Protesters defy curfew to demand Sri Lanka leader quit

By KRISHAN FRANCIS and BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI
Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan professionals, students and even mothers with small children have defied an emergency decree and curfew to demand President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation, holding him responsible for the island nation’s worst economic crisis and shortages of food, fuel and medicines. Police fired tear gas and water canons at hundreds of university students who were trying to break through barricades near the town of Kandy in the tea growing region. Near Colombo, students dispersed without incident while armed soldiers and police stopped opposition lawmakers from marching to the iconic Independence Square. Sri Lanka has accumulated huge debts and with dwindling foreign reserves it’s unable to pay for imports. As calls for him to quit grew, Rajapaksa imposed a weekend curfew.