welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... celebrations on the streets of colombo as sri lanka's president gotabaya rajapaksa resigns following days of mass protests. russian forces extend their reach into western ukraine as cruise missiles hit business and residential buildings far from the frontlines. this attack happened right in the middle of a beautiful morning when people would've been out and about and would have felt safe. but nowhere is safe in ukraine anymore. and presidentjoe biden pledges that

america will use all its power to prevent iran from ever getting nuclear weapons. it's six in the morning in singapore, and three—thirty am in the sri lankan capital colombo, where celebrations have been taking place, after gotabaya rajapaksa became the country's first sitting president to quit. he did so after months of angry protests over the rapidly rising cost of living, and shortages of food and fuel. from colombo, rajini vaidyanathan reports. a moment to savour after months of struggle. now there's joy.

these demonstrators had one key demand, that the man they blame for their economic woes resign. tonight, president gotabaya rajapaksa did. protesters say they are celebrating what represents a victory for people power. it's the end of the rule of the rajapaksas, after a week of turmoil on the island. just yesterday at the prime minister's office, security forces were overrun by protesters. it was one of a number of government buildings taken over by the masses. today, protesters handed it back to the authorities, soldiers now on guard, authorised to use force to maintain order. sirens. a country under curfew, streets once packed with protesters, now patrolled by the military.

elsewhere, tensions are running high. with the basics still in short supply, only a few weeks of fuel now left in the country. in an exclusive interview, the governor of sri lanka's central bank told me that without a stable government the suffering will continue. we don't see a way forward on how to get enough foreign exchange to finance essential petroleum for this country. if that doesn't happen, then it will be like the whole country will be closed down. no one will be able to do any activity. the pace of the protests has slowed. a president gone and the country still in limbo. i met this man as he stormed the prime minister's house yesterday. he wants an interim government to be installed. we will give the interim government

six months to a maximum of one year to settle all this and ease the problem is possible. after that, elections should happen and people can select who they want to rule the country next. but nobody knows who that should be. as they celebrate the end of one chapter in this protest movement, another difficult one is about to begin. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, colombo. for more on this i'm joined now by asanga abeyagoonasekera, who is a sri lankan political analyst, and currently a senior fellow at the millennium project think tank in washington dc. thank think tank in washington dc. you forjoining us on i very thank you forjoining us on this very dramatic set of developments that we've seen just in the last few hours. finally a resignation. that we've seen just in the last few hours. finallya resignation. do that we've seen just in the last few hours. finally a resignation. do you think this will help to stop the protest permanently? definitely. this will be _ protest permanently? definitely.

this will be a _ protest permanently? definitely. this will be a key _ protest permanently? definitely. this will be a key factor - protest permanently? definitely. this will be a key factor to - this will be a key factor to de—escalate the political tension. for three months the protesters were asking for the right resignation it's a huge victory for the protesters, a nonviolent revolution. we have seen a fair amount of protests and some violence on the streets and just looking back at the events of the last few days, there hasn't been a sort of definitive leader in this protest movement. going forward, how do you see the political situation playing out? according to the constitution the acting president should be appointed. and now the prime minister, the one who is there acting, he's planning to be the acting, he's planning to be the acting president. but the constitutionality and is in question because had only one seat in parliament and he was not appointed by the people and he was appointed

by the people and he was appointed by gotabaya rajapaksa. i think the next few days will be who will be the acting president and who will be the next prime minister and the next cabinet. because for all the negations with the imf we need to finance minister, you need the prime minister as well as the president. so much uncertainty as you pointed out, realistically, when we're looking at the political makeup as you point out, they need to appoint a sort of new government and the current acting president not that popular with the protesters out on the streets. how soon can in election take place realistically? it is an interim measure only. clearly the constitution mentions it is an interim measure. i'm thinking about six months and not more than six months. here the protesters are asking for this demand of political

stability. they want to see new faces, fresh faces, gifts chances for more younger people to be elected. there are demands by the protesters that has to be met. what ever the mandate that was made in 2019 is no more valid. because what they want to see is fresh faces in they want to see is fresh faces in the legislature. one important element which they are asking is accountability. although he escaped, the president from a military flight but they want accountability. i am happy that the british parliamentarian has raised this, ed davey, and international arrest warrant could be looked at. these are positive signs towards re—democratizing. are positive signs towards re-democratizing.- are positive signs towards re-democratizing. are positive signs towards re-democratizinu. . ~' , ., ., re-democratizing. thank you. from the millennium _

re-democratizing. thank you. from the millennium think _ re-democratizing. thank you. from the millennium think tank - re-democratizing. thank you. from the millennium think tank in - the millennium think tank in washington, dc and his ladles development in sri lanka. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the italian president sergio mattarella has rejected the prime minister's resignation offer. mario draghi had said he was no longer able to continue in office after losing the support of the five star movement — a key party in the governing coalition. but the president has instead invited him to appear before parliament to gauge political support. ivana trump, the former wife of donald trump has died at the age of 73 at her home in new york. she was born in what was then czechoslovakia and became a fashion model, designer and businesswoman. she was married to the former us president between 1977 and 1992 and they have three children together. the japanese prime minister has called for more nuclear power plants to operate next winter to counter possible energy shortages. fumio kishida said the country needed a balanced mix of energy sources. but the japanese public has been wary of atomic power since the fu kushima nuclear disaster.

russian missiles have struck civilian buildings in central ukraine, killing at least 23 people including three children and injuring as many as 50 — according to ukrainian officials. the attack took place in the city of vinnytsia, far from the front line in the east of the country. you may find some details in sarah rainsford report distressing. a sunny morning in vinnytsia suddenly turned pitch black. this was moments after the russian missiles hit. the staggering wounded. ..and those killed on the spot. it was a strike on the very heart of this city. there was an air raid siren, but this is central ukraine, far from the fighting, so people ignored it. the blast was huge.

and among the ruins we found this, smeared with blood. the four—year—old it belongs to was killed. her name was liza. her mum filmed the little girljust an hour before the attack. they were on their way to see her speech therapist. irina herself was badly injured. today, in the hague, ukraine's prosecutor general called russia's missile strike a war crime. translation: it was scary. people came running this way covered in shrapnel injuries, so i ran in the other direction, because it was frightening. a giant department store was destroyed, including a medical centre, completely gutted on the ground floor. but it seems the russians' target was opposite. this is called officers house,

but it's a concert hall. we saw no sign of any military here. it is really hard to see scenes like this and to think of how russia talks about its precision missiles and its military targets. this wasn't a military target and the force of the blast here was so huge that it wrapped that car around the base of this building. and this attack happened right in the middle of a beautiful morning here in vinnytsia, when people would have been out and about and would have felt safe. but nowhere is safe in ukraine any more. not even people's houses. alexander thinks he heard the missile, before it struck below his balcony. with so many injured and killed, he tells me he feels lucky that only his windows were shattered. translation: i ducked like this, but then i thought, _ there's nowhere to run, its too late.

so i thought, whatever will be will be. the missile fragments are being collected. the investigation has begun — a process once unimaginable in ukraine that's now terrifyingly familiar. sarah rainsford, bbc news, vinnytsia. thousands of civilians have been killed and millions of ukrainians have fled their homes since russia invaded ukraine. but the devastating consequences of the war have also affected russian families. russia's invasion has brought untold pain to ukraine. but if you travel across russia, you'll discover that here, too, there are families that are suffering the consequences. this mother has asked us to hide her identity. valya — not her real name — fears she may get into trouble for speaking out. but she wants to tell us about her son, a russian soldier

who was fighting in ukraine. valya last heard from him more than four—and—a—half months ago. translation: i don't believe the government any more. i i wrote to his unit, i wrote to the military district office, i wrote to the defence ministry, and then i wrote to them all again. no one has given me the basic information — where, when and how my son disappeared. in official letters, valya was told that her son had been taking part in a special military operation and that he's missing. translation: on tv, they say that l everything's fine, we're winning. l but our lads are being killed. if our country had been attacked like this, we would also be defending ourselves, like they are. we'd defend ourselves and we'd be angry, too. i realise now that ukrainian mothers are the same as us. their sons are being killed. they're searching

for their children. i don't know what this was all for. you'd have to ask the government. ask president putin and he'll tell you he ordered troops into ukraine to defend the motherland. he wants russians to rally around the flag. but valya is in touch with soldiers' mothers across russia and she says that many of the mothers blame the kremlin for what is happening. translation: they hate - the government, they hate putin. they all want this war to end. if the mothers of all the soldiers who are fighting there and the ones who've lost sons, if they all rose up, can you imagine how big that army would be? and they will. their nerves will snap. stop. stop all this. stop it and protect our children.

since she spoke to us, valya has received confirmation that her son is dead. one more russian soldier who won't be coming home. steve rosenberg, bbc news, russia. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. a secret self—portrait by vincent van gogh has been discovered by experts in scotland — thanks to x—rays. coming down the ladder now. it's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire's being blamed today for the first crash in the 30 year history of concorde, the worlds only supersonic airliner. it was one of the most vivid symbols

| of the violence and hatred that tore| apart the state of yukoslavia, but now a decade later— is being painstakingly , yugoslavia. it's being built today. there's been a 50% decrease in spurn quantity and an increase in malfunctioning spurn. thousands of households across the nation as a special initially quiet this time as children buried their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore, our headlines. people in sri lanka have defied a curfew to celebrate the resignation of president gotabaya rajapaksa following days of protests. russian forces extend their reach into western ukraine, as cruise missiles hit business

and residential buildings. president biden and the israeli prime minister yair lapid have signed a a joint declaration to stop iran from developing nuclear weapons. the american leader was injerusalem before moving on to saudi arabia. from jerusalem, our middle east editorjeremy bowen reports. not the wild west, but the middle east. for all its power, america's ability to control middle eastern turbulence is limited. joe biden and israel's acting prime minister, yair lapid, signed a declaration billed as historic. in fact, it had all been said before, but israel needed him to say it again. i made it absolutely clear we will not, let me say it again, we will not allow iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. for israel, it starts with a conventional,

not nuclear threat on the heavily fortified border with lebanon, three hours drive north from jerusalem. it's one of the most dangerous potential flashpoints in the middle east. i'll show you a couple of places over here. that's because it's a front line between the israelis and iran's strongest ally and client, hezbollah. if we'll stand over here like a couple more minutes, we will see people of hezbollah coming over here. both sides have worked hard to keep the border quiet since hezbollah fought israel to a standstill in a war in 2006. but when hezbollah appeared, they were in israel's sights. behind the watchers in lebanon, the israelis assumed hezbollah guns were also ready. it took one incident to spark a month of war in 2006. these men have the job of protecting israel's northern border, but it's about a lot more than that, because this is one of the great fault lines that runs through the middle east.

on that side, friends of iran. and on this, friends of america. and the division is dangerous and it's heating up again. israel's already fighting a covert war of assassinations and bombings with iran. this border would also explode if israel or the us mounted full scale air strikes on iran's nuclear facilities. are you conscious that behind hezbollah brother down there is iran? yeah, absolutely, yeah. we can see how they're acting over here, how they're operating day and day? it's not myjob to say it, but myjob is to be over here and protect the tactical things. but we know we can see that and everything that they have, how they act and how they are operating over here, yes. back injerusalem, what's missing

is any attempt to ease the festering israeli—palestinian conflict. it used to be the top priority for visiting american presidents. in his progress around the city the israelis call their eternal capital, president biden repeated his call for an independent palestine alongside israel. on the other side of the wall, israel has built to separate jerusalem from the palestinians of the west bank, that sounds empty. he's clearly here for one case only and to help the israelis and not palestinians. he doesn't even care about us. so many presidents came in the last ten or 15 years and we did not see any difference in our situation. along joe biden�*s route into bethlehem, his next stop, are accusations that israel is guilty of apartheid. denied by the israelis and the us, widely accepted by palestinians and human rights groups. and he'll see many portraits of shireen abu aqleh,

the palestinian—american journalist killed by israeli troops in may. for this american president, what matters much more are israel's security, iran's nuclear plans and the final leg of his trip to saudi arabia. jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. in the race to succeed borisjohnson is conservative leader in prime minister the formula leader rishi sunak and penny mordaunt are still in the lead up to a lesser round of voting. our political editor chris mason has more. the name of the game blur as many mps to take a seat in your team. before today's voting, it was the last of the big campaign launch events. times are going to be tough but i know that i can get us on an upward trajectory by 202a.

we can get there by delivering our promises, ensuring spades are in the ground, people are injobs, and focusing on delivery, delivery and delivery. how can you be the credible agent of change given that you have sat round boris johnson's cabinet table throughout his time as prime minister, and how worried are you that your campaign is being trampled by the march of mordaunt? there was no direct answer about her rival, and this on being a senior minister under mr johnson. i was critical within cabinet of the proposed national insurance rise. i was a cabinet minister who spoke out against it at the time. but i'm a loyalist. by lunchtime the focus switched to parliament and more voting. so from a campaign launch this morning to a polling station opened just up the stairs there, conservative mps voting on day two of this contest. and one of the candidates there, suella braverman. at three o'clock came the result and bad news

suella braverman is eliminated from the contest and the others are able to go forward to a further ballot on monday. obviously disappointed, chris, - but actually incredibly overwhelmed and grateful for all of the support that i got from my— parliamentary colleagues. once again the former chancellor rishi sunak got the most votes. penny mordaunt, seen here at her campaign launch yesterday, came second, ahead of liz truss. kemi badenoch was fourth, and tom tugendhat, speaking here this morning, was fifth. where will this go? i don't know, i can't tell you, but i offered to serve and that's what i'll do. and so six have become five as the race to move in here continues. our political editor chris mason reporting there. a van gogh artwork that lay hidden from view for more

than a century has been discovered by the national galleries of scotland. the painting is said to "almost certainly" be a self—portrait of the dutch artist and it was found on the back of another canvas. joanne macaulay has the story. for more than 100 years, this picture has been holding a secret. on the back of van gogh's head of a peasant woman is a previously unseen work by the artist. the ghostly image was revealed as experts carried out an x—ray on the painting. oh, it was a complete shock and, i have to say, pretty much instant recognition. we thought, my goodness, there he is. we have his hat and his beard, signature neckerchief around his neck, and itjust struck us immediately that it was a self—portrait. as a poor artist, van gogh used both sides of the canvas to save money. but the self—portrait side is covered in cardboard and glue. experts hope they can safely remove the material from this valuable piece. this is really a major and very exciting find for

the national galleries of scotland. it's so unusual to find a new painting on the back of a canvas like this. and, also, it is a good example of a period when van gogh was developing his mature, very radical style. the style we associate with him. it's likely to be some time before all the cardboard and glue on the back of the painting is removed and the self—portrait is fully revealed. but, in the meantime, members of the public can see the x—ray of it here in edinburgh when it goes on display at the end of the month. and finally, the fourteenth ofjuly means only one thing to the people of france — la fete nationale. president macron led the bastille day celebrations along the champs elysees in formation with members of the french military. the parade featured military representatives from central european countries in a nod to the war in ukraine. and up in the skies the french acrobatic air squadran painted the skies of paris

in france's national colours. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello. we've seen a bit of a lull in the heatwave conditions over the past 2a hours or so. it was a little bit fresher on thursday and into friday, too. but intense heat is on the way, particularly by sunday into tuesday. the met office have issued an amber warning for extreme heat across much of england and wales. we're likely to see widespread impacts from this spell of severe heat. health impacts notjust for the vulnerable. we could see transport disruption, potentially disruption to energy supplies as well. so, certainly some severe weather on the way with those exceptionally high temperatures sunday to tuesday. back to the here and now, for friday morning, we're going to be seeing a few splashes of rain across scotland, northern england, too. any showers quickly clearing from northern ireland.

stays dry all day for southern england and wales. plenty of spells of sunshine coming through, and again it is going to feel warm. so, highs in the south 25—26 degrees. we're looking at the high teens or low 20s across scotland and northern ireland. moving through into friday evening, any of those showers in the north fading away fairly quickly, so it is dry, it's clear. we'll see a little bit of a warmer night as we head into the early hours of saturday. still reasonably fresh across parts of scotland and northern ireland. we could see single figures here, but down towards the south, we're are looking at mid—teens, i think, to start off your weekend. now, through saturday, a bit more cloud and a few spots of rain for the far north west of scotland. dry elsewhere with strong sunshine, very high levels of uv this time of year. so, those temperatures starting to pick up. the mid to high 20s across england and wales, the low 20s for scotland and for northern ireland. those temperatures continue to build then day on day. this is how sunday's looking. perhaps the odd rogue shower for scotland, dry, hot and sunny elsewhere. the hottest spots in the low 30s, i think, across much of central and southern england.

even further north and west, we're looking at the mid to the high 20s. by the time we get to monday, that heat becomes more extensive across the map, so more of us will see temperatures in the mid, possibly high 30s, potentially record—breaking temperatures by the time we get to tuesday. one or two spots potentially 38—39 degrees as well, so temperatures like that, we don't see them very often here in the uk. they are going to cause some significant disruption. do make plans for monday into tuesday. we could see those temperatures near a0 degrees in a few spots. thundery breakdown at last on the way by wednesday. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines the sri lankan president gotabaya rajapaksa has resigned following days of protests. demonstrators are celebrating on the streets of colombo in defiance of a curfew. he sent his letter of resignation after fleeing to singapore. the italian president, sergio mattarella, has rejected an offer of resignation by the prime minister. mario draghi said he was not able to continue in office after losing the support of a key party in the governing coalition. the us president and israel's prime minister have signed a joint statement pledging to deny iran nuclear weapons, during joe biden�*s trip to the middle east. on friday he will travel to the occupied west bank before heading to saudi arabia. more than 20 people have been killed

in a russian missile