UK interior minister quits with criticism of Truss as lawmakers row.

• Home Secretary resigns over security incident.
• Truss answers questions to jeers, laughter from lawmakers.
• Chaotic scenes in parliament as govt wins fracking vote.

LONDON: Britain's interior minister quit on Wednesday with a broadside at Liz Truss before her lawmakers openly quarrelled in parliament, underscoring the erosion of the prime minister's authority after just weeks in the job.

The departure of Suella Braverman, over a "technical" breach of government rules, means Truss has now lost two of her most senior ministers in less than a week, both replaced by politicians who had not backed her for the leadership.

Hours after the resignation, lawmakers openly rowed and jostled amid confusion over whether a vote on fracking was a confidence vote in her administration.

Opposition parliamentarians complained that Truss's politicians were being manhandled to make them vote with the government, though two lawmakers from her Conservative party said they had not seen any such behaviour.

"Discipline is falling apart, we can't go on like this," one Conservative lawmaker told Reuters.

Another, Charles Walker, told BBC television he was "livid" at the "talentless people" who had put Truss into power, just because they wanted a job. "I think it is a shambles and a disgrace," he said, in a video that a couple of other Conservative lawmakers tweeted in agreement.

Truss, in power for just over six weeks, has been fighting for her political survival ever since Sept. 23, when she launched a "mini-budget", an economic programme of vast unfunded tax cuts that sent shockwaves through financial markets.

A handful of lawmakers have openly called for her to quit, and others have discussed who should replace her. Following the scenes in parliament, there were reports that the person responsible for Conservative party discipline, and their deputy, had quit.

Business minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, asked on television if the reports were correct, said: "I'm not entirely clear on what the situation is."

Truss's office said later they both remained in their posts, but the episode illustrated the confusion in government and underscored the prime minister's faltering authority.

The latest turn in what seems to be a never-ending drama at Westminster comes as millions of Britons worry about rising inflation and cuts to public spending, with the political elite seen to be doing little to ease those concerns.

Truss had just told lawmakers that she was sorry for the mistakes she had made but was not going to quit, when reports swirled that her interior minister, or home secretary, had gone.

Confirming her departure, Braverman said she had broken the rules by sending an official document from her personal email to a parliamentary colleague. But she added she had serious concerns about the government and that just hoping problems would go away was not a viable approach.

"I have made a mistake, I accept responsibility, I resign," she said in a letter to the prime minister.

As a replacement, Truss appointed former minister Grant Shapps, who said recently that Truss faced a massive battle to survive.

He also failed to offer a ringing endorsement of the prime minister. On arrival at his new workplace, Shapps admitted the government had "obviously had a very difficult period."

But he added, referring to Truss's new finance minister: "Jeremy Hunt, I think, has done a great job of settling the issues relating to that mini budget."

Media reports suggested Truss and Braverman may have clashed over immigration. Braverman, who said recently that she dreamt of seeing asylum seekers being deported to Rwanda, has advocated a hard line on immigration numbers.

Truss had suggested restrictions could be lifted in some sections of the economy; as Hunt works to find ways to boost the economy, easing immigration rules further could be one option.

Laughter and jeers

After a move to make a vote on fracking a confidence matter, scenes in parliament descended into chaos as Conservative lawmakers were confused over whether they were obliged to vote in line with the government.

The motion by the main opposition Labour Party was defeated by 326 votes to 230 and the government proposal won, but some lawmakers said they were angry over the tactics, or lack of them, used by the government.

Voting results showed that tens of Conservative lawmakers did not take part in the vote, although some of those were on work trips or unwell.

Hours earlier, Truss had faced a raucous prime minister's questions session in parliament for the first time since Hunt scrapped most of her tax-cutting plan. She came out fighting.

Asked by Labour leader Keir Starmer why she should remain in power, she said: "I am a fighter and not a quitter."

"I have been very clear that I am sorry, and I have made mistakes," Truss told jeering opposition lawmakers in parliament. "...I'm prepared to take the tough decisions."

The prime minister was met with laughter, boos and jeers, especially when she told Labour it needed to grasp economic reality.

She also tried to appease lawmakers over her future spending plans. After days of uncertainty, she said she was committed to increasing state pension payments in line with the level of inflation.

But some were not convinced.

Conservative lawmaker William Wragg said he had submitted a letter of no confidence in the prime minister, joining a handful of others who have called for her to go. Wragg said he was "ashamed" of facing voters after the mini-budget.

Former science minister, George Freeman, said; "Enough is enough. The Cabinet need to get a grip, fast."

The Conservative Party is some 30 points behind Labour, according to opinion polls, and YouGov ranks Truss as the most unpopular leader the pollster has ever tracked.

 Putin demands all-Russia war effort as he declares martial law in occupied Ukraine

• Putin tells all Russian regions to support needs of army.
• Order meets low-key response from regional heads.
• Martial law in occupied regions under Ukrainian counter-attack.

LONDON: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he was introducing martial law in four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine that Moscow claimed last month as its own territory but is struggling to defend from Ukrainian advances.

In televised remarks to members of his Security Council, Putin boosted the security powers of all Russia's regional governors and ordered the creation of a special coordinating council under Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to step up the faltering war effort.

He said the "entire system of state administration", not only the specialised security agencies, must be geared to supporting what Russia calls its "special military operation".

The package of moves, nearly eight months into the war, marked the latest escalation by Putin to counter a series of major defeats at the hands of Ukrainian forces since the start of September.

The US State Department said Russia was resorting to "desperate tactics". A Kyiv official said it would change nothing.

The published Kremlin decree ordered an "economic mobilisation" in eight regions adjoining Ukraine, including Crimea, which Russia invaded and annexed in 2014.

It placed them in a special regime one step below martial law and allowed for the restriction of people's movements.

Putin conferred additional powers on the leaders of all Russia's 80-plus regions to protect critical facilities, maintain public order and increase production in support of the war effort.

But it was far from clear how fast or how effectively the new measures might bolster Russia's military position on the ground. They came as Russian-installed officials in Ukraine's occupied Kherson region told civilians to leave some areas as soon as possible in anticipation of an imminent Ukrainian attack.

Russia expert Mark Galeotti said on Twitter the moves amounted to "a declaration of variegated martial law across the whole of Russia", with some level of emergency regulation now applying across the whole country.

He said it was unclear whether regional officials would use the extra powers as Moscow wanted, ignore them, or exploit them as opportunities to embezzle state resources.

The Russian-installed acting governor of occupied Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, confirmed that he would hand power to the military, according to Russian news agencies. But many regional chiefs - including Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin - said they did not plan to make any immediate changes.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter: "This does not change anything for Ukraine: we continue the liberation and de-occupation of our territories."

Urgent measures

Ukrainian gains have forced Putin into a series of escalatory steps within the past month: the unpopular call-up of hundreds of thousands of extra troops, the unilateral annexation of the four Ukrainian regions — condemned as illegal by an overwhelming majority of nations at the UN General Assembly — and a threat to resort to nuclear weapons to defend what Russia sees as its own lands.

After months of assurances from the Kremlin that the campaign was going according to plan, the increasingly urgent measures have brought the reality of the war much closer to home for many ordinary Russians.

The failings of the military and the chaotic state of the mobilisation — which prompted hundreds of thousands of men to flee abroad — have drawn unprecedented criticism even from Putin allies.

Some regions have resorted to public appeals to provide newly mobilised soldiers with basic equipment to head to the front — a problem implicitly acknowledged by Putin.

"Our soldiers, no matter what tasks they perform, must be provided with everything they need. This applies to the equipment of barracks and places of deployment, living conditions, kit and gear, food and medical care," he said.

"We have every opportunity to resolve all the issues that arise here — and they do exist — at a modern level that is worthy of our country."

Paul Stronski, a Russia expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Putin was placing more responsibility on regional heads by ordering them onto a war footing, but without making clear what they actually needed to do.

Stronski, a former Russia specialist at the US State Department, said the president's orders epitomised Moscow's struggles to implement an effective war plan.

"Putin had a vision seven months ago, it's gone horribly wrong and he still hasn't quite figured out how to fix that vision of how to run a war," he said.

 US, allies discuss Iranian drone transfers to Russia at UN.

• US, UK, France raised issue of Iran's drone transfer to Russia.
• We will not hesitate to use our sanctions: US State Department.
• Iran denies supplying drones to Russia.

The United States, Britain and France raised the issue of Iran's alleged transfer of drones to Russia at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

"We expressed our grave concerns about Russia’s acquisition of these UAVs from Iran," Price said in a statement. "We now have abundant evidence that these UAVs are being used to strike Ukrainian civilians and critical civilian infrastructure."

"We will not hesitate to use our sanctions and other appropriate tools on all involved in these transfers," Price said.

Ukraine has reported a spate of Russian attacks using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones in recent weeks. Iran denies supplying the drones to Russia, while the Kremlin has not commented.

The State Department assessed that Iranian drones were used on Monday in a morning rush hour attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, an official said. White House spokesperson Karinne Jean-Pierre also accused Tehran of lying when it says Iranian drones are not being used by Russia in Ukraine.

Resolution 2231 endorsed the deal between Iran and Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States that limited Tehran's uranium enrichment activity, making it harder for Iran to develop nuclear arms while lifting international sanctions.

Under the resolution, a conventional arms embargo on Iran was in place until October 2020. Despite US efforts under former president Donald Trump, who took the United States out of the deal in 2018, to extend the arms embargo, the Security Council rejected this, paving the way for Iran to resume arms exports.

 US considering joint weapons production with Taiwan.

• US govt considering plan to jointly produce weapons with Taiwan.
• Initiative intended to bolster Taipei's deterrence against China.
• China leader said China would never renounce right to use force over Taiwan.

The US government is considering a plan to jointly produce weapons with Taiwan, a business lobby said on Wednesday, an initiative intended to speed up arms transfers to bolster Taipei's deterrence against China.

US presidents have approved more than $20 billion in weapons sales to Taiwan since 2017 as China has ramped up military pressure on the democratically-governed island Beijing claims as its own territory.

But Taiwan and the US Congress have warned of delivery delays because of supply chain difficulties and backlogs caused by increased demand for some systems due to the war in Ukraine.

"It's right at the beginning of the process," Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the US-Taiwan Business Council, which counts numerous US defense contractors as members, said of the plan.

Hammond-Chambers said it was yet to be determined which weapons would be considered as part of the effort, though it would likely focus on providing Taiwan with more munitions and long-established missile technology.

But he cautioned that any such move would require weapons makers to obtain co-production licenses from the State and Defense departments. Hammond-Chambers added there could be resistance within the US government to issuing co-production licenses due to uneasiness about approving critical technology for a foreign platform.

"It's a piece of the puzzle, not a game changer," Hammond-Chambers told Reuters after Japan's Nikkei newspaper first reported on the plan, citing three unidentified sources.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry declined to comment, but reiterated that Taiwan-US relations were both "close and friendly".

Possibilities would include the United States providing technology to produce weapons in Taiwan, or producing the weapons in the United States using Taiwanese parts, the Nikkei report added.

Asked about the effort, a US State Department spokesperson said: "The United States is looking at all options to ensure the rapid transfer of defensive capabilities to Taiwan."

"The United States' swift provision of Taiwan defensive weaponry and sustainment via Foreign Military Sale and Direct Commercial Sale is essential for Taiwan's security and we will continue to work with industry to support that goal," the spokesperson said.

News of the plan came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a forum at Stanford University on Monday that "Beijing was determined to pursue reunification (with Taiwan) on a much faster timeline," though he did not specify a date.

China's leader Xi Jinping said on Sunday that China would never renounce the right to use force over Taiwan, but that it would strive for a peaceful resolution.

Taiwan's presidential office said this week Taiwan would not back down on its sovereignty and would not compromise on freedom and democracy, but that meeting on the battlefield was not an option.

US officials have been pushing Taiwan to modernize its military so it can become a "porcupine," hard for China to attack.

US officials have criticized Beijing for using a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in August as a pretext to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait by ramping up nearby military drills.

 China defends 'fighting spirit' of Xi's foreign policy

• China defended its more assertive approach to foreign policy.
• Chinese diplomats in the UK are under scrutiny.
• Hong Kong protester was seen being dragged into Chinese consulate.

China on Thursday defended its more assertive approach to foreign policy taken under President Xi Jinping and said its diplomats will "dare to fight" despite criticism that its so-called Wolf Warrior stance can backfire on the global stage.

Chinese diplomats in the UK are under scrutiny this week after a Hong Kong protester was seen being dragged into the Chinese consulate in Manchester on Sunday and assaulted in an incident which the police are investigating.

"To dare to fight is the spiritual character of Chinese diplomacy," China's vice foreign minister, Ma Zhaoxu, told a news conference in Beijing on Thursday on the sidelines of the ruling Communist Party's twice-a-decade congress.

"Chinese diplomacy will continue to display fighting spirit, improve our ability to fight, always stand ready at the frontline to protect our national interest and dignity," he added.

Britain on Tuesday summoned China's charge d'affaires in London to explain what had happened at the consulate on Sunday, with British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly saying the protest, which involved 30 to 40 people including Hong Kong citizens now resident in Britain, had been peaceful and legal.

China has disputed this and other critical accounts of its diplomats' actions during events which took place at a demonstration on Sunday against Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Xi is widely expected to secure a precedent-breaking third leadership term at the 20th party congress, which ends this weekend.

China's consul general in Manchester, Zheng Xiyuan, who has been accused of involvement in the incident, defended his actions, saying the man had been "abusing my country, my leader."

"It is my duty," Zheng told Sky News on Wednesday. "I think any diplomats, if faced with such kind of behaviour we should maintain our dignity."

As relations with the West have soured over issues from human rights to COVID-19, Chinese diplomats have, under Xi, become more assertive on the public stage. Some critics see such stridency as intended for a domestic audience that nonetheless hurts its foreign ties, for example when France’s foreign ministry summoned Chinese ambassador Lu Shaye over repeated insults and threats aimed at French lawmakers and a researcher in March 2021.

A global survey released last month by the Washington-based Pew Research Center found public opinion towards China in the United States and other advanced economies had turned "precipitously more negative" under Xi.

The combative Wolf Warrior diplomatic style was nicknamed after a popular patriotic Chinese movie franchise.

 Explainer: What's going on with UK PM Liz Truss

• British PM Liz Truss fighting to remain in power.
• Truss lost two of her most senior ministers in less than a week.
• She is already UK's fourth prime minister in six years.

British Prime Minister Liz Truss is fighting to remain in power after the collapse of her economic programme shattered her authority just over six weeks into the job.

The country's interior minister quit on Wednesday with a broadside at Truss before her lawmakers openly quarrelled in parliament, underscoring the erosion of the prime minister's authority after just weeks on the job.

The departure of Suella Braverman, over a "technical" breach of government rules, means Truss has now lost two of her most senior ministers in less than a week, both replaced by politicians who had not backed her for the leadership.

The sight of Truss sitting expressionless in parliament on Monday as her new finance minister ripped up the programme of tax cuts and deregulation that secured her elevation to Downing Street has prompted calls for the 47-year-old to quit.

Already a handful of Truss's Conservative lawmakers have said she must stand down, but Britain's dominant political party is deeply divided after 12 years in power, limiting its ability to agree on a replacement that could unite the warring factions.

Truss was already the UK's fourth prime minister in six years after the country's tortuous departure from the European Union combined with the COVID-19 pandemic to produce one of the most turbulent eras in British politics of the last 50 years.

Below are details on how Truss could be removed from power, and who could replace her:

1922, again

Anyone following British politics in recent years has got used to the role of the 1922 Committee, the body that has the power to force a Conservative leader out of office.

Both Boris Johnson and Theresa May faced, and survived, confidence votes by the committee but they also both stood down shortly afterwards. A prime minister is not supposed to face a challenge in their first year but the committee has shown itself willing to change the rules in the past.

Normally, 15% of the Conservative Party's more than 350 lawmakers would need to demand a confidence vote. The committee's treasurer has said that an "overwhelming majority" would need to demand a vote to get one in the first year.

Resignation, party pressure

Alternatively Truss could resign if she decides she has lost the support of her party but she has so far said she will fight on. Johnson was ultimately forced out after his ministers quit en masse, but Truss's cabinet has remained loyal so far.

Who would want the job?

Given the divisions in the party there is no obvious candidate and any replacement would face a country likely heading into a recession. The leading names are below:

Rishi Sunak

Britain's former finance minister was the most popular candidate among Conservative lawmakers at Westminster but, after getting through to a run-off against Truss, he lost out in a vote involving some 170,000 party members who make the final decision.

Many members were angry when Sunak quit in July, helping to trigger a rebellion that eventually brought down Johnson. They also ignored his warning that markets could lose confidence in Britain if Truss delivered her unfunded tax cuts.

Betting exchange Betfair puts Sunak as the favourite to replace Truss, but those lawmakers who remain loyal to Johnson would likely oppose that move.

Jeremy Hunt

With Truss's economic programme collapsing, the prime minister fired her finance minister and turned to Hunt, a former health and foreign minister, to put things right.

A series of confident performances on television and in the House of Commons, as he ripped up Truss's economic manifesto, have already led to some Conservative lawmakers referring to Hunt as the "real prime minister".

He has insisted he does not want the top job, despite entering two previous races to become prime minister, including in 2019 when he lost out in the final round to Johnson. Hunt does not have the obvious support of a large group of lawmakers in parliament.

Ben Wallace

Britain's defence secretary is one of the few ministers to have emerged from recent political turmoil with his credibility enhanced. Wallace, a former soldier, was defence minister for both Johnson and Truss, leading Britain's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Popular with party members, he surprised many earlier this year when he said he wouldn't run for the leadership, saying he wanted to focus on his current job. He told the Times newspaper this week that he still wanted to stay as defence secretary.

Penny Mordaunt

A former defence secretary, Mordaunt was a passionate supporter of leaving the EU who only just missed out on the final two-place run off in the recent leadership challenge.

Mordaunt won plaudits for her performance in parliament on Monday, when she defended the government even as it reversed most of its policies.

One lawmaker has described Mordaunt as having "broad appeal", referring to her ability to find friends in the various tribes of the party.

Boris Johnson

Former prime minister Boris Johnson, a journalist, has loomed large over British politics ever since he became London Mayor in 2008. After causing trouble for leaders such as David Cameron and Theresa May, he finally became prime minister in 2019 and went on to win a landslide election victory.

Johnson was the face of the Brexit vote and won votes in parts of the country that had never voted Conservative before. But he was forced out by a string of scandals.

Some closest to him say at the moment he is more interested in making money on the speech circuit than returning to frontline politics.

 Live snake on plane horrifies business-class passengers

The unexpected appearance of a live snake on a plane caused some disturbance among business-class passengers aboard a United Airlines jet at the end of a flight from Florida to New Jersey.

The reptile stowaway, identified as a harmless garter snake, turned up on United Airlines Flight 2038 from Tampa shortly after landing Monday afternoon at Newark Liberty International Airport, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

As the plane taxied from the runway to the gate, passengers in the business-class cabin began shrieking and pulling their feet up off the floor, one passenger told regional cable outlet News 12 New Jersey.

Airport animal control officers and port authority police officers were at the gate when the plane landed to remove the snake, which was later released into the wild, port authority spokesperson Cheryl Ann Albiez said by email on Tuesday.

There were no injuries, no impact on airport operations, and the plane later departed Newark, she said.

A spokesperson for United, when asked about the incident, said only that crew members who were alerted by passengers "called the appropriate authorities to take care of the situation."

No mention was made by any of the parties involved as to how the snake might have gotten aboard a commercial airline flight.

But the situation no doubt reminded some passengers of the 2006 movie thriller "Snakes on a Plane," a fictional story about dozens of venomous snakes being released by criminals on a passenger plane in an attempt to kill a murder trial witness.

Monday's incident was not the first real-life instance of a serpentine creature hitching a ride aboard a commercial jet. 

A large snake was found slithering through the passenger cabin of an Aeromexico flight to Mexico City in 2016, and a python was spotted by passengers clinging to the airplane wing — on the outside — of a flight from Australia to Papua New Guinea in 2013.