ICC

The International Criminal Court confirmed 39 charges against Kony, paving the way for a trial if he is ever captured.

Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have confirmed war crimes and crimes against humanity charges against Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, nearly two decades after the court first issued a warrant for his arrest.

Kony, who remains at large, faces 39 charges, including murder, sexual enslavement and rape, making him the ICC’s longest-standing fugitive.

Judges from the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber III said there are “substantial grounds to believe that Mr Kony is criminally responsible for the crimes” committed in northern Uganda between 2002 and 2005, when he commanded the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

Besides crimes committed by his rebels, the judges said Kony could also be held responsible for 10 crimes he allegedly committed himself, linked to two women he forced to become his wives.

“Mr Kony issued standing orders to attack civilian settlements, kill and mistreat civilians, loot and destroy their property and abduct children and women to be integrated into the LRA,” the judges said in their ruling.

The ruling marks the first time the ICC has confirmed charges in a suspect’s absence, meaning the case can formally proceed to trial if Kony is ever captured. Under ICC rules, a full trial cannot begin without the defendant’s presence in court.

Prosecutors said efforts to track down and arrest Kony, now 64, are ongoing.

The ICC’s decision followed a three-day hearing in September in which prosecutors and victims’ lawyers presented evidence and testimony without Kony present – an unusual procedure that set the stage for Thursday’s ruling.

Years of investigations and witness accounts formed the basis of the decision.

Emerging from northern Uganda’s Acholi region in the late 1980s, Kony’s LRA combined Christian mysticism with an armed rebellion against President Yoweri Museveni’s government.

The United Nations estimates about 100,000 people were killed and 2.5 million displaced during the conflict.

Even after being pushed out of Uganda, LRA fighters launched deadly raids across South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic, burning villages, looting communities and abducting tens of thousands of children – the abducted boys forced to fight and girls forced into sexual slavery.

Kony came back into international focus in 2012 when a viral video about his crimes led to the #Kony2012 campaign on social media.

Despite the global attention and years of military operations to apprehend Kony, he remains at large.

With both teams vying for their first World Cup title, the pre-match talk was all about who could handle the occasion – India with the enormous amount of expectation, contrasted with whether South Africa could use the underdog tag in their favour.

With rain washing out any hopes of starting on time, it was inevitable the captain who won the toss would bowl first but the Navi Mumbai surface remained batter-friendly as it had been in India’s high-scoring semi-final against Australia, exemplified by Smriti Mandhana and Verma calmly cruising to 64-0 in the powerplay.

It was actually South Africa’s bowlers who appeared consumed by the occasion as they bowled too wide to the openers, who reeled off the boundaries with ease, before Mandhana was caught behind off Chloe Tryon and Verma chipped Ayabonga Khaka to mid-off.

The Proteas’ ground fielding was brilliant, but they were guilty of dropping five catches including a crucial drop by Anneke Bosch with Verma on 56, while Deepti was also put down on 35 and 37.

Verma was visibly distraught to miss out on a World Cup century but it was a staggering knock considering the lateness of her inclusion in the side and the magnitude of the game, and its attacking nature was invaluable in taking the pressure off the tournament’s poster girl, Mandhana.

Jemimah Rodrigues, the semi-final hero, fell for 24 two overs after Verma which gave South Africa a chance to regain control, but India showed impressive composure in keeping partnerships ticking over, anchored by Deepti, before Richa Ghosh’s dynamic 34 from 24 balls ensured they finished with a late flourish.

Though it required a record chase, there was a sense that India did not have enough to feel completely comfortable – only adding 69 in the final 10 overs for the loss of three wickets – with the context of India’s semi-final chase of 339.

Though Deepti’s all-round performances have been sensational all tournament, few would have predicted that Verma would also be her accomplice with the ball.

Follow our live build-up, team news, score and text commentary stream from the final in Navi Mumbai at 09:30 GMT.

England rallied to secure their semifinal spot at the World Cup while India’s defeat jeopardises their last-four chances.

England dug in for a four-run victory over India to clinch a semifinal spot at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup on Sunday, leaving the tournament co-hosts in a five-way contest for the remaining place in the final four.

Chasing a winning target of 289, India stumbled from a position of strength to fall just short as they were restricted to 284-5 in their 50 overs.

India were on course for victory for much of their innings – Smriti Mandhana top-scored with 88, while skipper Harmanpreet Kaur hit a run-a-ball 70.

England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt picked up 2-47 and left-arm spinner Linsey Smith bowled a tight spell of 1-40 in 10 overs, including the key wicket of Mandhana, to apply the brakes on the home team and help pull off a stunning win.

It was India’s third straight loss – following defeats to Australia and South Africa – and stunned the home crowd at Holkar Stadium.

This was after England opted to bat first and posted 288-8, with Heather Knight contributing 109 off 91 balls.

England joined defending champions Australia and South Africa in the semifinals with a fourth win in five games. The four-time champions next play Australia on Wednesday at the same venue.

India are still fourth with four points from five games and need a massive turnaround in form against New Zealand on Thursday and Bangladesh on Sunday in their remaining two group games.

“Smriti’s dismissal was the turning point,” Kaur said. “We had sufficient batting to finish the game, but I don’t know how things went the other way. Credit to England – they kept bowling well and kept getting wickets.”

Co-hosts Sri Lanka take on Bangladesh in Navi Mumbai on Monday.

India come close

The chase did not get off to the best start. Pratika Rawal was caught behind for six, while Charlie Dean trapped Harleen Deol leg before wicket for 24.

Mandhana and Kaur then combined at 42-2, and the pair added 125 runs off 122 balls for the third wicket, with India seemingly cruising on a batting-friendly surface.

Kaur reached her half-century off 54 balls, while Mandhana was content with playing an anchoring role. She reached her second consecutive fifty off 60 balls.

Sciver-Brunt got the breakthrough to dismiss Kaur, but India were still favourites to win.

Deepti Sharma hit 50 off 57, and put on 67 off 66 with Mandhana.

India needed 62 off the last 60 deliveries, but momentum swung when Mandhana went for a big shot against Smith in the 42nd over and was caught on the boundary.

India slipped from 234-3 to 262-6 in 33 deliveries with Sharma out caught off Sophie Ecclestone (1-58) in the 47th over.

England piled on the pressure as Amanjot Kaur (18 not out) and Sneh Rana (10 not out) were unable to finish off the chase.

Knight shines

Knight scored her third ODI hundred to lead England’s innings.

England made a good start with openers Tammy Beaumont (22) and Amy Jones putting on 73 runs. Jones scored 56 off 68 balls.

Off-spinner Sharma accounted for both openers before Knight took over the innings, including a 113-run third-wicket stand with Sciver-Brunt (38 off 49).

“I got myself in and put down the accelerator. It felt like we needed 300 on that pitch, but it was frustrating to not get there in the end,” Knight said. “I was desperate to put in a statement performance for my 300th [international game] and I am pleased to do that.”

Knight reached her century off 86 balls, including 14 fours and a six. She was run out in the 45th over as England slipped towards the end, conceding five wickets for 31 runs across 5.1 overs.

Sharma returned figures of 4-51 in 10 overs and followed up with a half-century, but it was not enough on the day.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit Hungary in the very near future, where he will meet United States counterpart Donald Trump for a second summit on ending the war in Ukraine. The first – in Alaska in August – failed to result in any agreement.

But, with an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant issued in 2023 for Putin’s arrest over the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children during Russia’s war with Ukraine, how will the fugitive from justice make it to the negotiating table?

Signatories of the 1998 Rome Statute, which established the Hague-based court in 2002, are required to arrest those subject to warrants as soon as they enter their territory – which theoretically includes airspace, which is also considered sovereign territory under international law.

Hungary, which recently stated its intention to withdraw from the agreement – making it a safe space for Putin – is surrounded by countries which would be bound by this.

However, the ICC, which has 125 member states, has no police force and hence no means of enforcing arrests.

So what awaits Putin on his upcoming jaunt?

Isn’t Hungary technically an ICC member, too?

On paper, yes. But it’s on the way out.

In April, right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced the country would be ditching the ICC’s founding document when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a visit. Netanyahu is also on the ICC’s most-wanted list for Gaza war crimes – his arrest warrant was issued earlier this year.

The Hungarian parliament approved a bill back in May to trigger the withdrawal process, which becomes official one year after the United Nations Secretary-General receives a written notification of the decision.

Given Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto’s comments on Friday on the “sovereign” country’s intent to host the president with “respect”, ensuring he has “successful negotiations, and then returns home”, Putin seems safe from any arrest on Hungarian soil.

What about airspace? Could he be intercepted mid-air?

As Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, “many questions” need to be resolved before Putin sets off on his journey. One of those questions is likely to regard the president’s flight path.

Putin will probably want to avoid the Baltic states after recent violations of Estonia’s airspace by Russian jets, which have put the region on high alert for a potential overspill from the Ukraine war. The Baltics could well force a hard landing.

Friendly Belarus might provide a convenient corridor between the Baltics and Ukraine further south, but this would set the president on course for Poland, which has historically strained relations with the Kremlin and recently warned Europe to prepare for a “deep” Russian strike on its territory. Russian drones have also recently breached Polish airspace.

Slovakia, which is led by Moscow-leaning populist Robert Fico, is still guzzling Russian energy in defiance of Trump’s orders to European countries to stop oil and gas imports, and may be more accommodating. Indeed, Fico is on a collision course with fellow EU members over sanctions against Moscow. But Putin would still need to cross Poland before reaching Slovakia.

Putin’s direct route to Budapest, therefore, appears littered with obstacles.

What about a more circuitous route?

Putin may be inspired by fellow ICC fugitive Netanyahu, wanted for crimes including using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinian civilians in war-ravaged Gaza, who avoided several European countries on his way to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York last month.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Wing of Zion plane briefly flew over Greek and Italian territory, but then ducked south, entirely avoiding French and Spanish airspace before heading over the Atlantic, according to FlightRadar24.

Flying south could be an option for Putin as well. Georgia, whose Georgian Dream governing party suspended Tbilisi’s bid to join the European Union, is a signatory to the Rome Statute but could potentially be relied on to turn a blind eye.

And Turkiye, which is not a party to the Rome Statute, but which has long walked a tightrope between Russia and NATO and hosted previous attempts between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators on ending the war, could be amenable to allowing the Russian president to pass.

From there, the main obstacle would be Greece, providing a route through the Balkan states to Orban’s respectful welcome.

Has Putin made other trips since becoming an internationally wanted war criminal?

Putin has clearly limited his travels since the ICC warrant was issued.

Last year, he hopped over the border to ICC member Mongolia, where he was treated to a lavish ceremony featuring soldiers on horseback by Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh.

Mongolia has very friendly relations with Russia, on which it depends for fuel and electricity. The country has refrained from condemning Russia’s offensive in Ukraine and has abstained during votes on the conflict at the UN, so it was little surprise to see the red carpet being rolled out.

Flying to Alaska for a bilateral with Trump last August was easy since the president could completely avoid hostile countries, flying over his country’s huge land mass over the Bering Strait to the US, which is not a signatory to the Rome Statute.

Similarly, this year’s visit to “old friend” and neighbour Xi Jinping for a huge military parade and a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation posed no problems since China is not a party to the ICC.

This month, the Russian president met Central Asian leaders with whom he is eager to bolster ties in Tajikistan, which has signed up to the Rome Statute.

Will Putin ever be arrested?

The arrest warrants mark the first step towards an eventual trial, although the capture of Russia’s president is almost inconceivable.

Only a few national leaders have ended up in The Hague.

The former Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, surrendered to The Hague earlier this year to face charges of crimes against humanity. The charges pertain to extrajudicial killings committed during his widely condemned “war on drugs”, which killed thousands of people.

The former Liberian president and warlord, Charles Taylor, was convicted in 2012 by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, which held proceedings in The Hague. He was found guilty of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Would a future Russian leader decide to forcibly hand Putin over, as was the case with Serbia’s Slobodan Milosevic, extradited to The Hague after his removal in 2000, for atrocities committed in the former Yugoslavia wars?

That would necessitate a seismic shift in the Kremlin’s power dynamic, which seems unlikely for the time being.

Sri Lanka and New Zealand were forced to settle for a point each after their Women’s World Cup match in Colombo was abandoned because of rain.

Co-hosts Sri Lanka had racked up 258-6 after opting to bat first, thanks to the fastest fifty of the tournament so far, coming up off 26 balls, from Nilakshi de Silva.

The 36-year-old finished unbeaten on 55 from 28 balls after captain Chamari Athapaththu had hit a classy 53 from 72 balls in an opening stand of 101 with Vishmi Gurunaratne, who made 42 from 83 balls.

That left New Zealand needing their highest second-innings total at a World Cup for victory, only for the rain to arrive before the chase could begin.

The umpires officially abandoned the match at 16:45 BST.

While Sri Lanka will be frustrated to be denied a chance to claim a first victory of the tournament, the result leaves New Zealand facing a real battle to reach the semi-finals.

Sophie Devine’s side are a point off the top four and take on Pakistan on Saturday before tough matches against India and England to finish the group stage.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says she has been accused of “complicity in genocide” in a complaint lodged with the International Criminal Court (ICC) over Rome’s support for Israel as it bombards Gaza.

Meloni made the statement during an interview with state television company RAI, in the first public comment on the situation, which has not been confirmed by the international court.

Meloni said Defence Minister Guido Crosetto and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani have also been “denounced”, referring to when the court is officially alerted to a possible crime. She said that she believes that Roberto Cingolani, head of Italian weapons and aerospace company Leonardo, might also have been named.

The complaint, dated October 1, was signed by some 50 people, including law professors, lawyers, and several public figures who accused Meloni and others of complicity by supplying arms to Israel, according to the AFP news agency.

“By supporting the Israeli government, particularly through the supply of lethal weapons, the Italian government has become complicit in the ongoing genocide and the extremely serious war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Palestinian people,” the authors of the court filing against the Italian leaders wrote.

The Palestinian advocacy group behind the complaint naming Meloni is calling for the court to assess the possibility of opening a formal investigation into the charge of genocide against the Italian prime minister, AFP also reported.

Last month, a UN Independent Inquiry found that Israel’s war on Gaza is a genocide, adding to similar assessments from a broad range of experts in human rights, genocide and international law.

The ICC has outstanding arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including starvation, murder and persecution.

However, neither Netanyahu nor Gallant has been charged with genocide specifically.

The ICC also issued arrest warrants for Hamas officials; however, those named have all since been killed in Israeli attacks.

“I don’t think there is another case in the world or in history of a complaint of this kind,” Meloni said of the complaint against her in the televised comments.

‘Major arms’ exports

According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Italy was one of only three countries to export “major conventional arms” to Israel from 2020 to 2024, although the United States and Germany were responsible for 99 percent of the exports of the larger weapons category, which include aircraft, missiles, tanks and air defence systems.

The major arms that Italy provided to Israel in this period included light helicopters and naval guns, SIPRI said. It is also one of several countries involved in making parts for F-35 fighter jets, under a US-led programme, SIPRI added.

“Concerns about the potential use of the F-35 by Israel to carry out violations of international humanitarian law have led to much criticism of transfers of the aircraft or its parts to Israel,” SIPRI said in a recent report.

Italy’s Defence Minister Guido Crosetto has said that Italy is only sending deliveries of arms to Israel under contracts signed before October 7, 2023 and that Italy has sought assurances from Israel that the weapons would not be used against civilians in Gaza, after Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani had earlier claimed Italy had stopped sending the weapons altogether.

Meloni’s acknowledgement of the complaint against her comes as hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in mass protests against Israel’s war on Gaza in recent weeks.

Italy’s major labour unions have actively supported the protests. The country’s dockworkers have threatened strike action over Israeli forces preventing the Sumud Global Flotilla from delivering aid to Gaza.

Following earlier protests, Meloni’s government sent naval ships to accompany the fleet of international vessels, but the Italian navy pulled back before Israeli forces intercepted the boats in international waters and detained close to 500 international activists.

Six crew members remained in Israeli detention as of Tuesday, according to the flotilla’s organisers.

Mounting legal challenges

The latest complaints against Italian leaders join a growing number of legal challenges to Israel’s actions in Gaza, alongside the ICC case against Netanyahu and Gallant.

At the International Court of Justice (ICJ), South Africa has submitted a case against Israel, accusing it of breaching the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

In April this year, the ICJ ruled against pursuing a case brought by Nicaragua that accused Germany of aiding genocide in Gaza for its role in selling arms to Israel.

The US, which is the largest exporter of weapons to Israel, is not a member of the ICC.

It has also actively pushed back against the ICC pursuing charges against Israel.

Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the US was imposing sanctions on three Palestinian human rights organisations, Al-Haq, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, for engaging in efforts to “investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals” at the ICC.

Oct. 6 (UPI) — The International Criminal Court convicted Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman for committing human rights atrocities as the infamous leader of the Sudanese militia known as the Janjaweed.

Prosecutors hailed the conviction of Abd-Al-Rahman, also known by his nom de guerre Ali Kushayb, as the first verdict against a militia leader for waging a brutal campaign of ethnically motivated violence two decades ago against the civilian population in Sudan’s Darfur region.

The conflict in Darfur is considered the first genocide of the 21st century and unfolded between 2003 and 2020, when ethnic-based rebel groups took up arms against Sudan’s autocratic government. In response, the Sudanese government unleashed its own militias including the Janjaweed, whose name means “devils on horseback.”

The United Nations estimates that roughly 300,000 people died and another 400,000 were forced to flee to neighboring Chad.

The panel of judges overseeing the case in The Hague found that Al-Rahman was responsible for overseeing thousands of government-allied forces that carried out mass executions, torture and the burning and pillaging of entire villages.

“The conviction of Mr Abd-Al-Rahman is a crucial step towards closing the impunity gap in Darfur,” Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said in a statement. “It sends a resounding message to perpetrators of atrocities in Sudan, both past and present, that justice will prevail, and that they will be held accountable for inflicting unspeakable suffering on Darfuri civilians, men, women and children.”

First charged in 2007, Al-Rahman was on the run for 13 years before surrendering to authorities in the Central African Republic. He has denied the charges and his defense argued during the trial that he had been misidentified.

The court’s prosecutors are still pursuing warrants against Sudan’s former President Omar al-Bashir, former Interior Minister Ahmad Harun and ex-Defense Minister Abdel Raheem Hussein.

Tigere Chagutah, a regional director for Amnesty International, said in a statement following the verdict that the conviction should serve as a warning to those involved in the current conflict in Sudan, where the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces is accused of committing genocide.

“This long overdue verdict goes some way in providing justice for the victims of Ali Kushayb and should serve as a significant milestone in the pursuit of justice for crimes committed in Darfur more than two-decades ago,” Chagutah said.

The International Criminal Court has found Sudanese militia chief Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman guilty of war crimes committed during Sudan’s Darfur conflict more than two decades ago. He was accused of playing a crucial role in the atrocities that killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Perhaps the biggest talking point came from an incident early in Pakistan’s innings when opener Muneeba Ali was controversially run out.

The left-hander was struck on the pad by Goud and as the India bowler appealed unsuccessfully for lbw, Deepti Sharma collected the loose ball and threw at the stumps.

She hit but replays showed Muneeba had grounded her bat before the ball was even in the picture and a ‘not out’ decision from the third umpire Kerrin Klaaste went up on the big screen in the ground.

However, before the game restarted, the decision was looked at again and it transpired that when the ball hit the stumps and dislodged the bails, Muneeba had lifted her bat and was still stood out of her crease.

While the batter had already grounded her bat and was not trying to sneak a single, the third umpire changed her decision to ‘out’ and despite Pakistan protests, which saw captain Fatima Sana tell her batter not to leave the field for a short time, Muneeba had to go.

In a further twist, had India simply reviewed the lbw decision, the whole controversy would have been avoided because ball-tracking showed Muneeba was plumb lbw.

Follow our live build-up, team news, scores, photos and text commentary stream for the group-stage match in Colombo at 09:30 GMT.

Who: India vs Pakistan
What: ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025
When: Sunday, October 5 at 09:30 GMT
Where: R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka
How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will have live build-up from 06:30 GMT ahead of our text commentary stream.

Cricket could take the backseat on yet another Sunday when India meet Pakistan in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 in Colombo amid lingering political tension between the South Asian neighbours.

The eagerly awaited group-stage fixture will likely be bookended by questions surrounding the now-infamous handshakes between both sides as the captains meet at the pre-match coin toss, and at the end of the match, when both squads traditionally step back on the field.

When India and Pakistan’s men’s teams met in the Asia Cup 2025, the Indian team and its captain did not shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts in all three fixtures at the tournament, leading to furore and backlash that marred the tournament.

A top official of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has not ruled out a “no handshake” policy for the Women’s World Cup fixture, as well.

“Whether there will be handshakes, whether there will be hugging, I cannot assure you of anything,” BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia told the BBC’s Stumped podcast.

“I cannot forecast anything, but our relationship with that particular hostile country is the same. There is no change in the last week.”

‘Focus on the game’

While it may seem that cricket has been, once again, pushed into the background, both teams want to overlook the controversial build-up and focus on the game instead.

“Obviously, we know what’s happening around us, but we try to stay focused on the game because the World Cup is an event every player waits for,” Pakistan’s captain Fatima Sana said on Saturday.

Sana, whose team were comprehensively beaten by Bangladesh in their opening match, said Pakistan will “focus on the tournament and on what we have come here for” when asked to comment on the “outside noise”.

The last time India played Pakistan at the Women’s World Cup, the players’ off-field interactions left an indelible mark on the game and earned widespread praise from the fans.

At the 2022 tournament in New Zealand, Pakistan’s then-captain Bismah Maroof was surrounded by a group of Indian players as they cooed over her six-month-old daughter Fatima.

Jokes were shared, selfies were taken, and memories were made as players from the rival nations bonded outside their dressing rooms well after the match was over.

Sana, who was part of the Pakistan squad in 2022, was asked whether the players will miss the spirit and camaraderie from three years ago.

“We try to maintain healthy relationships with every team,” Sana replied.

“What happened with Bismah’s daughter, when everyone mingled and enjoyed together – as players, we all like such moments, but the main thing is to stay focused [on the game].”

When the same question was posed to India’s bowling coach Aavishankar Salvi, the journalist was notified that India will not answer it.

However, Salvi did say that India – who beat Sri Lanka in their opening game by 59 runs – will also “focus on the cricket” on Sunday.

#Throwback to this beautiful moment from the 2022 World Cup involving Bismah Maroof’s daughter and Indian girls ❤️#CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/PuxFEC5O1Y

— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) April 25, 2024

‘The world will be watching’

“We want our girls to take it just as a game because the World Cup is a long campaign and there will be a lot of games coming our way,” he said.

“When you enter a big tournament, the area of focus is only cricket, and it’s good to have the players into a good [head] space.”

The fixture is expected to draw huge viewing figures and organisers will expect a sizeable crowd at the ground, as well.

Sana, who also led Pakistan in their match against India in the T20 World Cup 2024, admitted such factors make it a high-pressure fixture and one that “the whole world will be watching”.

“There is pressure but the main thing is how we handle it. We’ll try to focus on our game, execute our plans, and play the way we’ve prepared.”

What happened in the last India vs Pakistan women’s cricket match?

The teams last met in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in Dubai, where India emerged victorious by six wickets.

When was the last time Pakistan beat India in women’s cricket?

Pakistan have only beaten India on three occasions, the last of which came on October 7 at the T20 Women’s Asia Cup 2022. Nida Dar’s all-round performance sealed Pakistan’s 13-run win in Bangladesh.

Will it rain in Colombo during the India vs Pakistan match?

Rain is expected in the early hours of Sunday in Khettarama, the neighbourhood that houses the R Premadasa Stadium in Sri Lanka’s capital.

The weather will remain cloudy throughout the day, with light showers expected to return later in the evening, as well. This could lead to delays or disruption of play.

There was plenty of rainfall on Saturday before Sri Lanka’s match against Australia at the same venue. The persistent rain led to the match being called off without any play.

India vs Pakistan: Head-to-head in women’s ODIs

India hold an 11-0 lead over their neighbours in women’s ODIs. All of India’s wins have come with comfortable margins, including the 107-run victory at the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 in New Zealand.

Players to watch: India

• Smriti Mandhana: Widely regarded as the best limited-over batters in present-day women’s cricket, Mandhana has swept most women’s ODI records in the past two years. She is the top-ranked ODI batter by a distance and was the leading run-scorer in the format in 2024. The Indian vice-captain has scored four ODI centuries in 2025, the most by any player in the current year.
• Deepti Sharma: The all-rounder poses an equal threat with bat and ball, and has performed well against Pakistan in previous encounters. Sharma’s right-arm off-break bowling will be a big threat for Pakistan’s batters. She took three wickets and scored 54 runs in India’s World Cup opening win against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

Players to watch: Pakistan

• Sidra Amin: The veteran batter recently became the top ODI century-maker for her country with her sixth ton in the series against South Africa. She comes into the crucial match with good run-scoring form and is regarded as the mainstay of Pakistan’s batting attack against a strong Indian bowling line-up.
• Nashra Sandhu: The unassuming slow left-arm bowler has been Pakistan’s go-to spin option in recent years and is third on the list of top ODI wicket-takers for her country. Sandhu has taken 16 wickets in Pakistan’s nine ODIs in 2025, including six in a match against South Africa on September 22.

Form guide: India

India entered the World Cup with a home series loss and an away series win in the bag. They were tested by Sri Lanka in the tournament’s opening game, but recovered well to begin their World Cup campaign with a win.

Last five ODIs (latest result first): W L W L W L

Form guide: Pakistan

Pakistan’s form has dipped after their five-match unbeaten run at home in the World Cup qualifiers, where they beat Bangladesh, Thailand and the West Indies to book a place in this tournament. Sana’s team lost a home ODI series to South Africa and then suffered a dramatic batting collapse in their opening World Cup game against Bangladesh.

Last five ODIs (latest result first): L W L L W

Team news: India

India are expected to name an unchanged XI for their second match of the tournament.

Predicted XI: Pratika Rawal, Smriti Mandhana, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Kranti Goud, Shree Charani.

Team news: Pakistan

Pakistan are likely to field the same XI that lost to Bangladesh, but there could be a case for replacing Natalia Pervaiz with in-form all-rounder Aroob Shah.

Predicted XI: Muneeba Ali, Omaima Sohail, Sidra Amin, Rameen Shamim, Aliya Riaz, Sidra Nawaz (wicketkeeper), Fatima Sana (captain), Natalia Pervaiz, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal.

Cricketing wisdom would tell you that you can’t win a 100-over game in the first over, but you can go a long way to losing it.

That is certainly how Pakistan will view it with two of their top three – Omaima Sohail and Ameen – gone for golden ducks thanks to the new-ball brilliance of Marufa Akter.

The 20-year-old had the ball hooping from the off and with just her fifth delivery she produced a superb swinging delivery that beat Omaima through the gate and crashed into middle and leg.

Next ball she was at it again. Slightly wider this time, but the same prodigious swing back into the right-hander – with a bit of help from Ameen’s inside edge – made a mess of the stumps once more.

“How Marufa bowled in the powerplay – she stole the show!” Joty said after the match.

“She’s very young, but she’s very mature and she knows her role very well. Everyone backed her up very well, but she was incredible.”

It was Ameen’s first duck in a one-day international since February 2019 and, given the form she has been in, it seemed to shock Pakistan.

With scores of 121 not out, 122, 50 not out and 37 not out in her past four innings, the significance of Ameen’s wicket for Bangladesh was huge.

Marufa’s impact lessened once the swing diminished, but the Bangladesh spinners were ready and waiting to do their part.

All six bowlers used claimed at least one wicket, with leg-spinner Shorna Akter taking 3-5 and left-armer Nahida Akter 2-19.

There was no respite for Pakistan, and any hopes they had of defending such a low total were scuppered by the class and coolness of Jhilik on debut.

Australia are the team to beat in this tournament and Alyssa Healy’s side showed signs of the quality that has seen them rack up so many global titles.

While not at their best against their Trans-Tasman rivals, the overwhelming quality of their line-up was enough to dig their side out of the occasional holes they found themselves in over the course of the match.

Healy’s side is star-studded, and strong enough that it could omit Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham, Heather Graham and Megan Schutt, all players of sufficient quality to be signed as overseas players in the recent Hundred season.

Gardner starred with 16 fours and one six in her aggressive innings, but she was supported by a lower order that bats deep, with McGrath (26), Sophie Molineux (14) and Garth (38) all chipping in useful runs.

Molineux and Darcie Brown bowled superbly in the powerplay, with the former bowling Suzie Bates in the second over after Georgia Plimmer had been run-out without facing.

Alana King took the crucial middle-order wickets of Melie Kerr and Brooke Halliday to deprive Devine of two potential long-term partners at the crease, while Sutherland conceded just 25 runs from her first eight overs.

It was her ninth that brought the game to its dramatic conclusion, with the all-rounder dismissing Devine then Jess Kerr and Eden Carson with consecutive deliveries for a triple-wicket maiden, before Molineux (3-25) wrapped up the match by having Illing caught behind in the following over.

India staged a brilliant comeback after a middle-order collapse to beat Sri Lanka by 59 runs in a rain-affected opening match of the Women’s World Cup in Guwahati.

The hosts lost four wickets for four runs in the space of 11 balls, including three in the 26th over for spinner Inoka Ranaweera, which saw them slip to 124-6.

But Amanjot Kaur and Deepti Sharma produced a match-winning partnership of 103 for the seventh wicket as Sri Lanka were unable to maintain their initial discipline in the field, with the former dropped four times on her way to 57.

Sneh Rana added some late impetus with 28 from 15 balls and Sharma fell for 53 from the last ball of the innings as India recovered to post a competitive 269-8 from 47 overs, with three overs lost from rain delays.

That saw Sri Lanka’s target revised to 271 from the same amount of overs, and they made a promising start by reaching 82-1 but skipper Chamari Athapaththu’s dismissal for 43 at the end of the 15th over stalled their progress.

Athapaththu’s second-wicket stand of 52 with Harshitha Samarawickrama kept the visitors in the game, but they lacked India’s batting depth and could not recover from a slump to 140-6 and they were eventually bowled out for 211 in the 46th over.

Sharma added figures of 3-54 to her half-century as India entertained a lively crowd of 22,843 – a record for a Women’s World Cup group game – while fellow spinners Sneh Rana and Shree Charani took 2-32 and 2-37 respectively.

The tournament continues with defending champions Australia taking on New Zealand in Indore on Wednesday, while England start their campaign against South Africa on Friday.

The move adds pressure on the UK government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which has been slammed over its stance on the Gaza war.

Members of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party have voted to recognise that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, in a move that increases pressure on the UK government to adopt the same position.

Delegates at Labour’s party conference approved an emergency motion backing the findings of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry, which earlier this month concluded that Israel “has committed genocide”. The vote was strongly supported by trade unions.

The decision contrasts with Labour leader and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as well as senior ministers, who have argued that the question of genocide should be determined by international courts rather than politicians.

Israel is facing a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague in which it is accused of committing genocide.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy reaffirmed that stance following the conference vote.

“That means that it must be for the ICJ with their judges and judiciary, and for the ICC, to determine the issue of genocide in relation to the convention. It is not for politicians like me to do that,” he said, adding that he believed in “the rules-based order”.

EXPLAINER

From tournament format to venues and top players to watch, here’s Al Jazeera’s guide to the Women’s Cricket World Cup.

Women’s cricket will take centre stage when eight nations compete in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women’s World Cup 2025 in India and Sri Lanka from Tuesday.

Australia are the defending champions and record seven-time winners of the one-day international (ODI) competition , but in-form India are favourites to break their World Cup drought at home.

Here’s everything you need to know about the tournament:

When are the first match and final of the Women’s World Cup?

The World Cup begins when India host Sri Lanka in Guwahati on Tuesday and will conclude with the final on Sunday, November 2.

Why will some World Cup games be played in Sri Lanka if India is the official host?

While India was confirmed as the tournament’s official host earlier this year, Sri Lanka was added as a neutral venue for games involving Pakistan.

It came as a result of an ICC-brokered agreement between India and Pakistan that allows both countries the option of playing their games at a neutral venue for a tournament hosted by either South Asian nation. The neighbours have not visited each other for a bilateral cricket competition in 13 years and shared an intense four-day military and aerial conflict in May.

Guwahati is set to host the first semifinal but the venue will change to Colombo if Pakistan qualify for the last four.

Navi Mumbai will host the second semifinal, which will be India’s designated last-four clash if they qualify.

The venue for the final can also be moved to Colombo should Pakistan enter their first Women’s World Cup final.

Where are the venues of the Women’s World Cup?

• Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai, India
• Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati, India
• Holkar Stadium, Indore, India
• Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, India
• R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Which teams are in the Women’s World Cup, and how did they qualify?

• Australia
• Bangladesh
• England
• India
• New Zealand
• Pakistan
• South Africa
• Sri Lanka

India qualified on the basis of their hosting rights, while Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka qualified as the top five teams in the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25.

Bangladesh and Pakistan entered the tournament by finishing first and second in the World Cup qualifiers.

When and where is the India vs Pakistan match in the Women’s World Cup?

The archrivals will face-off on Sunday at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

India have beaten Pakistan in all ODI matches played between the two nations since 2005, with their last win coming at the ICC World Cup 2022 in South Africa.

What’s the format and schedule of the Women’s World Cup?

The tournament’s main round will be played in the round-robin format between September 30 and October 26.

The top four teams at the end of the group stage will qualify for the semifinals on 29 and 30 October.

The final will be played on November 2.

The updated match schedule for #CWC25 is out now 🏆

All the action starts on 30 September! 🗓️

✍️: https://t.co/EArFubvvlg pic.twitter.com/yqYfPbHzbM

— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) August 22, 2025

Which teams are favourites to win the Women’s World Cup?

• Australia: The Southern Stars’ supremacy in women’s cricket is undeniable, with their record seven titles in the ODI World Cup and six in the T20 World Cup proof of their status as the world’s best team. Alyssa Healy’s team is packed with the world’s top batters, bowlers and all-rounders and will be the favourite to defend the title they won in South Africa.
• India: The hosts came very close to lifting their first World Cup trophy in 2017, when they lost the final to England, and will look to go one better on home turf. India enjoy the services of arguably the world’s best batter in Smriti Mandhana, as well as some in-form bowlers and all-rounders. They have won 10 of their last 14 ODIs, including three against higher-ranked opponents.

Who are the players to watch at the Women’s World Cup?

• Smriti Mandhana (India)
• Deepti Sharma (India)
• Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka)
• Sophie Ecclestone (England)
• Megan Schutt (Australia)
• Ellyse Perry (Australia)
• Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa)
• Amelia Kerr (New Zealand)
• Sidra Amin (Pakistan)
• Nahida Akter (Bangladesh)

Which are the five best group-stage matches of the World Cup?

• India vs Pakistan on October 5 at 09:30 GMT
• India vs Australia on October 12 at 09:30 GMT
• India vs England on October 19 at 09:30 GMT
• Australia vs England on October 22 at 09:30 GMT
• Australia vs South Africa on October 25 at 09:30 GMT

Who are the past champions of the Women’s World Cup?

• 1973: England
• 1978: Australia
• 1982: Australia
• 1988: Australia
• 1993: England
• 1997: Australia
• 2000: New Zealand
• 2005: Australia
• 2009: England
• 2013: Australia
• 2017: England
• 2022: Australia

What’s the prize money for the Women’s World Cup?

• Total prize money for the tournament: $13.88m
• Champions: $4.48m
• Runners-up: $2.24m
• Losing semifinalists: $1.12m each
• Fifth and sixth place finishers: $700,000 each
• Seventh and eighth place finishers: $280,000 each.

How can I buy tickets for the Women’s World Cup?

Tickets for all group-stage games are available on the ICC’s ticketing website, and prices start at $1.

Rodrigo Duterte is accused of being an ‘indirect co-perpetrator’ in the murders of dozens of alleged criminals.

Former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has been charged with three counts of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which alleges that he played a role in the murders of at least 76 people during his so-called “war on drugs”.

The charges against the 80-year-old, who has been held in a detention facility in the Netherlands since March, are set out in a document that was published by the ICC on Monday.

They relate in part to the anti-drug crackdown Duterte led when he was president, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of alleged narcotics dealers and users.

The heavily redacted ICC charge sheet, which is dated from early July and is signed by the court’s deputy prosecutor, Mame Mandiaye Niang, sets out what prosecutors see as Duterte’s individual criminal responsibility for dozens of deaths that occurred between 2013 and 2018.

The first count dates to his time as mayor of Davao City, when he is alleged to have been an “indirect co-perpetrator” in 19 murders between 2013 and 2016.

The second and third ICC charges concern his years as president. The former relates to the murders of 14 so-called “high-value” targets in 2016 and 2017, while the latter refers to 43 murders committed during “clearance” operations against lower-level alleged criminals between 2016 and 2018.

The 76 murders were carried out by police as well as non-state actors, such as hitmen, according to the ICC document.

The publication of the charges came several weeks after a court delayed Duterte’s appearance scheduled for later this month at the ICC to hear the accusations against him.

The court must first consider whether the former president is fit to stand trial, following his lawyer Nicholas Kaufman’s suggestion that the case should be indefinitely postponed because of Duterte’s poor health.

Kaufman has said that Duterte is suffering “cognitive impairment in multiple domains”.

Duterte was arrested in the Philippines’ capital, Manila, on March 11, and was swiftly flown to the Netherlands, where he has been held in ICC custody. The 80-year-old insists his arrest was unlawful.

Duterte’s supporters in the Philippines allege that his detention is political and the result of his family’s falling out with the current president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Kony faces charges for the Lord’s Resistance Army campaign of torture and abuse in Uganda in the early 2000s.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is slated to hear evidence against fugitive Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony two decades after his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) gained international infamy for atrocities in northern Uganda.

The Tuesday hearing, known as a “confirmation of charges”, is the Hague-based court’s first-ever held in absentia.

Kony faces 39 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection to the LRA’s campaign against the Ugandan government between 2002 and 2005, which prosecutors allege was rife with rape, torture, and abductions of children.

Kony has eluded law enforcement since the ICC first issued an indictment in 2005, making the hearing a litmus test for others in which arresting the suspect is considered a far-off prospect, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The hearing is expected to last three days and will allow prosecutors to outline their case in court, after which judges will decide whether to confirm the charges. Kony cannot be tried unless he is in ICC custody, however.

“Everything that happens at the ICC is precedent for the next case,” Michael Scharf, an international law professor at Case Western Reserve University, told The Associated Press news agency.

Kony was born in 1961 in northern Uganda’s village of Odek, where he was a Catholic altar boy and took up an interest in spirituality. He later claimed to be a spirit medium and used religious rituals – alongside violence and torture – to maintain control of followers.

The LRA’s attacks against the Ugandan government date back to the 1980s, but the group was not thrust into the international spotlight until 2012, when a #Kony2012 campaign went viral on social media.

By then, the LRA had been forced out of Uganda and was operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan, where it continued its violent crusade. The LRA’s activities killed at least 100,000 people and displaced about 2.5 million in Africa, according to the United Nations, along with the kidnapping of children.

Survivors in Uganda plan to follow the ICC proceedings, including Everlyn Ayo, a 39-year-old whose school was first attacked by LRA fighters when she was five years old.

“The rebels raided the school, killed and cooked our teachers in big drums and we were forced to eat their remains,” Ayo told the AFP news agency. “Many times, on our return to the village, we would find blood-soaked bodies. Seeing all that blood as a child traumatised my eyes.”

The ICC has been under heavy pressure from Washington for its pursuit of cases surrounding Israel’s war on Gaza.

United States President Donald Trump’s administration had previously sanctioned the ICC in response to its investigation and subsequent arrest warrants issued for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza.

Last month, the US announced a new round of sanctions targeting members of the ICC, the latest instance of a pressure campaign against the court.

Al-Haq, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and Al-Mezan targeted for engaging with ICC, state department says.

The United States has added three prominent Palestinian rights groups, Al-Haq, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights to its sanctions list.

The groups were added to the Department of the Treasury’s “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List” on Thursday.

In a subsequent statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the rights groups were targeted for having “directly engaged in efforts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel’s consent”.

The Trump administration had previously sanctioned the ICC in response to its investigation and subsequent arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza.

All three groups had provided evidence on Israeli abuses in the case.

“The United States will continue to respond with significant and tangible consequences to protect our troops, our sovereignty, and our allies from the ICC’s disregard for sovereignty, and to punish entities that are complicit in its overreach,” Rubio said.

We condemn in the strongest terms the draconian sanctions imposed by The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on our organisations: @alhaq_org , @AlMezanCenter & @pchrgaza/1

— Al-Haq الحق (@alhaq_org) September 4, 2025

The Ramallah-based Al-Haq has been a leading organisation both in the occupied Palestinian territory and internationally seeking accountability for Israeli abuses, while leading litigation in several countries.

The Gaza City-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights have been leading independent organisation that have documented Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.

In a statement shared by all three organisations, they condemned “in the strongest terms the draconian sanctions” imposed by the Trump administration.

“These measures in times of live genocide against our People, is a coward[ly], immoral, illegal and undemocratic act,” the statement said.

“Only states with complete disregard to international law and our shared humanity can take such heinous measures against human rights orgs working to end a genocide,” the statement said.

The U.S. just sanctioned three of the most prominent Palestinian human rights groups: @alhaq_org, @pchrgaza, and @AlMezanCenter.

Shameful but not surprising.

This administration bends over backwards to put Israel First every time. pic.twitter.com/ocXBYJllki

— Mohsen Farshneshani (@mFarshneshani) September 4, 2025

In a post on the social media platform X, Mohsen Farshneshani, a sanctions lawyer and advisor at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), described the organisations as “three of the most prominent Palestinian human rights groups”.

“Shameful but not surprising,” Farshneshani wrote. “This administration bends over backwards to put Israel First every time.”

The US previously sanctioned the Ramallah-based Addameer, a human rights organisation focused on Palestinian prisoners and detainees, in June.

At the time, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which both work closely with the group, said the sanctions “would make day-to-day operations harder and harder, including for their employees, assisted communities and service suppliers. This will also negatively affect their engagement with their partner organizations, locally and internationally, including US-based groups”.

“The US is using its sanctions regime to do the bidding of the Israeli government, which has long systematically sought to muzzle human rights reporting and advocacy,” it added.

In July, the Trump administration also sanctioned the Palestinian Authority (PA), which administers the occupied West Bank, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which represents Palestinians internationally.

At the same time, the Trump administration has revoked sanctions imposed under former US President Joe Biden on Israelis from illegal settlements and organisations accused of violence.