that s led to anger among protestors, who wanted both men to quit. meanwhile, a curfew is in force and the prime minister and now acting president ranil wickremesinghe has told the military to do whatever is necessary to restore order. from colombo, our south asia correspondent rajini vaidya nathan reports. their target heavily guarded. their mood determined. as news spread that prime minister ranil wickremesinghe had just been made acting president, crowds gathered in front of his office, one of the few government buildings not yet occupied by protesters. there is a tense standoff now. protesters are lined up all the way along this avenue on the other side here you can see the security forces who are guarding this office.
that was steve urquhart, director of the camden sports club, speaking to me a little earlier. sri lanka is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis, according to the united nations. many of its 22 million inhabitants are struggling to get enough to eat. fuel is running out and medicines are in desperately short supply. it s happening because the government has run out of hard currency to pay for imports, a situation many blame on economic mismanagement, made worse by the effects of the pandemic on tourism. rajini vaidya nathan reports. facing a fragile future. families in sri lanka are living in times of uncertainty. baby augustia was born prematurely, every day of her life marked by a worsening economic crisis. translation: we couldn t afford normal food when i i was pregnant. i couldn t even buy medicines. sometimes, we adjusted by eating one meal a day.
rajini vaidya nathan reports. well, it s been another day of protests across sri lanka, and we re here in colombo in independence square. and as you can see, there s a large crowd that s been gathering here. many of them are calling for president gotabaya rajapaksa to leave office. some of them have been chanting things like saying, go to the moon, president rajapaksa. huge pressure on the president, but he remains in office. now, that s despite a day of intense politics. at parliament today, more than a0 mps quit his coalition government, and the new finance minister left his role after less than 2a hours in the job. now, away from the political, the personal suffering continues. people still say they re struggling to get hold of cooking gas and petrol for their cars. and i was talking to two labourers earlier who say that even the cost of a basic bag of rice has now become
the government says schools in england are learning to live with covid by managing the virus with good ventilation, hygiene and vaccinations. here, as the pressure of the pandemic continues, they re desperate to get to the end of term. we are on our knees as we come towards the end of another very, very busy and very, very challenging term. elaine dunckley, bbc news, in knowsley. now to the crisis in sri lanka, where the president has lifted the state of emergency. the government there has been rocked by ongoing protests protests against food and fuel shortages. 40 lawmakers have now left the coalition government led by president rajapaksa. the president has called for opposition parties to form a national government. sri lanka is seeing widespread unrest caused by power cuts and shortages because of an economic and foreign exchange crisis. rajini vaidya nathan reports. well, it s been another day of protests across sri lanka, and we re here in colombo in independence square. and as yo
the international rescue committee has said that africa is facing its worst food crisis in a decade. the number of people in need of emergency assistance has quadrupled in the past seven years. islamist violence and climate change in the sahel region have led to poorer harvests, and the war in ukraine is making things worse as many african countries import the majority of their grain. the uk, us and australia have agreed to work together to research hypersonic weapons and ways to counter them. hypersonic missiles, which travel at several times the speed of sound, were reportedly used for the first time in combat by russia in ukraine last month. now to the crisis in sri lanka, where the president has lifted the state of emergency. the government there has been rocked by ongoing protests against food and fuel shortages. sri lanka is seeing widespread unrest caused by power cuts and shortages because of an economic and foreign exchange crisis. rajini vaidya nathan reports.