in the last few minutes, president gotobaya rajapaksa of sri lanka has confirmed he will resign aftering fled when crowds stormed his palace. it's not clear whether, as suggested, he will return to to the country this week to formally quit. hundreds of protesters furious about corruption and economic mismangement are still in the presidential house and grounds. they say they won't leave until mr rajapaska has gone. our south asia correspondent, rajini vaidyanathan, reports from colombo. these scenes would have been unthinkable days ago. sri lanka's seat of presidential power — now a sightseeing destination. security nowhere to be seen, as thousands push their way into a palace taken over by protesters. this is a really surreal moment for sri lanka. a building that is normally heavily fortified, now a free—for—all. at president rajapaksa's private pool, we meet carpenter ruan chiminda, who's taking a dip, a moment of relief after he walked hours to join the protests. translation: my kids are hungry- _ we don't have fuel. we don't have cooking gas. we don't even have fuel to do ourjobs

now we are forced these two leaders, the president gotobaya rajapaksa and thatis president gotobaya rajapaksactory for the people of sri lanka and that is why you can see the children, men, women, celebrating this occasion most of these officials in the building are not there even though we saw a group of soldiers, you know, behind those steps but sri lanka is now waking up with a new reality where they believe that they can have a government without the brothers. aha, government without the brothers. a victory for people power, as you say. at august of the grievances of those people there behind you. what has driven to this point? what has made them so angry? shri has driven to this point? what has made them so angry?— has driven to this point? what has made them so angry? shri lanka is one of the developed _ made them so angry? shri lanka is one of the developed countries, . made them so angry? shri lanka is one of the developed countries, ifl one of the developed countries, if you want to describe, in south asia. the quality of live used to be higher than countries like india and banglades

sri lankan president gotobaya rajapaksa's assured people he will resign as promised this week as crowds continue to overrun the presidential palace. protesters say they won't leave until he's out of office. he's believed to have fled the island to safety. much of europe's experiencing a major heatwave. in spain, temperatures have hit 43 degrees celsius. the heat in neighbouring portugal has sparked wildfires while temperatures are expected to nudge a0 degrees in france. here in the uk, the foreign secretary liz truss has become the latest senior party member to join the contest to succeed borisjohnson as conservative leader, and prime minister. 10 other mps from the party have so far announced their intentions to run. those are the headlines. now on bbc news, it's hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. the fractures in american society are widening over guns, abortion, education, and more. but the deepest, most traumatic fracture is surely over race — and it impacts all of the others. the us is post—slavery, post—segregation, but definitely not post—racism. my guest is ibram

the headlines: sri lankans continue to pour into the presidential palace demanding gotobaya rajapaksa resigns as he has promised. senior figures there say the president fled the island after the palace was overran but they expect him to return on wednesday. much of europe's experiencing a major heatwave. in spain, temperatures have hit 43 degrees celsius. the heat in neighbouring portugal has sparked wildfires while temperatures are expected to nudge a0 degrees in france. here in the uk, the foreign secretary, liz truss, has become the latest senior party member to join the contest to succeed borisjohnson as conservative leader and prime minister. 10 other mps from the party have so far announced their intentions to run. now on bbc news, dateline london with shaun ley. hello and welcome to the programme which brings together leading uk columnists with foreign correspondents who write, blog and broadcast from the dateline: london. britain's conservatives like to think of themselves as belonging to the natural party of government. this week, it's looked more like the natural party of fa

they say they won't leave until president gotobaya rajapaksa keeps a promise to resign. step down on wednesday, after protesters stormed his residence and set the prime minister's home on fire. the united states has appealed to sri lanka's politicians to act promptly to resolve their country's economic crisis. the international monetary fund says it's closely monitoring the situation and will continue to work with the authorities to assist its economy. our south asia editor, anbarasan ethirajan, is in colombo outside the presidential office... a day after some dramatic developments here in the sri lankan capital colombo, hundreds of people, men, women and families are coming here to have a look at the president's office which was stormed by hundreds of protesters. and these protests have been going on for months. it started as protests against the escalating cost of living. and then, people blamed the government of president gotabaya rajapaksa and the ministers for mishandling the economy. now, president rajapaksa has entered through the speaker of parliament that he's w

an announcement that the sri lankan president, gotobaya rajapaksa, would step down on wednesday, camel residence and set the prime minister's home on fire. the country is dealing with rampant inflation and food, fuel and medicine imports are drying up. mark lobel reports. burning fury for all to see. the sri lankan prime minister's house set alight. flames fuelled by protesters' anger at economic mismanagement that has left suffering. it has become the norm now to see people staying and sleeping in vehicles, to get fuel in that rangers to three to four days sometimes. many actually walked for hours to get to the protest sites. the president's office was also stormed. there was an impromptu pool party at the palace. it is rumoured the president has taken to the high waters, as his country finds itself politically and economically all at sea. it is time we got all our stolen money back to this country, and also the air—conditioning is running in the presidential palace where people don't have electricity in their homes. it is a far cry from the once—blossoming tourist hotspot. a country

the headlines: sri lankans continue to pour into the presidential palace demanding gotobaya rajapaksa resigns as he has promised. senior figures there say the president fled the island after the palace was overran but they expect him to return on wednesday. much of europe's experiencing a major heatwave. in spain, temperatures have hit 43 degrees celsius. the heat in neighbouring portugal has sparked wildfires, while there have also been temperatures nudging a0 degrees in france. here in the uk, the foreign secretary liz truss has become the latest senior party member to join the contest to succeed borisjohnson as conservative leader and prime minister. ten other mps from the party have so far announced their intentions to run. those are the headlines. now on bbc news: click. this week we are at wimbledon to find out if ai can predict winners spencer was not concentrating on the most important parts of the event. here is my blanket desired. got to net here is my blanket desired. got to get the _ here is my blanket desired. got to get the food sorted first. lara — to get the food sorte

president gotobaya rajapaksa of sri lanka has confirmed he will resign after having fled when crowds stormed his palace. it's not clear whether, as suggested, he will return to the country this week to formally quit. hundreds of protesters furious about corruption and economic mismanagement are still in the presidential house and grounds. they say they won't leave until mr rajapaska has gone. our south asia correspondent, rajini vaidyanathan, reports from colombo. these scenes would have been unthinkable days ago. sri lanka's seat of presidential power — now a sightseeing destination. security nowhere to be seen, as thousands push their way into a palace taken over by protesters. this is a really surreal moment for sri lanka. a building that is normally heavily fortified, now a free—for—all. at president rajapaksa's private pool, we meet carpenter ruan chiminda, who's taking a dip, a moment of relief after he walked hours to join the protests. translation: my kids are hungry- _ we don't have fuel. we don't have cooking gas. we don't even have fuel to do ourjobs properly. how does it

thousands have been coming to see the office of president gotobaya rajapaksa that was stormed by hugeoday. why did you come here, to see this place? we have to stay together in this situation. so that's why i'm here. kilometre—long queues outside a petrol station are a common sight. without fuel, the economy has come to a standstill. public transport, severely disrupted. the desperation is unlikely to change, even if there is a new government. amidst all this political crisis, sri lanka is still facing a crippling shortage of fuel. and look at this, three wheelers, auto rickshaws, motorbikes, they are more than two kilometres long. the auto driver here says he has been waiting in the queue for more than a day. and that reflects the ground reality. unless the government get their act together, the international community will not come forward to help them. in the meantime, sri lankans are curious to know how the president lived. they are aware this sprawling compound will soon be occupied by his successor. sri lanka's political leaders say they are working to form a new government. now

thousands have been coming to see the office of president gotobaya rajapaksa that was stormed by hugeo kilometres long. the auto driver here says he has been waiting in the queue for more than a day. and that reflects the ground reality. unless the government get their act together, the international community will not come forward to help them. in the meantime, sri lankans are curious to know how the president lived. they are aware this sprawling compound will soon be occupied by his successor. sri lanka�*s political leaders say they are working to form a new government. now colombo is running from pillar to post for loans. an immediate change in government helps. but a new government that comes in by popular vote, through an election, will help even more, i think, in converting the goodwill of the international community to support sri lanka in the way forward. sri lanka is a classic case of a country that was living beyond its means. the protesters say, at least for now, they have achieved what they wanted by removing mr rajapaksa from power. but they are also aware this economic m