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COLOMBO — Sri Lanka's president submitted his resignation on Thursday shortly after reaching Singapore, the parliamentary speaker's office said, days after the head of state fled protests triggered by his country's worst-ever economic crisis.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned by e-mail, the speaker's spokesman said hours after he landed in the city-state, after protesters overran his palace on the weekend.

Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on Wednesday, and left there for Singapore a day later.

"The authenticity and the legality of the e-mail will have to be checked out" before being formally accepted, Indunil Yapa told AFP, adding a formal announcement was expected on Friday.

Rajapaksa would be the first president to resign since Sri Lanka adopted a presidential system of government in 1978.

As president, Rajapaksa enjoyed immunity from arrest, and he is believed to have wanted to go abroad before stepping down to avoid the possibility of being detained.

Under Sri Lanka's constitution, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe — whose resignation is also being demanded by protesters — would automatically become acting president until parliament can appoint a successor.

Rajapaksa, his wife Ioma and their two bodyguards arrived in Singapore from Male on board a Saudia airline flight.

Singapore's foreign ministry confirmed Rajapaksa had been allowed to enter the city-state for a "private visit", adding: "He has not asked for asylum and neither has he been granted any asylum."

A handful of Sri Lankans were waiting in one of the airport's arrival areas to voice their anger at Rajapaksa and the economic crisis engulfing their homeland.

"I want to scold him with all the words that I know," said a Sri Lankan design engineer working in Singapore, who identified himself only as Max.

"He's responsible for everything that happened in our country," he told AFP.

Singaporean authorities were quick to warn against protests — it is illegal for even one person to stage a demonstration without prior official permission in the tightly-controlled territory.

Rajapaksa is expected to look to stay in the city-state for some time, according to Sri Lankan security sources, before potentially moving to the United Arab Emirates.

Protesters exit 

In Colombo, demonstrators left several of the emblematic state buildings they had overrun in recent days, after Wickremesinghe instructed security forces to restore order and declared a state of emergency.

“We are peacefully withdrawing from the Presidential Palace, the Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Office with immediate effect, but will continue our struggle,” a spokeswoman for the protesters said.

Witnesses saw dozens of activists leave Wickremesinghe’s office as armed police and security forces moved in.

Armoured personnel carriers patrolled parts of the capital, which had been put under a curfew.

Hundreds of thousands of people have visited the PM’s compound since it was opened to the public, after he fled and his security guards backed down.

By Thursday afternoon, the gates were closed with armed guards posted both inside and outside.

Earlier in the day, business owner Gihan Martyn, 49, accused the president of “playing for time”.

“He’s a coward,” he said outside the president’s palace. “He ruined our country... So we don’t trust him at all. We need a new government.”

Police said a soldier and a constable were injured in overnight clashes with protesters outside the national parliament as security forces beat back an attempt to storm the legislature.

Protesters also left the studios of the main state television station after breaking in on Wednesday.

The main hospital in Colombo said about 85 people were admitted with injuries on Wednesday, with one man suffocating to death after being tear-gassed at the premier’s office.

The military and the police were issued with fresh orders Thursday to firmly put down any violence, and warned troublemakers they were “legitimately empowered to exercise their force”.

But student Chirath Chathuranga Jayalath, 26, said: “You cannot stop this protest by killing people. They’ll shoot our heads but we do this from our hearts.”

Debt default 

Rajapaksa is accused of mismanaging the economy to a point where the country has run out of foreign exchange to finance even the most essential imports, leading to severe hardships for its 22 million people, with four out of five Sri Lankans skipping meals.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt in April and is in talks with the IMF for a possible bailout.

The island has nearly exhausted its already scarce supplies of petrol with the government ordering the closure of non-essential offices and schools to reduce commuting and save fuel.

Diplomatic sources said Rajapaksa’s attempts to secure a visa to the United States had been turned down because he had renounced his US citizenship in 2019 before running for president.

PRAGUE — The European Commission is expected next week to ask EU countries to reduce heating and cooling of public buildings and offices to cut demand for gas, according to a document seen by AFP.

In order to better to withstand the drastic fall in Russian gas supplies, which could be cut off altogether, the commission is expected to urge governments across the 27-nation bloc to set limits on the amount of energy used by public buildings, offices, commercial properties and outdoor terraces.

For optimal energy use, it will recommend the rules require that public buildings be heated to no more than 19ºC and cooled by air conditioning units set no lower than 25°C.

"Energy saved during the summer is energy that can be used in winter," the commission points out in the document.

Energy experts say lowering the thermostat by one degree could cut a building's heating bill by about 10 per cent. Air conditioning units generally struggle and fail to cool a room below 20°C so they waste energy trying.

The recommendation is part of a series of measures Brussels is investigating to cut the EU’s gas consumption by 25 to 60 billion cubic metres per year.

The EU imported around 140 bcm of gas by pipeline from Russia last year, according to the International Energy Agency.

“Acting now could reduce the impact of a sudden supply disruption by one third,” says the document, which is due to be published on July 20 and could be modified in the interim.

It calculates that 11 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas could be directly saved from reducing excessive heating and cooling, and between four and 40bcm via reduced electricity demand. Another 10-11bcm could be saved from use by industries, which have already slowed production due to soaring prices.

The document urges EU governments, where this is “technically feasible and enforceable” to introduce binding limits on heating and cooling in “public buildings, offices, commercial buildings [in particular large buildings]... and open spaces like outdoor terraces”.

“The role of public authorities in leading by example and as an important gas consumer, 30 per cent of the energy consumption, is key in this regard,” the document states.

The commission says that during the “gas winter” — October to March — “large savings can be achieved by deploying alternative heat sources for district heating, heat pumps in households” and energy saving campaigns urging the public to turn their thermostats down by 1ºC this winter.

But such “protected” energy customers — under EU legislation that means households, district heating that cannot switch to other fuels and certain essential social services — represent just 37 per cent of total EU gas consumption. And simulations show these customers would be the last to be seriously affected by large-scale Russian gas disruptions, the commission says.

It is therefore concentrating most of its efforts on power stations and industry, which use huge amounts of gas.

“Abrupt cuts could damage specific branches of those industries which have little room to switch to other fuels — because gas is being used as feedstock for industrial processes — or to reduce production without heavy damage,” the commission warns.

“It would be significantly less costly to moderately reduce natural gas demand for a longer period of time, starting earlier, than having to drastically curtail demand suddenly and without proper preparation,” it explains.

By way of encouragement, Brussels urges EU governments to set up “auction systems”, perhaps involving several countries, to compensate industrial consumers who agree to reduce their gas consumption.

If there is a total cut in Russian gas supply from July onwards, EU states might only be able to replenish 65-71 per cent of their gas reserves per cent before winter, the commission said, quoting forecasts by European gas transmission system operators.

STOCKHOLM — A Swedish court on Thursday handed a life sentence to former Iranian prison official Hamid Noury for crimes committed during a 1988 purge of dissidents, in the first trial related to the mass executions.

Noury, 61, was convicted of a “serious crime against international law” and “murder”, the Stockholm district court said in a statement.

According to the court, Noury was an assistant prosecutor in a prison near Tehran at the time of the events.

“The investigation has shown that the accused, jointly and in collusion with others, participated in the commission of the criminal acts,” the court said.

It said he “retrieved prisoners, brought them to the committee and escorted them to the execution site”.

The proceedings, which have been running since August 2021, have strained relations between Sweden and Iran, and Tehran on Thursday dismissed the verdict as “political”.

A statement from Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the case saying it consisted of “unfounded and fabricated accusations against Iran and its judicial system”.

The case related to the killing of at least 5,000 prisoners across Iran, allegedly ordered by supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini, to avenge attacks carried out by exiled opposition group the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) at the end of the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-88.

Noury was sentenced both for his role in the killings targeting the MEK and for participating in a second wave directed at “left-wing sympathisers who were deemed to have renounced their Islamic faith”, the court said.

The charge of “a serious crime against international law” related to the first wave and the “murder” charge related to the second.

“It feels very, very important that we have a conviction today,” public prosecutor Martina Winslow told AFP, noting that the crimes dated back decades.

“There is no one that has been convicted anywhere in the world for participating in these mass executions.”

‘We won this time’ 

Throughout the trial Noury argued that he was on leave during the period in question, and said he worked in another prison, denouncing the accusations as a plot by the MEK to discredit the Islamic Republic.

Noury’s lawyer Thomas Soderqvist told AFP they were “disappointed” and said they would appeal the verdict.

Noury was arrested at a Stockholm airport in November 2019 after Iranian dissidents in Sweden filed police complaints against him.

During the trial, MEK supporters protested loudly outside the Stockholm courthouse, and a few hundred had gathered ahead of the verdict.

“We won this time,” protesters chanted as they cheered and waved flags after the verdict.

“This is a historic day, both for Sweden and Iranians that have fought for democracy,” Mehri Emrani, a 61-year-old MEK supporter who served time in prison herself and whose husband was a plaintiff, told AFP.

“This is not only against Hamid Noury, this decision is against the whole regime in Iran,” Kenneth Lewis, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told reporters.

Reprisals 

The trial has rendered Stockholm’s already chilly relations with Tehran even frostier.

This is partly because rights activists accuse senior Iranian officials now in power — including current President Ebrahim Raisi — of having been members of the committees that handed down the death sentences.

The so-called “death committees” are thought to have sent at least 5,000 to be executed. The MEK puts the figure as high as 30,000 victims.

Raisi himself has denied ever having been part of these committees.

Tehran has repeatedly called on the Swedish government for Noury’s release.

Concerns have been raised about reprisals against Western prisoners held by the Islamic regime, as two Swedish-Iranian citizens are on death row, with the main concern being academic Ahmadreza Djalali.

Following a recent spate of arrests of Europeans in the country “for no apparent reason”, Sweden has advised citizens against travel to Iran since late June.

TEHRAN — Iran's president said Wednesday his country's demands were "reasonable" during negotiations to restore its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

"Iran has always acted completely rationally and put on the table reasonable demands," President Ebrahim Raisi said during a cabinet meeting, according to his official website.

He added that all of Iran's demands were made within the framework of the 2015 agreement, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. 

Talks to revive the deal, following the withdrawal of the United States in 2018, began in Vienna in April 2021.

If successful, the renewed JCPOA will return Tehran to full compliance with its nuclear commitments in return for much-needed sanctions relief.

But negotiations have stalled since March, with several unresolved issues remaining between the US and Iran.

In late June, Qatar hosted indirect talks between the US and Iran in a bid to get the Vienna process back on track, but those discussions broke down after two days without breaching the impasse.

The US has accused Iran of raising issues "wholly unrelated" to the nuclear deal, an apparent reference to Tehran's demand that the US remove its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp from a terror blacklist.

Also on Wednesday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told reporters that the exchange of messages between the US and Iran is continuing through European Union mediation.

“Negotiations are going on as before through the exchange of messages” between Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, and between Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri and EU coordinator Enrique Mora, Kanani said.

A new round of talks might be agreed upon, he added.

“I think the time and the location of the negotiations will be determined soon,” he added.

The JCPOA sought to guarantee Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon, something it has always denied wanting to do.

But the US unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018, under then-president Donald Trump, and reimposed biting economic sanctions, prompting Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments.

MADRID — Firefighters battled wildfires in Spain and Portugal on Tuesday as Western Europe faced its second heatwave in weeks which threatened glaciers in the Alps and worsened drought conditions.

The mass of hot air which have pushed temperatures above 40ºC in large parts of the Iberian Peninsula since Sunday is set to spread to the north and east within days.

"We do expect it to worsen," World Meteorological Organisation spokeswoman Clare Nullis told a briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

"Accompanying this heat is drought. We've got very, very dry soils," she said.

"The glaciers in the Alps are really being punished at the moment. It's been a very bad season for the glaciers. And we're still relatively early in the summer."

Last week an avalanche triggered by the collapse of the largest glacier in the Italian Alps amid unusually warm temperatures killed 11 people.

Heatwaves have become more frequent due to climate change, scientists say. As global temperatures rise over time, heatwaves are expected to become more intense.

The previous heatwave to blight France, Portugal and Spain occurred in mid-June.

In Spain, some 300 firefighters backed by 17 planes and helicopters were battling a wildfire in the eastern region of Extremadura which has ravaged 2,500 hectares, local officials said.

The blaze, which began on Monday due to a lightening strike, "will probably last several days", the head of the regional government of Extremadura, Guillermo Fernandez Vara, told reporters.

'Oppressive' 

Temperatures are forecast to keep rising in Spain until Thursday, with highs of up to 44ºC expected in Guadalquivir Valley in Seville in the south.

Spain's health ministry warned the "intense heat" could affect people's "vital functions" and provoke problems like heat stroke.

It advised people to drink water frequently, wear light clothes and "remain as long as possible" in the shade or in air-conditioned places.

People who work outdoors struggled.

“It’s hard because the temperature is a bit oppressive,” said Miguel Angel Nunez, a 54-year-old bricklayer at a construction site in central Madrid.

In neighbouring Portugal, firefighters were battling a blaze which has ravaged some 2,000 hectares of land in the central municipality of Ourem since Thursday.

The blaze was brought under control on Monday but flared up again on Tuesday.

With temperatures set to surpass 40ºC on Tuesday in much of the country, Portuguese Prime Minster Antonio Costa urged “a maximum of caution”.

‘Affects people’s health’ 

“We have experienced situations like this in the past and we will certainly experience them in the future,” he added.

The government has issued a “situation of alert” for wildfires for the whole country until at least Friday, raising the readiness levels of firefighters, police and emergency medical services.

The current situation is stirring memories of devastating wildfires in 2017 which claimed the lives of over 100 people in Portugal.

Officials in the town of Sintra near Lisbon closed a series of tourist attractions such as palaces and monuments in a verdant mountain range popular with visitors as a precaution.

In France, temperatures could spike to 39ºC in some areas on Tuesday, the national weather service Meteo France predicted.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne urged all government ministers to be ready to deal with the consequences of the heatwave which is forecast to last for up to 10 days.

“The heat affects people’s health very quickly, especially that of the most vulnerable,” her office said in a statement.

Britain issued an extreme heat warning, with temperatures forecast to hit 35ºC in the southeast of the country in the coming days.

The extreme heat warning was classified as “amber”, the second-highest alert level, indicating a “high impact” on daily life and people.

WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden hosted his Mexican counterpart Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Washington on Tuesday for talks on migration, security issues and economic cooperation.

The visit — Lopez Obrador's second to the White House since Biden took office last year — also offers an opportunity for the two leaders to improve their sometimes fraught relationship.

"Migration cooperation is a top priority for both President Lopez Obrador and President Biden. I think this will be a top subject of conversation tomorrow," a senior US administration official told journalists.

Lopez Obrador has said he expects to discuss security and migration with Biden, including the need to invest in development projects in Central America to deter people from leaving.

"We're also going to deal with the inflation issue," Lopez Obrador told journalists, adding that the two countries could work together to try to curb rising prices with joint measures.

Security would be discussed "within the framework of respect for our sovereignty," he added.

The two countries agreed last year to overhaul their fight against drug trafficking to address root causes, and to step up efforts to curb cross-border arms smuggling.

Human trafficking will also take center stage following the death of more than 50 migrants — many of them Mexicans — who were abandoned in a scorching hot trailer in San Antonio, Texas.

“We saw with the tragedy in San Antonio just the incredible impact of these smuggling networks and the need to, with great urgency, address that,” the US official said.

Migration is a key issue for Biden, with Republicans frequently claiming that he has left the southern US border unprotected against unauthorised crossings.

Mexico’s president also wants to regularise the status of migrants and to facilitate temporary work visas, which he said could help to ease a labour shortage in the United States — something Washington wants to discuss as well.

“We expect the focus to be a lot on how we can expand legal pathways to both countries, with a particular focus on labour pathways from Central America,” the US official said.

The relationship between the two leaders has been tense at times, with Lopez Obrador skipping the Summit of the Americas last month over Biden’s refusal to invite Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Despite the snub, Lopez Obrador said he had “good” relations with Biden and was optimistic that the upcoming two-way talks would yield positive results.