Sri Lanka's embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday fled to the Maldives on a military jet, hours before he was supposed to step down in the face of a public revolt against him and his family for mishandling the economy that has bankrupted the country.

The entire Sri Lankan Cabinet will resign and hand over their responsibilities to a new all-party interim government as soon as it is formed, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office said on Monday, as the bankrupt island nation grappled with political and economic crises.

Japan's governing party and its coalition partner scored a major victory in a parliamentary election Sunday imbued with meaning after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe amid uncertainty about how his loss may affect party unity.

Colombo, Jul 11 (PTI) Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday officially conveyed to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he would resign on July 13 as previously announced, the Prime Minister's office said.

 Sri Lanka's main Opposition parties on Sunday agreed to form an all-party interim government after the anticipated resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday, following unprecedented political turmoil that forced him and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to offer their resignations over the mishandling of the nation's crippling economic crisis.

Johannesburg: A mass shooting at a tavern in Johannesburg's Soweto township has killed 15 people and left others in critical condition, according to police.

Colombo: The anti-government protesters in Sri Lanka who stormed embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's official residence have claimed to have recovered millions of rupees inside his mansion, according to a media report on Sunday.

Colombo: The anti-government protesters in Sri Lanka on Sunday continued to occupy the residences of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, a day after they stormed into the premises and set on fire one of the buildings protesting over the nation's severe economic crisis even as the island nation is still in the dark about the embattled President's whereabouts.