i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. sri lanka's president, gotabaya rajapaksa, has fled the country along with other members of his family, following mass protests there. the committee investigating the storming of the us capitol lays out how president trump incited extremists in a last—ditch bid to remain in office. four time olympic champion mo farah reveals he was trafficked into the uk as a child and forced to work as a domestic servant. and the first extraordinary images from nasa's new telescope — distant galaxies and light from 13 billion years ago.

welcome to newsday — we start with breaking news. it's six am in singapore and three thirty am in sri lanka where injust the last hour the bbc has confirmed that sri lanka's president gotabaya rajapaksa has left the country — days after popular protests forced him to abandon his official residence and after several earlier failed attempts to leave. he left by plane. his destination is not clear, but it's understood he had earlier tried to travel to the united arab emirates. president rajapaksa had promised to resign, but by remaining in position, he kept his immunity from prosecution. many sri lankans blame him for the economic crisis which has crippled their country — leaving it short of funds to buy medicines or fuel. i'm joined now by david brewster, a specialist in sri lankan politics with the australia national university. great university. to get you on the program,

david. great to get you on the program, david. just to start by saying, the dramatic developments we've had just in the last hour of so, what is your sense of how they will impact sri is political situation go forward? your riaht political situation go forward? your right there's _ political situation go forward? 7m;- right there's extraordinary scenes of the last few days with the storming of the presidential palace and the attempts by the president to leave the country being blocked by other countries and his own officials. so we're not yet sure where he's going to or in deed what the procedure will be, the constitutional procedure will be in the coming days to appoint first of all in acting president and a permanent president. but what is clear is that this instability is not short—lived, it's going to continue for months or even years.

yes. as you say, the instability we're seeing on the streets in sri lanka with protests taking place, will this departure of the president be enough to stop those press test? do you think people will be satisfied with these imminent resignations?— satisfied with these imminent resianations? ~ , resignations? well, his departure obviously meets _ resignations? well, his departure obviously meets their _ resignations? well, his departure obviously meets their immediate | obviously meets their immediate demands. but underlines the demand for the incredible economic crisis that we've seen in sri lanka over the last several months. that is not going to be resolved anytime soon. it will take months and even years to do so. and i have very serious doubts that the next president and government, whoever they may be, thatis government, whoever they may be, that is appointed in the coming days will actually be able to resolve these problems. 50 will actually be able to resolve these problems.— will actually be able to resolve these problems. will actually be able to resolve these roblems. ., .,

these problems. so where do we go from here? — these problems. so where do we go from here? what— these problems. so where do we go from here? what you _ these problems. so where do we go from here? what you just _ these problems. so where do we go from here? what you just described j from here? what you just described is a country that has no functioning government, protest that may well continue and in economy that is collapsing. what does that leave sri lanka? , ., . lanka? first of all, constitutionally, i lanka? first of all, i constitutionally, were lanka? first of all, - constitutionally, were not lanka? first of all, _ constitutionally, were not even sure whether gotabaya rajapaksa is still president. if he has resigned or will resign as he said he would, when the current prime minister will resign and what the actual constitutional process will be to appoint a new president. that will all play out in the coming weeks. but one saying i am very sceptical that the new government that is appointed in the coming weeks will be a better resolve these problems. we know that we can be pretty sure that the imf will impose really quite serious conditions on

restructuring the sri lankan economy and that will require a stable and committed government to do so. there is certainly no sign at the moment that a government and ready to stand up that a government and ready to stand up and undertake these very serious reforms. �* , ., ~ , ., up and undertake these very serious reforms. �* , .,~ reforms. david brewster take you so much for your— reforms. david brewster take you so much for your thoughts _ reforms. david brewster take you so much for your thoughts and - reforms. david brewster take you so much for your thoughts and joining l much for your thoughts and joining us on a new state for that uncertainty and very difficult time for sri lanka. well, let's move from the political crisis in sri lanka and tell you about washington — where the committee investigating the storming of the us capitol has laid out how donald trump incited far—right extremists in a last—ditch bid to remain in office. gave the former leader described

lies and deceit. i thinkjanuary six, lies and deceit. i thinkjanuary six. when _ lies and deceit. i thinkjanuary six. when we _ lies and deceit. i thinkjanuary six, when we saw _ lies and deceit. i thinkjanuary six, when we saw that - lies and deceit. i thinkjanuaryj six, when we saw that stacked military formation going up the stairs of our capital. our correspondent nomia iqbal has been following the hearing and talked through what's happened so far. there were two parts to today's hearing, the first part revolved around something that was referred to as an unhinged meeting which happened in mid december in which donald trump advisers were telling him to concede the election but he was listening to a group of unofficial advisers who were telling him to continue with his baseless claims the election was stolen. the next day, which is where we get into the second part, he put out a tweet in which he said to his supporters to come and protest onjanuary the 6th, be there, will be wild is what he wrote. and then the committee

focused on people that did turn up. one of them was a man called stephen ayres, who has now pleaded guilty to obstruction charges that day. he talked about how he deeply regretted listening to donald trump. we also heard from a former member of the oath keepers, and extremist group which the committee says turned up that day along with another group called the proud boys who fermented the chaos that happened. donald trump has criticised its committee, he's criticised the hearings, he is described them as a witch hunt and called the panel, which is made up of seven democrats republicans a bunch of thugs and hacks. — two republicans. to the uk now, as eight contenders have made it to the first round of the leadership race to become britain's next prime minister. three candidates dropped out on tuesday, as the contenders each vied for the support of twenty of their colleagues. the first round vote

happens on wednesday. candidates with fewer than thirty votes will be eliminated. here's more from our political editor, chris mason. while waiting from the early front runner rishi sunak, look who's nipped in at the last minute. the deputy prime minister and the transport secretary, himself a candidate until now, is here too. please welcome rishi sunak. the early skirmishes in this contest have felt like all the other candidates against mr sunak. he pointedly repeated his critique today of what he sees as their wild promises to cut taxes now. we need a return to traditional conservative economic values. and that means honesty and responsibility, not fairy tales. once we've gripped inflation i will get the tax burden down. it's a question of when not if. so many of your colleagues have sought to demolish your record as chancellor. do you have the stomach for what's to come? chuckles.

i'm standing here today surrounded by friends and colleagues. cheering. chris, that's what gives me the optimism, the confidence, to do this. thank you all very much. here's one of the reasons mr sunak sounds chipper — tempting a fellow candidate to give up and back him instead. grant shapps, i didn't have you down as a quitter. you've packed in before it starts. i was delighted with the support i got but i also recognise that what we need more than anything else is somebody who can step straight into the role of prime minister in serious times. while two senior ministers dashed out of the meeting to here to endorse rishi sunak, another two cabinet ministers left downing street and straightaway endorsed liz truss. i've sat with liz in cabinet for some long time. very aware that she's probably a stronger brexiteer than both of us. she's consistently argued for low tax policies. liz was always opposed

to rishi's higher taxes. that again is proper conservatism. from barbs in downing street from backers of the foreign secretary to cheers down the road from those supporting the former minister, kemi badenoch. i tell the truth, i fight for change, i stand up for people and i stand up for the causes and the country i love. some might say this is no time for novices. i think this is no time for steady as it goes sinking into decline. it's time for change. kemi is bright, brilliant and brave. it's only very rarely in politics you come across talents like that. kemi is undoubtedly, ithink, a phenomenon. she's got the right stuff. what do you say to our viewer who looks in on all of this at westminster and thinks, what a carry on? we knew that the political climate was such that boris had to stand down. this is the most diverse group of talent that i think any political party in the world would be putting forward. to another lectern, more applause

and another cabinet endorsement, this time for tom tugendhat. it's time for tom. we've retreated into the pettiness of politics that is more about personality than principle. when our nation needed our party to function we retreated into faction. when the moment demanded service we delivered scandal. also on the ballot paper tomorrow, the new chancellor, nadhim zahawi. suella braverman, the attorney general for england and wales. and former cabinet minister penny mordaunt, event is in the morning. you watching newsday at the bbc. four—time olympic women are both are admitted he was trafficked into domestic servitude and foster work

as a child. after months of talks and missed deadlines, a deal has been struck to keep greece within the euro zone. the immediate prospect of grease going bust in the worst crisis to hit the euro zone has been averted. emergency services across central europe are stepping up their efforts to contain the worst floods the century. nearly 100 people have been killed. broadway is traditionally called the great white way by americans. but tonight it is completely blacked out. it is a timely reminder to all americans of the problems the energy crisis have brought to them. leaders meet in paris for a summit on pollution, inflation, _ and third world debt. this morning, theyjoinedl the revolution celebrations for a show of military might on the champs—elysees. . wildlife officials in australia have been coping with a penguin problem. fairy penguins have been staggering ashore and collapsing after gorging themselves on huge shows of their favourite foods, filtered. some had eaten so much

they could barely stand. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani. in singapore, our headlines. sri lanka is president gotabaya rajapaksa has sri lanka is president gotabaya rajapa ksa has fled sri lanka is president gotabaya rajapaksa has fled the country along with other members of his family following mass protests they are. the committee investigating the storming of the us capitol lays out how president trump incited extremists in a last—ditch bid to remain in office. presidentjoe biden is travelling to israel for a series of meetings there and in the west bank, before heading to saudi arabia. his visit comes as israel has been carrying out military arrest raids in the occupied west bank this week — a near daily occurrence since a wave of deadly attacks by palestinians against israelis in the spring.

dozens of palestinians have been killed during army incursions this year with the un's human rights office raising concerns over excessive force and possible collective punishment — accusations rejected by israel. the focus has been on the city ofjenin where palestinian militant groups have been rearming, as our middle east correspondent tom bateman reports. a mother's grief echoes around the grave of her daughter. "he burned my heart", she says. "i didn't believe you'd be buried before me. " hanan was hit by a bullet as she headed home from an english class. one among dozens of palestinians killed in the west bank this year. translation: when the taxi driver saw the israeli army deployed, - he asked the girls to duck. the bullet hit her here. it left five holes in her body.

her schoolwork full of promise for her family. now all they have left are the fragments of a life. and few answers about her death. translation: as long as there is occupation, | there are stories like hanan's and every day there is a story. hanan�*s taxi was hit during an israeli army raid intojenin. there were gun fights with militants. the army says it is examining the case. it's not clear how the vehicle was struck. as the raids have stepped up, rights groups accuse israel of using excessive force. the army says it doesn't intentionally target civilians and they respond to a lethal threat. it follows a series of deadly attacks by palestinians. this was tel aviv in april. a gunman opened fire at a packed bar, killing three israelis. it was one in a string of attacks in which 18 people were killed.

israelis were facing the worst spate of violence on their street in years. meanwhile injenin refugee camp, there militants have been rearming. shows of force on a scale not seen in two decades. a huge amount of weapons, m—i6s, automatic assault rifles. inside, people are letting loose. gunfire. it really feels like, and you can hear that, things are ramping up because of the situation at the moment. we were taken to the home of these so—called jenin brigade. it's part of the palestinian armed groups — all listed by israel and the west as terrorist organisations. but in the camp there recruits are growing. translation: we got out as armed resistance in the camp. _ when we find the soldiers, we shoot at them. the west sees groups in the camp as terrorist organisations so why are you doing this, why don't you leave it to the official palestinian authority?

translation: the palestinian authority sold us out _ from the beginning. we don't see them as brothers. they allowed the israelis to raid us, they don't protect us. they want to wait out the resistance. during a raid in may, the veteran palestinian journalist shireen abu akleh was killed. evidence suggests she was hit by an israeli bullet, something the army dispute. her case has become a symbol for palestinians. these raids are happening so frequently now that much of the time they are simplyjust not well documented. so when a journalist like shireen is killed, you simply see the risk, the dangers involved. the same month, an israeli officer was shot dead injenin. there's been no let up in the raids and many fear of further descent into violence. "hanan, i cannot reach

you", her mum cries. her daughter tried to get to a class and never came home. just having hope here meant paying with her life. tom bateman, bbc news, jenin. four—time olympic champion runner, sir mo farah has revealed he was trafficked into the uk as a child and forced to work as a domestic servant. he told the bbc he was born hussein abdi kahin, but was given the name mohamed farah by those who flew him from east africa with fake documents. adina campbell has the story. one of the defining moments of the london 2012 olympics. sir mo farah on super saturday. taking gold in the 10,000 metres, part of a record—breaking career cementing his place in the history books. but life could have turned out to be very different,

and we now know he's not who we think he is. most people know me as mo farah, but it's not my name, or it's not the reality. the real story is i was born in somaliland, north of somalia, as hussein abdi kahin. in a new documentary, he also reveals he was a child slave, trafficked to the uk at the age of nine and forced to work for a family in west london. myjob was to look after those kids, shower them, cook for them, clean for them. she said, "if you ever want to see you family again, "don't say anything. "if you say anything, they will take you away. " often, i would just lock myself in the bathroom and cry, and nobody�*s there to help. after a while, ijust learned not

to have that emotion. despite what was happening behind closed doors, mo farah was a cut above the rest during his teenage years. and it was a conversation with his pe teacher who helped him escape from the abuse at home. and years later, the documentary captures the moment he's reunited with his mum, who he thought had died. my mum's name is aisha. i'll neverforget my mum, on that tape. so, the tape, it had a number on it, like to say call, on the back of it, this is the number. then it said, "if this is a bother, or causing you trouble, don't, just leave it, you don't have to contact me. " and i'm going, "of course i'm going to contact you! " at that point, that's

when i first called my mum. sir mo says he's made this documentary to tell the world what really happened in his childhood and to shed light on the serious issue of modern slavery, to show people greatness can be achieved even after monumental trauma. if you're a regular watcher of newsday — you might remember we told you about the james webb space telescope, and some of its latest achievements on tuesday. well, here are some of the first images released by nasa, european and canadian space agencies from the world's most advanced telescope which was launched into space last year. extraordinary images — the deepest, most detailed view of the universe we've ever seen. rebecca morelle reports.

the beauty of our universe as never seen before, captured by the james webb space telescope. these are the cosmic cliffs of the carina nebula. amidst the dust, stars are being born. this is a new view of stephan�*s quintet, 300 million light years away where vast galaxies are caught in a celestial dance. and the deepest ever view of space. it's teeming with galaxies. some from just a few hundred million years after the dawn of the universe. to have worked on a mission for this long. to be able to finally see it come to fruition, to do what it's supposed to do, is just absolutely incredible. the images are amazing, themselves, just as images, but the hint of the detailed science we're going to be able to do and what we can learn from these images is what makes me so excited. the telescope blasted off last year on christmas day, and over the last six months it's

been getting ready for its mission. the james webb space telescope is an engineering marvel. at its core is a six and a half metre wide mirror made up of 18 hexagonal segments, each perfectly aligned to act as a single surface. it also has a sun shield the size of a tennis court to protect it from the heat and light of the sun. the telescope will look back further in time than ever before, showing us the light from the very first stars to shine. we'll also be able to see how they came together to form the earliest galaxies. and it will study other planetary systems, revealing whether life could exist beyond our world. it's almost like a time machine. you're looking back into the far distant past and so we can begin to answer those questions about how did the first galaxies and stars form. the hope with this telescope is that we see almost in real time, as it were, a history of the universe playing out. the telescope also captured this.

2,000 light years away, it is a star going through its death throes. in some strange way it is a pretty view of something decaying and dying but we're able again to look at the material as it flows away from the star and understand something about the evolution of the star, so going from star birth in the star—forming regions, all the way through to star death. but this is just the start for the telescope. over the coming days and months, more and more images will be captured. our knowledge of the universe and our place in it is about to be transformed. rebecca morelle, bbc news. let's bring you more on that breaking news we told you about at the beginning of the program. the bbc has received informationjust the beginning of the program. the bbc has received information just in the last ten minutes or so that the sri lankan president is already two of landed in the maldives. according to the bbc, the flight landed in mali and the president came out of

the airport and tight security for the airport and tight security for the days after popular protests forced him to abandon his official residence for that ijust forced him to abandon his official residence for that i just want to remind you that his brother they form finance minister also left for that as we been reporting the president as we understand it flew out on a militaryjet days after his home was overrun with protesters and he went into hiding. gotabaya rajapaksa earlier pledge to resign and waiting to hear if that doesn't happen and if the prime minister is expected to resign. gotabaya rajapaksa political dynasty has rajapa ksa political dynasty has ruled rajapaksa political dynasty has ruled the island for decades and they've been blamed for mismanaging they've been blamed for mismanaging the economy leaving millions of struggling to buy food, fuel and medicine. we will have lots more on that for you on bbc news. to state with us. that's it for now.

for most of the country tuesday was a slightly cooler day. we have much more cloud around, thick enough to give a bit of rain here and there. despite the clarity here in london it was hot. temperatures over 30 degrees. much further north preparing for the open at saint andrews it is cooler, temperatures were in the low 20s despite the sunshine. that cooler, cleaner, fresher air is moving down from the north following this band of cloud thatis north following this band of cloud that is to bring one or two spots of rain. for much of the country it will be more comfortable night. these are the temperatures by the morning. still that uncomfortable warmth in the south—east of england. across other parts of england, could start quite cloudy in the morning, even one or two spots of rain movie away. will see one or two showers for northern allen, sunny spells to come a much more sunshine arriving across england and wales that we had on tuesday. those temperatures continuing to slide away ever so slowly. another hot day in the south—east and east anglia and in

london 30 degrees not out of the question for the heading into thursday we've got this was to northwesterly breeze bringing more cloud and showers to northern ireland, scotland, perhaps a few into northern england for the but head for the south into england and wales it still sunny and dry. those temperatures continuing to drop away a little, highs more manageable, 27 in the south—east of england. this area of high pressure is building in over the uk. we got this weak weather front rising from the atlantic and that will be responsible for more cloud and maybe a bit of rain for northern ireland, scotland, perhaps northern england, that will move away. skies will brighten across most of the uk it is good be fine and dry with light wind still pretty warm out there those temperatures typically into the mid—20s, 19 or 20 through the central belt of scotland. it's into the weekend that things start to warm up. not so much for scotland and northern ireland and the far north of england, temperatures typically in the mid—20s. but for

many other parts of england and into wales we're going to find extremely high temperatures developing over the weekend into the start of next week, we've got that extreme heat warning from the met office. in the strong sunshine those temperatures will really be shooting up. we got 36 in london, temperatures could get higher than that.

gotabaya rajapaksa, has fled

this is bbc news, the headlines this is bbc news, the headlines sri lanka's president, of mass protests over the island's economic crisis. earlier, his brother, the formerfinance minister, basil rajapaksa, also left. storming of the us capitol, has heard witnesses describe the riot as �*unhinged'.