnist for the Washington Post, was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 when he went there to pick up documents he needed for his planned marriage to a Turkish woman.

Khashoggi had resisted pressure from Riyadh for him to return home. Saudi officials have said a team of 15 Saudi nationals were sent to confront Khashoggi at the consulate and that he was accidentally killed in a chokehold by men who were trying to force him to return to the kingdom.

Turkish officials have said the killing was intentional and have been pressuring Saudi Arabia to extradite those responsible to stand trial. An adviser to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday accused Saudi Arabia of trying to cover up the murder.

Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said on Thursday that he was seeking the death penalty for five suspects charged in the killing. The prosecutor, Shalaan al-Shalaan, told reporters the crown prince knew nothing of the operation, in which Khashoggi’s body was dismembered and removed from the consulate.

U.S. officials have been skeptical that Prince Mohammed would not have known about plans to kill Khashoggi, given his control over Saudi Arabia.

The Post, citing people familiar with the matter, said the CIA’s assessment was based in part on a phone call the crown prince’s brother, Prince Khaled bin Salman, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, had with Khashoggi.

Prince Khaled told Khashoggi he should go to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to retrieve the documents and gave him assurances that it would be safe to do so, the Post said.

The newspaper, citing people familiar with the call, said it was not clear if the prince knew Khashoggi would be killed but that he made the call at his brother’s direction.

The prince said in a Twitter post on Friday that the last contact he had with Khashoggi was via text on Oct. 26, 2017, nearly a year before the journalist’s death.

“I never talked to him by phone and certainly never suggested he go to Turkey for any reason. I ask the US government to release any information regarding this claim,” Prince Khaled said.

The Post said the CIA also examined a call from inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after Khashoggi’s killing.

Maher Mutreb, a security official who has often been seen at the crown prince’s side, made the call to Saud al-Qahtani, a top aide to Prince Mohammed, to inform him the operation had been completed, the Post said, citing people familiar with the call.

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Trump to discuss Khashoggi murder with Sec of State Pompeo, CIA

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said he had not yet been briefed on the CIA’s conclusions regarding the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but that he would speak with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the CIA about the issue later on Saturday.

The CIA believes Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de-facto ruler, ordered Khashoggi’s killing, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

But Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House before flying to California, also reiterated that he had been told the crown prince had not played a role in the journalist’s death.

“We haven’t been briefed yet,” Trump said. “We will be talking with the CIA later and lots of others. I’ll be doing that while I’m on the plane. I’ll be speaking also with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.”

Khashoggi, a critic of the crown prince, was killed in October at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul when he went there to pick up documents he needed for his planned marriage.

Trump and top administration officials have said Saudi Arabia should be held to account for any involvement in Khashoggi’s death and have imposed sanctions on 17 Saudis for their role in the killing.

But they have also stressed the importance of Washington’s ties with Riyadh, even while US lawmakers have called on the administration to punish Saudi Arabia over the murder.

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Over 40 killed in attack on refugee base in Central African Republic

BANGUI: More than 40 people were killed and dozens wounded in Central African Republic in an attack on a Catholic mission sheltering 20,000 refugees, a regional lawmaker said.

The attack happened on Thursday in Alindao, a town 300 km (200 miles) east of the capital Bangui. Thousands of people were forced to flee when the mission was set on fire, the United Nations said.

 “We have counted 42 bodies so far, but we are still searching for others. The camp has been burnt to the ground and people fled into the bush and to other IDP (internally displaced person) camps in the city,” Alindao lawmaker Etienne Godenaha told Reuters.

A humanitarian source confirmed that more than 40 people were killed.

U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Central African Republic Najat Rochdi said in a statement: “This vicious cycle of repeated attacks against civilians is unacceptable.”

Read More: Eleven taxi drivers shot dead in South Africa

Thousands have died and a fifth of Central African Republic’s 4.5 million population have fled their homes in a conflict that broke out after mainly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted President Francois Bozize in 2013, provoking a backlash from Christian anti-balaka militias.

Depite electing a new leader in 2016, the country has continued to face political instability and tit-for-tat inter-communal violence.

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US Coast Guard seizes $500 million worth of cocaine

WASHINGTON: US authorities seized about 18.5 tons of cocaine with a street value of $500 million (389.50 million pounds) in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Friday.

The cocaine was taken off the Coast Guard cutter James in the Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday after it was confiscated from 15 drug smuggling vessels in the international waters, the Coast Guard said.

Multiple U.S. Coast Guard cutters helped seize the drugs of Mexico, Central and South America, it said.

Some 49 suspects were also arrested and will be prosecuted in southern Florida, the Miami Herald reported.

Cocaine remains one of the most popular illegal drugs in the United States, where most of the world’s cocaine is consumed, according to federal officials.

“There are troubling early signs that cocaine use and availability is on the rise in the United States for the first time in nearly a decade,” the U.S. State Department said in a global narcotics trade report in 2017.

Potential global cocaine output reached 1,410 tons in 2016, the highest level ever estimated, the United Nations said in a report on drugs and crime in 2018.

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UK’s May sees ‘no alternative’ to her Brexit plan

LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May says she sees no alternative to the Brexit deal she presented earlier this week, amid reports that some of her senior ministers want her to renegotiate the draft agreement before meeting EU leaders next weekend.

“There is no alternative plan on the table. There is no different approach that we could agree with the EU,” May wrote in an article for the Sun on Sunday newspaper.

“If MPs (legislators) reject the deal, they will simply take us back to square one. It would mean more division, more uncertainty and a failure to deliver on the vote of the British people,” she added.

Just hours after announcing on Wednesday that her senior ministers had collectively backed her divorce deal, May was thrust into her premiership’s most perilous crisis when Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab resigned on Thursday to oppose the agreement.

Other mutinous lawmakers in her party have openly spoken of ousting her and said the Brexit deal would not pass parliament.

Brexit supporters say the transitional deal risks leaving Britain subject to EU rules for an indefinite period.

On Saturday Andrea Leadsom, the minister in charge of government business in parliament, told the BBC that she was supporting May but was not fully happy with the deal.

“I think there’s still the potential to improve on the clarification and on some of the measures within it and that’s what I’m hoping to be able to help with,” she said.

Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, said on Saturday that British pro-Brexit ministers were “not living in the real world” if they thought they could renegotiate the divorce treaty agreed with the EU last week.

Several British newspapers had reported that Leadsom was working with four other senior ministers and Brexit enthusiasts – Michael Gove, Liam Fox, Chris Grayling and Penny Mordaunt – to pressure May to change the deal.

Mordaunt, Raab, and five other top Conservatives – former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Raab’s predecessor David Davis, Interior Minister Sajid Javid, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, and Work and Pensions Minister Amber Rudd – are all “actively preparing” leadership campaigns, the Sunday Times said.

More than 20 Conservative lawmakers have written to call for May to go, and a total 48 requests are needed to trigger a leadership contest.

The Sunday Times also reported Britain’s army had been ordered to step up contingency plans to help police maintain public order in case of food and medicine shortages after a “no deal” Brexit, citing an unnamed “well-placed army source.”

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