and in the tennis, moscow born elena rybakina wins the women s singles title, representing kazakhastan. hello and welcome to bbc news. sri lanka is in the grip of chaos and uncertainty after a dramatic 2a hours which has seen the country s president and prime minister pledge to step down. they were left with little choice after demonstrators stormed or set fire to to their official residences a howl of anger after months of protests about economic mismanagement. our correspondent, anbarasan ethirajan, reports from the capital, colombo. the barricades were meant to keep the protesters back, but they were no barrier for the furious and desperate crowds, all suffering the effects of living in economic collapse. police used water cannon and fired shots in the air, but the crowds were more determined. and they kept surging forward until eventually they converged on the presidential palace and took over the home and office of the man they want to force from power. he had already
to end the invasion. now on bbc news, global questions discusses what s next for georgia and moldova. after president putin s invasion of ukraine, other former soviet republics are feeling vulnerable. hello, i m zeinab badawi. welcome to this edition of global questions from tbilisi, the capital of georgia. this country neighbours russia and there s a lot of concern here that moscow s invasion of ukraine could trigger putin s ambitions to try to control other parts of the former soviet union, like georgia. after all, just north of here are two russian backed separatist enclaves in georgia. in this programme, we ll be looking at what it s like to live in moscow s shadow and ask how real is putin s dream of a new imperialist russia? welcome to the magnificent garden hall in tbilisi. i m joined by a top panel from across the region who are going to be answering questions from our local audience here. but before they do that, let us give you this brief overview of why people in f
a trial of an american basketball star on drug charges has opened in russia. the kremlin has denied their detention is motivated by tensions over ukraine. now on bbc news it s time for global questions. hello, i m zeinab badawi. welcome to this edition of global questions from tbilisi, the capital of georgia. this country neighbours russia and there s a lot of concern here that moscow s invasion of ukraine could trigger putin s ambitions to try to control other parts of the former soviet union, like georgia. after all, just north of here are two russian backed separatist enclaves in georgia. in this programme, we ll be looking at what it s like to live in moscow s shadow and ask how real is putin s dream of a new imperialist russia? welcome to the magnificent garden hall in tbilisi. i m joined by a top panel from across the region who are going to be answering questions from our local audience here. but before they do that, let us give you this brief overview of why people
and ask how real is putin s dream of a new imperialist russia? welcome to the magnificent garden hall in tbilisi. i m joined by a top panel from across the region who are going to be answering questions from our local audience here. but before they do that, let us give you this brief overview of why people in former soviet republics like georgia and moldova are feeling a bit vulnerable after putin s invasion of ukraine. georgia is probably the most exposed country in the world to russian aggression. moscow has troops stationed about 30km from where i m standing here in the heart of the capital, tbilisi. 1a years ago, russia gave military support to separatists in two regions, south ossetia and abkhazia. there was a five day war between these separatists and georgian forces in which hundreds died and thousands were displaced. moscow recognises both south ossetia and abkhazia as independent republics and is believed to keep thousands of troops there, much like the pro russian t