Good morning. It's Tuesday 7th June, and here's a round up of the latest news.
Boris Johnson survives no-confidence vote
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has survived a no-confidence vote, securing enough support in his party to remain in office despite a rebellion that will likely weaken him as a leader and casts a shadow over his future.
Mr Johnson won the backing of 211 out of 359 conservative lawmakers, more than the simple majority needed to remain in power, but still with a significant number of 148 MPs who have lost faith in the prime minister.
Support among Mr Johnson's fellow conservatives has weakened recently as some see the leader increasingly like a liability rather than an asset in elections.
The beleaguered leader has spent months battling to maintain his grip on power after the "Partygate" controversy saw him become the first serving UK prime minister to have broken the law.
Interest rates expected to rise again
The Reserve Bank is on Tuesday set to continue its interest rate-rising agenda with expectations of either a 25 or even a 40 basis point increase.
But homeowners have been warned it's unlikely to end there - with expectations the official cash rate could rise from its current level of 0.35 to 2.5 per cent by the end of 2023.
City Index analyst Tony Sycamore says the Reserve Bank is likely to follow the lead of other central banks around the world.
"We are in an inflationary environment and we are in an environment of aggressive central bank rate hikes and I think the RBA will probably toe the line as well," Mr Sycamore said.
'Act of aggression': Anthony Albanese takes aim at China over aircraft incident
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has labelled an incident between a Chinese fighter jet and an Australian surveillance aircraft an act of aggression.
Mr Albanese says the Australian plane was observing long-standing international practices when it was intercepted by the jet over the South China Sea.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described China's fighter jet altercation at sea as an act of aggression. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
"We regard the actions of China in this area as being an act of aggression and a dangerous act against the Australian airforce which was conducting aerial surveillance in accordance with international norms," Mr Albanese told reporters in Indonesia.
But Beijing hit back Monday, saying it would "never allow any country to infringe upon China's sovereignty and security... under the pretext of freedom of navigation".
"China once again urges Australia to earnestly respect China's national security interests and core interests, act and speak prudently to avoid a miscalculation occurring that results in serious consequences," foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters.
Elon Musk's threat to dump Twitter
Elon Musk is threatening to walk away from his $61 billion bid to buy Twitter, accusing the company of refusing to give him information about its spam bot accounts.
Lawyers for the Tesla and SpaceX CEO made the threat in a letter to Twitter which was included in a filing from Twitter with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The letter says Mr Musk has repeatedly asked for the information since 9 May, about a month after his offer to buy the company, so he could evaluate how many of the company's 229 million accounts are fake.
Shares of Twitter Inc. tumbled more than five per cent at the opening bell on Monday.
