a, with a president and prime minister, both the down arrow resigning as month long protests accumulate. and the storming of the leaders residences by enraged demonstrators in the stories that shape this week. at least 4 children were killed in ukrainian artillery attacks on the gun yet republic as civilian casualties. mount grieving families struggle to endure the pain of their loss. a fascinated on the campaign trail depends on the former prime minister. sions. obey

has died after being shot by a lone gunman and the party's over for board johnson who said, stepping down as britain's prime minister, that's after he failed to impress fella conservatives on the homefront. despite drumming up military support for you for our country is facing immense challenges, i firmly believe that the public are ready to hear that truth. a broadcasting live direct from our studios in moscow. this is our to international. i'm john thomas. certainly glad to have you with us now. violence, fire and chaos, and sri lanka as a severe economic crisis, amid fuel shortages and a state debt default has operated the countries government masses of angry protesters in the south. asian nation have flooded into the streets and stormed into the homes of the president and prime minister, both of whom have announced that they will resign.

ah, the prime minister's home was set on fire with the massive blaze ripping through the extravagant residence. as droves of protesters gathered around and filmed the inferno, neither the pm nor the president was in those homes while they were being rated. 6 the beleaguer, the president said that he would step down on wednesday to ensure a peaceful transition of power. he is now reportedly in hiding. protesters had wanted the country's leadership to resign over failures, to contain the nation's worst economic crisis in its over 70 year history. widespread protests have persisted for months accusingly. government of

perpetrating entrenched corruption, mismanaging the economy and driving the nation to bankruptcy. many of the demonstrators who stormed into the president's mansion were pictured making themselves at home. some were taking a dip in the president's pool, while others relaxed on his beds and sofas, while posting videos of it online. outside though ryan police use tear gas against the demonstrators, amid clashes throughout the country's largest city, colombo, there was an hours long stand off between protesters and police outside the pm's house. prior to the storming and arson attack, the perfume was imposed in colombo on friday, but was later lifted due to the demands of opposition leaders. a local journalist sent us this report from the heart of the turmoil before the president announced he would resign. today marks the completion of the good month that the start, those started, he had and so i've got to get food off the once all and the leadership of none

other than the goat. i bet i and his plan of family and i'm here in the center of the city, the fort area that people had to go see behind me. modern woods to take god in a massive book with this. i discovered that would be carried out today by so much off fractions as much of people with people to have a big difference loaded. especially asking the opportunity to step down onto the government led by the prime minister to let go. the security for those invoices. i've already got

a bag the use of the guys and want to get in with people without giving him a marketing ahead. and he's the one that like with the sri lanka has been reeling from months of violent protests over the economic lamps as the country is essentially bankrupt, having defaulted on its foreign debt for the 1st time since it gained independence from britain. in the 1940s soaring, inflation and acute shortages have prompted the government to ration fuel and other supplies. strategic affairs expert are found that says the economic crisis could lead to a global domino effect with sri lanka. the 1st in line, mikey challenger said the dang badger. what if it is not just the don't if we could

be under control, how did all gen, for example, be look him cuz he's having issues with that are showing some guys are so different . you have a domino effect on that are still happening. so sheila, guys, definitely the 1st phase of how things can go wrong. if the government elected the law who's not directive, aren't being not able to get a desperation. as a teacher, she was, i had reached the point of motor done several children have been reported killed this week in ukrainian showing of residential areas in the done at square public. a funeral was held on thursday for a 10 year old girl whose body was reportedly torn apart by the middle, shards of an exploded ukrainian artillery shell in the capital city. and yet sc. now her loved ones gathered to mourn her death. but of warning you may find the following image is distressing. i know that

if i let all. 7 these pictures show the aftermath of the attack and relatives grieving over there lost a large crater, was left behind by the shelf impacts with nearby windows shattered. now the girls mother and grandfather described what happened. we will lose good as well. and the issue that i'm going to push was and we will much would we would need the seller will. yeah, let's do that. and you don't need another tack on wednesday left, 3 children dead in the nearby city of marquis erica with local officials accusing the korean military of deliberately showing civilian neighborhoods. 2 of the

deceased were only 7 years old. the other was a teenager. and in this video, you can see the playground where the 27 year olds were when heavy artillery round struck the residential area. officials in the dungeons republic, se ukrainian forces committed multiple attacks including with rocket launchers and nato issued artillery. we heard from an eye witness of the shelling with emotions running high therefore, also when you put up the food with immediately when i heard the closure and i went to hide under my bed. but then when everything calm down a little, i went out on the balcony to look around. there were 2 children on the playground, a boy and a girl. you should see the girl was sitting up. she was still alive. and now make sure that god with the deal they should my was grasping at the boy. but

you did, you got when i got out on the street with the girl was lying there too much the ukrainian, the military's showing of the done yet republic has intensified in recent months, according to local authorities. it has been reported that over $230.00 people, including at least 16 children, have been killed in the attacks since february. now the capital city danielle has borne the brunt of the tax having been under almost continuous showing for almost a month now. meanwhile, in the neighboring lugens republic, which is now completely under the control of russian lead forces, our correspondent ra garcia, has surveyed some abandoned frontline positions of ukrainian troops near the city of louis chance, where he found an abundance of us supplied weapons. the site of a fermented explosion just, just look around at the center was here, and all the trees were knocked back by

a blast that i can't even imagine. and i know that this was very recent, because it's like a sauna. here the, the earth itself is he still smoldering touching least these metal, for example, is like touching a hot kettle. now this was apparently a ukrainian truck transporting american shelves, m 7777 shells. those are artillery that have been provided for key of he is one of the shells that was scattered in these blast. there's nothing like this in the ukrainian arsenal or what ukraine inherited from the soviet union. but again, they were apparently hiding in the woods as many of their troops and forces did around this a chance. they were apparently spotted in and struck. we've fired with assistance from the locals. and evidently, no one's been here yet. the russian troops haven't even found this place yet. this

is while i will find m. 5491 rocket propelled shells for the m 777. how it is supplied by the united states with a lot of pomp to the ukrainian military. now these are improved and more expensive versions. they fly even farther over here is evidently the artillery shot way, where ukrainian troops stationed the artillery. moreover, the n 795 shells. these are regular not rocket propelled shells. this is all evidently dumped in a hurry. why, while he is the reason russian count a battery fired some of the shells laying here had been fitted with fuses for imminent use. the american howitzers here were undoubtedly damaged this close to

impact craters. but whenever the less evacuated apparently, urgently by ukrainian troops they left behind everything else. so during our short search, we found not only shelves, but huge amounts of propellant charges. us army thick a t v. also a huge amount of power. the charges in these containers, these are full, full, again, vast awesome left behind by ukrainian troops as they retreated, all of this flown in from the united states to supply the ukrainian military here between lisa chance quick ukrainian troops fled from. and the city of city of sc, we found a network of trenches and fortifications, which were also abandoned is another dug out either via the trenches and dugout. daunting is formed. the areas over there was another one. we won't go down

the high chance. it's highly likely that at least than what we've dug out there are surprises. minds would trip was booby traps left behind. we'll leave this to professionals. the locals in a small village of 2 dozen houses want the place cleared as soon as possible. they've had enough of blasts and the glad to see the backs of ukrainian soldiers than they were positioned all over there. they kept firing. the windows in my house were shaking, and of course there was returned fire. you ask them to move farther away. we would have had to approach them 1st, was dangerous. we didn't want to get involved with them. no one knew what they could do towards the end. likely fear, like lucy chanced, this area could have been defended for weeks. but again, ukrainian soldiers and nationalists fighters choose to flee. another sign that morale among them is far from what it was more i'd gas give tea from the guns

people's republic. the former japanese prime minister sions o. r bay has died in a hospital this week after being shot by a lone gunman during a campaign event. the attack took place on friday in the japanese city of nora. people at the scene attempted to revive ave before paramedics arrived, the former premier was bon airlifted to a hospital, but was said to have had no vital signs. upon arrival, doctor's tried for several hours to save his life, but said he bled to death from free, deep wounds, including 2 in his neck. shins ave is 9 years as prime minister made him the longest serving premier in japan history until he resigned citing health issues in 2020. he remained influential in the ruling liberal democratic party for which

he was promoting candidates ahead of parliamentary elections this weekend. former british diplomat, william melanson, says japanese society has been facing a deepening polarization. ah, it was not sufficiently naturalistic. there are 2 kinds, at least 2 kinds of japanese nationalists, the kind that want the americans been there too, and we wouldn't like it are prepared to accept american nuclear weapons there to flex their own muscles against their traditional enemies, russia and china. on the one hand, but on the other hand, you have to remember you have the more extreme somewhere i tradition where you must get all foreigners out and make it powerful. japan once will be worrying people. now, in this highly complex situation in the whole world, is, is japanese society, political society. going to become polarized into the more left wing,

anti nuclear, anti american, anti nato lobby on the one hand. and on the other hand, those of the more model to tradition, like, for example, you have at the moment, japan, if you like, as the west of the east, you have societal tensions building up the defense spending has gone up. the possibility is that they will be hosting nuclear weapons. so these are enormous questions and i think to speculate now and say the japanese society is going to become more naturalistic. it's dangerous, but it could happen. the british prime minister boys johnson has announced his resignation after 3 years in office, marked by a succession of scandals that all raised questions about his leadership. now his time at the helm of british politics is coming to an end, amid extreme pressure from his fellow conservatives. johnson had recently found

himself engulfed in yet another controversy over alleged harassment by a government deputy chief whip. despite initial claims that the prime minister was not aware of his allies alleged to discrepancies, when appointing him to the position later transpired that he was this week's scandal was the latest involving the government. one of the most prominent issues was the infamous party gate affair. in which johnson allegedly hosted an unlawful social gathering during a covalent lockdown while the latest scandal is considered the straw that broke the camel's back and prompted the mass resignations of government officials rising inflation and a worsening economy. have also been called major factors. the treasury chief, one of the 1st government officials to resign this week highlighted disagreements with the prime ministers policies. in general. our country is facing immense challenges. i firmly believe that the public are ready to hear that truth are people know that if something is too good to be true,

then it's not true. they need to know that whilst there is a path to a better future, it is not an easy one in preparation for our proposed joint speech on the economy next week. it has become clear to me that our approaches are fundamentally to different. of course, johnson leaves his post. many western politicians are speculating on the steps impact on ukraine rather than britain broadly blaming vladimir putin for problems even inside their own countries. archie is rachel marston, comments? well, it's by, by boris johnson. and in the wake of the british prime minister's resignation this week, over domestic scandals, who some folks seem less concerned about what it means for britain and more worried about the impact of johnson's resignation on ukraine. maybe because in his resignation speech, johnson returned to the topic a let me say no to the people of ukraine that i know that we in the u. k. will continue to black, your fight for freedom,

for as long as it takes johnson then had a phone call with ukrainian president vladimir zalinski, who reportedly called johnson's support, special bloomberg call johnson's resignation, a good day for vladimir putin, even though it was. well, let's face it, his own government that seemed more relieved than any one else. that he was being shoved out the door of 10 down extreme. but they're not alone in their concern about the impact on the conflict in ukraine of domestic setbacks that are hitting the current crop of anti russian western leaders. and b. c news called french president, a mandarin mac holes loss of an absolute majority in parliament. and the surge of mounting appends populist right national rally party into being the single largest opposition party. an outcome that may not be welcomed in washington as the west navigates russia's war and ukraine and its effects. joe biden and canadian prime

minister justin trudeau are both suffering from higher levels of disapproval than approval as a result of their own domestic political failures. political points out the western leaders treated the latest g 7 summit as a refuge from their generally dismal approval ratings. back home with their own houses in such a mess. poland prime minister is concerned about growing western indifference to the ukraine conflict. western communities must understand that this war is also about their security. i'm afraid that the coming months will bring more indifference and this is extremely dangerous. unfortunately, putin is also counting on it. sorry, but western leaders just can't keep allowing their domestic responsibilities and growing in popularity among their own populations. to take

a back seat while they focus all their energies on sticking it to russian president vladimir putin. meanwhile, the cost of the conflict itself in ukraine for these leaders is continuing to grow . self imposed anti russian sanctions on you. european nation energy supplies are now sparking talk in germany, for example, a force heat, water and light rationing, not by recruiting who made bores johnson resign or cross. biden trudeau and mac holes popularity to tank. it's their own shenanigans and misplaced priorities and the eyes of their own citizens. and the longer the conflict in ukraine persists, the more at risk, also be seen as yet another one. twitter says it will take you long mosque to court. that's after the world's richest man pulled out of a deal to potentially by the company saying it failed to accurately report on its number of fake accounts. earlier,

a lawyer representing the billionaire claimed the social network breached multiple provisions. sometimes twitter has ignored mister masks requests. sometimes it has rejected them for reasons that appear to be unjustified. and sometimes it has claim to comply while giving mister musk, incomplete, or unusable information. it may must said that the deal was put on hold as he asked twitter to prove its previous assertion that fewer than 5 percent of its user accounts were spam or fakes mosque believes that the actual figure might be actually a higher a twitter previously faced calls to disclose the number of its fake accounts. a few years ago, reports emerge that a senior employee at twitter was also simultaneously serving in the british military's information warfare department. he was reportedly tasked with using social media to promote british government interests. for more of us, we can cross live to journalist and columnist,

near boat. much thanks for being with here on our to international. so let me me does must have grounds to be suspicious about what is officially reported. number of spam accounts. i mean, can, must concern just be part of a negotiating strategy to pay a lower price. for example, a little bit of both, i would say, because on one hand it does seem like this is an attempt to at the art of the deal and having having him re negotiate a better price because twitter stalks of actually crashed since his announcement that he would be taking over what on the other hand, yes, there is a case to be made that a lot of accounts on twitter are just outright fake. you have been stream outlets with millions of followers getting very little engagement. and you have all of these strange accounts, basically posting the same exact message, usually in favor of the current government in the us or in the u. k. and they,

they seem like legitimate accounts, but they all have generic photo generic bios and very little to differentiate them as individuals i and add to that the fact that twitter hasn't been forthcoming with actual data that must be requested according to the law firm. there's definitely something there, but i do think it's, it's also a part of the arm twisting strategy to make twitter negotiate a better price. now you just alluded to something that i want to touch on a little bit more. we're used to hearing about state back to twitter campaigns from the likes of iran and russia. but why do we never hear about us and u. k. ops on social media? oh, partly because one of the u. k. government's executive sits. i officer sits at twitter, but also part of the because these governments have been using twitter or even there was a famous story a few years ago. if you remember of setting up a twitter clone in order to form a resume,

change operations in cuba. there was talk about using twitter to coordinate the protests during the so called arab spring back in 2011. there were plenty of, there was a story just the other day of a famous, you know, canadian ukrainian volunteer. who was essentially a twitter goes, was the twitter equivalent of the goes to yes, the completely fake account promoting the ukrainian cars at twitter has sort of more into this narrative shaping weapon and for a government or coalition of governments that essentially live in this manufactured could you consent law land it's, it's the perfect way to shape this fake reality. and it stands to reason that they would be putting the premium on twitter to do so. which is why they've been so upset when musk said he intended to buy it. and now they're trying to force him to do it at the, at a particular price point. twitters defense actually makes no sense in the circumstances a little bit tongue in cheek here,

but kind of be the case that the western campaigns are so sophisticated that it's hard for tech companies to spot their activities. i mean, isn't the main point of an information campaign that they're not seen at all and kind of blend. and as real people, they're not sophisticated at all. it's shifted. the people who are in charge of policing. the platforms are the very people that are engaging in these campaigns, such as, you know, the curious tale of new knowledge of the company that was inviting the us senate. while rigging the senate election in alabama with a fake russian bought campaign to boston, a democratic candidate, and what's the new york times of all places, made this public day re branded into something else, but nobody ever answered for it. and the people involved got promoted. it's very straightforward, it's not that they're more sophisticated, it's the dare to police. and the criminals, metaphorically speaking, at the same time. well, reports merged a few years ago that a senior employee at twitter was actually a british military service, been tasked with promoting the country's national interests on social media. why do

you think there wasn't significant pushback against that situation? precisely because what i just said it's, it's aligned with the governments objectives with the u. k. government as the major us ally. and so because it's carrying out to government objectives of the western government, this is seen is fine and not a problem at all. and it's, there is a bi partisan consent on, on this side of the ocean about that. and certainly nobody's objecting to it in the u. k. so it's sort of goes unnoticed. pushing back against must just a little bit. could it be that twitter is actually in the dark about the extent to which is, is being used for manipulation schemes, through bonds and figured towns. it's a possibility. i don't actually think so. i think jack dorsey the founder who just recently stepped down at ceo, was well aware of it. and some of his statements, certainly over the years, suggests that he, he was, you don't try to put

a brave face on. but he knew exactly what was going on, and i think the current leadership, he's just trying to basically make it, they'll go through it for financial reasons. they don't actually want, must control the company. but there don't have much choice in terms of finances because they're in the really top shape. their, their stocks are going down their, their revenue is dropping. essentially, people are getting tired of twitter because they're investing centers here. the same kind of censorship, the twitter insist is not actually happening, even though everybody else can see it with their own eyes, right. it's not being leveled on an even playing field. that's for sure. now, some countries that allegedly conduct manipulative information campaigns online, they actually justify them as being vital to countering terrorism and extremism. what do you think about that approach? well, the thing about all these coordinated campaigns, basically everybody's got f. there's a lot of coordinated campaigns on twitter,

in addition to organic content. the trouble is that the only thing that seems to matter in the eyes of twitter sensors is who does it to who? so it's not what is being done. because obviously we've seen, you know, i was actually shocked. last year when there was a center ship push that said, or we identified, you know, russia bought accounts, but also french ones dealing with, you know, disseminating messages in africa. because there was, i believe, the 1st time that any western government had been called out for this kind of boarding behavior. so as i my impression, having been on twitter for 7 years now, is that just about everybody's doing it, but it's only when to designated enemies of the west that are getting singled out. whereas western governments, by and large get away with it. right. and just and you hear, such as always in your book, knowledge, journalist, and calmness. thanks for being with us here. thanks for having me. or you're

watching aren't international. i'll be back and let's say 30 minutes with another full and freshly you stay with us. ah ah ah so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have. it's crazy even foundation let it be an arms race. his on.