World
Sri Lanka PM office confirms President Rajapaksa fled to Maldives
PM Ranil Wickremesinghe’s workplace says Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled to the Maldives, hours earlier than he was anticipated to resign.
- The Sri Lankan prime minister’s workplace has confirmed that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled the nation.
- Rajapaksa, 73, left for the Maldives hours earlier than he was anticipated to resign amid widespread protests over his dealing with of a devastating financial disaster.
- Lots of of protesters in Colombo proceed to occupy the official residences of the president and the prime minister after each buildings had been stormed on Saturday.
- Sri Lanka is dealing with a extreme scarcity of gas and different important provides and is in search of a bailout from the Worldwide Financial Fund.
Listed here are the newest developments:
Protesters march on prime minister’s workplace
Protesters marching in direction of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe workplace have been tear gassed and a number of other have sustained accidents.
“At the least 1500 protesters have gathered and we’re urging (Wickremesinghe) additionally to resign instantly,” protest chief Shabeer Mohamed instructed Al Jazeera.
“If (he) doesn’t resign we wouldn’t hand over the buildings we occupied and proceed our protest,” he stated.
“On the assembly with the social gathering leaders yesterday, the opposition events additionally agree that the prime minister ought to go. It’s one in every of our 6 key calls for of the ‘aragalaya’,” he added, utilizing the Sinhala phrase for “wrestle” which has been used to explain the protest motion.
India denies it helped Sri Lankan chief escape
India “categorically denies baseless and speculative media stories” that it helped Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa escape to a different nation, India’s Excessive Fee in Sri Lanka has tweeted.
“It’s reiterated that India will proceed to assist the individuals of Sri Lanka as they search to grasp their aspirations for prosperity and progress by democratic means and values, established democratic establishments and constitutional framework,” the tweet stated.
Excessive Fee categorically denies baseless and speculative media stories that India facilitated the latest reported journey of @gotabayar @Realbrajapaksa out of Sri Lanka. It’s reiterated that India will proceed to assist the individuals of Sri Lanka (1/2)
— India in Sri Lanka (@IndiainSL) July 13, 2022
President’s resignation might attain Speaker by noon
Sri Lanka’s parliamentary speaker might obtain President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation letter by noon on Wednesday, an official from the speaker’s workplace instructed Al Jazeera, after the chief fled to the Maldives following widespread protests.
“The Speaker is but to obtain the president’s resignation. It’s anticipated he’d obtain it in the course of the day, at present,” the official stated. “The Speaker would inform the media, and the final paublic, as quickly as he receives it.”
Protesters have warned of a “decisive combat” if each Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe didn’t resign by the afternoon.
Sri Lankans proceed to go to President’s Home
On Wednesday morning, Sri Lankans continued to stream into the colonial-era President’s Home.
A rising line of individuals waited to enter the residence, a lot of whom had traveled from outdoors Colombo on public transport.
“What Rajapaksa did – flee the nation – is a timid act,” stated Bhasura Wickremesinghe, a 24-year-old scholar of maritime electrical engineering, who got here with mates.
“I’m not celebrating. There isn’t any level celebrating. Now we have nothing on this nation in the intervening time.”
When will the Sri Lankan president resign?
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has fled to the Maldives, shouldn’t be anticipated to resign till after he reaches his closing vacation spot, sources inform Al Jazeera.
The president would more than likely proceed to a different Asian nation from the Maldives, a authorities supply stated.
Saman Ekanayake, secretary to the prime minister, was instructed that the presidential secretariat is but to obtain his letter of resignation.
Because of this, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has not made any preparation to take oath as momentary president, a supply from the prime minister’s workplace instructed Al Jazeera.
Sri Lanka president flees to the Maldives
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his spouse and two bodyguards flew on a Sri Lankan Air Power airplane to Male, the capital of the Maldives, the Sri Lankan Air Power confirmed in an announcement to Al Jazeera.
The president’s flight brings an finish to the rule of the highly effective Rajapksa clan that has dominated politics within the South Asian nation for the final 20 years.
Learn extra right here.
Extra reporting by Saroj Pathirana from Colombo, Sri Lanka
World
China's CATL launches EV chassis, flagging safety as top selling point
World
SEE IT: China stuns with maiden flight of sixth-generation aircraft
China appears to have conducted the maiden flight of its new sixth-generation fighter aircraft, marking a significant milestone in the ever-evolving landscape of fighter jets.
Video and photos from social media showed the previously unseen aircraft conducting a daytime test flight, alongside a two-seat Chengdu J-20S fighter, which served as a chase plane.
The planes were soaring high in Chengdu, Sichuan, China on Dec. 26, which is notably the birthday of the founding father of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong.
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Photos and video of the tailless Chinese aircraft came as the U.S. continues to work on developing its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter jet.
The NGAD fighter jet is intended to replace the F-22 Raptor, a fifth-generation stealth combat aircraft that has been in service with the U.S. Air Force since the early 2000s.
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Fifth generation aircraft incorporated stealth technology, with the sixth generation aircraft promising further advancements.
This new aircraft is the latest in a series of milestones for China’s aviation. At the Zhuhai Airshow, China unveiled the J-35A fifth-generation fighter jet and the J-15T fighter.
Fox News Digital has reached out to China’s Ministry of Defense for comment.
World
One in six children live in conflict zones this year: UNICEF
About 473 million, or more than one in six children, are estimated to live in conflict areas worldwide, according to the United Nations children’s agency.
UNICEF’s statement came on Saturday as conflicts continue to rage around the world, including in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, among other places.
In Israel’s devastating war on Gaza in particular, at least 17,492 children have reportedly been killed in nearly 15 months of conflict that has reduced much of the enclave to rubble.
“By almost every measure, 2024 has been one of the worst years on record for children in conflict in UNICEF’s history – both in terms of the number of children affected and the level of impact on their lives,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
According to Russell, a child growing up in a conflict zone is far more likely to be out of school, malnourished, or forced from their home compared with a child living in places with no conflict.
“This must not be the new normal. We cannot allow a generation of children to become collateral damage to the world’s unchecked wars,” the director said.
The proportion of children living in areas of conflict has doubled – from about 10 percent in the 1990s to almost 19 percent today, UNICEF said.
According to the report, 47.2 million children were displaced due to conflict and violence by the end of 2023.
The trends for 2024 indicate a further increase in displacement because various conflicts have intensified, including in Haiti, Lebanon, Myanmar, the Palestinian territories and Sudan.
Additionally, in the latest available data, from 2023, the UN verified a record 32,990 grave violations against 22,557 children – the highest number since UN Security Council-mandated monitoring began, UNICEF said.
There is an overall upward trend in the number of grave violations, with this year likely to see another increase, as “thousands of children have been killed and injured in Gaza, and in Ukraine”, the agency said.
Sexual violence against children has surged, their education has been affected, children’s malnutrition rates have risen and armed conflicts have taken a larger toll on children’s mental health, UNICEF also reported.
“The world is failing these children. As we look towards 2025, we must do more to turn the tide and save and improve the lives of children,” Russell said.
Gaza’s children ‘cold, sick, traumatised’
In Gaza – where the Israeli military has killed more women and children in the past year than in any recent conflict over a single year, Oxfam reported in September – the ongoing war is a “nightmare” for children, UNICEF Communication Specialist Rosalia Bollen said last week at a media briefing.
“Children in Gaza are cold, sick and traumatised,” Bollen said last Friday.
About 96 percent of women and children in Gaza cannot meet their basic nutritional needs, she said, lamenting the lack of aid able to reach children in the Strip.
“Gaza must be one of the most heartbreaking places on Earth for humanitarians. Every small effort to save a child’s life is undone by fierce devastation,” said Bollen.
“For over 14 months, children have been at the sharp edge of this nightmare.”
Bollen said that many children in the besieged enclave don’t have winter clothes, have to resort to searching through rubbish for provisions and are plagued with diseases.
She urged the use of political capital and diplomatic leverage to push for the evacuation of injured children and their parents to leave Gaza and seek medical care in East Jerusalem or elsewhere.
“This war should haunt every one of us. Gaza’s children cannot wait,” she pressed.
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