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Sri Lanka's political and economic crisis escalated as protesters stormed the prime minister's office on Wednesday, demanding the country's leaders step down after President Gotabaya Rajapaksafled to the Maldives without resigning, CNN reported.

Rajapaksa had been expected to formally resign Wednesday but instead left the crisis-hit nation and appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as its acting leader, citing a section of the constitution that allows a prime minister to "discharge the powers, duties and functions of the office of president" when the president is ill or "absent" from Sri Lanka. 

Wickremesinghe was also due to formally resign "to make way for an all-party government."

The move further enraged protesters, who want both leaders to vacate their roles as the country's 22 million people struggle to buy basic goods, fuel and medicine.

Hundreds of demonstrators breached the compound of the prime minister's office in Sri Lanka's largest city Colombo on Wednesday and entered the premises, according to footage from the scene and local witnesses. 

The grounds have now been taken over by protesters who are gathering in celebration, following a standoff with armed police at the gates of the property.

People could be seen on the balcony of the property, lighting firecrackers and waving the Sri Lankan flag, according to witnesses.

Demonstrators outside demanded that neither the President nor the Prime Minister "be spared."

This follows months of escalating anger over the economic crisis, with Rajapaksa accused of high-level corruption and mismanagement that ultimately bankrupted the country.

As demonstrators took to the streets, acting President Wickremesinghe appointed a committee of senior armed forces commanders headed by the Chief of Defense Staff Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva to "restore law and order" in the nation, a high-ranking military official told CNN Wednesday, according to CNN.

Wickremesinghe declared a state of emergency across Sri Lanka and a curfew on Wednesday only to later cancel both orders, according to the prime minister's office. 

In Colombo, a handful of protesters also entered the premises of state broadcaster Sri Lanka Rupavahini on Wednesday, negotiating a "deal" with broadcast staff to not give airtime to politicians such as Wickremesinghe.

At the prime minister's office, demonstrators waving the Sri Lankan flag thronged the building and celebrated on the balcony of the property after a standoff with the police, according to eyewitnesses and footage from the scene, CNN reported.

Nepal reported 125 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday.

In the last 24 hours, Kathmandu recorded 100 cases and Bhaktapur and Lalitpur reported seven and 18 cases respectively.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 2, 082 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 177 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 093 people underwent antigen tests, of which 29 were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 45 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 1, 005 active cases in the country.

A massive fire broke out at Bhrikutimandap in Exhibition Road, Kathmandu on Wednesday.

According to Dinesh Mainali, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Kathmandu, the fire broke out at a godown of wheelchairs this afternoon.

"The fire broke out at 3 pm. Fire engines of Lalitpur and Kathmandu are trying to extinguish the fire," he said.

The reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 59. 54 points to close at 1,986.82 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index plunged by 12. 42 points to close at 381.37 points.

Meanwhile, a total of 5,787,126 unit shares of 225 companies were traded for Rs 2. 04 billion.

In today’s market, all sub-indices saw green. Life Insurance topped the chart with 170. 34 points.

Meanwhile, Nepal Finance Limited and Reliance Finance Limited were the top gainers today, with their price surging by 10 percent. Everest Bank Limited Con. Pref was the top loser as its price fell by 9. 99 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalisation stood at Rs 2. 83 trillion.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba completed his one year in office on Wednesday.

On the occasion, the government made public the list of achievements it made in one year.

He was appointed the Prime Minister on July 13, 2021 by the mandamus order of the Supreme Court which overturned then KP Sharma Oli’s decision to dissolve the House.

The Prime Minister’s Secretariat has made public 42 achievements that have been accomplished by the Deuba government in his one year.

The government has become successful in ending political instability and misgovernance, in taking the country ahead in a democratic method, holding the local level elections on time and administering Covid-19 vaccines to all eligible citizens, the Secretariat said.

In the report released on the occasion of its 100-days, the government said that it adopted a foreign policy based on national interest to strengthen ties with all the countries and made an arrangement for the treatment of those injured in the various movements.

Similarly, the Secretariat said that the government has announced a monthly allowance of Rs 5, 000 to patients with kidney and spinal injuries and decided to provide a one-time payment of Rs 10,000 each for 500,000 poor house households.

Likewise, the government has endorsed the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), decided to provide old age allowance under the social security program from the age of 68, started farmers' pension program, decided to provide 98 types of medicines free of cost to the people under the poverty line and increase salary of civil servants by 15 percent.

The government said that it decided to withdraw the State Partnership Program (SPP) and started selling electricity to India among others.

International Liaison Department head of the Chinese Communist Party Liu Jianchao paid a courtesy call on President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Wednesday.

The meeting was held at Sheetal Niwas in Kathmandu this afternoon, the Office of the President said.

Leading an eight-member delegation, Lui arrived in Nepal on Sunday.

He held separate meetings with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka on the same day.

The Chinese leader also held meetings with CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Nepal among others.

Nepal has set a record for the world’s highest altitude hotel.  

Everest Inn Private Limited located in a village near Gorak Shep Everest Base Camp in Solukhumbu district has become the world’s highest altitude hotel.

Located at an altitude of 5,180 meters, the hotel received an official certificate from ‘World Books Records’ London on Monday.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha and Chairman of Nepal Chapter Sagar Katuwal handed over the official certificate of ‘World Books Records’ to Managing Director of the hotel Pasang Tsering Sherpa amidst a program in the Capital.

On the occasion, Minister Shrestha said that it is a matter of happiness and pride for all Nepalis to have such a record by the hotel of Nepal.

He expressed his confidence that this kind of hotel would further contribute to promoting tourism in Nepal.

Saying that Covid-19 pandemic had affected tourism the most in Nepal, Shrestha said that the Ministry is holding consultations with the concerned authorities to revive this sector.

During the program, he said the Ministry would announce the agendas to revive the business of the tourism sector within a few days.

Nepal representative of ‘World Books Records’ Katuwal, said that this record has made Nepal’s name known to the world in a new way and congratulated the managing director of the hotel.

Managing Director Sherpa said that he brought the hotel into operation from 2004.

Sherpa said that he built the hotel with great efforts as it was a very challenging job to construct an eatery in that place.

Record holder director and mediaperson Phurba Sherpa, singer Nirnaya Shrestha, Milan Gurung and Ajay Adhikari Sushil among others were present in the program.

The Sri Lankan president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has fled to the Maldives on a military jet hours before he was due to resign on Wednesday, following days of extraordinary scenes including his presidential palace and office being taken over by anti-government protesters, The Guardian reported.

Following his departure, the prime minister’s office said a state of emergency had been declared as protesters continued to try to storm government offices.

The airforce confirmed that Rajapaksa, his wife and two security guards boarded a military aircraft in the early hours of Wednesday morning, after he invoked executive powers to enable his escape.

“Under the provisions of the constitution and on a request by the government, the Sri Lanka air force provided a plane early today to fly the president, his wife and two security officials to the Maldives,” a statement said.

On their arrival in the Maldives capital of Malé at 3am, they were greeted at the airport by the president, Mohammad Nasheed, and his wife. At the time of his departure on Wednesday morning, the president still had not submitted a letter of resignation.

Protesters, activists and lawyers have called for the president to be prosecuted, along with various Rajapaksa family members, over alleged corruption and human rights abuses.

However, while he is still president, Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest. It is believed that Rajapaksa will not officially resign until he reaches his final destination of the United Arab Emirates, which has long been a haven for disgraced leaders.

As news of his departure to the Maldives broke on Wednesday morning, protests broke out across the city of Colombo as people demanded he step down immediately, according to the Guardian.

There was a heavy security presence outside the office of the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and teargas and water cannon were deployed by police as the crowds gathered to demand the prime minister also step down.

Rajapaksa’s escape to the Maldives followed a dramatic 24 hours in which he unsuccessfully tried various means of leaving the country. He was blocked from boarding a commercial flight to Dubai on Monday night after airport staff refused to stamp his passport in the VIP area of the airport. India also refused to give permission for a military airport transporting him to land on its soil.

The president’s younger brother Basil Rajapaksa, who served as finance minister, was also prevented from boarding a flight to Dubai en route to the US where he is a dual citizen. Basil was also reported to have left the country on Tuesday night.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was elected in 2019, has been resisting calls for his resignation for months, as Sri Lanka has sunk deeper and deeper into a financial crisis for which he is widely blamed.

Rajapaksa and five family members who held senior government posts stand accused of widespread corruption and economic mismanagement which left the country without any foreign currency to import food, fuel and medicines, and pushed inflation to record levels. According to the UN, the island of 22 million people is facing a humanitarian crisis, The Guardian reported.