The Latest Breaking News from Sri Lanka

A Saudi Arabian Airlines flight from Maldives to Singapore believed to be carrying Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the world’s most-tracked flight on Thursday, underscoring massive global interest in the troubled island nation’s political affairs.

Sri Lanka is in the grip of an economic, political and humanitarian crisis.

Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was on his way to Singapore on Thursday and was expected to stay there for the time being, a Sri Lankan government source told Reuters, after the president fled to the Maldives from his home country.

The resignation of Sri Lanka's president has been accepted, the crisis-hit country's parliamentary speaker announced Friday, after Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country earlier this week and notified him from Singapore that he was stepping down. Follow FRANCE 24's live blog for all the latest developments. All times are Paris time…

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's anti-government demonstrators said Thursday they were ending their occupation of official buildings, but would press on with their bid to bring down the president and prime minister in the face of a dire economic crisis.

Colombo (AFP) - Sri Lanka's anti-government demonstrators said Thursday they were ending their occupation of official buildings, as they vowed to press on with their bid to bring down the president and prime minister in the face of a dire economic crisis.

Tensions remained high in Sri Lanka on Thursday as a promised resignation from the president had yet to materialise.

Sri Lanka's anti-government demonstrators were in talks Thursday to hand back official buildings they seized, protest representatives said, even as they insisted the president and prime minister both quit in the face of an economic crisis. Protesters overran President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's palace at the weekend, forcing him to flee to…

Galle (Sri Lanka) (AFP) - Dimuth Karunaratne's Sri Lanka will be looking to build on their winning momentum at Galle as the hosts take on Pakistan in a likely spin battle in the opening Test starting Saturday.

Protesters sitting at a desk in the prime minister's office and waving national flags from the building's rooftop terraces. Ordinary Sri Lankans sprawling in plush living rooms, playing a piano and marveling at paintings in the vacated presidential palace.

Colombo (AFP) - Sri Lanka's anti-government demonstrators were in talks Thursday to hand back official buildings they seized, protest representatives said, even as they insisted the president and prime minister both quit in the face of an economic crisis.