Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned on May 9 following weeks of protests against his government. Anti-government protesters attacked buses carrying local officials who traveled to Colombo on Monday morning to attend a meeting with the prime minister, according to the national police. At least 151 people were admitted to the hospital following violence at the protests, Colombo National Hospital said. The country has suffered months of blackouts and dire shortages of food, fuel and medicines in its worst economic crisis since independence, sparking weeks of overwhelmingly peaceful anti-government demonstrations. Rajapaksa's spokesman Rohan Weliwita said the 76-year-old sent his letter of resignation to his younger brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, clearing the way for a "new unity government."