Shock as former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe shot dead | First Thing

Country's longest-serving prime minister shot while making campaign speech in Nara. Plus, UN warns of looming hunger catastrophe' due to Russian blockade

Good morning.

Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe has died, aged 67, after being shot while making a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.

How did the suspect obtain the weapon? Japan has a near zero tolerance of gun ownership and an extremely low rate of gun crime. The weapon used is reportedly thought to have been homemade.

How many gun deaths are there each year? There were six reported in 2014, according to the National Police Agency, and the number rarely exceeds 10, in a country of 126 million people.

Tributes flooded in from around the world. The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, and the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, were among the first leaders to pay their condolences.

Follow our liveblog for updates on the attack.

What next? On Monday there will be elections to the executive of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, which will set the rules and timetable for the leadership contest.

Who do the members want to succeed Johnson? Ben Wallace and Penny Mordaunt this week topped a YouGov poll of Conservative members.

A majority of voters (53%) believe Johnson should resign from parliament when he ceases to be prime minister, a YouGov poll suggests.