- Philippines challenges China over South China Sea at ASEAN meet
- Mets advance on Lindor blast, Dodgers stay alive in MLB playoffs
- Injury-ravaged Krygios aiming to return at Australian Open
- Greek international Baldock, dead at 31: family
- EU talks deportation hubs to stem migration
- Deaths and repression sideline Suu Kyi's party ahead of Myanmar vote
- S. Africa offers a lesson on how not to shut down a coal plant
- China opens $71 bn 'swap facility' to boost markets
- Mets advance on Lindor grand slam, Yankees and Tigers win
- Taiwan President Lai vows to 'resist annexation' of island
- China's solar goes from supremacy to oversupply
- Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
- 'Denying my potential': women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
- China's central bank says opens up $70.6 bn in liquidity to boost market
- Zelensky on whirlwind tour of Europe ahead of US vote
- Youth facing unprecedented wave of violence, UN envoy warns
- 'A casino in every kitchen': Brazil's online gambling craze
- Nobel chemistry winner sees engineered proteins solving tough problems
- Lindor powers Mets past Phillies into NL Championship Series
- Wildlife populations plunge 73% since 1970: WWF
- 'Sleeper agent' bots on X fuel US election misinformation, study says
- Death toll rises to 109 after Haiti gang attack, official says
- Tigers beat Guardians and on brink of advancing in MLB playoffs
- Argentina MPs back Milei's veto of university funding
- Man City sink Barca in Women's Champions League as Bayern outgun Arsenal
- Greek international Baldock, 31, found dead in pool: state agency
- Florida seaside haven a ghost town as hurricane nears
- Pharrell Williams to co-chair Met Gala exploring Black dandyism
- Wall Street indices hit fresh records as Chinese shares tumble
- Taiwan's president to deliver key speech for National Day
- Sea row on the menu as ASEAN leaders meet China's Li
- Injured Kane won't start England's Nations League clash with Greece
- Discord seen as online home for renegades
- US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
- Mozambique starts tallying votes in tense election
- Zelensky moves to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- Rodgers rejects 'false' suggestions of role in Saleh dismissal
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Lebanon facing 'catastrophic' situation as 600,000 displaced: UN
- US warns Israel not to repeat Gaza destruction in Lebanon
- Musk's X returns in Brazil after 40-day showdown with judge
- Call her savvy? Harris unleashes unconventional media blitz
- Lucian Freud 'masterpiece' fetches £13.9 million at London sale
- SoFi Stadium to hold next two CONCACAF Nations League finals
- McIlroy and DeChambeau set for PGA-LIV 'Showdown' in Vegas
- Fed minutes highlight divisions over rate cut decision
- Steve McQueen debuts new WWII film at London festival
- Run blitz edges India and South Africa closer to World Cup semi-finals
Street protests grip Sri Lanka as economic crisis escalates
Street protests gripped Sri Lanka Friday as demonstrators blocked main roads across the country, a day after hundreds tried to storm the president's home in anger over an unprecedented economic crisis.
The South Asian nation is facing severe shortages of essentials, sharp price rises and crippling power cuts in its most painful downturn since independence from Britain in 1948.
Towns and cities across the country faced a fresh wave of protests Friday, according to police and local officials.
In the capital Colombo, dozens of rights activists carried handwritten placards and oil lamps while demonstrating at a busy intersection on Friday evening.
"Time to quit Rajapaksas," said one placard. "No more corruption, go home Gota," said another -- referring to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
In the highland town of Nuwara Eliya, activists blocked the opening of a flower exhibition by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's wife, Shiranthi, police said.
The southern towns of Galle, Matara and Moratuwa also saw anti-government protests, and similar demonstrations were reported in the northern and central regions. All held up traffic on main roads.
- 'Lunatic, go home'-
Thursday night's unrest outside the president's private home saw hundreds of people demand he step down.
People chanted "lunatic, lunatic, go home", before police fired tear gas and used water cannon.
The crowd turned violent, setting ablaze two military buses, a police jeep, two patrol motorcycles and a three-wheeler. They also threw bricks at officers.
At least two protesters were wounded in police firing but it was not clear whether officers used live ammunition or rubber bullets. Four people were injured when a security vehicle ran over them.
Police said 53 protesters were arrested, but local media organisations said five news photographers were also detained and tortured at a local police station, a charge the government said it will investigate.
An overnight curfew was lifted early Friday morning, but the police and military presence was beefed up across the country as social media posts urged residents to demonstrate peacefully outside their homes.
- 'Terrorists' -
Two government ministers said a major intelligence failure had placed the lives of the president and his wife in danger on Thursday.
"Both the president and his wife were at their home when the protests were going on," Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters in Colombo, discounting earlier claims that they were away at the time.
"We had information of a demonstration, but nothing suggesting that it could turn violent. This is a major intelligence failure."
Transport Minister Dilum Amunugama said "terrorists" were behind the unrest.
Rajapaksa's office said Friday that the protesters wanted to create an "Arab Spring" -- a reference to anti-government protests in response to corruption and economic stagnation that gripped the Middle East over a decade ago.
A common theme of demonstrations was a demand for all members of the powerful Rajapaksa family to quit.
One of the president's brothers, Mahinda, serves as prime minister while the youngest, Basil, is finance minister. His eldest brother and nephew also hold cabinet positions.
Sri Lanka's predicament has been compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic, which torpedoed tourism and remittances.
Many economists also say the crisis has been exacerbated by government mismanagement and years of accumulated borrowing.
- Record inflation -
The latest official data released Friday showed inflation in Colombo hit 18.7 percent in March, the sixth consecutive monthly record. Food prices soared a record 30.1 percent.
Colombo imposed a broad ban on imports in March 2020 in a bid to save foreign currency needed to repay nearly $7.0 billion this year to service its $51 billion debt.
Diesel shortages have sparked outrage across Sri Lanka in recent days, causing protests at empty pumps.
Since Thursday, diesel has been unavailable at stations across the island, according to officials and media reports.
Several state-run hospitals, facing shortages of life-saving medicines, have stopped routine surgeries.
The government has said it is seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund while asking for more loans from India and China.
IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters in Washington on Thursday that talks should begin "in the coming days", with the president's youngest brother, finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, expected in the US capital.
D.Cunningha--AMWN