the new president is a familiar face and sri lanka. having served 6 times as prime minister, which in sri lanka is the deputy to the president. he was sworn in and signed himself on as the elected head of state. though in this case, it was parliament we'll elected him. amidst the country's turmoil, the grandma single election had been greeted by yet another surge of protests and colombo, from the same movement, had pushed out his predecessor as d. w. corresponded when you're a chaudhry explains why dick, for the past you did that be saw been done, it took over as the prime minister of the country and as the acting president after beds and go to baggage bucks are designed. people have been frustrated that took over the pm's office as well and protested, saying that they wanted run into grandma thing not to step down. and now that he has one, they are not happy. the grandma singer has said he will bring opposition lawmakers into his cabinet, but about a tough line after his election against troublemakers. why don't you seek to destroy th

sri lanka desperately needs. sri lanka desperately needs.tely needs. sri lanka its estimated needs $6 billion in additional finance this year to bridge the current account deficit, and that won't come unless they agree terms with the imf. does sri lanka have _ agree terms with the imf. does sri lanka have the _ agree terms with the imf. does sri lanka have the sort - agree terms with the imf. does sri lanka have the sort of- sri lanka have the sort of technocrats might be best placed to fill the role of complying with the likes of the imf? do those people exist? yes, sri lanka has been in the imf programme before. the previous president, under him, they recognise they needed to implement the reforms to gain access to more foreign exchange to be able to pay off their debts, and also afford the import sri lanka needs. {line import sri lanka needs. one other point. _ import sri lanka needs. one other point, with _ import sri lanka needs. one other point, with regard to president rajapaksa again, a lot of people feel they have been let down by t

but let's look it how sri lanka got there.ital tourism industry was already in crisis following the civil war that ended in the easter sunday bombings in 2009 and then the pandemic but at the start of with oil and food prices rising it suffered a sharp drop in its foreign currency reserves, colombo defaulted on its falling debt, the government was unable to buy essential food and medicines and without fuel power cuts were imposed. the government saw the help of india, china, and most recently the imf, but with little progress. protests led to the resignation of the prime minister but the cost of living continues to soar. let's bring in our guests. joining us in colombo, executive director of the national peace council of sri lanka in nottingham is tamil ananta vinayagan lecture in the international human rights law at the university of nottingham in colombo chayo dam singer economist at the frontier research. welcome to the program. jihan, when the prime minister says that the country's economy has completely collapsed what me

this is a really surreal moment for sri lanka. how does it feel to swim in the president's personal pool? translation:— president's personal pool? translation: �* �* translation: i'm happy, i'm so ha-- . japan's ruling coalition increases its majority in elections in a move that could help cement the legacy of assassinated former prime minister shinzo abe. in the uk, a crowded field of candidates want to take overfrom borisjohnson as prime minister — with 11 mps and counting eyeing up the top job and in tennis — victory is sweet for novak djokovic, who wins his seventh wimbledon men's singles title. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's 7am in singapore, and 4.30am in colombo, sri lanka — where protestors have been celebrating what they believe to be the toppling of the country's leadership. president rajapaksa — whose family has dominated sri lankan politics for the best part of two decades — has announced he will step down on wednesday. our south asia correspondent rajini vaidyanathan reports fr

we just heard about sri lanka.t is a significant flaw of the american conversation effect as the u.n. secretary-general says, 1.7 billion people find themselves facing procured in the context of local food, energy, and financial crises. that has not been part of the response. clearly money, if there is money for weapons to flood europe, there certainly money to address some of these harms that are taking place far away from ukraine and russia. that should be part of the conversation that we have. but that requires resisting the either/or framework being presented. as far as a global agenda, there are lots of elements to what i think would be an important left foreign policy, confronting climate change, dealing with issues of economic redistribution, creating somethingike a genuine approach to the global economy. but i think the first and most important thing is creating the transnational infrastructure for left forces across the world to be able to speak to each other. whenever there is a new crisis, and this is th

there are elderly sri lankans, all gamut of sri lanka being represented and what is encouraging is thisf the majority. and a realisation that this is no longer the way sri lankans do things. you can your chanting outside, it is happening. they arejust can your chanting outside, it is happening. they are just as much against the idea of being divided by race and religion, there are buddhist monks out there, catholic priests, nuns, everyone is being represented at these protests today and despite the enormous size and despite... it feels like the whole country is out on the streets today. they have been incredibly peaceful. there are little pockets of small violence that has happened but not anything substantial.— anything substantial. really great to seak to anything substantial. really great to speak to you. _ anything substantial. really great to speak to you, thank _ anything substantial. really great to speak to you, thank you - anything substantial. really great to speak to you, thank you so - anything substantial. really great l to speak to you, thank you so much for your reportage

sri lanka possible political turmoil is deepening.sident gotabaya rakapksa said he would step down by thursday. the army has been cleared to use force if necessary to maintain order. sri lankans say the developments are unacceptable. protesters have decided to leave the government buildings they had occupied, but they are adamant they will continue. >> everything is lost. all this fighting, fighting because of food and money. that's why the people go home. a new government, a people's government. >> with them, no corruption will be fixed. >> ranil came to power promising to solve problems, and he doesn't do anything. during election time, they embraced people but haven't delivered anything. they have to go. >> more from colombo -- >> they are heading to the presidents house now. protesters are shouting slogans. they said to come and nowa we are going to regroup and continue to protest elsewhere. it has never been our goal to occupy government buildings. they've occupied since saturday when more than 200,000 protesters stormed the resi

it's been quite the day today in sri lanka.s of people peacefully coming out and protesting, and then, saw the shift in terms of breaching the official residence of the president and his office. but unfortunately, violence has been seen in the last few hours, as you saw, the private residence of the prime minister was torched. and so, there remains a lot of questions and uncertainty as to what happens next. the last few months, people have been protesting for change purely because they've been really facing difficulties, in terms of getting essential items, the long queues to get fuel — i mean, it's become the norm now to see vehicles, people staying and sleeping in vehicles to get fuel, and that ranges from 3—4 days sometimes. today was quite remarkable in terms of the numbers that turned up, in a context where people don't have fuel to travel in vehicles. so, many actually walked for hours to get to the protest sites, and the numbers that turned up were quite amazing. and i mean, it was peaceful until the evening today, many

lanka... the first place, and try to put sri lanka. .. �* the first place, and try to put sri lanka.ents of this weekend, _ lanka. .. but looking at the events of this weekend, as you _ lanka. .. but looking at the eventsi of this weekend, as you point out, people are very angry — but what prospects are there of any bailout from internationalfinancial institutions, given that not too long ago, the world bank said it wouldn't provide any financial assistance to sri lanka until, and this is a quote from them, "adequate macroeconomic policy frameworks are in place." how is that even possible now? . , , . , , in place." how is that even possible now? . ,, ~ ., now? that is precisely what we are t in: to now? that is precisely what we are trying to achieve, _ now? that is precisely what we are trying to achieve, and _ now? that is precisely what we are trying to achieve, and i _ now? that is precisely what we are trying to achieve, and i think- now? that is precisely what we are trying to achieve, and i think it - now? that is precisely what we are trying to achieve, and i think it is l t

mainly because three link —— sri lanka has no foreign reserves to pay for these imports. -- sri lankato pay for these imports. indeed. thank you — to pay for these imports. indeed. thank you so _ to pay for these imports. indeed. thank you so much _ to pay for these imports. indeed. thank you so much for— to pay for these imports. indeed. thank you so much forjoining - to pay for these imports. indeed. i thank you so much forjoining us on the programme with your thoughts on that situation in sri lanka. we will have more on that a little later on in the programme. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme — we'll have more on sri lanka for you, this time looking at the country's famous tea estates, and how they're faring during these troubled times. a special report coming up. coming down the ladder now. one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. it's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire has been blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30—year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. it was

the headlines: chaos reigns in sri lanka. the ousted president goes back on his promise to resign, fleeing abroad, and installing an interim president while he's away. the security forces, the police, the staff are nowhere to be seen. another public building here in sri lanka has now been occupied by the people. and then there were six. two candidates are eliminated after the first vote to choose britain's new prime minister. president biden insists america's commitment to israel's security is unshakeable, as he arrives there on his first middle east tour. and as china's heatwave makes roads buckle and roofs melt, we'll hearfrom our correspondent in beijing. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's eight in the morning in singapore and 5:30 in the morning in sri lanka, where president gotabaya has not honoured his promise to resign. he flew out of the country, to the maldives, about 2a hours ago. but in a public letter, he said he was appointing the prime minister to be the acting head of state

sri lanka is one of them so angry? sri lanka is one of the developed _ them so angry?- them so angry? sri lanka is one of the developed countries, if - them so angry? sri lanka is one of the developed countries, if you - them so angry? sri lanka is one of i the developed countries, if you want to describe, in south asia. the quality of life used to be higher than countries like india and bangladesh are now the people here, many of them had students use outside petrol stations for days to get petrol or diesel which means they cannot travel anywhere. many are drivers. they have lost the income and food prices have escalated. inflation last month was about 55%. that was hyperinflation and meal prices have tripled in the last six months so cooking gas cylinders are not available meaning people are struggling to cook at home and people have lostjobs. and people cannot even go to the hospital if they are sick because there are no vehicles to take them. many doctors are not going to the hospital. they are struggling. health workers are struggling even though the government sa

this is a really surreal moment for sri lanka.g 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 feel to swim in the president's personal pool? translation: i'm happy. i'm so happy- _ moments ofjoy and curiosity. but where does this leave the future of the island? the man who once lived here, president gotabaya rajapaksa, has now fled and is expected to step down this week. a lot of the people here need to also witness the fact that — how rich and wealthy and luxurious their lives are. even this place, how grand, how big the house is. there is people who have been dying and suffering to fight for the basic necessities. as they look around the lavish rooms, sri lankans continue to contend with a deepening economic crisis. is this the

yes, sri lanka has been in the imf programme before.ous prime minister and president, sri lanka was in an imf programme because they recognised they needed to implement the reforms to gain access to more foreign exchange to be able to pay off their debts, and also afford the imports sri lanka needs. one other point, with regard to president rajapaksa again, a lot of people feel they have been let down by this government, and they want somejustice. can you see rajapaksa being held accountable for the way he has run the country, given that he is now in the maldives? i don't think so, and this is one of the reasons the protesters are upset with the current prime minister wickremesinghe. there is a belief he has shielded the rajapaksas from prosecution. when he was prime minister, after the former president mahindra rajapaksa lost his re—election bid, there was a time they could have prosecuted the rajapaksas for their war crimes especially, but he refused to go ahead with that. on social media, people referring to him in a generally angry

the government says sri lanka is now bankrupt. there are acute shortages of fuel medicines and food and a looming humanitarian crisis. we'll have more from colombo in a moment, plus struggling under crippling date and driven to suicide. as a result, we have a report on the dia situation, affecting many indian farmers and their families. ah, i'm jared raid. welcome to the show. thanks for your company, sri lanka is prime minister says he's country is now bankrupt and that there is no immediate end to the current economic crisis. sri lankan sufficing hardships on many fronts, petrol supplies have dried up because the foreign currency reserves to pay for fueling ports of run out. prices have soared away that food inflation now running at about 57 percent annually. more than 2 thirds of sri lankan household cy day eating less as a result. schools and office is currently closed to keep people off the streets. people are angry and frustrated, and they blinding politicians for the crisis. especially president, go to buy a raj epoxy and h

fies outside of sri lanka's ability to deal with?— outside of sri lanka's ability to dealwith?eal with? as far as the debt is concerned. _ deal with? as far as the debt is concerned, they have - deal with? as far as the debt is concerned, they have about. deal with? as far as the debt is j concerned, they have about $51 billion of foreign debt and the foreign currency reserves are running out, and they ran out of the foreign currency reserves a few weeks ago, now only $150 million of usable reserves and this is down mainly to the political past because economists have been warning, even late last year in sri lanka economists are warning the country would face a crisis and the government should step in and they should go to the imf for a bailout loan but because of various coalition party compulsions, people said going to the imf means a restructuring and people would lose jobs and the government would have to cut back on welfare programmes so they didn't do it and the government sacked the then central bank governor and other top officials and reappointed a new team and then it

these are extraordinaryj times for sri lanka.and 24—hour is ago, hundreds of people stormed the building. this was one of the most protected buildings here in sri lanka and remember, you can't even come here on this road during the civil war. now there are families, men, women, people who took part in the anti—government protest since april, they are coming here, taking pictures to remember this moment and i was speaking with many of these visitors here and they say, you know, this is a great occasion partially lanky because people's power has one. now we are forced these two leaders, the president gotobaya rajapaksa and thatis president gotobaya rajapaksa and that is a great victory for eyes and a victory 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 governme

yes, sri lanka has been in the imf programme before.he previous prime minister and president, under him, they recognise they needed to implement the reforms to gain access to more foreign exchange to be able to pay off their debts, and also afford the imports sri lanka needs. in washington, the committee investigating the storming of the us capitol last year has heard how donald trump incited far—right extremists in a last—ditch bid to remain in office. members of his inner circle explained how mr trump ignored their advice to concede the election, and instead summoned a mob to washington. our correspondent nomia iqbal has been following the hearing. there were two parts to today's hearing. the first part revolved around something that was referred to as an unhinged meeting which happened in mid—december, in which donald trump's advisers were telling him to concede the election, but he was listening to a group of unofficial advisers who were telling him to continue with his baseless claims the election was stolen. the next day, which is

sri lanka is president gotabaya rajapaksa has sri lanka is president gotabaya rajapa ksa has fled srias fled the country along with other members of his family following mass protests they are. the committee investigating the storming of the us capitol lays out how president trump incited extremists in a last—ditch bid to remain in office. presidentjoe biden is travelling to israel for a series of meetings there and in the west bank, before heading to saudi arabia. his visit comes as israel has been carrying out military arrest raids in the occupied west bank this week — a near daily occurrence since a wave of deadly attacks by palestinians against israelis in the spring. dozens of palestinians have been killed during army incursions this year with the un's human rights office raising concerns over excessive force and possible collective punishment — accusations rejected by israel. the focus has been on the city ofjenin where palestinian militant groups have been rearming, as our middle east correspondent tom bateman reports. a mother's grief echoes around the grave of her daughter. "

sri lanka on a militaryjet.abaya rajapaksa's departure from sri lanka ends a family dynasty that has ruled the country for decades. he had been in hiding, after crowds stormed his residence on saturday. his brother, former finance minister basil rajapaksa, has also left the country, sources have told the bbc. president rajapaksa had promised to resign, but by remaining in position, he kept his immunity from prosecution. many sri lankans blame him for the economic crisis which has crippled their country, leaving it short of funds to buy medicines or fuel. our correspondent rajini vaidyanathan was with protestors outside the presidential palace in colombo when the news of president rajapaksa's departure was made public. there is a real party atmosphere here at colombo seafront, which has been a protest site for many weeks, one of the main demands protesters have was for gotabaya rajapaksa to go. their slogan, their chant was "go home, gota". we now know that president gotabaya rajapaksa has left the country. he fl

is in sri lanka and's — rajapaksa became president.otests rose, protests broke out earlier this year, ordinary people turning their fury on the government. on the 1st of april a state of emergency was declared but the protests went on. on the 12th of april the government announced it was defaulting on its entire foreign debt after running out of money to import supplies. in may, rajapaksa resigned as promised and had to be rescued from his home after it was stormed by protesters. by after it was stormed by protesters. byjune, the un was warning of a humanitarian emergency, anger grew as inflation hit a new record this month, leading to today's dramatic events. whatever happens next, sri lanka's new leaders will inherit their worst economic crisis since their worst economic crisis since the country's independence, huge popular discontent and all the political challenges that will bring. caroline hawley, bbc news. two more cabinet ministers have confirmed they are entering the race to succeed borisjohnson as conservative leader. they are

sri lanka's caretaker president has just spoken to the bbc.paksa would return by wednesday when he's promised to resign. he said an all—party national unity government will be formed as opposition parties have demanded. at the moment he cut —— at the moment, — at the moment he cut —— at the moment, he _ at the moment he cut —— at the moment, he is in an unknown country. they are _ moment, he is in an unknown country. they are going — moment, he is in an unknown country. they are going to be a vote in the house _ police in south africa are trying to trace the gunmen responsible for a shooting at a bar in which 15 people died. nine others were wounded in the attack, which happened in the township of soweto. in a separate shooting in pietermaritzburg, south—east of soweto, four people died. south africa is one of the world's most violent countries, with 20,000 murders every year. 0ur africa correspondent, andrew harding, reports from soweto. a mass shooting on the outskirts of johannesburg. the dead, all young men, taken away early this morning.

sri lanka is in real difficulties at the moment.e economic collapse. inflation is more than 50%, food prices soaring up 80% and transport costs more than doubling. that's having a real impact. there are about 22 million people in sri lanka and the un food programme says that more than 6 million of them don't know where their next meal is coming from. why is the economy in such dire straits? tourism, a major source of foreign revenues, has been devastated, first by the terrorist bombings in 2019 and then by the covid pandemic. the war in ukraine has also added to rising food and fuel prices. the global downturn has meant sri lankans living overseas have sent less money home. but the protesters also blame this man, the outgoing president gotabaya rajapaksa, part of a family dynasty that's dominated politics for two decades. he banned fertiliser imports, supposedly to make sri lanka more organic, but it devastated the rice crop and led to food shortages. he also cut taxes and this left the government struggling to pay its bills. and he

let's then talk about sri lanka, the other story that has i sri lanka, the other story that has beenset fire to the prime minister as residents, both of them now saying they are going to go. it is a situation that has escalated very quickly. it going to go. it is a situation that has escalated very quickly. it seems that a huge — has escalated very quickly. it seems that a huge amount _ has escalated very quickly. it seems that a huge amount of _ has escalated very quickly. it seems that a huge amount of anger- has escalated very quickly. it seems that a huge amount of anger and - that a huge amount of anger and blame _ that a huge amount of anger and blame for— that a huge amount of anger and blame for the economic crisis that sri lanka — blame for the economic crisis that sri lanka is — blame for the economic crisis that sri lanka is going there has been directed — sri lanka is going there has been directed at— sri lanka is going there has been directed at the president and his family. — directed at the president and his family, they are the most powerful political— family, they ar

but sri lanka imports everything and you need foreign exchange and is that the one thing that sri lankaas ran short of now. there are countries like india and china which are helping sri lanka, india with nearly $4 billion of bridge financing. and also one of the largest petroleum companies is refueling their passenger jets just to keep tourism partially of a value in sri lanka because that is one of the big earners of revenue in sri lanka. but as i said, if they don't meet the demands of the imf, they are also quite wary, the imf would like more guarantees to come forth from the sri lanka government and also would like to see an administration with a certain amount of stability. so all eyes are on those very opposition politicians who have been promising to revive the economy should they be elected to power. so this is their golden taunt. they -- opportunity. they have to ensure that talks ten and there are some good names in the opposition, some well-known economists. so one can only hope that they come on board and at least they put on the effort now in order to continue with negotia

this is a really surreal moment for sri lanka. 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 feel to swim in the president's personal pool? translation: i'm happy. i'm so happy- _ moments ofjoy and curiosity. but where does this leave the future of the island? the man who once lived here, president gotabaya rajapaksa, has now fled and is expected to step down this week. a lot of the people here need to also witness the fact that — how rich and wealthy and luxurious their lives are. even this place, how grand, how big the house is. there is people who have been dying and suffering to fight for their basic necessities. as they look around the lavish rooms, sri lankans continue to contend with a deepening economic crisis. i

of 3, sri lankan families are struggling to find enough to eat. so those who can have started arriving by boat across the narrow street that separates sri lanka and india most landing on the island of rummage warm. it's not far about 20 kilometers, but it's the open ocean and the crossings can be risky. so far, the newcomers are mostly tamils, the ethnic minority group that fought a devastating civil war in sri lanka for decades. they've come to india's tomlin. i do state a regent that shares deep cultural and linguistic ties d, w ages critical. narayan is in ramesh where i'm in the southern state of tom will not do a critical what's the latest, what are you seeing and hearing down there, i am standing in ramesh, but this is a goes to don't because the southern most don't alpha off in the are the southernmost, have thought this is bed and yet is really actually, so this is there for the past few months due to the economic crisis in free lanka. many sri lankan refugees are coming here illegally through boards. it takes about the us with them to cro

as they celebrate, sri lankans are still suffering.fter taking government buildings, who do they trust to take power? rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, colombo. as we've been hearing, this week's demonstrations in sri lanka follow months of economic turmoil, which has brought misery to millions across the country. our diplomatic correspondent james landale is here to explain more about what's led to the chaos of recent days. huw, sri lanka is in real difficulties at the moment. first of all, there is almost complete economic collapse. inflation is more than 50%, food prices are soaring, up 80%, transport costs more than doubling, and that's having a real impact. there are about 22 million people in sri lanka and the un world food programme says more than 6 million of them don't know where their next meal is coming from. so why�*s the economy in such dire straits? well, tourism — a major source of foreign revenues — has been devastated, first by terrorist bombings in 2019, and then by the covid pandemic. the war in ukraine has added to ris

we've more on the crisis in sri lanka on our website, of course.e this piece on daily life in a country that's gone bankrupt. bbc.com/news, or bbc.co.uk/news for all that. voting has begun in elections forjapan�*s upper house of parliament, just two days after the assassination of the former prime minister shinzo abe. a warning — this report from our correspondent rupert wingfield hayes contains some flashing images. the site where shinzo abe was gunned down on friday has now become a place of pilgrimage. many hundreds lined up this morning to lay flowers and pay their respects. it's an old cliche that japanese people don't show public emotion. not today. at lunchtime, the hearse carrying mr abe's body arrived at his home in tokyo. here, too, the emotion was palpable as a stream of friends and dignitaries came to pay their respects. outside, we met a close friend of mr abe's, a right—wing political ally. ifeel very, very, very, very sad. and a sense of loss is so great that i do not know how to overcome. it has been striking to see the continuing o

after massive protests, sri lanka's president resigns.ilation in the country, prime minister gotabaya rajapaksa sending his resignation letter. in italy, prime minister draghi offers his resignation after losing support, the prime minister says he should stay on. in the u.k. come of the race to become the next prime minister. two candidates are out in front. ♪ the sri lankan president, gotabaya rajapaksa, has resned after days of antigovernment protests. mr. rajapaksa sent his resignation late -- resignation letter from singapore, where he fled to. demonstrators are celebrating on the streets of colombo, defying a curfew. the governor the central bank says the country needs a stable government as soon as possible. we have this update from colombo. reporter: antigovernment protesters are celebrating the news of the resignation letter of prime minister gotabaya rajapaksa. these people have been here the last few months, demanding the resignation of prime minister rajapaksa and other cabinet ministers, accusing them of mismanaging the econom

what does that leave sri lanka?nally, were not even sure whether gotabaya rajapaksa is still president. if he has resigned or will resign as he said he would, when the current prime minister will resign and what the actual constitutional process will be to appoint a new president. that will all play out in the coming weeks. but one thing, i am very sceptical that the new government that is appointed in the coming weeks will be a better resolve these problems. we know that we can be pretty sure that the imf will impose really quite serious conditions on restructuring the sri lankan economy and that will require a stable and committed government to do so. there is certainly no sign at the moment that a government is ready to stand up and undertake these very serious reforms. just to say since we spoke to mr brewster as we've been reporting, the sri lankan president, gotabaya rajapaksa president, gota baya rajapa ksa has president, gotabaya rajapaksa has left the country and landed in the maltese. well, let's move from

ah, social media is made for political uprisings like sri lives. when developments come fast, mainstream news outlets struggle to keep up, some loyal to governments don't. we'll get to that. but 1st, the numbers, there are more than 11000000 internet users in sri lanka. about half the population . facebook is the dominant platform, what's ap to talk, and instagram are also popular. since the movement to depose president called todd by roger pox, i got it start 4 months ago and social media has been of vital organisation. protesters have used it to live stream demonstrations over shortage of the food to eat, gas and to cook with and petrol to power car. videos that have attracted record audio, cash packets and like go to go home, turned into raleigh. the rest is history. as is the price we had an election in january 2015 when things had been patient needs to be 25 percent. but by the end of 2021. significantly the number of even if certain sri lanka exceeded 50 percent and keep growing, we have around 8000000 active facebook users and are those also

i mean, sri lanka is not a country— normal. i mean, sri lanka is not a country that — normal.e crisis to another. of the people have work, they have of the people have work, they have food, _ of the people have work, they have food, they— of the people have work, they have food, theyjust get on with their lives _ food, theyjust get on with their lives so— food, theyjust get on with their lives. so to discover that you to go insulted _ lives. soto discover that you to go insulted by— lives. so to discover that you to go insulted by a totally incompetent government has obviously enraged. my mother— government has obviously enraged. my mother has— government has obviously enraged. my mother has friends in sri lanka who are all— mother has friends in sri lanka who are all middle class, while off, whatever— are all middle class, while off, whatever - _ whatever — they can't take their cars whatever - — they can't take their cars out because _ they can't take their cars out because there's petrol, and that makes _ because there's petrol, and that makes it— because there's petrol, an

but it really does not help sri lankans or help the position that sri lanka is in because there are nowhat sri lanka is going through. one is linked to another. political stability is a must for tourism dollars to come back. tourists will not go back immediately with that kind of violence. but it is also necessary for the president who made it a point of honor to himself to not step down despite repeated pleas from the people. the agitation has been going on for about four months. shery: we have seen the international reaction so far whether it is from the secretary of state, antony blinken or china's foreign ministry wanting to see stability revitalizing the economy and improving people's livelihoods in sri lanka. however, what about actual economic help? will we see some of those bilateral funding agreements coming out soon? >> there are discussions going on and from what we know, the prime minister, a respected and stable hand and sri lanka known across the world -- what he was looking at was striking a deal with the imf and then using that as a template to go to to other countries

sri lanka is in heavy debt.and that goes back -- it predates the government of rajapaksa going back to different governments. the debt has gotten to a point where now sri lanka is facing bankruptcy. they announced a default a couple of months ago. so really, massive debt but also it is related to the mismanagement of this government . in 2019 onwards, after rajapaks took office, there's been several policy decisions that led to the present crisis. one was the tax cuts i 2019 that significantly impacted the revenue of the government. in 2021, there was an overnight ban on chemical fertilizer that impacted the aicultural sector and food security. and of course we had challenges with covid, the pandemic, but also more recently, with the ukraine-russia war so those have also impacted. largely, domestic policies and mismanagement of this goverent th has led to an economic crisis. and now we are facing also a political crisis and political instability. so all this has resulted in situation where many sri lankans are f

~ ., typical person in sri lanka right now? ~ . ., , typical person in sri lanka right now?on in sri lanka right now? ~ ., ~ ., now? what life was like over the ast six now? what life was like over the past six to _ now? what life was like over the past six to loan _ now? what life was like over the past six to loan it _ now? what life was like over the past six to loan it has _ now? what life was like over the past six to loan it has meant - past six to loan it has meant everything we live off, essentials, were in short supply. food, medicine, also dealing with hyperinflation. people are finding meals unaffordable at the moment. people are foregoing meals, there are reports that children and expectant mothers have foregone meals. it means poor nutrition for kids. patients cannot get to hospitals. just this last couple of weeks, people in the private—sector and state sector were all unable to come into work because there was not a drop of fuel to be found. this is what life has been like for people from all walks of life. it has been suffering and endless pain. this is what