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Sri Lanka’s president will step down following massive protests

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Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa plans to step down, bowing to intense pressure after a violent day of protests in Colombo

The announcement comes amid anti-government protests over a dire economic crisis on the Indian Ocean island of 22 million people.

But unusually, there’s no immediate word from the president himself.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena says in a video statement that Rajapaksa had informed him that he would step down from his post this coming Wednesday.

“The decision to step down on 13 July was taken to ensure a peaceful handover of power.”

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena

“I therefore request the public to respect the law and maintain peace,” he said.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is also willing to resign to make way for an all-party government.

But it’s not clear whether this will be enough to quell the anger on the streets.

The government hasn’t yet explained how the transition of power will take place either.

Presidential Office overrun

Throughout the day, soldiers and police tried by failed to hold back a crowd of chanting protesters demanding Rajapaksa’s resignation.

Police fired shots in the air but were unable to stop the crowd from surrounding the presidential residence.

Neither Rajapaksa nor Wickremesinghe were in their residences when the buildings were attacked.

A Facebook livestream showed hundreds of protesters inside the Presidential compound, some draped in the national flag.

Video footage showed some of them splashing in the swimming pool, while others sat on a four-poster bed and sofas. Some could be seen emptying out a chest of drawers in images that were widely circulated on social media.

Rajapaksa had left on Friday as a safety precaution ahead of the planned weekend demonstration, two defence ministry sources said. Reuters could not immediately confirm his whereabouts.

Ahron Young is an award winning journalist who has covered major news events around the world. Ahron is the Managing Editor and Founder of TICKER NEWS.

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Joe Biden signs bill to declassify Covid origins information

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Sone information may be kept under wraps for national security reasons

U.S. President Joe Biden has signed a bill requiring all information relating to the origins of COVID-19 be declassified.

Biden says he shares the Congress goal of releasing as much information as possible about the virus.

But, he says his Administration will still keep national security in mind when deciding what to publish.

The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and House of Representatives before being sent to the White House.

For several months now, Washington has been debating the origins of the virus.

It follows a report by the U.S. Energy Department which says the pandemic arose from a lab leak.

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Ron DeSantis breaks silence over Donald Trump charges

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The Florida Governor says he won’t get involved

Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis has broken his silence on the Manhattan District Attorney pursuing charges against Donald Trump.

DeSantis has vowed his office will not get involved if the matter trickles into the former President’s adopted home state – that is Florida.

But the Florida governor stopped well short of offering support to Trump, instead poking fun at the situation.

A New York grand jury is in the final stages of determining whether Trump should face charges over an alleged payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

This is all related to an alleged affair.

The dismissive and tongue-in-cheek comments made by DeSantis travelled quickly.

Trump’s allies immediately started attacking the Florida governor across social media, suggesting he will face a political price for failing to rally around Trump.

This was before the former president responded himself, saying “Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about false accusations & fake stories sometime in the future, as he gets older, wiser, and better known”.

The episode is just another example of the tension and rivalry between two of the GOP’s biggest stars as they battle for party supremacy.

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Xi Jinping visits Russia to meet Vladimir Putin

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Russia-China Summit comes as ICC accuses Putin of committing war crimes

President Xi Jinping traveled from China to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The dictators held a nearly five-hour long closed-door meeting.

In front of the cameras, they praised their friendship.

Currently, China and Russia share similar goals and stand in opposition against the United States and Western influences.

Putin signalled that Russia is ready to review China’s proposal for resolving the situation in Ukraine which has now entered into its second year.

However, critics are expressing skepticism about Beijing’s role as a peacemaker.

Western leaders who back Ukraine worry that instead of peace, China will soon provide lethal aid to Russia.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden has come under fire for not responding with tough talk.

The China-Russia Summit comes after an arrest warrant was issued for Putin from the ICC for war crime charges.

White House officials say they are working on arranging a call between Biden and Xi.

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