sri lanka's president flees the country — along with other members of his family — following mass protests. demonstrators blame them for the economic crisis that crippled the country leaving it short of funds to buy medicines or fuel. orfuel. 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 thirteen—billion years ago.

welcome to newsday. it's seven am in singapore and fourthirty am in sri lanka — 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 his but it's understood he had brotherformerfinance minister his brotherformerfinance minister has also left the country. president gotabaya country. president gota baya rajapaksa country. president gotabaya rajapaksa had promised to resign but 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. our correspondent rajini vaidyanathan was with protestors outside the presidential palace in colombo when the news of president rajapaksa's departure was made public. there is a real party atmosphere here at colombo seafront for that which has been a protest site for many weeks for that one of the may need demands protesters have for gotabaya rajapaksa to go. their slogan, their chant was go home go tile. we now know that president gotabaya rajapaksa has left the country. he fled on eight militaryjet with members of his family. we don't know where exactly he's headed to for been in hiding for the last few days, ever since his home, his official residence was overrun by protesters. it wasn'tjust his official residence, in fact over there his presidential

secretariat, at his offices, that was also overrun by protesters to stop you can see the aftermath now. days on their protesters who are sleeping on the grounds here and on the steps. we also know that the presidents brother the formerfinance minister that the presidents brother the former finance minister has also left the country. he is believed to be heading to america. where does this leave the president? he still hasn't as of now step down from his post. he is due to hand in his resignation, that all being expected on wednesday if he does then that will create a vacancy for a president to run this country and there will be a process in parliament to decide who his replacement is. all of this is part of a wider concern, we are still in the middle of an economic crisis in sri lanka where people are struggling for food and medicines struggling forfood and medicines and struggling for food and medicines and fuel. this struggling forfood and

medicines and fuel. this queue, you can see it going all the way down here, people here are queuing up forfree bread and curry because people are struggling to get a hold of the basics. but news of president gotabaya rajapaksa departure gota baya raja pa ksa departure from gotabaya rajapaksa departure from the country, that is still filtering in here. i spoke to one person who said he was relieved and pleased. another woman said she felt that she had been abandoned by the man she blame for this crisis who has gone without offering a solution. our solid agent correspondent talking us through that story. earlier i spoke to david brewster, a specialist in sri lankan politics at the australia national university, about the impact rajapaksa's departure will have on the country's political situation. 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 indeed what the procedure will be, the constitutional procedure will be in the coming days to appoint first of all, an 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 protests? do you think people will be satisfied with these imminent resignations? well, his departure obviously meets their immediate demands.

but underlines the demand is 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, that is appointed in the coming days will actually be able to resolve these problems. so where do we go from here? what you just described is a country that has no functioning government, protest that may well continue and an economy that is collapsing. what does that leave sri 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 thing, 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 is ready to stand up and undertake these very serious reforms.

just to say since we spoke to mr brewster as we've been reporting, the sri lankan president, gotabaya rajapaksa president, gota baya rajapa ksa has president, gotabaya rajapaksa has left the country and landed in the maltese. 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. jason van tatenhove, a former spokesman for the oath keepers, described the group as violent, dismissive of the rule of law, and capable of swaying people through lies and deceit. rather than try to use words, i think the best illustration for what the oath keepers are happened january 6th, 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 sixth, 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, an 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 this 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 and two republicans a bunch of thugs and hacks. let's ta ke let's take a look at some of the other stories in the headlines. the un security council has voted to allow cross border aid deliveries to millions in rebel held syria from turkey for 6 months after intense diplomatic wrangling. the us, the uk and france had wanted to extend the aid for another year — a proposal which russia vetoed. london's heathrow airport has told airlines to reduce the number of tickets they sell for the remainder of the summer months, in order to cope with the rebound in air travel. the airport is limiting the number of daily passengers who can depart to one hundred thousand — four thousand less than scheduled. 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 of 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, her event is in the morning. tomorrow, voting begins and there are more launches to come

to decide who gets to move into downing street. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... four—time olympic champion mo farah reveals he was trafficked into the uk as a child and forced to work as a domestic servant. 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. i 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, pilchards. 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's president flees the country along with other members of his family — following mass protests. 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 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. welcome welcome. thank you. sir mo farah is not the event millions think they know. talk about it, coming _ millions think they know. talk about it, coming to _ millions think they know. “ma; about it, coming to tell millions think they know. t:l«; about it, coming to tell the public and tell people i didn't have the courage to talk to my own family. at times lonely and if i can't share it myself, who can share with the whole world? he shot to national and internationalfame by winning international fame by winning two internationalfame by winning two olympic gold medals in london 2012. he is one of london's most decorated olympians. he was knighted in 2017 for services to athletics and is become a regular on tv screens and newspaper front

pages. screens and newspaper front “aes. , screens and newspaper front a a 1 es. , , screens and newspaper front “aes. , , ., pages. this is the visa to come to the uk- _ pages. this is the visa to come to the uk. but _ pages. this is the visa to come to the uk. but in _ pages. this is the visa to come to the uk. but in a _ pages. this is the visa to come to the uk. but in a tv - to the uk. but in a tv documentary - to the uk. but in a tv | documentary he reveals to the uk. but in a tv - documentary he reveals his real name is hussein at the command and he was illegally traffic as and he was illegally traffic as a child for the purpose of domestic servitude. from date want the lady. _ domestic servitude. from date want the lady, what _ domestic servitude. from date want the lady, what she - domestic servitude. from date want the lady, what she died l want the lady, what she died was not right. i was intrigued as part of the family. i was always that kid who did everything. i don't know someone who works for you, that your space, that's our space, this is what you do. if i wanted food in my mouth byjob was to look after those kids, shower them, was to look after those kids, showerthem, cook was to look after those kids, shower them, cook for was to look after those kids, showerthem, cook forthem, clean for them. she said if you ever want to see your family again don't say anything. if you say anything they will take you say anything they will take you away. he you say anything they will take ou awa . ., , you away. he eventually confided _ you away. he eventually confided in _ you away. he eventually confided in a _ you away. he eventually confided in a teacher - you away. he eventuallyl confided in a teacher who helped him alert social services, moved to a new family and become a british citizen as

mo farrar. it was then he discovered running. what was it like for you to live in this kind of double life and becoming globally famous. there's a lot i couldn't say in my mind. as a kid i tried to think where there's a moment where i made a decision for myself was to lock myself in the bathroom and cry every day, you cry every day and you say please get me out of here. no one will come to you you learn to lock that out. i told myself, i'm lucky to get emotional, and be locked out inside. and just carry on. even myself, it was hard to admit what has happened. the myself, it was hard to admit what has happened. the bbc has soken to what has happened. the bbc has spoken to the — what has happened. the bbc has spoken to the home _ what has happened. the bbc has spoken to the home office - what has happened. the bbc has spoken to the home office todayj spoken to the home office today and they said and i quote "no action whatsoever will be taken against sir mo and to suggest otherwise is wrong. has it make you feel? it otherwise is wrong. ". has it make you feel?— otherwise is wrong. ". has it make you feel? it makes me

relieved- _ make you feel? it makes me relieved. this _ make you feel? it makes me relieved. this is _ make you feel? it makes me relieved. this is my - make you feel? it makes me relieved. this is my country. | to the golf and tiger woods has criticised some of his fellow professionals who abandoned the pga tour injoint professionals who abandoned the pga tour in joint that saudi golf series without speaking at st. andrews the 15 time major winner made his opinion about the event crystal clear. i disagree with it. i think that what they've done is they've turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position. some players will never get a chance to play in the championship, never get to express this right here. to me, just don't understand it. what these players are doing for guaranteed money, what is the incentive to practice? what is the incentive to earn and the dirt? the social media company

twitter is taking legal action against elon musk to try to force him to go through with a deal to buy it. documents suing the tycoon — who is the world's richest man — have been filed in court in the us state of delaware. he pulled out of the deal after raising concerns about fake accounts. twitter is arguing he has no right to drop the ma billion deal. 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. our science editor 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. astonishing images. a couple more stories for you before we go. some bad luck for kids in mainland china who love spending all their time playing online video games. the tech giants, tencent, says it's not relaxing its strict rules on the number of hours they are allowed to spend playing — even during their summer break. the company says those under age eighteen will only be allowed to play for an hour on fridays, saturdays and sundays. the chinese government had

already put legal limits on gaming time for children, something they said they needed to do to ensure children were paying attention to their education. the book might be a page turnerfor some at education. the book might be a page turner for some at least but these restoration specialists might wonder where all their time went for the conservators from the deadly attack national france have been spending hundreds of hours restoring 75,000 pages in search of lost time it's a job that requires lots of patience to hear of the wear and tear over the many years. the book will be exhibited in the autumn to mark the 100th anniversary of the writers death. such a worthy endeavour indeed. such a worthy endeavour indeed. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. thank you forjoining me and the team. to stay with bbc news of the latest broadcast. hello there.

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 cloud 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 that is to bring one or two spots of rain. for much of the country it will be more a comfortable night. these are the temperatures by the morning. still that uncomfortable warmth in the south—east of england. across southern parts of england, could start quite cloudy in the morning, even one or two spots of rain move away. we'll see one or two showers for northern ireland, sunny spells too, much more sunshine arriving across england and wales than 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. heading into thursday, we've got this west to northwesterly breeze bringing more cloud and showers to northern ireland, scotland, perhaps a few into northern england. but heading further 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 going to 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.