this is bbc world news. i'm gareth barlow. our top stories: sri lanka's president, gotabaya rajapaksa, will step down after protesters stormed the palace and set fire to the prime minister's house. we report from the scene in colombo. these protesters, they want a new beginning for sri lanka, a new political culture so they will not face a similar economic crisis in the country. voting is under way injapan�*s parliamentary elections, just two days after former prime minister shinzo abe was assassinated while on the campaign trail. uk chancellor nadim zahawi has added his name to the conservative leadership contest, joining a field of eight including sajid javid and jeremy hunt.

and in the tennis, moscow—born elena rybakina wins the women's singles title, representing kazakhastan. hello and welcome to bbc news. sri lanka is in the grip of chaos and uncertainty after a dramatic 2a hours which has seen the country's president and prime minister pledge to step down. they were left with little choice after demonstrators stormed or set fire to to their official residences — a howl of anger after months of protests about economic mismanagement. our correspondent, anbarasan ethirajan, reports from the capital, colombo. the barricades were meant to keep the protesters back, but they were no barrier

for the furious and desperate crowds, all suffering the effects of living in economic collapse. police used water cannon and fired shots in the air, but the crowds were more determined. and they kept surging forward until eventually they converged on the presidential palace and took over the home and office of the man they want to force from power. he had already escaped. in extraordinary scenes on a tumultuous day for sri lanka, the protesters then cooled off in the president's pool after all the privations in this country's crisis, clearly relishing this moment. you can just make out a four—poster bed as the crowds enjoy the inside of his home, too, and his bathroom. this was president gotabaya rajapaksa in 2020, campaigning during parliamentary elections. his family are accused by many of catastrophic economic mismanagement.

protests have been going on for weeks, but today marks a dramatic escalation. translation: we must chase them. _ they must go. it's time for us to think of the country. translation: we have children. we are on the streets, leaving ourjobs, because we believe in the cause. as the protests continue, sri lankans don't know where their president even is, though one report says he's being protected by the island country's navy. it has been announced by parliament's speaker he will step down by wednesday. and this is said to be the prime minister's private residence. it was set on fire, even though he had earlier offered to resign. after a day of chaos, fury and confusion, the anti—government protesters here, they are celebrating the announcement of the planned resignations of president gotabaya rajapaksa and prime minister ranil wickremesinghe. and these protesters, they want a new beginning for sri lanka, a new political

culture, so they will not face the similar economic crisis in this country. anbarasan ethirajan, bbc news, colombo. sri lanka has run out of foreign currency and has imposed a ban on petrol and diesel sales for private vehicles. so why is the country experiencing such turmoil? caroline hawley explains. sri lanka's best known perhaps to the world as a place of beautiful beaches. a country of 22 million people that was recovering from a vicious civil war. like everywhere else, it was hit hard by covid — but the roots of this latest crisis are far deeper than that. these are the rajapaksa brothers, who have dominated politics in sri lanka for years. gotabaya, on the right, president now for a few more days.

mahinda, on the left, a former president — until recently, prime minister in his brother's government. critics blame them directly for the country's woes. we got here because of sheer incompetence, mismanagement, and greed. and the rajapaksa family embodied that. they embodied three things that have brought sri lanka down — the first is authoritarianism, the second is corruption, and the third is ethnic chauvinism. and all of this came to a head when gotabaya rajapaksa became president. as sri lanka's economic problems mounted and fuel prices rose, protests broke out earlier this year. ordinary people turning their fury on the government. on the 1st of april, a state of emergency was declared, but the protests went on. on 12 april, the government announced it was defaulting on its entire foreign debt after running out of money to import supplies. in may, mahinda rajapaksa resigned as prime minister and had to be rescued

from his home after it was stormed by protesters. byjune, the un was warning of a humanitarian emergency. popular anger grew as inflation hit a new record this month, leading to today's dramatic events. whatever happens next, sri lanka's new leaders will inherit the worst economic crisis since the country's independence, huge popular discontent, and all the political challenges that will bring. caroline hawley, bbc news. we've more on the crisis in sri lanka on our website, of course. articles include this piece on daily life in a country that's gone bankrupt. bbc.com/news, or bbc.co.uk/news for all that. voting has begun in elections forjapan�*s upper house of parliament, just two days after the assassination of the former prime minister shinzo abe. a warning — this report from our correspondent rupert wingfield hayes contains some flashing images.

the site where shinzo abe was gunned down on friday has now become a place of pilgrimage. many hundreds lined up this morning to lay flowers and pay their respects. it's an old cliche that japanese people don't show public emotion. not today. at lunchtime, the hearse carrying mr abe's body arrived at his home in tokyo. here, too, the emotion was palpable as a stream of friends and dignitaries came to pay their respects. outside, we met a close friend of mr abe's, a right—wing political ally. ifeel very, very, very, very sad. and a sense of loss is so great that i do not know how to overcome. it has been striking to see the continuing outpouring of grief and anger today, notjust here but from around the world.

it's hard to think of another japanese politician whose death would have inspired days of national mourning in places as far away as india and brazil. there are now serious questions being asked about what happened yesterday in nara, not the least of which is the performance of mr abe's bodyguard team. this video shows how the gunmen was able to approach mr abe from behind completely unchallenged. the team of bodyguards are all looking the other way. the first shot missed mr abe. but the gunman has time to fire a second shot. a nervous—looking nara police chief this afternoon admitted something had gone badly wrong. "it is undeniable that there was a security problem that caused a serious result," he says. "our security measures must be immediately reviewed." that is an understatement.

police today recovered a stash of home—made weapons from the suspect�*s home. but this is a country where there was just one gun fatality in the whole of last year. little wonder that on friday, the police were taken by surprise. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. as we said, japanese voters are casting their ballots in upper house elections. the ruling liberal democratic party is widely expected to win the election, due largely to disarray among opposition parties. our correspondent mariko oi has more. it is only been two days since the shocking assassination of the former prime minister shinzo abe but the elections today and i'm standing outside one of the polling stations open since early this morning. usually the turnout rate is quite low, sometimes well

below 50%, but since friday's attack, which happened during an election campaign, people have been calling on each other to go out and vote, saying that violence is not the answer to any political disagreements but also because some experts are predicting that the death of shinzo abe will give the ruling party a boost. high on the agenda, just like everywhere else, the cost of living crisis but here injapan things have not generally got more expensive for many decades, but now the country's experiencing inflation has gone up while people's salaries have not gone up so voters are really starting to feel the pinch. deforestation in part of the amazon rainforest has hit a six—year high. an area five times the size of new york city was destroyed in the first half of the year, according to data from the national space agency. campaigners blame president jair bolsonaro for rolling back environmental protections and emboldening loggers, and others who clear

the land for profit. earlier, i spoke to dr luciana gatti, a researcher at the national institute for space research in brazil, which authored the report on the scale of amazon deforestation. i asked her what drives the culling of the world's largest forest. it's like 50 years ago, the idea for economic development was destroying the forest, sell the wood, create the cattle and sell the beef. and, more essentially, after 2003, the soya bean arrived in the amazon. and today, this scenario is terrible, it's terrible. because these people have the vision that, economically, this is the unique choice. but it's not! we know how the community that lives there can have economic

activities without destroying the forest. but this is a very hard time in brazil, where the science is not listed. we are like the enemy, you know, because we are saying that this is not the way, this is terrible for whole brazil and the whole world. the consequences in destroying the forestry is climatologically very, very major for everywhere. we are accelerating the climate change. and why is it getting so bad, though, what is the issue? why is it so much worse than previous years? what we understood in our study was the correlation between deforestation and the carbon emissions from the amazon. when you — because the trees participate in the precipitation formation.

during this process, they cool the atmosphere. then you put water in the atmosphere to form the precipitation, reduce the temperature, and you remove the carbon. but if you deforest, you are reducing the trees, you are decreasing precipitation and increasing the temperatures, and putting more carbon in the atmosphere. it's the opposite. the amazon can work like a climate change protection but with deforestation, she becomes a climate change accelerator. and this is a very important message that we need to strongly say everywhere. and i would like to say that, economically, the whole world could help us to protect the amazon without consuming

the wood that comes from the amazon, the soya bean, the beef because the people that are deforesting are promoting these kind of economic activities there. if they are economically successful, they will continue cutting down the forest. here in the uk, the race to succeed borisjohnson as conservative party leader, and therefore prime minister, is getting rather crowded. eight candidates are now standing, including serving cabinet ministers nadhim zahawi and grant shapps. former cabinet ministers jeremy hunt and sajid javid are in too, and there could be even more to come as our political correspondent, jonathan blake, reports. who's the best shot, so far? at the forefront of britain's response to the war in ukraine, ben wallace was seen as a strong contender for prime minister. the defence secretary's popular with conservative members, but he's taken what he said was a difficult decision and wished the candidates good luck.

the frontrunner, for now, is rishi sunak. the former chancellor says he'd "grip the moment" and be honest about the challenges ahead. he has supporters and detractors. he's got the experience, he's got the ability, he's got the vision. and i think, at this moment in time, we need to move to someone who's going to walk into number 10 and take over the reins of the country, they need that level of experience and ability. unfortunately, because rishi's record is of saying he wants low taxes and then putting them up, he's now got to double down on that record during in this campaign. waiting to make an entrance, another grassroots tory favourite, the foreign secretary, liz truss, expected to enter the race soon. do you think you'll make a good prime minister? good evening. in the mix too, the senior backbencher tom tugendhat, talking up his time in the military. i've spent 10—15 years serving our country in uniform. i've spent 6—7 years now serving our community in parliament, and i'd like the chance to serve again because i think this country matters.

among the candidates with cabinet experience, grant shapps, the transport secretary, stressing his loyalty to boris johnson, while others were plotting. nadhim zahawi, chancellor since tuesday, confirmed tonight as a contender for the topjob. and suella braverman, the attorney general, who was first to say she'd stand. less well—known, but tipped as a rising star, kemi badenoch who's taken an uncompromising stance on cultural issues. and tonight, sajid javid, whose resignation as health secretary triggered boris johnson's final demise, has confirmed he's standing, as hasjeremy hunt — beaten in the final two last time round, pitching now to win back trust. jonathan blake, bbc news. each year, a number of countries in south east asia are at risk of being covered in a smoky haze which is caused by people using fire to clear land. for the last two years, this hasn't been an issue with pollution levels much lower than usual. however, a new report says that the haze could return this year, driven by an increase in land clearing to grow food

as commodity prices soar. well, for more on this, let's hear from associate professor simon tay who is the chairman of the singapore institute of international affairs. the last two years have been quite good years. the weather has been kind and because market prices were down, people were clearing less land and to be fair the indonesian government was really quite alert to this problem. now, this year, the main moving part are market forces, the price of palm oil, one of the products that causes this land clearance and deforestation has soared on the back of food price inflation and the problems we see across supply chains in the world. the price has gone up four times, therefore we are putting out an amber warning that haze could return. not a red light, an amber light that says danger is there unless policies continue to be stern.

how do we balance the need for people to earn a living, to produce and consume food, to also then protect the forests that are threatened and then also protect people living in towns and cities who are at risk of the haze? it is a tricky balance to find? it is, and we have got it wrong in the past. in the past, like brazil, there was a kind of headlong land clearance that led to massive haze. i would like to say that the present government in indonesia has got the balance about right. it has put moratoriums into place, so headlong clearance of land and rainforest has stopped. a small protective of over smallholders to encourage them to put up their productivity and of course cautionary but also promoting the large companies that supply a very important source of edible oils for the world, so in this sense indonesia has been very responsible. we've also been helped by indonesia's weather, though drier than normal, has been less severe

than you have seen across the world in california, in australia, etc, and so in this sense we have got the balance right so far in the last two years, but the new tipping factor, potentially, is this prices, which we might see again a rise of illegal planting, clearing land as quickly as possible and therefore using fire rather than other means. now we've got some good news for anyone in paris who would like to relax and enjoy a beach holiday from the middle of the city. the paris plages project has opened up, and there's activities, plenty of food and drinks and even some art. stephanie prentice reports. sun, sand, and seine is now on offerfor people in paris wanting a full holiday experience from the comfort of the capital's river banks. translation: there's the water, the boats, i the sun, the beach chairs, the umbrellas — everything's been calculated to give us an ambience of summer,

of holidays. the annual beach installations on the river seine have opened along the first, fourth, sixth and seventh arrondissements, as well as the popular bassin de la villette's artificial lake. some good news about these resorts — the activities are all free. and even that holiday classic, the pedalo, is on offer. and for those struggling with the cost—of—living crisis and record inflation levels, bringing a bit of riviera chic to the capital has come at the right time. it's really a privilege to be here, like, on a sunny day and at the beach. so i really think that people who are less privileged, they can enjoy it here as well as in the south of france. this year, even more water sports on offer than usual, with six pools cordoned off in the river for kayaking and paddle—boarding. or, for those less active, a chance to relax and enjoy

a little "je ne sais quoi" in the heart of the city. stephanie prentice, bbc news. at least 12 million people are thought to have fled their homes since russia's invasion of ukraine. around 30,000 ukrainian refugees have found their way to denmark, where a nationwide scheme is offering a unique, two—wheeled welcome. from copenhagen, james brooks reports. the terrors of war. now these ukrainians are being presented with a welcome on two wheels. it is part of a project to cross denmark that is donating bikes to refugees. ajla fled khaki with her five—year—old daughter. khaki with her five-year-old daughter-— khaki with her five-year-old dau:hter. �* , , _ daughter. after being bombed by rockets, daughter. after being bombed by rockets. we _ daughter. after being bombed by rockets, we realised _ daughter. after being bombed by rockets, we realised we - daughter. after being bombed by rockets, we realised we could - rockets, we realised we could not stay in ukraine, so we left. ., ., , ~ , .,

left. for them, a bike is more than a mode _ left. for them, a bike is more than a mode of— left. for them, a bike is more than a mode of transport. - left. for them, a bike is more than a mode of transport. it l left. for them, a bike is more| than a mode of transport. it is a way of settling into their new home. translation: ~ ., new home. translation: ., ., newhome. translation: ., ., ., translation: we saw that a lot of --eole translation: we saw that a lot of peeple were — translation: we saw that a lot of people were biking. _ translation: we saw that a lot of people were biking. it - translation: we saw that a lot of people were biking. it is - translation: we saw that a lot of people were biking. it is a - of people were biking. it is a dream. she is already too big to fit in my basket. it dream. she is already too big to fit in my basket.— to fit in my basket. it was a lona to fit in my basket. it was a long way — to fit in my basket. it was a long way from _ to fit in my basket. it was a long way from kyiv - to fit in my basket. it was a long way from kyiv boughtl to fit in my basket. it was a i long way from kyiv bought this fellow refugees. oi long way from kyiv bought this fellow refugees.— fellow refugees. of dickie avenue. _ fellow refugees. of dickie avenue, we _ fellow refugees. of dickie avenue, we go _ fellow refugees. of dickie avenue, we go to - fellow refugees. of dickie avenue, we go to trifaksi| fellow refugees. of dickie - avenue, we go to trifaksi and then we go to other places. it is being organised by the cycling federation which posted ads for unwanted bikes online. it is a perfect opportunity to fill danish, you know? find it is a perfect opportunity to fill danish, you know? and mark is a nation _ fill danish, you know? and mark is a nation of _ fill danish, you know? and mark is a nation of cyclists. _ fill danish, you know? and mark is a nation of cyclists. nine - is a nation of cyclists. nine out of ten danes own a bike and lots of households got a haircut. countries, the scandinavian nation has opened its door to ukrainian refugees. the project is made possible by a nationwide network of over

120 volunteers to gets advice ready and match them with their new owners. it ready and match them with their new owners-_ new owners. it is hard to describe. _ new owners. it is hard to describe, actually, - new owners. it is hard to describe, actually, the l new owners. it is hard to l describe, actually, the way this is a happy. it isjust pure happiness when a kid gets a bike. ' :: :: :: pure happiness when a kid gets a bike. ':: :: :: , ~ , pure happiness when a kid gets a bike. ':: i: :: , ~ , ., a bike. over1000 bikes have been delivered _ a bike. over1000 bikes have been delivered so _ a bike. over1000 bikes have been delivered so far - a bike. over1000 bikes have been delivered so far but - a bike. over1000 bikes have i been delivered so far but there are still thousands of requests to answer. are still thousands of requests to answer-— to answer. normally, i said that a bicycle _ to answer. normally, i said that a bicycle is _ to answer. normally, i said that a bicycle is societies i to answer. normally, i saidj that a bicycle is societies at swiss army knife. no matter what kind of problems in society has, a bicycle can help you solve the problems. they feel that a lot of bad things have happened in ukraine but there are still a lot of good things in the world. something these young — things in the world. something these young ukrainians - things in the world. something these young ukrainians will. things in the world. something | these young ukrainians will not be forgetting in a hurry. i like it! james _ be forgetting in a hurry. i like it! james brooks, - be forgetting in a hurry. i| like it! james brooks, bbc news, copenhagen. - at wimbledon, elena rybakina has become the first player from kazakhstan to win a grand slam title. she dropped the first set, but then went on to triumph on centre court, beating

ons jabeur of tunisia. rybakina was born in moscow, but switched allegiance to kazakhstan in 2018. our sports presenter chetan pathak reports from wimbledon. in a year when wimbledon banned russian and belarusian players following the invasion of ukraine, it is still a player born in moscow that's won the women's singles title, elena rybakina is not a name we were talking about as a contender at these championships before the start of this tournament and yet she walks off with the venus rosewater dish. she started nervously against ons jabeur, who is called the minister of happiness, her rise has been extraordinary, she was the favourite going into this final, she talked about how desperate she was to win this title for the people back home on the first day of eid. she gave herself the best possible start by winning the first set but then nerves and even

fatigue began to set in and rybakina found her all—round power game to get herself over the line. rybakina at 23 makes history the first kazhakstan player to win a grand slam singles title and she gave a muted response when she won at the end, something we have got used to seeing from her. she often talks about her poker face but even she couldn't hide her smile when she lifted that venus rosewater dish. wimbledon has often given us unexpected winners, especially in the women's draw but with her all—round game, rybakina is someone that we should expect to see her time and again. there is just enough time to show you these remarkable images of a red cave cloud. it is a special kind of natural mineral deposit in a cave, found by a french exploration

team in china. it covers an area of 300 square metres and is only the second such a structure to have been found in china. that is all from us one hour. thank you so much for watching. i'm gareth barlow. hello. very little rain in this forecast — but there is heat to talk about. and in fact, as temperatures head up during sunday, parts of wales, the wider area of england, begin three consecutive days with temperatures in the mid—to—upper 20s, some spots low 30s, which will qualify it as a heat wave right underneath this area of high pressure. there will be cloud to begin with, though, misty low cloud into northern ireland, western scotland, parts of north west england, north wales. a lot of that's going to disappear and mayjust linger around some irish sea coasts, far north—west scotland staying cloudy, in the northern isles, rain clearing away from shetland. for many, though, it'sjust a case of plenty of sunshine, mid—to—low 20s, the warmest parts of northern ireland through eastern scotland, mid—to—high 20s, much of wales and england, 30 in south east england, somewhat cooling sea

breezes around the coasts. it's going to be a hot one on centre court — and notjust wimbledon players and spectators will need to protect against the strong sunshine with high, or indeed, very high uv levels. sunday evening, well, stays fine, very warm, bit of misty low cloud returning towards north—west scotland and maybe still around some irish sea coasts going into monday morning. overnight temperatures mid—to—low teens, but the nights are getting a bit warmer, as well. then during monday, there will be a bit more cloud filtering into scotland and northern ireland, though it will still feel very warm with some sunny spells. an increasing breeze and some rain, some rain heading into the western isles later in the day. for wales and england the sun will turn hazy, but it will still be there and it'll feel hotter. more places getting to that 30 or above celsius mark. and then, going into tuesday, there's a cold front that's moving its way southwards, but it will have barely any rain once it moves through scotland and northern ireland, and it willjust be a band of cloud, really. so behind it for scotland and northern ireland,

feeling fresher on tuesday, some sunny spells the chance of a shower. although there will be some cloud filtering through wales and england, it will still feel very warm or indeed hot in places, and in fact could well be a hotter day still on tuesday in south east england into the low 30s before then. just turns a touch cooler going into wednesday. in fact, for the rest of the week, scotland and northern ireland temperatures in some spots below average for the time of year. it will stay very warm across southern areas, and there is the potential for another burst of heat, maybe extreme heat, into next weekend, which we are watching.

this is bbc news, the headlines: sri lanka's president will step down after protesters stormed the palace and set fire to the prime minister's house. hundreds of thousands of demonstrators descended on the capital, colombo, after months of protests of economic mismanagement. sri lanka is suffering high inflation and struggling to import food, fuel and medicine. voting is under way injapan's parliamentary elections, just two days after former prime minister shinzo abe was assassinated on the campaign trail. there are suggestions that it could be support for the governing democratic liberal party, of which shinzo abe was the leading statesman. and uk

chancellor nadhim zahawi has