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Sri Lanka’s president and prime minister agreed to resign Saturday after the country’s most chaotic day in months of political turmoil, with protesters storming both officials’ homes and setting fire to one of the buildings in a rage over the nation’s severe economic crisis, Associated Press reported.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he will leave office once a new government is in place, and hours later the speaker of Parliament said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would step down Wednesday. Pressure on both men grew as the economic meltdown set off acute shortages of essential items, leaving people struggling to buy food, fuel and other necessities.

Police had attempted to thwart promised protests with a curfew, then lifted it as lawyers and opposition politicians denounced it as illegal. Thousands of protesters entered the capital, Colombo, and swarmed into Rajapaksa’s fortified residence. Video images showed jubilant crowds splashing in the garden pool, lying on beds and using their cellphone cameras to capture the moment. Some made tea, while others issued statements from a conference room demanding that the president and prime minister go.

It was not clear if Rajapaksa was there at the time, and government spokesman Mohan Samaranayake said he had no information about the president’s movements.

Protesters later broke into the prime minister’s private residence and set it on fire, Wickremesinghe’s office said. It wasn’t immediately clear if he was there when the incursion happened.

Earlier, police fired tear gas at protesters who gathered in the streets to march on the presidential residence, waving flags, banging drums and chanting slogans. In all, more than 30 people were hurt in Saturday’s chaos.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said in a televised statement that he informed Rajapaksa that parliamentary leaders had met and decided to request he leave office, and the president agreed. However, Rajapaksa will remain temporarily to ensure a smooth transfer of power, Abeywardena added, according to Associated Press.

“He asked me to inform the country that he will make his resignation on Wednesday the 13th, because there is a need to hand over power peacefully,” Abeywardena said.

“Therefore there is no need for further disturbances in the country, and I urge everyone for the sake of the country to maintain peace to enable a smooth transition,” the speaker continued.

Opposition lawmaker Rauff Hakeem said a consensus was reached for the speaker of Parliament to take over as temporary president and work on an interim government.

Wickremesinghe announced his own impending resignation but said he would not step down until a new government is formed, angering protesters who demanded his immediate departure. 

“Today in this country we have a fuel crisis, a food shortage, we have the head of the World Food Program coming here and we have several matters to discuss with the IMF,” Wickremesinghe said. “Therefore, if this government leaves there should be another government.”

Wickremesinghe said he suggested to the president to have an all-party government, but did not say anything about Rajapaksa’s whereabouts. Opposition parties were discussing the formation of a new government.

Rajapaksa appointed Wickremesinghe as prime minister in May in the hope that the career politician would use his diplomacy and contacts to resuscitate a collapsed economy. But people’s patience wore thin as shortages of fuel, medicine and cooking gas only increased and oil reserves ran dry. Authorities have also temporarily shuttered schools. 

The country is relying on aid from India and other nations as leaders try to negotiate a bailout with the International Monetary Fund. Wickremesinghe said recently that negotiations with the IMF were complex because Sri Lanka was now a bankrupt state.

Sri Lanka announced in April that it was suspending repayment of foreign loans due to a foreign currency shortage. Its total foreign debt amounts to $51 billion, of which it must repay $28 billion by the end of 2027, Associated Press reported.

Months of demonstrations have all but dismantled the Rajapaksa political dynasty, which has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades but is accused by protesters of mismanagement and corruption. The president’s older brother resigned as prime minister in May after violent protests saw him seek safety at a naval base.

With fuel costs making other forms of travel impossible for many, protesters crowded onto buses and trains Saturday to get to the capital, while others made their way on bicycles and on foot. At the president’s seaside office, security personnel tried in vain to stop protesters who pushed through fences to run across the lawns and inside the colonial-era building. 

At least 34 people including two police officers were hurt in scuffles. Two were in critical condition, while others sustained minor injuries, according to an official at the Colombo National Hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to the media. 

Privately owned Sirasa Television said at least six of its workers, including four reporters, were hospitalized after being beaten by police while covering the protest at the prime minister’s home.

Sri Lanka Medical Council, the country’s top professional body, warned that hospitals were running with minimum resources and would not be able to handle any mass casualties from the unrest. 

Protest and religious leaders said Rajapaksa has lost his mandate and it is time for him to go.

“His claim that he was voted in by the Sinhala Buddhists is not valid now,” said Omalpe Sobitha, a prominent Buddhist leader. He urged Parliament to convene immediately to select an interim president, according to Associated Press.

The government of Nepal has decided to observe one-day national mourning on July 9 in honor of former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe who succumbed to bullet injuries on Friday.

A Cabinet meeting held today decided to observe the national mourning over the death of Abe tomorrow.

Abe died after being shot while campaigning for a parliamentary election in the Nara region on Friday.

He was rushed to a hospital but doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

Abe (67) was the longest-serving leader of Japan before he resigned for health reasons in 2020.

Nepal reported 98 new Covid-19 cases on Friday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 061 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 83 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 093 people underwent antigen tests, of which 15 were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 27 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 564 active cases in the country.

The government has withdrawn the Citizenship Bill from the Parliament on Friday.

The Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment) Bill 2075 presented by Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand has been withdrawn from the House of Representatives.

The main opposition CPN-UML lawmakers protested against the proposal to withdraw the bill.

Minister Khand said that the Citizenship Bill will be presented again from the Cabinet meeting today itself.

The KP Sharma Oli government had registered the bill at the Parliament Secretariat on August 7, 2018.

Two persons died and 44 others were injured in a tractor accident at Dumkata in Chainpur Municipality-10, Sankhuwasabha district on Friday.

DSP Laldhoj Subedi of the District Police Office said that the deceased have been identified as Keshav Karki and Ganga Bahadur Tamang.

Among the injured, one is said to be in critical condition.

Police said that the injured are being treated at the Manakamana Community Hospital and the District Hospital.

According to police, they have arrested tractor (Ko 2 Ta 3961) driver Mohan Kumar Tamang (34) of Chainpur-10 for investigation.

Chief of Army Staff Prabhuram Sharma and Indian ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava held a meeting at the Bhadrakali-based Jungiadda on Friday.

During the meeting, the duo discussed issues of mutual interest among others, read a statement issued by the Nepal Army.

Nepal Army said that this kind of meeting will help further strengthening the bilateral ties between the two countries.

After assuming office, ambassador Srivastava has already paid courtesy calls on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka and leaders of major political parties.

Japan’s NHK television says former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has died after being shot during a campaign speech, Associated Press reported.

Abe was shot from behind minutes after he started his speech Friday in Nara in western Japan. He was airlifted to a hospital for emergency treatment but was not breathing and his heart had stopped. He was pronounced dead later at the hospital.

The 67-year-old Abe was Japan’s longest-serving leader before stepping down for health reasons in 2020, according to Associated Press.

Police arrested the suspected gunman at the scene of the attack, which shocked people in a country known as one of the world’s safest.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 34. 70 points to close at 1,992.62 points on Friday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 5. 60 points to close at 379. 89 points.

A total of 3,063,476 units of the shares of 217 companies were traded for Rs 1. 16 billion.

Meanwhile, Global IME Samunnat Scheme was the top gainer today with its price surging by 2. 82 percent. Likewise, Himalaya Urja Bikas Company Limited was the top loser with its price dropped by 5. 44 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalisation stood at Rs 2. 84 trillion.