大象传媒

Protests are continuing after Sri Lanka's leader, Gotabaya Rajapaska, fled the country for the Maldives. With such political instability, is there any hope of economic recovery? We hear from people at the centre of the unfolding crisis: human rights lawyer Bhavani Fonseca in Colombo, activist Amalini De Sayrah, and Professor Shanta Devarajan, a former Chief Economist at the World Bank.

Elswhere, and some businesses are at a standstill in Beijing as China deals with a major heatwave. In the US and Canada, there's a race to bring down bulging inflation rates. Credit Canada's CEO, Bruce Sellery, explains why the country's central bank had few options.

We'll also about a policy to force public workers in the Philippines to smile. Psychology professor Paula Niedenthal tells us why it might not have a happy ending.

Joining us throughout the programme are Takara Small, a tech reporter based in Toronto; and James Mayger, Bloomberg's economics reporter in Beijing.

(Picture: Protesters surround the Prime Minister's office compound in Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital. Credit: Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images).