Live: Sri Lanka PM quits, MP dies in standoff, Rajapaksa property attacked

LIVE news updates: Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's resignation came hours after clashes broke out in Colombo

11:31 PM

Shots fired in air from outgoing Sri Lanka PM's residence; protesters breach gate

Shots were fired from inside the Sri Lankan prime minister's official residence Monday, as thousands of protesters breached the main gate and torched a parked truck, an AFP reporter said. Police also fired tear gas to push back protesters retaliating against an attack on them earlier in the day by those loyal to the outgoing premier Mahinda Rajapaksa. Police sources said that shots were fired in the air to prevent the mob breaching the inner security ring of the residence where Rajapaksa, who resigned as premier earlier in the day, was still holed up with loyalists.

9:53 PM

Sri Lanka protesters set fire to Rajapaksa family memorial

NDTV.com reports protesters in Sri Lanka set fire to buses, destroyed the memorial built for the parents of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa and their family home around 250 km from Colombo. The houses of two former ministers were also set ablaze.

9:44 PM

Sri Lanka ruling party MP dies after standoff

Sri Lanka ruling party parliamentarian Amarakeerthi Athukorala died after a standoff with anti-government protesters in the town of Nittambuwa near Colombo, a police source told Reuters without giving details. At least three others were wounded and the area remained tense with dozens of protesters still at the location, Reuters reported.

8:08 PM

Mahinda Rajapaksa urges all all-party government in Sri Lanka

Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his resignation letter as Sri Lanka’s premier, said he was quitting to help form an interim, unity government. "Multiple stakeholders have indicated the best solution to the present crisis is the formation of an interim all-party government," the letter said, according to Reuters.

7:01 PM

Sri Lanka MP found dead as violence engulfs nation

Amarakeerthi Athukorala, a lawmaker of Sri Lanka’s ruling opened fire and critically wounded two people blocking his car in Nittambuwa. He was later found dead after trying to take refuge in a nearby building, NDTV.com reported quoting Sri Lanka government officers said. Protesters set fire to a former minister's houses.

6:23 PM

Ukrainians report fierce fighting as Russia marks Soviet WW2 victory

Russian forces stormed the Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine's strategic port of Mariupol on Monday and stepped up missile strikes elsewhere, Ukrainian officials said, as President Vladimir Putin oversaw a parade of military firepower in Moscow. Putin marked the anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two by telling his armed forces they were fighting for their country. But he did not say how much longer their assault on Ukraine, now in its 11th week, would last or how it would end, Reueters reported.

5:26 PM

Ruling party MP in Sri Lanka dies in clash

Ruling party MP in Sri Lanka dies in clash with anti-government protesters, reports news agency AFP

 

5:11 PM

Shops, schools and businesses close in Sri Lanka

Thousands of shops, schools and businesses closed on Friday as public and private sector workers in Sri Lanka went on strike, demanding that the country's president stepped down. A curfew has been imposed across the island nation of 22 million people after the violence in Colombo, a police spokesman said, as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appealed for calm.

3:33 PM

Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa brothers face growing public anger

Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa brothers--- President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa--have so far defied calls for their resignation. In a special Cabinet meeting on Friday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency with effect from Friday midnight. This is the second time that an emergency was declared in Sri Lanka in just over a month as the island nation was in the grip of the worst economic crisis, PTI reported.

3:13 PM

Ukrainians report fierce fighting as Russia marks Soviet WW2 victory

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his armed forces they were fighting for their country at a parade of Russian firepower in Moscow while his troops stepped up their 10-week-old assault on Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said heavy fighting was underway in eastern Ukraine and warned people to take cover from expected missile strikes as Moscow marked the anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.