Fuel shortages across Sri Lanka have prompted fuel rationing. For the seventh day in a row, protesters demonstrated in front of the president's office.

It is the first reported shooting by Sri Lankan police since the start of this wave of protests against sharp fuel price hikes. An economic crisis is leading to a fast deteriorating situation in the country.

Black flags have been raised across the country as millions of workers go out on strike in Sri Lanka. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa continues to ignore calls for him to step down.

Colombo has seen clashes between government supporters and protesters outside the offices of the president and prime minister. Hours later, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa offered to step down.

As protesters tried to enter Mahinda Rajapaksa's residence overnight, police escorted him out on Tuesday morning. The flare up of violence has left at least five people dead and scores injured.

The president has warned against "racial and religious disharmony." Police have received orders to use live ammunition against protesters deemed to be participating in violence.

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Sri Lanka is in the grip of its worst economic crisis in decades, facing depleted petrol reserves, food shortages and a chronic lack of medical supplies. More than a month of mainly peaceful protests against the government's handling of the economy turned deadly last week when supporters of the former prime minister stormed an anti-government protest site in the commercial capital Colombo. We discuss the depth of protesters’ grievances, as well as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s chances of weathering the storm, with Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and activist Bhavani Fonseka.

In 2020, Thai youth sparked the largest wave of anti-government protests since the 2014 military coup. But human rights activists say persecutions and systematic harassment have weakened the pro-democracy movement.

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