have promised to take sri lanka forward so it's very much sort of onward essentially to get down to work fully thank you very much for that me now from london is live there in colombo sri lanka. in other world news anger has boiled over on the streets of beirut as residents direct blame for tuesday's deadly port explosion at lebanon's leaders protesters took to the streets chanting revolution and resign as french president in munyon my call visited the capital and called for an international investigation into the blast that killed 149 people 16 employees of be a sport have been detained by protesters want a complete overhaul of lebanon's political elite tensions had been running high before the disaster which political leaders with political leaders accused of corruption and mismanagement and the country pushed to the brink of economic collapse a french president toward neighborhoods devastated by the chemical explosion is backing calls for a new political order. what i know is that the people of lebanon have electricity shut down every day and it's not working the provision of imports and exports has collapsed because of the financial system so there are it's is

sri lanka. families like the leader singh has tried not. enough and then there are just the right colombo. let's not go there fast of our guests joining us in. sri lanka dr kahana former sri lanka to the united nations in colombo. research oxford university and the london vindhya. of the university college london a warm welcome to you all. missa polluter how crucial of these elections why should it be considered a turning point in sri lankan history i think it's a very important election. you know what is happening in this country over the last 5 years every total destroying between the president and the prime minister the country not forward at all and then having eliminated terror it's 2009 already. we had one of the worst terrorist attacks. on easter sunday in 2098 you're not economy no. one of the all 'd. so it's very very important. that these elections produce. that real big free country out all the more as it gets orderly and then the majority of the people expect that expect. ministration that taking over. after tomorrow to be capable able to eat me piece multiple check it's very im

sri lanka. families like the vitter thing has tried not. enough amanda's al-jazeera colombo. let's now get the thoughts of our guests joining us in. sri lanka. dr kahana for musher one can ambassador to the united nations in colombo get one going to locate research oxford university and to london vindhya. of the university college london a warm welcome to you all miss a pulitzer how crucial of these elections why should it be considered a turning point in sri lankan history i think it's a very important election. you know what is happening in this country. every. history between the president and prime minister the country not forward at all and then having eliminated terror it's 2009 it's already mentioned we had one of the worst terrorist attacks. on easter sunday in 2090. 8 you're not economy no. one of the all of them so it's very very important. that these elections will produce. that really big free country out there all the more as it gets orderly and then the majority of the people expect that expect . ministration that taking over. after tomorrow to be capable able to

sri lanka after wednesday's parliamentary election turnout was down but polling wrapped up without any major incidents of violence that of space previous elections we now fernandez reports from colombo. pulled open early on wednesday to choose sri lanka as members of parliament when the coronavirus pandemic made the national election commission job extremely difficult the 1st. and lawyers. for the election both each all aboard. employed at least that was probably kill me. this is more than being. roy's our house. says it was important to ensure the health of tens of thousands of state workers police military and 16000000 voters the election was postponed twice because of health concerns observers see when the vote was one of the most peaceful in recent years and that is an achievement. the preference voting system usually causes much rivalry between candidates from the same party but new restrictions on campaigning minimize can transition election day proceedings are ok but some undistorted pending issues related to 3 the lection campaign. during the campaign reveal that actually they were unable to create a level playing field because. candidates over really feel candidates were ab

sri lanka but the sri lankan experience was unique. the conflict on the island has pitted the government, based in colombo and dominated by the sinhalesethe tamil tigers. they'd been fighting in the north for a state for ethnic minority tamils. the tamil tigers or ltte have been ruthless, pioneers in suicide bombings. they also stand accused of conscripting child soldiers but the government has been using brutal methods of its own. the offensive opened with very heavy bombardment, breaking up the tamil tiger positions and rolling the civilian population back. the un had fairly good access to these areas back in september 2008, the un was told in no uncertain terms that it needed to move its international offices out of the siege area. the purpose was to ensure they were not independent witnesses to what was going to happen. this footage was released by pro—tamil groups yesterday. it claims to show carnage caused when shells hit a clinic. it is impossible to know for sure when or where the footage was shot. the tigers claim the army is using heavy weapons. the government says that is a lie and these imagesjust propaganda. on one particu

colombo. and mahinda rajapaksa is prime minister of sri lanka once again his 4th time around in the job obviously he swept the general elections concluded on the 5th of august with one of the highest number of preferential votes for a candidate ever over 5000000 votes now this paves the way for the s.l.p. be led by the rajapaksa to carry on with the work programme set out by president gautami rajapaksa in his election bid in 2019 it's called the stars for prosperity and aims to take sri lanka forward dealing with some of the pressing issues that this country faces now obviously the consolidation of the rajapaksa hold on power has been confirmed with the swearing in of my in the rajapaksa as we saw here at the calorie temple a little while ago but it also shows the kind of dynamic the family is now in charge and even when we saw the swearing in of the prime minister you had the president go to a beer or park say his younger brother who went around the table and actually worshiped his brother once he saw him in as prime minister these are some of the kind of ways the family operates obviously a num

constitution which allows them to pursue with their vision for sri lanka thank you for that me now fernando is reporting there live from colombo. in other world news anger has boiled over on the streets of beirut as residents direct blame for tuesday's deadly port explosion at lebanon's leaders protesters took to the streets chanting revolution and resign as french president emmanuel michel visited the capital and called for an international investigation into the blast that killed 149 people 16 employees of beirut sports have been detained by protesters want a complete overhaul of lebanon's political elite tensions had been running high before the disaster with political leaders accuse of corruption and mismanagement and the country pushed to the brink of economic collapse a french president toured neighborhoods devastated by the chemical explosion is backing calls for a new political order then a smith reports from beirut. on the streets of beirut on thursday france's president emmanuel mccomas essentially moped by people many of them calling her turn of the french mandate france was the clothing power here before independen

demick will severely test the next government in sri lanka meanwhile families like the reducing her trying not to lose hope whenever nando al-jazeera colombo. zimbabwe's president. has vowed to continue a clampdown to flush out his critics and local human rights group says more than 60 opposition members and government critics have been arrested since last week the government enforced a coronavirus lockdown days before planned protests last friday the opposition says it was aimed at stopping its rally calling for the ruling party to resign now gaga has described his critics as dark forces that must be defeated. we will overcome attempts it does double as edition of our society but if you were wrong zimbabweans acting in league with foreign doctors the bed up means that have attempted to divide our people and weaken our systems will be flushed out spaniards are wondering where their former king has gone a palace in madrid announced on monday that juan carlos who is mired in a financial scandal was going into exile room is that he fled to the dominican republic have been denied well media reports suggest he wants to return to the country he

sri lanka with a dominating win in the country's parliamentary election mohinder rajapaksa will now become prime minister but his brother go to the president and his men elthorne and reports from colombo they now plan to change the constitution. celebrations in the rajapaksa heartland reason a 2 thirds majority in sri lanka's new parliament on thursday will queued to see incumbent prime minister mine the rajapaksa who secured the highest number for financial votes. sylvia would lead us into the unknown also a bit dirty and then you know we have 2 thirds majority in the parliament and i didn't know the country can be developed in a very short period to see all what is the discipline and also the theater in it in both these to know within the government this emily says the strong support for prime minister rajapaksa and his brother who's president just 5 years after the voted out is a message from the people that. of democracy reforms and perhaps those reforms actually retarding guards which is also the main message the president has sent since his election. so that has been the clear message is. what the people are demanding use unless of course 2 or so reform and more of economic deve

colombo. and mahinda rajapaksa is prime minister of sri lanka once again his 4th time around in the job obviously he swept the general elections concluded on the 5th of august with one of the highest number of preferential votes for a candidate ever over 5000000 votes now this paves the way for the s.l.p. be led by the rajapaksa to carry on with the work program set out by president gautami rajapaksa in his election bid in 2019 it's called the stars for prosperity and aims to take sri lanka forward dealing with some of the pressing issues that this country faces now obviously the consolidation of the rajapaksa hold on power has been confirmed with the swearing in of my in the rajapaksa as we saw here at the calorie temple a little while ago but it also shows the kind of dynamic the family is now in charge and even when we saw the swearing in of the prime minister you had the president go tubby rajapaksa his younger brother who went around the table and actually worshiped his brother once he saw him in as prime minister these are some of the kind of ways the family operates obviously a number of s

colombo. polls opened early on wednesday to choose sri lanka as members of parliament when the coronavirus pandemic made the national election commission's job extremely difficult the 1st. employ. of the election each all aboard. employed at least that public. the election was postponed twice because of health concerns observers say wednesday's vote was one of the most peaceful in recent years and that is an achievement. the preference voting system usually causes much rivalry between candidates from the same party but new restrictions on campaigning minimize can transition election day proceedings are ok but some are stored pending issues related to. 3 campaign. during the prediction campaign we've actually been able to create a level playing field because most of the candidates over really feel able to spend 2000000 for. a number of complaints were made about must media coverage during the election which is iraq's voters in colombo what mattered when making their choice we had to board wisely to select the good. person free from correct corruption and also understand things as muslims we have pro

sri lanka's politics, rule of law, and foreign policy. sunday is the last ay of campaigning. 0ur correspondent anbarasan ethirajan in colombo, takes a look n a campaign trail once again. almost nine months after his landslide victory in the presidential poll, he wants to sweep the parliamentary election. mr rajapaksa wants this man, his brother, mahinda, to be his prime minister. mahinda was president twice before and gota baya was his defence secretary. the election is happening amid the unprecedented coronavirus crisis. sri lanka has managed to contain the outbreak with the deaths onlyjust into double figures. the entire world is now subject to covid—19 infection. sri lanka is one of the best countries to face it successfully and to save its own citizens. therefore, gota baya rajapa ksa has shown he's a unique leader, and because of that, people have a new hope. however, the rajapaksa brothers still face accusations of rights abuses during the war with the tamil rebels, which ended in 2009. they deny any wrongdoing, but the rajapaksas‘ supporters, mostly drawn from the majority sinhalese, dismiss the criticism over rights abuses. sri la

colombo i'm. missing for a new government at the temple of the king. sri lanka's new cabinet was sworn in by president rajapaksa in the audience hall of the sacred temple of the 2 in kandy the mahdi governing candy is seen as the sort of center of both religious and secular power because the story is those who possess the tab the 2. will lead the country. you know and the day's all of that so yes a very strong symbol of the primacy of the single a buddhist majority 74 percent of sri lanka's 22000000 people ussing have the buddhists a large number of them voted for the sri lanka people's front party giving it 60 percent of the votes the raja boxes of work hard to get the support of the majority buddhist community after then president by the rajapaksa suffered a shock defeat in 2015 many blame minorities who voted against him in large numbers at the decision to campaign on strong nationalist buddhist lines appears to have paid of 1st with president go to obvious election in 2019 he was sworn in at an ancient police temple that represents historic sin hell his power

been completed to tabulate all the awards here in the colombo district and this exercise is being replicated in the $22.00 districts throughout sri lanka so basically all the votes come in to centralize counting centers in the district they are tabulated and then officially communicated to the election authorities who basically check them the rubber stamp them they basically officially recognizes results before they are announced so far from the early indications in the results we've seen the essel p.p. the party of the rajapaksa has seems to have galloped ahead 70 percent almost in terms of every single area that the results have been announced so far seem to have gone strongly in support of the rajapaksa the s b j which is the breakaway faction of the united national party seems to have come 2nd but a very far 2nd palling something like one 4th of the p.p. parties total now obviously this situation will unfold over the coming hours as the true picture of the extent almost of the rajapaksa gains becomes evident it's been a long day obviously the crowd you see behind me are basically election officials who've been manning these countin

and will indeed be bringing all those results as counting continues there in sri lanka now fernandez in the capital colombo for us thank you anna. survivors of the world's fast atomic bomb have been marking $0.75 on hiroshima at about $140000.00 people were killed after u.s. forces attacked japan in the final stages then. it has the story. a poignant commemoration of the moment 75 years ago when the world entered the atomic age and the whole city was destroyed with the numbers of the so-called hit the original survivors of the attack declining each year this is likely to be the last major round of bursaries they will attend in large numbers special precautions in place to protect them from the coronavirus that hiroshima is mair referred to as a new threat facing the world accompanied by a worrying increase in nationalism. we must never allow this painful pass to repeat he felt that the most rejects self-centered nationalism and unite against all threats i take 15 in the morning local time a single atomic bomb code named little boy exploded 2000 feet above the center of the city killing tens of thousands of

sri lanka. families like the reducing has tried not. enough and and al jazeera colombo. recapping the main news for you so far this half hour a massive explosion in lebanon's capital beirut was killed at least $78.00 people and injured thousands more as a shockwave smashed across the city the blast took place at a port where house for about $2700.00 tons of ammonium nitrate had been stored for 6 years hospital say they're overwhelmed lebanon's prime minister has addressed the nation he said those responsible will pay the price. it would not pass without. accountability those responsible for these catastrophe will pay the price to the martyrs and the injured this is some national commitment u.s. president donald trump spoke not long ago offering his country's help but he also seemed to contradict official reports by describing the blast as an attack our prayers go out to all the victims and their families the united states stands ready to assist lebanon a very good relationship with the people of lebanon and we will be there to help it looks like a terrible attack. columb

endemic with severely test the next government in sri lanka meanwhile families like the virus thing has tried not to lose hope they never nando al-jazeera colombo there's been intense speculation among spaniards about where their former king has gone the palace in madrid announced on monday that one carlos was going into exile under the cloud of a financial scandal rumors that he'd fled to the dominican republic has been denied well media reports suggests he wants to return to spain soon it's that many people questioning the role of the country's monarchy a sort of you know report. from defender of democracy to a humiliating fall from grace spain's former king juan carlos abandoned the royal residence in madrid his home for 58 years of a self-imposed exile but the cloud of scandal continues as to the investigations into his involvement in a high speed rail contract in saudi arabia spain's supreme court opened a case in june after a swiss newspaper reported he received $100000000.00 from the late saudi king abdullah his close involvement with a danish businesswoman kareena lawson is also the subject of examination she is alleged to have received

colombo and now plan to change the constitution. celebrations in the rajapaksa heartland the reason that 2 thirds majority in sri lanka is new parliament on thursday will richest cute to see incumbent prime minister mind the rajapaksa who secured the highest number of votes. sylvia would lead us into the general also patriotic and then we have 2 thirds majority in the parliament and i didn't know the country can be developed in a very short period to see all what is the discipline and also the theater in 18 days to know it in the government this analyst says the strong support for prime minister rajapaksa and his brother who's president just 5 years after they voted out is a message from the people that. of democracy reforms and perhaps those reforms actually retarding goddard's which is also the main message the president has sent since his election. has been i think the clear message is. what the people are demanding use unless of course to. reform and more of economic development. seen around the predicts the new government will increase the president's powers get rid of independent institutions and an amendment on power sharing in

been completed to tabulate all the awards here in the colombo district and this exercise is being replicated in the $22.00 districts throughout sri lankao basically all the votes come in to centralize counting centers in the district they are tabulated and then officially communicated to the election authorities who basically check them the rubber stamp them they basically officially recognize those results before they are announced so far from the early indications in the results we've seen the essel p.p. the party of the raja cox's seems to have galloped ahead 70 percent almost in terms of every single area that the results have been announced so far seem to have gone strongly in support of the rajapaksa the s b j which is the breakaway faction of the united national party seems to have come 2nd but a very far 2nd polling something like one 4th of the s a p p parties total now obviously this situation will unfold over the coming hours as the true picture of the extent almost of the rajapaksa gains becomes evident it's been a long day obviously the crowd you see behind me are basically election officials who've been manning these coun

with severely test the next government yet in sri lanka meanwhile families like the vitter singh has tried not to lose hope in the finance al-jazeera colombo. the brother russian leader alexander lukashenko is accusing russia of trying to destabilize the country as presidential elections begin he says 33 russians arrested last week are mercenaries a claim russia denies because shinku is vying for a 6th term he's expected to win despite big rallies against him. this is al jazeera these are your headlines a massive explosion in the lebanese capital beirut has killed at least 78 people and injured thousands more as a shockwave smashed through the city it happened in a port warehouse where about $2700.00 tons of ammonium nitrate had been stored for years hospitals are overwhelmed lebanon's prime minister has sandia up says those responsible will pay the price. it would not pass without accountability those responsible for these catastrophe will pay the price promised to the martyrs and the injured this is some national commitment. the u.s. president donald trump is offering his country's help but he also seemed to contradict official reports b

colombo they plan to change the sri lankan constitution. celebrations in the rajapaksa heartland the reason a 2 thirds majority in sri lanka's new parliament on thursday will resist queued to see incumbent prime minister mind the rajapaksa who secured the highest number for financial votes. similar scenes at the house of riyadh middle son a theater seeker another top performer for the governing sri lanka people's front party. would lead us into the unknown also paid duty. towards majority in the parliament and i didn't know the country can be developed in a very short period to see all what is the business shipley and also the theatre that it in brought this to know within the government this analyst says the strong support for prime minister rajapaksa and his brother who's president just 5 years after they voted out is the message from the people that we've heard it off of democracy reforms and perhaps those reforms actually retarding guards which is also the main message the president has sent since his election. so backed has been i think the clear message is. what the people are demanding use unless of course to. reform and more of eco

sri lanka's palm entry elections along with their allies their ruling party has secured the 2 for its majority needed to carry out sweeping constitutional reforms me now fernandez has more from colombo it's a reflection of the sort of mindset of the shillong people living in the sort.

us live now from colombo so this is south asia's 1st election since the pandemic why does this election matter and what have been the main issues for voters. busy that run for sri lanka in terms of its journey forward we are sort of 10 years post conflict but there are still a lot of things that need to be sorted out we've had changes of government but in terms of a direction for this country whether it be the economics whether it be post conflict issues there still a lot to happen so here we see a century that rajapaksa brothers going into this election asking for control of parliament to bring in the changes to bring in the constitution let's take a look at some of the views we've heard. moving the rethink has. to be in september 2008 was one of 11 young men kidnapped in the wrentham a group within the sri lankan navy including its highest ranking officers have been implicated lamela the arbiter which is that the law we just want our child in 12 years we haven't been told whether he's alive or not so much information has been uncovered one can get away we don't even care if they do but the officers or whoever allowed this injustice must be punished human rights act

into power was cut off across sri lanka for 7 hours over an unspecified technical issue but a key electricity facility outside the capital colombo $21000000.00 people were affected by the power outage the country's worst and more than 4 years the government says the state run adding to city provider has 3 days to investigate and explain the massive disruption. it's the 1st day back to class for children in tajikistan the government closed schools in april as a way to stop the spread of covert 19 it says necessary measures are being taken to prevent a 2nd wave of the virus which all stratford reports for a. 30 year old yusif sufi eva gets ready for school. he's one of millions of children in tajikistan returning to class for the 1st time since schools were closed in late april as a precaution against the spread of covidien t. would use of smom is concern brought to suggest that as a mother i am against sending my child to school right now because here and all over the world the couldn't of writer's pandemic goes on but my children have been home for 4 months they have already missed so much john hopkins university says around 800

sri lanka. families like the vitter singh has tried not to lose hope he never nando al-jazeera colombo. well got a weather update next day on i was 0 then the un warns of a generational catastrophe in education as a result of the global pandemic. but it's for the team making its return after a week in isolation as major league baseball anuses to keep its season on track. but. once again welcome to another look at the international full cost but they still have a few hefty showers in the full cost just around that western side all of a yemen but for much of the middle east the hot and dry again sums it up quite a breeze picking up to the drifting some let it dust the sad outs of iraq into kuwait down across that eastern side of saudi arabia towards us here in casa over the next couple of days it's a similar pitch watch out for that blowing dust the bloody conditions temperatures here at around $44.00 celsius to $48.00 in kuwait $45.00 the impact that that we go with the showers still just around the southern end of the red sea heavy showers to into eritrea into ethiopia sliding across so

colombo they plan to change the sri lankan constitution. celebrations in the rajapaksa heartland the reason a 2 thirds majority in sri lanka's new parliament on thursday will resist queued to see incumbent prime minister mind the ranch to secure the highest number for financial votes. similar scenes at the house of riyadh middle son a theater seeker another top performer for the governing sri lanka people's front party. would lead us into the unknown also a bit and then we have 2 thirds majority in the parliament and i didn't know the country can be developed in a very short period to see all what is the business of plea and also the theatre in it in both these know within the government this analyst says the strong support for prime minister rajapaksa and his brother who's president just 5 years after they voted out is the message from the people that we're prepared to offer. reforms and perhaps those reforms actually retarding guards which is also the main message the president has sent since his election so back has been i think the clear message is. what the people are demanding use unless of course to. reform and more of economic deve

just joins us now live from colombo without any exit polls during this counting how do we get indicators of where the vote went. generally laura what happens with sri lanka is the whole sort of mechanism of exit polls aren't conducted here so what we do have as early indicators is at counting centers like the one that i am standing in front of here in the colombo district each counting room essentially has representatives of political parties of independent candidates and each of them on a selected basis are given permits to sit in observe the count and usually each of those rooms when the count is completed there's a formal result sheet that's posted up outside and those representatives tend to give out that message who did what garnered what number of words and this is very much the kind of early indicators that we start hearing from within the counting centers of what we the paul has gone now so far we have been receiving some of the early results the official results the 1st of all to be counted obviously the ballot these are votes that are cast a couple of weeks before the election but by government essentially employees who are in stations that the

sri lanka's palm entry elections along with their allies their ruling party has secured the 2 for its majority needed to carry out sweeping constitutional reforms we now for 9 days has more from colombo it's a reflection of the sort of mindset of the shillong can people i mean in the sort of immediate times what has been at the top of people's minds obviously is the coronavirus pandemic and what they see as the very successful handling of that pandemic which as large as shield of sri lanka sort of limiting sri lanka's coronavirus dates to 11 limiting the spread so that's very much at the top of people's minds and the way of the efficiency which the current government led by present go to the rajapaksa has managed things. anger has boiled over on the streets of beirut as residents direct blame for tuesday's deadly port explosion at lebanon's leaders 16 employees of beirut sports have been detained protests says took to the streets as french president in mannion mccoll visited the capital a con call for an international investigation into the blast that killed 149 people and he backed calls for a new political order when it's made reports from beirut. on the streets of beirut on thursd