Sri Lanka police tear-gas students in fresh clashes

Police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of students trying to storm the Sri Lankan president's home yesterday as the government offered an olive branch to demonstrators demanding his resignation.

Anti-riot squads used water cannon followed by tear gas, as protesters pulled down yellow iron barricades across a road leading to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's official residence in Colombo.

Nearby, thousands of men and women demonstrated for the 51st straight day outside Rajapaksa's seafront office on Sunday, demanding that he step down over the country's worst economic crisis since independence.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe went on national television on Sunday evening offering young protesters a greater say in how the country is administered.