Hundreds of protesters held hands in an anti-government protest along the Galle Face seafront in defiance of a nationwide curfew in Colombo in Sri Lanka. Local authorities issued shoot-on-sight orders on May 10 to quell further unrest after the island nation was rocked by deadly violence and rioting.

Mobs then retaliated across the country, torching the homes of dozens of ruling-party politicians and trying to storm the prime minister's official residence in the capital. Even the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa failed to quell public anger.