along with other members of his family — he's promised to resign today. demonstraters blame him for the economic crisis that's crippled the country, leaving it desperately short of funds to buy medicines or fuel. 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. the race begins in earnest to be britain's next prime minister — eight candidates prepare for the first round of voting. and tiger's roar — the golfer who has won more than 80 titles on the us pga tour criticises fellow professionals who've joined a saudi—backed tour.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. sri lanka's president gotabaya rajapaksa has left the country amid mass protests over its economic crisis, and landed in the maldives. mr rajapaksa left aboard a militaryjet, ending a family dynasty that has ruled the country for decades. he had been in hiding, after crowds stormed his residence on saturday. sources have told the bbc his brother, former finance minister basil rajapaksa, has also left the country. 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 or food. 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, which has been a protest site for many weeks, one of the main demands protesters had was for gotabaya rajapaksa to go. their slogan, their chant was "go home, gota". we now know that president gotabaya rajapaksa has left the country. he fled on a militaryjet with members of his family. he'd 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, his offices, that was also overrun by protesters. you can see the aftermath now. days on, the protesters here are sleeping on the grounds and on the steps. we also know that the president's brother

the formerfinance minister basil rajapaksa has also left the country. he's believed to be heading to america. now, where does this leave the president? he still hasn't as of now stepped down from his post. he's due to hand in his resignation, that 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 and fuel. this queue, you can see it going all the way down here, people here are queuing up forfree bread and curry because they are struggling to get a hold of the basics. but news of president rajapaksa's departure from the country, that is still filtering in here. i spoke to one person who said

he was relieved and pleased. but another woman said she felt that she'd been abandoned by the man she blamed for this crisis, who has gone without offering a solution. i'm nowjoined by akhil bery, director of south asia initiatives at the asia society. thanks very much forjoining asked. i wonder if it matters if he says he's resigned or not, if he has fled the country? do you think this is the last of mr rajapaksa? i think it is the last of president rajapaksa and the rajapaksa dynasties in sri lanka. tremendous anger about the mismanagement of the economy and to the family for taking advantage of ordinary sri lankans. people are frustrated with the economic crisis is not improving, and

they sought to push him out of power. they sought to push him out of ower. ~ . ., ., power. we have heard time and aaain power. we have heard time and again from _ power. we have heard time and again from a — power. we have heard time and again from a variety _ power. we have heard time and again from a variety of- power. we have heard time and again from a variety of people l again from a variety of people saying, look, wejust want again from a variety of people saying, look, we just want a handful of honest politicians to take this on and start making a difference. how realistic is that, even as an idea, given the dynasty of the rajapaksas, the nature of the political establishment in sri lanka? �* , political establishment in sri lanka? 3 ., political establishment in sri lanka? �*, ., ., political establishment in sri lanka? �*, ., lanka? it's going to be difficult _ lanka? it's going to be difficult for _ lanka? it's going to be difficult for anyone, . lanka? it's going to be | difficult for anyone, any politician to navigate sri lanka out of this economic crisis. because a lot need to be done in orderfor sri lanka to be on a pathway to fiscal solvency. so even if the person rumoured to be the next president when parliament reconvenes to elect someone, don't forget, in 2019, that person lost by 10%, so he's not very popular with the general populace. it's not going to be easy for any politician to

garner the support of the people needed to implement the reforms necessary to get sri lanka back to fiscal solvency. and presumably they will have to do the bidding of the imf if they want funding. are they the right people to do that? mil right people to do that? fill politicians and political parties are in agreement that the imf is needed, and that will unlock further multilateral financing which sri lanka desperately needs. sri lanka desperately needs. sri lanka desperately needs. sri lanka its estimated needs $6 billion in additional finance this year to bridge the current account deficit, and that won't come unless they agree terms with the imf. does sri lanka have _ agree terms with the imf. does sri lanka have the _ agree terms with the imf. does sri lanka have the sort - agree terms with the imf. does sri lanka have the sort of- sri lanka have the sort of technocrats might be best placed to fill the role of complying with the likes of the imf? do those people exist? yes, sri lanka has been in the imf programme before. the

previous president, under him, they recognise they needed to implement the reforms to gain access to more foreign exchange to be able to pay off their debts, and also afford the import sri lanka needs. {line import sri lanka needs. one other point. _ import sri lanka needs. one other point, with _ import sri lanka needs. one other point, with regard to president rajapaksa again, a lot of people feel they have been let down by this government, and they want some justice. can you see rajapaksa being held accountable for the way he has run the country, given that he is now in the maldives? i given that he is now in the maldives?— given that he is now in the maldives? ., �* ~ ., maldives? i don't think so, and this is one _ maldives? i don't think so, and this is one of _ maldives? i don't think so, and this is one of the _ maldives? i don't think so, and this is one of the reason - maldives? i don't think so, and this is one of the reason the i this is one of the reason the protesters are upset with the current prime minister wickremesinghe. there is a belief he has shielded the rajapaksas from prosecution. rajapa ksas from prosecution. when rajapaksas from prosecution. when he was prime minister, after the former president lost his re—election bid, there was a time they could have

prosecuted the rajapaksas for their war crimes especially, but he refused to go ahead with that. on social media, people referring to him in a generally angry way... referring to him in a generally angry way- - -— angry way... they believe he has a propensity _ angry way... they believe he has a propensity to - angry way... they believe he has a propensity to shield i angry way... they believe he | has a propensity to shield the rajapaksas from justice. it rajapa ksas from justice. it remains rajapaksas from justice. it remains a complicated and desperate situation. thank you very much indeed. let's take a look at some 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 six 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 100,000 — 4,000 less than scheduled. several wildfires have swept across portugal's central

region, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people as firefighters struggled to battle the flames. some houses have burned down, and three main highways in the area have been closed. the country is suffering a heatwave, with temperatures of over a0 degrees in many parts. in washington, 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. members of his inner circle told how during a stormy meeting, mr trump ignored their advice to concede, and instead summoned a mob to washington. jason van tatenhove, a former spokesman for the 0ath 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 0ath keepers

are happened january 6th, when we saw that stacked military formation going up the stairs of our capitol. 0ur correspondent nomia iqbal has been following the hearing, and talked us 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's 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 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 0ath keepers, an extremist group which the committee says turned up that day, along with another group called the proud boys, who fomented the chaos that happened. donald trump has criticised this committee, he's criticised the hearings, he 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. we can now speak to allan lichtman, who's a us presidential historian and distinguished professor of history at american university in washington. thanks very much indeed for joining us. i think the last line of that report is the most significant, that donald trump has again described this as a witchhunt. how is it perceived further afield? witchhunt. how is it perceived furtherafield? point witchhunt. how is it perceived further afield? point is, further afield ? point is, whatever testimony further afield? point is, whatever testimony before the hearings, does it stick? i think it does stick to some

extent, for the following reasons. number one, it is a masterful production. the reason they didn't have certain republican members on the committee is they would have turned it into a circus, instead of this carefully prepared presentation. eckersley, donald trump can say whatever he wants, he always does, but the facts speak for themselves. the telling thing here is, it's not trump's critics representing these facts, it's his loyalists, including his own white house counsel, who said these theories about a stolen election were nonsense, and crump should concede. pat also said, so tellingly, that at any time during this bloody insurrection, that crump could have walked to the podium and called upon his followers to

stop. instead, he delayed more than three hours. —— trump could have walked to the podium. this is something that hasn't been said march. the tremendous damage trump has done not to advance a principle, but to advance his own selfish will to stay in power. —— hasn't been said march. we talked about the damage done to police officers, 140 injured, several dead. we haven't talked enough about the damage done to his own followers. that, to me, was the telling point of mr ayres' testimony, this ordinary guy who went to the capitol and has had his life ruined because he was indicted. art apply that many hundreds of times. that raises the _ many hundreds of times. that raises the question _ many hundreds of times. that raises the question about what people, what trump supporters make of what they are hearing, when their hero shows these people are turncoats, i stand ijy my people are turncoats, i stand by my position, the election was stolen... what is the

general among his supporters, the support base, as to where mr trump really stands? you know, mr trump really stands? you know. it's — mr trump really stands? you know, it's remarkable. - mr trump really stands? ym. know, it's remarkable. in seven years, trump's approval rating hasn't moved an inch. for all respondents, it's generally in the low 40% range, as it was in a poll today. very high among republicans. but we have seen some erosion of republican support for donald trump running again. a lot of republicans are now getting tired of his act. they don't want to run in 2024 on grievances about 2020. they want to run on the economy and biden's leadership. irate want to run on the economy and biden's leadership.— biden's leadership. we will see if that built — biden's leadership. we will see if that built into _ biden's leadership. we will see if that built into enough - biden's leadership. we will see if that built into enough of- biden's leadership. we will see if that built into enough of a . if that built into enough of a crescendo against the former president to make a difference. thank you very much. thank you for being with us.

stay with us on bbc news — still to come. tensions in the west bank — palestinian militant groups are on the rise as israel increases its military raids. after months of talks and missed deadlines, a deal has been struck to keep greece within the euro zone. in the worst crisis to hit the euro zone has been averted. the immediate prospect of greece 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- fora 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 shoals shoals of their favourite food — pilchards. some had eaten so much they could barely stand. 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. here's more from our political editor, chris mason. 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. while two senior ministers dashed out of the meeting to here, to endorse rishi sunak, another two cabinet ministers left downing street and straight away 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. 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 za hawi. suella braverman, the attorney general for england and wales. and former cabinet minister penny mordaunt, whose launch event is in the morning. 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. 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. 0ne 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 streets 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—16s, automatic assault rifles. 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. but in the camp their recruits are growing. translation: we go 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 nablus, they don't protect us. they want to wipe 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 simply just 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 in the raids and many fear a further descent into violence. "hanan, i can't 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. golf, and tiger woods has delivered a rebuke for some of his fellow professionals for switching their allegiance to a new saudi—backed golf tour called liv golf.

he is one of if not the biggest name in the history of his sport, so when tiger woods speaks, goal listens. here he was practising ahead of the 150th 0pen was practising ahead of the 150th open championship at st andrews, but his focus seemed to be elsewhere, namely the controversial liv golf tour and the players who have left the pga and european tour behind. i disagree with it. i think what they've done is they've turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position. the people behind it say that liv golf is an exciting new chapter in the history of the sport, exciting, dynamic and lucrative. very, very lucrative. very, very lucrative. the saudi government pumping hundreds of millions of

dollars into the game. but its critics say it is sportswashing, a controversial regime trying to improve its image on the back of golf, and tiger woods believes there is a huge problem if players can earn big money not from winning butjust from turning up. what is no incentive to practice? to go out there and earn in the dirt? you are getting paid a lot of money but if you events and 54 holes. it money but if you events and 54 holes. , ., ., , holes. it is the idea of greg norman. — holes. it is the idea of greg norman. a _ holes. it is the idea of greg norman, a two-time - holes. it is the idea of greg | norman, a two-time winner holes. it is the idea of greg i norman, a two-time winner of norman, a two—time winner of the open, _ norman, a two—time winner of the open, who has not been invited _ the open, who has not been invited to— the open, who has not been invited to this week's championship or champions dinner. _ championship or champions dinner. a _ championship or champions dinner, a decision tiger woods said _ dinner, a decision tiger woods said was— dinner, a decision tiger woods said was the right one. thanks for watching. hello there. for most of the country, tuesday was a slightly

cooler day. we had much more cloud around. it was thick enough even to give a bit of rain here and there. but despite the cloud, here in london, it was hot. temperatures over 30 celsius again. much further north, preparing for the open at st andrews, it's 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's still bringing one or two spots of rain. so, for much of the country, it will be a more comfortable night. these are the temperatures by the morning. still, that uncomfortable warmth, though, in the southeast of england. and across southern parts of england, could start quite cloudy in the morning, even one or two spots of rain left over. that's slowly moving away. we will see one or two showers for northern ireland and mainly in scotland, sunny spells too. much more sunshine, though, arriving across england and wales than we had on tuesday. those temperatures continuing to slide away ever so slowly, but still another hot day in the southeast and east anglia, and in london 30 degrees not out of the question. heading into thursday, we've got this west—northwesterly

breeze bringing more cloud and more showers to northern ireland, scotland, perhaps a few into northern england, but further south across england into wales, it is still sunny, it is still dry. but those temperatures continuing to just drop away a little. highs of the more manageable 27 celsius in the southeast of england. this area of high pressure is tending to build in across the uk, where we've got this weak weather front arriving from the atlantic, and that will be responsible for more cloud and maybe a bit of rain for northern ireland pushing across scotland, perhaps northern england, that should move away, skies will brighten. once again across more southern parts of the uk, it is going to be fine and dry with light winds. still pretty warm out there, those temperatures typically into the mid—20s. still only around 19—20 through the central belt of scotland. it's into the weekend that really things start to warm up, not so much for scotland and northern ireland, and the far north of england, temperatures typically into the mid—20s, but for many other parts of england and into wales, we are going to find some extremely high temperatures developing over the weekend into the start

of next week. we've got that extreme heat warning from the met office. so in the strong sunshine, those temperatures will really be shooting up. 36 celsius there in london. temperatures could even get higher than that.

this is bbc news. landed in the maldives.