Sri Lanka’s president flees the country

Protesters in Sri Lanka have taken over several government buildings in the past week, and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife took off in an Air Force plane for the Maldives on Wednesday. He made Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe the acting president in his place. The prime minister said he will remain until the government finds a replacement that it and the populace approves, then he’ll resign. A political collapse could worsen the economic fallout that started the protests because it could delay a bailout from the International Monetary Fund. 

What do the protests look like? Peaceful protests started in April but have since escalated, as protesters stormed the president and prime minister’s houses and government buildings. Some protesters swarmed Wickremesinghe’s office after the president left, while others lounged on couches and watched TV in the buildings. Others waved flags from the balconies and roofs of government offices. One protester said they will stay until the prime minister resigns.

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s report in World Tour on Sri Lanka’s efforts to escape economic collapse.