nuclear weapons. it s seven in the morning in singapore, and four thirty am in the sri lankan capital colombo where celebrations have been taking place after gotabaya rajapaksa became the country s first sitting president to quit. he did so after months of angry protests over the rapidly rising cost of living, and shortages of food and fuel. from colombo, rajini vaidyanathan reports. a moment to savour after months of struggle. now there s joy. these demonstrators had one key demand, that the man they blame for their economic woes resign. tonight, president gotabaya rajapaksa did. protesters say they are celebrating what represents a victory for people power. it s the end of the rule of the rajapaksas, after a week of turmoil on the island. just yesterday at the prime minister s office, security forces were overrun by protesters. it was one of a number of government buildings taken over by the masses. today, protesters handed it back to the authorities, soldiers now on guard,
my guest is meaza ashenafi, the first woman to be appointed chiefjustice of the federal supreme court of ethiopia. now there is hope of making progress in the peace talks taking place, but will there be justice for the victims of war? chiefjustice meaza ashenafi in abbas ababa, welcome to hardtalk. look, you ve got violence across many parts of ethiopia, you ve got an acute food crisis as well, which means that 30 million of the country s 100 million population are in urgent need of help. this is a tough time for you to be a senior official in ethiopia. you are absolutely correct, zeinab, and this government and the people of this country have embarked on a very promising transition. but unfortunately we re facing the harsh realities that you havejust mentioned, and this has been a combination of conflict, drought, and other gross violations of human rights. and, yeah, it is a reality, but i am hopeful that we will come out of this difficult situation. what gives you cause to
ethiopia s long delayed elections take place, one in seven constituencies will not be voting because of the country s instability. our africa correspondent, catherine byaru hanga, has been to the town of ataye where more than a hundred people were killed in clashes between the oromo and amhara communities. homes and businesses that took generations to build, all destroyed in a matter of days. all the tensions over who owns the land, oromo communities or amhara community have boiled over. this man is an ethnic amhara. you re trying to build his tee shot after attacks in april. this is a the fire was uncontrollable and all he could do was watch as it destroyed his shop. the conflict in ataye