and that i following, and hopefully this will be the present. you 2 in one, many more titles. and the police sharper has made it to the top of the world's highest mountain for record 26th time coming. rita. sherpa beats his own world records of a year ago. in reaching the summit of mount everest, the 52 year old lead 10 other sharp climbers up the popular se reroute. it was pioneered by the original conquerors of everett back in 1953 nor gay, attending nor gay, and using the death edmund flurry. ah ah, let's have a quick chicken headline, turn out to 0 and up to 60 people are fear dead after school was bombed in easton, ukraine. official say around 90. people were sheltering in the building. lance gwyn, russian forces attacked it. at least 30 people have been rescued to bodies have been recovered so far. ukraine's government says all civilians have been rescued from the besieged as steel planted merrier pole. the last holdout for ukraine in

forces in the city. civilians and soldiers had been trapped inside the others as of skull feel melvin every 2 months as russian attacks intensified. john lee is officially hong kong is new leader. the former security chief was the only candidate in the race to succeed carry. lamb 64 year old lee was in charge during the crackdown on massive protests in 2019. adrian brown has more from hong kong. this result was never in doubt. john lee was a sol candidate in this election. he secured $1416.00 votes, 98 percent, turn out as he says, this is a joyful ho a day for hong kong. he says it is the red cross international smile day, which was another reason to be happy as to what sort of chief executive he'll make . well, the coming weeks and months will tell, but john lee is certainly a man who has the backing the support of beijing. otherwise he wouldn't be in that position. now. voters in the philippines are preparing for monday's election,

described as the most important in its history. paul's predict victory for ferdinand marcus junior. that's the son of the former president, toppled by a popular uprise who 36 years ago. his rival, as vice president, lenny robledo, whose grassroots campaign galvanize young people, israeli police of arrested to palestinians falling of attack on thursday, are accused of killing 3 people and injuring others in the central city of a lad. the 19 and 20 year olds are from the occupied wester. supporters of chin as is president, k said rallying in the capital, judas as concern the public share of support could be used as a reason to dissolve political parties. opposition groups accuse side of a paragraph by dissolving parliament and ruling by decree. all right, yep. state headlines. more news here. oh, not a 0 right after we go to inside store. ah.

i shall anchors, economic crisis is getting worse. it's president has yet again declared a state of emergency to deal with growing public anger. but what brought the nation to this unprecedented situation of what's the layout, this is inside story. ah i welcome to the program. i'm adrian finnegan. the island nation of sri lanka is in crisis that been food and fuel shortages for weeks. and power cuts have become the new norm. many say they're struggling to get by and they blame the government for

mishandling. the economic situation. calling on president got to buy a roger packer to resign. there was a general strike on friday that shut down much of the country. in response, the president's office re imposed a state of emergency saying that it's needed to ensure public order. we're bringing our guests to just a moment, but 1st report from out as here is michelle, fernandez in colombo police. were among the few state employees working in sri lanka on friday. these water cannon anthea guest to disperse, hundreds of protested, gathered at medicaid ceiling off the entrance to parliament inside the building, and she javert than to put her opposition. representatives marched into the speaker's office, asking him to ordered the police to stop that operation. the also demanded set a date for a no confidence motion. they're putting forward against the government. the government is under increasing pressure to resign, facing a 2nd nationwide strike in 8 days. hospitals, railways, postal services,

schools and ports were disrupted strictly with government and board. i bet i the boxes so dress wanted well for these failures, the free land by doubtful. we don't believe they can develop this country her after . therefore, we are asking mil goldman new uh, new leadership, new system for sri lanka. that's why all the people i get together for one umbrella demonstrations in march, as like this, have been a common site in the capital colombo and around the country. in sheila, on the northwestern coast, fishermen also took part in the protests. i mean, what they said gonna be what we have more than 15000 fishing families in this area . we're all helpless, so we'll protest to day tomorrow and in the future it, i did hear that the government has admitted its foreign reserves. have fallen to just $50000000.00 us dollars, leaving it unable to buy essential food medicine and fuel. queues have stretched

the kilometers around most pictures stations in recent days. after months of insisting it has things under control, the government is now approach the international monetary fund for a bailout. and president got up a roger puts a, has replaced his cabinet as cause increased for him to step down. his new media minister told al jazeera roger boxes making an effort and should be supported to bring stability. he got into some good, very popular, and people who in the can some of a, some of his own family members of 5 of them out now. so we decided the changes he, attorney is making an effort. and so i think i'm, we are trying to help him. he has given us a challenge via time to face that challenge and find solution to people go to heaven says that new team should be given 6 months to a year and a half before elections are held to decide a way forward. trade union say the last work stoppage of this tale was 69 years ago

. but our warning they will launch an indefinite strike. if the government does not, he demands for it to resign. men of fernandez, ojo 0 colombo ah. all right, let's bring in our guests for today's discussion in columbus, we have for body fonseca. a senior researcher, the attorney at law with the center of a policy alternatives from bangkok were joined by allan carry gama, who's a political economist and seni electra at the university of josh enough. and also in colombo, jan barrera, executive director of the national peace counsel of sure lanka warble can to you all a body from 2nd. we can start with you. so, so like as economy as we heard has gone it a free fall. it's the worst financial crisis since independence in 1948 and the people seemed to be putting the blame squarely at the feet of one man, president roger parks, or go to buyer. how on earth did shoreline could get into this mess?

and thank you again for having me on the show. it's a very timely discussion because we, i, and border political and economic crisis. now we've seen the warning signs. so some time there's been several policy issues that were disastrous. the tax guards, the fertilizer ban, and there was a lot of good byes given to the government over the last one and a half to 2 years. that the decisions being made and the mismanage was going to lead to some kind of crisis. but only a couple of weeks ago was this really realization by the government that we are we are in, is asked to zone. and that's hughley because the keeper to, to the streets peacefully due to economic con, shoots. if you look at it, you have long lines to get us in shall items. some items are not available, no other cars. so for the last few meets people have been,

he's will be protesting. and as a result, in early april, there was mass resignation of the government and several of the keen to rituals. and now we're having a crisis point where they the continuous demand by the people for the president and the prime minister to resign. the re, douglas of the demands they continue to would office helen kind of gone out in bangkok, the opposition and protest us are accusing the government of, quote, criminal financial mismanagement or i'll shall anchors, current roles was solely the respond. but the responsibility, the fault of, of the government, or are other factors at play here to by. so this is the worst crisis for long kinds going through since the 1930s. and we've been in a crisis trajectory for some time. and certainly over the last 12 years. but

certainly when the coven pandemic hit 2 years ago, it was amply clear that we were going to going to balance of payment problems. and this government did absolutely nothing to address that. so that's why i think that the blame has to be put squarely on this government. and even though this as a is, is a crisis long in the making dec rubbing many things done so that they don't reach on this sort of a point where people can't even get down essential goods. and now that the, the question is how do the move from here and from this crisis, which even though the can't find the finance minister says it's going to take 2 more years. i think the probably in a crisis for the next 5 years to a decade, with a region that has completely lost legitimacy, this government has no legitimacy among the people. it's not going to be able to lead the people out of this crisis, a crisis of disproportion, your need,

the state and society to work together. people have to be mobilized for that. we can start to rebuild our economy and with a government that has completely lost legitimacy, because over the last 2 years, even as the situation was deteriorating, they did little. they gave little relief for the people that did nothing in terms of reducing our imports. so that we could have saved a foreign exchange. so all of that is the reason why there is so much anger against this a government. and now, unless there is a complete change in the government from the president, the prime minister, the, the entire lot of them and, and that's what the people are calling for, is gonna be very hard to get out this crisis to hamper other. and this government may have lost legitimacy, then put, would an opposition lead government for any better at managing the crisis than the incumbent government? i mean, by fixing this crisis,

they'd have to inflict further economic pain on people. would the people tolerate that or could a government led by the current opposition become just as unpopular as the incumbent one very quickly i let you add to finance do what i can understand and that relates to the criminal mismanagement by this government. and the 2 incidents that i like to talk about, texas time spent, immediately brought in as soon as the president was elected in northern but 2019 has historically acted in the last 1020 years had lower texture in income text is relatively low, and it has been more value added, the x is indirect higher, but in any event that tests rid of a lot of the team and slash the existing test driven by you. and as

a result that revenues with the government came down. now the reason for this, the government stated that the reason is that they were going to do more incentives to people, businesses and more, and then develop the economy and provide employment. but also the reason was that they were facing a general election after the presidential election a few months. maybe that would be the general election. so it is very likely that the government that to the people then get the more then the 2nd. absolutely. next. think about this is sort of taken by the government, was the president to jewel, to all the night, the band band, the use of chemicals, and when didn't logon to find me organized? you know, punching the word was into all the fun. 100 percent of best developed countries like germany, you have maybe 10 to 15 percent organic,

100 percent. right. all the land is organic on disaster and that's been the 1st about the opposition. if you said cable or they don't want to cancel that, they know that hard, it had to be didn't, but i'm sure they be more rational. i like this done when we can. yeah, absolutely rational in the some of the decisions in being and also give you another example that in your line of credit, india has been generous enough to give us a line of credit you bought food and medicine are government. this government is important to you with that money. then in another example, a vendor re fleet. that last making national ally, it had all of it be making losses in enormous losses. and now they're finding a lease out $24.00 plans. our $21.00 plans in the next few months, so you don't have the money to do that. ok. but on it,

i just want to concentrate from a middle to on the man at the center of this crisis. roger parks a got a buyer. who is he? he was once known as the terminator, the most feared, manage rank and politics. the former leader of the military, who brought about the defeat of the separatist tunnel tigers in 2009. and how much power does he have? the recalls fully executive presidency to, to be abolished up can. and should that happen? oh, to start. oh great. me need to recognize the fact that president gold harvey raj, a pastor, had no political elected office. inga experience when he came in in 2019, he was an administrator, he was a secretary to the minister defense and development. and he's identified as the architect of winning the war in 2009 and, and backed records speeds are just not just the winning the war. but the wire lesions associated with that and allegations of serious while ation speed still.

and in the we drove all comes from a military background and did not care about you, process human rights. all of those concerns and many of us have been calling for for several years now. 2009. we saw that record and balls flaw, immediate post war them, very serious incident. what while issues, but also they're actually be one of that in 2019. and very soon after the easter sunday attacks, which devastated sri lanka, there was this strong leader the call for a strong lead, an incident leading or whatever act. pepsi came on saying he's ready to be that lead and guide she none of her back to security. and slam eating economy was veridian. his campaign from these guys are we says of prosperity and splendor. now tries forward 2 and a half years. there has been

a complete disaster spectacularly. disaster where people are now starving, they do not. i able to get a sin shall items made is in is in short supply. you don't really know what was for people to morrow. now, in this disastrous sac context, there's growing calls for his resignation, but also in terms of abolishing the executive precedents. now that call has been decades, many of us have been making that caught. but now instinct have traction because people feel that the hard sheets they're facing is directly attributed to these one named ritual or wales, so much power and one dimension. now we've just seen one night where he has declared a state of emergency that ties with our executive precedent. but it's, it's a broad base power. and in the past re longer, we've seen emergency regulations being used to

a crash to descend go of to pretty go out of minorities. so he continues to wield a lot of power. and the disaster is what they're seeing now is directly associated to him. so it's bought the racing new shannon off quarter garage massive and also abolishing the office so that we do not see or to repeat in the future. i am or is roger boxer finished or do you think he's going to find a way to to cling to power at? could you foresee a situation sometime in the future were roger parkson, members of his, of his government and up in court. i think they're going to try to stay on in power as, as long as they can. um, the more in the country is to called for prosecutions against them for our duke allegations of corruption. so they're going to try to drag this out as long as they can, and the longer they drag it out, it's going to be very painful for the country. the protests that we've seen in the

last few weeks, they are unprecedented. perhaps the only time we had purpose of this order, but way back in 1953. when we had the great hot towel in the entire country, the shut down and yesterday be more or less saw the entire country are shut down with massive protests. these protests are not going to ease until the raja pucks is gone. but slowly there is also a pole to abolish things. it could be presidency because while there are 2 boxes have really aggravated the situation, there are systemic problems. both with i economy and our politics in 1978 be brought about the executive presidency until then we were mainly a west minister style parliamentary system. and this has time. and again, a heap huge amounts of powers in one individual. a soon after a go to buy a large box, a came to power, and after the parliamentary elections,

he brought about the 20th amendment to the constitution to keep for the palate. so abolishing the executive presidency is important. similarly, we're back in 1978, 3 like a liberalized economy. and he started living beyond our means. we started importing everything. they decided to run. i economy on deck, the, i'm a major that crisis. now that the boring thing is that even if the roger boxes go, they're going to have to go sooner or later. they've completely lost legitimacy. they don't really see a pop forward out of this crisis, even from the opposition. the only thing that the opposition has said, and now the government is also morally taking the same position. and that is to go to the ins for an agreement which might provide some short term credit might help us restructure debt. but that's only about rolling or what have you going to do in terms of a massive trade deficit. now john mentioned the,

the tax cuts. so you guys had a budget deficit and that needs to be reduced, but that means increasing taxes. but if you increase the value added tax, which is an indirect tax levied on all people, it's you're only going to increase the burden on the people who are already suffering. now the price of bread has doubled, the price of petrol and be so have doubled that even the price of rice, as moralists doubles are going to put more burden on it. but there is no thinking either from the opposition, none of the kind of circles in colombo, about the process of redistribution, so that the working people are able to face this crisis. similarly, what are we going to do in the long term? are we going to really try to mobilize agriculture? john mentioned this major crisis in agriculture, unless you provide relief for the farmers and mobilize them to stop producing again, they're going to get facing a very serious form crisis. it could be going into

a family type of conditions in the next few years. but right now the focus is on getting the roger boxes out, but people aren't thinking what they are going to be facing in the next 2 years in terms of this, that the consequences of this very serious crisis. okay, to hand a i had, i was saying that he thinks that roger parks will try to, to, to stay on. he stands accused of overseeing war crimes. he came to power on the back of for the strong man reputation. and we've been hearing about the roger packs us, of course, the family, shoreline because most powerful family, dentistry. they've dominated politics and she'll anchor for, for 2 decades. the opposition accuse him president roger boxer and his government of corruption, of robbing the country and its people. are they right and what about the, the roger packs, a dynasty of they now finished politically due to this crisis at

the present time. i'm interested in a position to the rog, amazing. i just hear people shouting against the roger, calling them roll, then getting them to board that they want them to need this. this could not have been in my didn't 3 months ago. but now the feeling of people only opinion that's come to people. that's the reason we are having this shortage in the country. is that the stolen all the dollars that the stolen by them? because not really bad because it's not only in them that have led this fun to do this very sorry past. so anyway, that's how the angle people use. they're very difficult for them to stay on. i agree with that, and the question is, what type of expected did they did them? so i would a feeling very insecure that are all of these allegations against them ranging from the economic crimes, to the war crimes that you spoke about earlier. we didn't talk in this country much

about more crime because this is that for the raises people because the majority who are there are actually quite great to they're either a heavy end of the war or having one the role for having ended the war and need to know the price that those paid by this time of booking, which of course, many people don't agree the international human rights groups go into agreement. but because they were so difficult to bring this issue up. but now people are talking quite openly about economic crimes. and along with the economic crimes little problem, i mean now there was, especially was there. so this is, this is something that we have to think about how to enable them to feel a little bit more secure in order to give up the power which they need to give up.

be con, gone this way. there's no lid, you must see the government a few years ago, and if you do speak, i in parliament, he resigned. then he saw the government say, then he contested the election again in parliament and he wanted. and then the next day here is i. today's chaos within the government. so this chaos will only stop if the if there are the boxes. if they resign and you that is of us did you did preferably hopefully with all parties involved in the vonnie. i've got about a minute left on the, on the program here. so i need a reasonably brief answer from you. whatever happens in, in the near term. and it's not good news for ordinary people in sri lanka or isn't it the things are economically going to get worse before they get any better? is this the unfortunate thing the people who are going to suffer under most and we see that at the present moment, whether it's going to get much,

much harder. and there is no plan. but can i just also meet these point resilience shown by the people the fact that they've been coming to the streets, they were t, i guess yesterday the purpose of b, regardless of the wireless and the media issue, people are coming out because that be mind is very clear, go long or tabby or go home or on to past as he's great here. but that is only going to solve certain issues. we need to think about the long term, and that requires not just the, the opposition. he needs to be all stakeholders. but also communicating a plan and i think that's something we can talk about, communicating and informing people what is in store for that near the meadows, the long term. okay, there we must end it. i'm afraid many thanks. indeed for being with us are all of you a body fonseca? i helen, cut a gama and she hand pereira, thank you for watching. don't forget, you can see the program again at any time. just by going to the website,

pencil al jazeera dot com for further discussion, go to our facebook page. you'll find that at facebook dot com forward slash ha inside story. and of course, you can draw the conversation on twitter or handle at ha, inside story from me, adrian finnegan, of the whole team here and go off. thanks for watching. i'll see you again. bye for now. ah. and the latest news as if books ramadan, isa, i'm paul. save all happening right now. thanks. is it the city at holy sites?

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a special theories on abuse in the boy scouts of america. lebanon goes to the polls, but will political change help the country find its way out of its crippling economic crisis may on al jazeera, ah, hello, i am in language in anto headquarters. he's the top stories on al jazeera. dozens of people are feed dead after a russian bomb attack destroyed a school in eastern new crime. a governor of lou hands could says about 90 people were hiding in the building when it was hit, the tory gate and me before. this is what's left of a school in beller curricula in the la hand screeching of east in ukraine. russian forces bombed it nearly all the people who stayed in the village were hiding in this building when it was attacked. dozens of.