i'm sure you will be to form a commissioner of the human rights commission of sri lanka because that's called a not on thank you. is another problem we haven't talked about yet, and that is the tree lanka also needs tourism. it's a huge money spin up. it wants to pump billions of dollars into the economy in 2018, around 5 percent of gross domestic product, but in 2019 a terror attack devastated the sector. then the pandemic shut down everything and who wants to visit the country suffering from what's now become a humanitarian crisis? the people can't even afford to feed themselves. some blame sri lanka is close ties with china for its economic collapse. beijing extended $12000000000.00 in loans to the government between $22020.00 infrastructure projects like the one behind me. the multi 1000000000 dollar port in humble toyota hometown of recently fled, president, go to buy a roger pox a was a flagship project in china's beltran road initiative when it opened in 2010. 7 years later, the port was seated to chinese control after sri lanka realized he could no longer pay off the loans. a c

the new president is a familiar face in sri lanka, beneatha. 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 dw corresponded when you're a chaudhry explains why dick, for the past few days that be saw been done, it took over as the prime minister of the country and as the acting president after breads and go to baggage bucks are designed. people have been frustrated that took over the pm's office as well and protested thing that they wanted run into grandma thing not to step down. and now that he has one, they are not happy. the grammar singer has said he will bring opposition lawmakers into his cabinet, but bout a tough line after his election against troublemakers are going to seek to destroy the den

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

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

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

these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world... inside the presidential palace in sri lanka thousands of protesters in the sri lankan capital, colombo storm the president's official residence. huge crowds are gathering in the capital demanding the presidents resignation over his handling of the country's worst economic crisis in decades. britain's former chancellor rishi sunak and former equalities minister kemi badenoch enter the race to be the next conservative party leader and prime minister. the body of japan's former prime minister shinzo abe is brought back to his tokyo residence — a day after he was shot dead during a political rally. elon musk is threatened with legal action after pulling out of a 44 billion dollar deal to buy twitter. as italy battles its worst drought in 70 years, we report from communities which are seeing a third of their agricultural produce threatened. ina in a normal year, even in high summer, i could not do what i'm doing right now, which is a walk across this stretch of river po without even getting my feet wet. this riverbed has become a sa

it's 7am in singapore, and 4.30am in colombo, sri lanka — where protestors have been celebrating whate 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 from inside the presidential palace, which is still overrun by protesters. 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 feel to swim in the president's perso

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

now sri lanka is in very dire situation. he wld bank anthe i exct sri lka's economy to shrink by negative gdp growth, probably over 10% this year. [inaudible] fishermen cannot go to the sea becae they do not have kerosene oil. sectors have come grinding to a halt because of fuel shortages. the people are blaming president rajapaksa and the prime minister for the continued economic crisis that they are facing. in that context, likely to be very powerful wave of protests starting this saturday. he saw that two months ago when the president's brother resigned as prime minister. the day after tomorrow, very massive protest falling for it -- calling for the resignation of the president and prime minister and in the context of this wave the president is desperately asking various actors, including president putin of russia, to provide oil. nermeen: could you talk about how the government has so far responded to these protests and also a piece that you wrote earlier this week headlined "when they can't govern, they must go home." in

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

... the first place, and try to put sri lanka. .. �* the first place, and try to put sri lanka... �* 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 trying to

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

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

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

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

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

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 his family which dominate politics. prime minister ran neil. the creamy singer informed parliament sri lanka insolvency on tuesday. he said the economic crisis would be around until at least the end of next year. he added that bailout talks with thee. i am, if depended on finalizing a debt restructuring plan, with credit is in the coming weeks. he's more of his remarks to lawmakers, me the guardian asked that an hour of the our coun

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.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

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

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

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

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

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. "

huw, sri lanka is in real difficulties at the moment.irst 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 rising food and fuel prices and the global downturn has meant sri lankans living overseas have sent less money home but the protestors also blame this man, the outgoing president, gotabaya rajapaksa, part of a family dynasty that's dominated politics here 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 cut taxes, but this lef

this price is ali for sri lanka. but if you are really saying like the gun ruined being beat, this sir crisis is thought the a. so what do you had were breeze yarborough. anyhow, we are being the good while many smaller hotels struggle to get food supplies, this hotel has been lucky. large suppliers ensure that the restaurant remains open and guess barely noticed the effects. thanks to emergency power out this, we don't have much progress on li. i do. and now far or 2 hours and bring to minutes in the morning one another the evening. so one moment when the limit, so we are using the generator. but that also we need her where the lack of basic necessities is impossible to overlook. even at the hospital where indra quality lanka worked, pediatrician only a few medicines are still in stock. she doesn't believe they'll last much longer. it said it is a little bit cheaper. it don't, did it they can on we got employee. and yeah, chinese included i really can't do it when the catastrophic economic situation in sri lanka is

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 in 2019 that significantly impacted the revenue of the government. in 2021, there wasn overnight ban 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 governmt thatas 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 facin

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

and: sri lanka's cash crisis is pushing people to the brink.ri lanka is experiencing its worst financial crisis since gaining independence in 1948. the effects are being felt across the country, with food and fuel shortages commonplace. much of the crisis is self-induced. while the pandemic has had an impact, government policies are also to blame. these include implementing sweeping tax cuts in 2019, when the economy was already mired in debt. then, in early 2021, with its coffers depleted, the government banned the import of artificial fertilizers, with devastating effects on harvests. although the ban has now been lifted, the situation remains chaotic. and there's little sign of an end in sight. it is early in the morning and this lagoon. riyurin ferdinando is on his way to see. fishing has provided him with a livelihood for decades. but now he is struggling to make ends meet. >> this month we''ve had almost no income. and it's the second month in a row. of around a hundred fishing boats, recently only about ten were going out to sea. in the

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

~ ., 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

in sri lanka., no one is sri lanka is white, they are what our democratic party would call people of color, and yet the american intellectuals who pushed that disaster in sri lanka, who are responsible for the suffering there, have escaped all culpability. no one is saying a word about it. meanwhile, a cop in minneapolis was rough with a convicted felon two years ago and we have to stop everything and sent him to prison for life. it is not just happening by the way in the third world. is happening in bridge countries. the netherlands, second biggest food exporter in the world. may have to do with western guilt, same thing leaders interlock i tried to do, ordered farmers to cut virtually all of their nitrogen oxide emissions to "save the environment." doing that would shut most farms in the netherlands and destroy the country's food supply. once again, that led to riots. so everything that has happened in sri lanka, ghana, the netherlands, is happening at the behest not simply of ideologues, but if

we expect poverty in sri lanka to rise above 50 percent by the end of the year. and it is imperative that trend and can look at cash transfers for the poor and fine mechanisms to target the poor properly. we think that looking at electricity consumption is a great way to do that and the technology is available to directly to deliver support to people. and these are solutions that are available. and i think the comment government's a sense of mismanagement and corruption was preventing even possible solutions from not being implemented at the cut at the proper time. and a change in government will build a kind of credibility and hopefully a little more competence at to, to help sri lanka move in the right direction. even though the results are still slow and long time coming regulation or what we're talking about now, then seems to be this idea that there are, there are concrete steps you can take this idea of managing expectations, communicating with the country and having some easy fixes, but there is a fly in the ointment we have these talks going out with inte

that will finally have adequate legitimacy in sri lanka. don't drive the reforms as well as the measures that are needed, fatal nomic recovery going forward. i think that the house of our politics, which has been seeped in corruption incompetence is what young people have decried to day and day need a chance to exercise their what to say and say we want something different and, and that is the cry of the people which i think has to be heeded as soon as possible aggression. there is the argument who made this her lanka is a robust democracy. it does have democratic procedures. institutions in place. is it robust enough to do what the 3 of you are saying needs to be done? i think my sense is that we have to at least try to try to create a new beginning for sri lanka. and i personally see street and guys a kind of a post conflict state which is still having the legacy of a long 30 year old conflict and its institutions have been affected by this long conflict. and we are now trying to rebuild going forward. and in that process, we're going to

so very legitimate time for sri lanka.: thank you so much for giving your perspective from the center for policy alternative. coming up, retail investors are dumping twitter shares with the $34 billion must deal drama. they will discuss what's next in the takeover saga. this is bloomberg. ♪ ivanka: twitter shales plot -- shares plunged after elon musk walked away from a deal to buy the company facing a disruptive legal battle. let's hear more from su keenan, i guess we were expecting a bit of a job given the blowup news we saw in friday, but this was quite a shop -- shock. >> a big drop down 11%, the biggest one-day drop in more than a year, and a lot in market value, the chaos is only just begun, legal experts say, and their experts saying that this stock could drop further, you can't just walk away from a 70 plus paid contract for $44 billion takeover, both wall street and legal experts say, that's what muska has done with this regulatory filing last friday, within minutes, twitter's chairman weeded out that they were go

the president of sri lanka has fled the country, leaving behind chaos. a state of emergency has been declared but protesters remain out on the streets. what happens next? and expecting action on clean air, a pregnant south korean has added unborn baby to a lawsuit over pollution. ah, i melissa chan, thanks for joining us. got to by a roger pox, a has fled sri lanka and landed in the mall div after failing to escape to his 1st choice destination. due by the former present, resigned on wednesday, designating the prime minister renewal wick rem, sega, as the new acting president. he has declared a state of emergency a curfew and police have deploy tear gas to disperse crowds of protesters still out on the streets. people do not seem ready to embrace the country's new leader or your fight if one of the board would resign. and i've been going to do mr. carman bliss. and i think that's the longest bit of a beginning. even if the prime minister becomes president, he has no mandate that the president had some the people support and i believe we grammy single doe

easy answers to what sri lanka is going through. 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 especially to places like japan. and use that for

moscow is expected to form the new government of sri lanka is ready.im, this was reported with reference to the russian ministry of foreign affairs. do you think our country can provide some kind of support in the current situation and help, uh, stabilize the situation theoretically, of course, it can, that is, we can give the cis a big discount is another matter, what do you need to understand what this money is? we most likely won't see it back anytime soon. that is, if you already provide assistance, then provide it with an eye on the future. business-pressed sri lanka on the development of joint infrastructure projects for the arrival of our large companies there. that is, this is such a very, very long-term strategic decision, which should be made with the expectation of 15-20 years ahead. and in what areas can this cooperation be established, for example, well, first of all , infrastructure projects, because, uh, sri lankans are very willing to actually give foreigners the board for restructuring for development, and mainly port terminals there a

we begin in sri lanka. 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

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