Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has declared a state of emergency in his role as the acting president.
"The prime minister as acting president has declared a state of emergency (countrywide) and imposed a curfew in the western province," Wickremesinghe's media secretary, Dinouk Colombage, told Reuters.
The curfew comes into effect immediately.
It comes after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on Wednesday, leading to more protests amid an economic crisis.
At least 14 killed in explosion at weapons depot in Syria
At least 14 people were killed and 11 wounded on Wednesday in an explosion at a temporary site used to store weapons and remnants of war near the Syrian city of Sarmada in Idlib province, state television reported.
US hits five Iranian oil tankers after attack on Navy ships
The United States has destroyed five Iranian oil carriers on Tuesday after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted its navy warship with ballistic missiles "twice over the past two days".
UK gives air traffic provider a week to probe outage that halted flights
Britain's NATS air traffic control provider has a week to investigate the systems failure that halted flights and stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers, the government said, as pressure mounts on its chief executive.
Serbia's President Vucic dissolves parliament, calls snap elections
Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday dissolved parliament and announced snap elections for next month as he seeks to extend his hold on power by running for prime minister.
With large crowds attending, Norway lays King Harald to rest
Norway's King Harald Vwas being laid to rest on Wednesday, in a series of ceremonies marking the culmination of 13 days of national mourning following his death at the age of 89.
