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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.

England remain unbeaten in the Women’s World Cup after Nat Sciver-Brunt’s sensational century and a remarkable spell of 4-17 from Sophie Ecclestone set up a crushing 89-run win over Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Having put England in to bat, Sri Lanka were left to rue dropping Sciver-Brunt on three, as she punished them with a run-a-ball 117 in England’s competitive 253-9.

The game was delicately poised with England 179-6 after 40 overs, but the captain timed her acceleration to perfection with 49 runs coming from the last five.

In reply, Sri Lanka’s captain and key batter Chamari Athapaththu retired hurt early in their innings, but fellow opener Hasini Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama led a promising recovery to 95-1.

But the co-hosts’ lack of batting depth cost them, despite Athapaththu’s return to the crease before she fell for 15, and they finished 164 all out in the 46th over, Ecclestone’s often-unplayable spell of turn and bounce doing the damage.

England’s third win in a row puts them top of the eight-team table, one point above defending champions Australia.

Earlier, Sciver-Brunt played a lone hand as the rest of England’s top order made promising starts but were unable to capitalise, with opener Tammy Beaumont’s 32 the next-highest contribution.

Amy Jones was run out for 11 and Beaumont was caught in the covers, before Sciver-Brunt and former captain Heather Knight consolidated with a patient stand of 60.

Knight was caught sweeping for 29 and England suffered another middle-order wobble to spin, including the loss of Emma Lamb and Alice Capsey to Inoka Ranaweera in the 35th over.

The discipline of Dean stabilised England again as she added 38 for the seventh wicket with Sciver-Brunt, which allowed the skipper to kick on at the death and ensure they had set a winning score.

England will look to maintain their winning run against Pakistan, also in Colombo, on Wednesday.

Although fixtures against Sri Lanka and Pakistan should be straightforward for England as they look to continue their winning streak, they could prove decisive with back-to-back matches against India and Australia to come.

England thrashed South Africa in what could have been a tricky opener, avoided a scare against Bangladesh and now have a golden opportunity to make sure they go into those games against the pre-tournament favourites unbeaten.

But they will have to contend with more spin-friendly conditions in Colombo on Saturday, with opener Tammy Beaumont saying the nature of the pitches is reducing the gulf between teams.

“Every game in this World Cup is big. Bangladesh played so well against us and Sri Lanka will be a challenge in home conditions,” she told BBC Sport.

“The conditions are bringing all the teams into it, so it’s important we have to keep playing well.

“It certainly feels like the fixtures have worked quite well for us, so hopefully we can keep building that momentum and it will be all guns blazing by the time we get to Indore.”

The surface in Indore is likely to be the most batter-friendly that England will experience, with Australia’s 326 there against New Zealand the highest total of this World Cup.

While England’s batters struggled against spin against Bangladesh in Guwahati, they are not alone.

Australia’s extraordinary batting depth saved them from what would have been a mind-blowing defeat by Pakistan, recovering from 76-7 to post 221-9 in Colombo, but England have also proved they have a well-rounded attack for the surfaces.

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.

India take all the way by Sri Lanka in final Super Fours match before Sunday’s Asia Cup final against Pakistan.

Defending champions India survived Pathum Nissanka’s blistering hundred and some intense Super Over drama before beating Sri Lanka in a dead rubber to maintain their unbeaten run in the Asia Cup on Friday.

With India having already secured their place in Sunday’s final against Pakistan and Sri Lanka eliminated, the Super Fours clash was of merely academic interest, but it turned out to be the most exciting game of this year’s tournament.

Sri Lanka gave a good account of themselves and matched India’s 202-5 to force the Super Over after Nissanka (107) smashed the first individual hundred of this year’s tournament.

Sri Lanka, however, managed only two runs in the Super Over before losing both the wickets in five deliveries from Arshdeep Singh.

India skipper Suryakumar Yadav took three runs from the first delivery from Wanindu Hasaranga to seal their victory matter-of-factly.

Earlier, put into bat, 20-overs world champions India racked up the tournament’s first 200-plus total riding opener Abhishek Sharma’s third consecutive fifty in the tournament.

Abhishek, the world’s top-ranked T20 batter, maintained his red-hot form with a sizzling 61 off 31 balls.

Opening partner Shubman Gill fell for four,

and skipper Suryakumar’s (12) slump in form continued, but India did not really suffer as Abhishek raced to a 22-ball fifty.

Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka removed Abhishek, but Tilak Varma, who made 49 not out, and Sanju Samson (39) maintained the pressure on the Sri Lankan bowlers.

In their chase, Sri Lanka lost Kusal Mendis for a duck in the first over, but cruised to 72-1 after the six powerplay overs.

India rested pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, while Hardik Pandya bowled just one over before leaving the field.

Nissanka needed 25 balls to bring up his fifty, and Kusal Perera (58) could not be denied his half-century either.

Spinner Varun Chakravarthy broke the 127-run stand when he dismissed Perera.

Nissanka raced to a 52-ball hundred, but fell in the first ball of the last over, which ended with Sri Lanka also on 202-5, forcing the Super Over.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake says his country knows well the futility of war. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, he called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Who: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka
What: T20 Asia Cup 2025 Super Fours
When: Tuesday, September 23 at 6:30pm (14:30 GMT)
Where: Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will have live build-up from 11:00 GMT ahead of our comprehensive text commentary stream of the match.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka meet in their Super Fours match at the T20 Asia Cup 2025 knowing that a loss in Abu Dhabi could jeopardise their place in the tournament.

Both former champions have lost their opening games in the second phase of the regional competition, and the match on Tuesday will offer them a chance to revive their campaign for the final.

The top two teams from the round-robin style Super Fours will qualify for the final in Dubai on Sunday.

Bangladesh and India, the other Super Fours teams, each have two points on the board after their respective wins against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Six-time winners Sri Lanka were edged by the Tigers by four wickets in a closely fought match on Saturday, while Pakistan were handed a second defeat in eight days at the hands of India on Sunday.

Charith Asalanka’s team were unbeaten in Group B and will start as favourites against Pakistan, whom they have beaten in their last five T20 international (T20I) meetings.

For two-time champions Pakistan, the match will offer a chance to restore some pride after their two heavy losses against archrivals India.

Players to watch: Pakistan

• Fakhar Zaman: The veteran batter has made a return to the team after a long, injury-forced layoff. And while he hasn’t posted big scores on a consistent basis, Zaman is known to demoralise opposition bowlers once he gets in the flow. The longer the opener stays at the crease, the better Pakistan’s chances of posting a big target or chasing one down.
• Abrar Ahmed: The bespectacled leg-spinner has been Pakistan’s most economical bowler in the tournament despite picking up only four wickets in his four Asia Cup games so far. His tight spells often force opposition batters to attack the other bowlers and lose wickets at the other end, making Abrar a key figure in Pakistan’s lineup.

Players to watch: Sri Lanka

• Pathum Nissanka: The Sri Lankan opener is enjoying an exceptional run of form and has scored a minimum of 30 runs in 16 of his last 25 innings in T20Is at a strike rate of 124. At the Asia Cup 2025, Nissanka is second on the run-scoring charts with 146 runs in four matches, 27 runs behind India’s exceptional batter Abhishek Sharma.
• Wanindu Hasaranga: Hasaranga’s place in the Sri Lankan side has been blighted by frequent injuries, but the leg-spin bowling all-rounder remains a key member of the team. He has taken five wickets in five Asia Cup 2025 matches at an economy rate of under six. Hasaranga enjoys playing against Pakistan and has taken 14 wickets and scored 61 runs in his five matches against the 2012 Asian champions.

Super Fours points table and qualification scenario

India sit on top of the Super Fours table with two points and a net run rate (NRR) of 0.689, followed by Bangladesh, who have the same number of points but an NRR of 0.121.

The winner of Tuesday’s match could rank anywhere from first to third, based on their NRR, and the losing team, while still not out, must win their last match by a big margin and hope the other results go their way.

Points Table 📊

The Super 4️⃣s are off to a thrilling start, with 🇮🇳 & 🇧🇩 recording important wins in their respective rivalry clashes and occupy top spots.#DPWorldAsiaCup2025 #ACC pic.twitter.com/eRw9yRHzco

— AsianCricketCouncil (@ACCMedia1) September 22, 2025

Head-to-head: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka in T20Is

While Pakistan lead Sri Lanka in their overall T20I results, the Lions have been the dominant team in the format in the past six years.

Pakistan have beaten Sri Lanka 13 out of 23 times, but their last T20I win against the Lions came in 2019.

Form guide: Pakistan

Pakistan have blown hot and cold in the T20 Asia Cup, having won against lower-ranked teams Oman and the UAE while losing both their matches against defending champions India.

As always, it is difficult to predict which Pakistan team – hot or cold – will turn up on match day.

Last five results (most recent first): L W L W W

Form guide: Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka beat all three of their Group B opponents prior to the Super Fours loss against Bangladesh, but have had a mixed bag of results in T20Is in 2025. They beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in their bilateral series but lost 2-1 to Bangladesh a few weeks earlier.

Last five results (most recent first): L W W W W

Team news: Pakistan

Pakistan have, predictably, made a few changes to their playing XIs over the course of the tournament, and not all of them have paid off.

Belligerent batter Hasan Nawaz’s exclusion from the team that faced India on Sunday was met with criticism, especially as the player replacing him – Hussain Talat – did not improve on Nawaz’s performances.

Salman Agha’s team have also switched between playing two spinners and pace bowlers.

Nawaz and spinner Sufiyan Muqeem could return against Sri Lanka.

Predicted XI: Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha (captain), Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Hasan Nawaz/Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi/Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed, Sufiyan Muqeem

Team news: Sri Lanka

Lower-order batter Kamil Mishara’s spot in the playing XI will be under scrutiny, given his low strike rate and scores in the last three matches. Janith Liyanage could replace Mishara on Tuesday.

Predicted XI: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wicketkeeper), Kamil Mishara/Janith Liyanage, Kusal Perera, Charith Asalanka (captain), Dasun Shanaka, Kamindu Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Thushara

The Super Fours stage of the Asia Cup opens with Bangladesh beating Sri Lanka by four wickets in Dubai.

Attacking half-centuries from Saif Hassan and Towhid Hridoy helped Bangladesh stun Sri Lanka by four wickets in the opening Super Four match at the Asia Cup.

Hassan scored 61 runs off 45 balls, with two fours and four sixes, and Hridoy hit 58 off 37 with two sixes, as Bangladesh won with a ball to spare after a dramatic final over on Saturday.

With five runs needed off the last six balls, Jaker Ali hit Dasun Shanaka for a first-ball four, and then was bowled. Shanaka then sent back Mahedi Hasan for a two-ball duck.

On the penultimate delivery, Nasum Ahmed and Shamim Hossain, 14 not out off 12, ran hard to end Sri Lanka’s unbeaten run.

Bangladesh finished with 169-6 for its third-highest successful chase in Twenty20s.

Earlier, Shanaka’s 64 not out off 37 balls helped power Sri Lanka to 168-7.

India and Pakistan face off in the next Super Four game on Sunday — their second clash in the tournament after the controversial no-handshakes group match.

Despite a quick opening stand between Pathum Nissanka (22) and Kusal Mendis (34), Sri Lanka was reduced to 65-3 in 9.1 overs after Mahedi Hasan struck twice.

Shanaka then took charge and scored 50 off 30 balls, including two fours and five sixes. He hit six sixes in all, and put up 57 off 27 balls with Charith Asalanka for the fifth wicket.

In the 19th over, Asalanka was dropped and then run out off the same delivery in his 21 off 12 balls. Shanaka, also dropped, stayed unbeaten till the end.

Vital momentum was lost in the over by the run out and Mustafizur Rahman two wickets.

Tanzid Hasan was bowled for a two-ball duck, but it did not deter his partner, who counterattacked Sri Lanka. Bangladesh skipper Litton Das (23) shared 59 off 34 balls for the second wicket.

Bangladesh was 59-1 in the powerplay with Saif Hassan leading. He reached 50 off 36 balls.

Hassan and Hridoy combined for 54 as Bangladesh’s chase gained momentum.

Hridoy guided the chase towards the finish line with 50 off 31 balls. He was trapped in the 19th over by Dushmantha Chameera, but Shamin Hossain helped to finish off the game despite the final over drama.

It was Bangladesh’s first successful 160-plus chase in 16 attempts — the previous instance was in March 2024, also against Sri Lanka.

Follow our live build-up, with toss and team news, ahead of our full text commentary stream.

Who: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka
What: Asia Cup T20 Group B match
Where: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAE
When: Saturday, September 13 at 6:30pm (14:30 GMT)

How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 3:30pm (11:30 GMT) in advance of our live text commentary stream.

The first crunch game of the 2025 Asia Cup comes in Group B with six-time winners Sri Lanka taking on a Bangladesh side that will very much fancy their chances in a game that is likely to go a long way to deciding the fate of the tough group.

With Afghanistan already up and running in the four-team group with their win against Hong Kong, who Bangladesh also beat in their group opener, Sri Lanka will be feeling the pressure to get on the board in their first outing.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at a battle between two sides hoping to lift the trophy following the September 28 final.

What is Bangladesh’s T20 form coming into the game?

A 33-ball half-century from captain Litton Das handed Bangladesh an opening win in the Asia Cup on Thursday.

Bangladesh cruised to 144-3 for a seven-wicket victory after Hong Kong, which lost to Afghanistan in its opening game, made 143-7 after being put in.

Litton made a watchful start after Parvez Hossain Emon (19) was deceived by Ayush Shukla’s slower ball and was caught at deep mid-wicket in the third over.

Hong Kong struck once more inside the powerplay when Nizakat Khan ran back from mid-off and held onto a catch over his shoulders to dismiss Tanzid Hasan, who struggled to score 14 off 18 balls with only one boundary.

But Litton and Towhid Hridoy (35 not out) ensured Hong Kong did not get a sniff to repeat its historic win against Bangladesh at the T20 World Cup in 2014.

“Very important to win the first game,” Litton said. “Last couple of series, we have played good cricket, but in the Asia Cup, a little bit of pressure comes automatically.”

Bangladesh had beaten both Pakistan and Sri Lanka 2-1 in their last two bilateral series.

What is Sri Lanka’s T20 form like?

An unbeaten 73 from Kamil Mishara led Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in Harare last Sunday to seal a 2-1 win in their Twenty20 series to warm up for the Asia Cup.

Put in to bat after losing the toss, Zimbabwe made 191-8, but Sri Lanka cruised to the target with 14 balls to spare.

Mishara and Kusal Perera put on 117 runs in an unbeaten third-wicket stand as Sri Lanka completed a white-ball double, having won the preceding one-day international series against Zimbabwe 2-0.

Having scored just 35 runs in four previous T20I innings, 24-year-old Mishara made his mark with a match-winning knock, hitting three sixes and six fours from the 43 balls he faced.

“It is a privilege to win a game for my country, I just feel very good,” said Mishara.

“There was pressure, of course, but the coaching staff just told me to play my normal game. I just wanted to get into my rhythm and then played my normal game.”

On top of the 2-1 series defeat by Bangladesh, Sri Lanka lost their previous T20 series 2-1 to their hosts, New Zealand, in December and January.

What happened the last time Bangladesh played Sri Lanka?

Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets to seal their three-game T20 bilateral series earlier this year.

Having won the toss in Colombo, Sri Lanka were restricted to 132-7 with opener Pathum Nissanka top scoring with 46 off 39 balls for the hosts.

Only two other batters made it to 20, however, with Dasun Shanaka coming in at seven and hitting 35 off 25 to top up the modest total.

Shak Mahedi Hasan claimed 4-11 off his four overs for Bangladesh before Tanzid Hasan’s unbeaten 73 off 47 made short work of the chase.

What is Bangladesh’s Asia Cup record?

Bangladesh have yet to win the Asia Cup, but with each tournament that passes, the experience grows, and with it the expectation that they will soon hold aloft the trophy.

They have been runners-up on three occasions, the last being the 2018 final, when they were defeated by India by three wickets.

It was Bangladesh’s third appearance in four finals, with India also claiming victory in the 2016 final and Pakistan beating them in 2012.

What is Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup record?

Sri Lanka has claimed six Asia Cup titles already. The islanders last lifted the trophy in 2022, beating Pakistan on home soil by 23 runs in the final.

Their first victory came in the second edition, in 1986, when they also beat Pakistan.

Between 1997 and 2008, Sri Lanka won three out of four editions, and were the defeated finalists when Pakistan claimed the title in 2000.

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka team news

After their opening win, Bangladesh look set to be unchanged for the crunch second match in the group.

Janith Liyanage, meantime, was a late addition to the Sri Lanka squad for the Asia Cup. The seam bowling all-rounder’s addition to the squad means the Sri Lankans have a 17-strong group for the tournament.

Sri Lanka chopped and changed their way through the bilateral series against Zimbabwe, with Nuwanidu Fernando replaced for the final match by Kusal Perera.

Kamil Mishara was not selected for the first match of the three-game series, with the former two both playing, but played both the second and third games of the series.

Maheesh Theekshana also dropped out of the side from the second match to be replaced by Matheesha Pathirana.

Nuwan Thushara, like Theekshana, played the first match of the series, only to be replaced by Binura Fernando for the final two games.

Predicted Bangladesh lineup

Litton Das (c & w), Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Parvez Hossain Emon, Tawhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali, Shamim Hossain, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed

Predicted Sri Lanka lineup

Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (w), Kamil Mishara, Nuwanidu Fernando, Charith Asalanka (c), Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Dushan Hemantha, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Binura Fernando

A passenger bus veered off the road in a mountainous region in Sri Lanka, plunging down a 300-metre precipice and killing at least 15 people onboard. Authorities say the driver was speeding and lost control of the vehicle.

Sri Lanka is undergoing one of the most complex economic recoveries in its history. The country’s financial collapse in 2022 was precipitated by a toxic mix of unsustainable borrowing, poor fiscal management, and external shocks.

Mass protests erupted under the banner of Aragalaya, a broad-based citizens’ movement demanding accountability, economic justice, and an end to political corruption.

The uprising ultimately forced the resignation of the sitting president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. However, following his resignation, the administration of Ranil Wickremesinghe recaptured power.

Delaying calls for new elections, in 2023 the Wickremesinghe administration negotiated $3bn of support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under its New Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement. Later that year, to unlock a second instalment of this bailout package, Sri Lanka also reached a debt restructuring agreement with a group of creditors including China, India, and Japan.

Even though, by September 2024, the Sri Lankan people elected a progressive government led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, with a historic mandate, the new administration has since been trapped within the constraints imposed by the IMF and the previous political establishment.

The mainstream neoliberal narrative has been quick to highlight the arrangement with the IMF, known as the 17th IMF program, as a sign of stabilisation, praising the debt restructuring agreement and compliance with IMF conditions.

But what of the human cost of this “recovery”?

The punitive structural adjustment process includes privatising state-owned enterprises, disconnecting the Central Bank from state control, curtailing the state’s capacity to borrow, and subordinating national development aspirations to the interests of creditors. It has placed the burden of its Domestic Debt Optimisation on working people’s retirement savings, specifically the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), raising concerns among salaried workers whose current real incomes have already been cut by high inflation and higher taxes.

Public sector hiring has been frozen, major rural infrastructure projects in transport and irrigation have been delayed or cancelled, and funding for health and education has stagnated even as costs rise. The reforms undertaken to achieve macroeconomic stability, including interest rate hikes, tax adjustments, the removal of subsidies, increased energy pricing, and the erosion of workers’ pensions, have demanded a great deal from citizens.

The IMF program has also ushered in neoliberal legal reforms that erode the public accountability of the Central Bank, limit the government’s fiscal capabilities, and encourage the privatisation of land, water, and seeds through agribusiness.

To meet IMF targets – most notably, the goal of achieving a 2.3 percent primary budget surplus by 2025 – the Sri Lankan government has introduced sweeping austerity measures. Where else will that surplus come from if not from the money pots of the poor? Bankers may welcome this austerity, but for those living and working in rural areas and coastal villages, it spells hardship and fear. The imbalances within the debt restructuring program prioritise investor profit over the public interest, shrinking the fiscal space needed to rebuild essential services.

Civil society groups estimate that 6.3 million people are now skipping meals, and at least 65,600 are experiencing severe food shortages.

In a noteworthy move, newly elected President Anura Dissanayake has instructed the treasury to reinstate subsidies for the agricultural and fishing sectors. While welcome, this may not be enough. Fishermen report that fuel costs remain steep, eating into their incomes.

Farmers, many locked into chemical input-intensive production, are struggling with rising costs, climate catastrophes, and reduced state support.

Sri Lanka’s 2025 public health allocation accounts for just 1.5 percent of its gross domestic product – five times smaller than the amount allocated to service the interest on public debt. This stark disparity highlights the fiscal constraints placed on basic social spending.

But this is not just a Sri Lankan story.

It is part of a broader global debt emergency draining public finances across the Global South. A vast number of countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Pacific, and Central Europe have been forced to cede national policymaking autonomy to international financial institutions like the IMF, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

A recent United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report reveals that half of the world’s population – approximately 3.3 billion people – now live in countries that spend more on interest payments than on health or education. In 2024 alone, developing countries paid a staggering $921bn in interest, with African nations among the hardest hit.

UNCTAD warns that rising global interest rates and a fundamentally unjust financial architecture are entrenching a cycle of dependency and underdevelopment.

Developing countries routinely pay interest rates several times higher than those charged to wealthy nations, yet existing debt relief mechanisms remain inadequate – ad hoc, fragmented, and overwhelmingly tilted in favour of creditors. The demand for a permanent, transparent debt resolution mechanism – centred on justice, development, and national sovereignty – is gaining momentum among Global South governments.

This issue is also drawing serious attention from global grassroots movements.

In September this year, more than 500 delegates from around the world will convene in Kandy, Sri Lanka, for the 3rd Nyeleni Global Forum for food sovereignty. The gathering will bring together small-scale food producers, Indigenous peoples, trade unions, researchers, and progressive policy think tanks. One of the key themes will be the global debt crisis and how it undermines basic rights to food, education, health, and land.

The forum is expected to serve as a space to chart alternatives. Rather than relying solely on state-led negotiations or technocratic financial institutions, movements will strategise to build grassroots power.

They aim to link local struggles – such as farmers resisting land grabs or workers organising for living wages – with global campaigns demanding debt cancellation, climate reparations, and a transformation of the international financial system.

It is clear to those of us in the Global South that a just recovery cannot be built on fiscal targets and compliance checklists alone. We demand the reclaiming of public space for investment in social goods, the democratisation of debt governance, and the prioritisation of people’s dignity above creditors’ profit margins.

For Sri Lanka – and for countless other countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America – this may be the most urgent and necessary restructuring of all.

The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Aug. 22 (UPI) — Sri Lanka’s former president was arrested Friday for the alleged misuse of public funds, police said.

Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested in Colombo, the Sri Lankan capitol, while giving a statement to the country’s Criminal Investigations Department. He’s been facing multiple government investigations into widespread bribery and corruption. The charge in his arrest was for using public funds for his personal travel.

Friday’s arrest was about a detour Wickremesinghe, 76, made to Britain in 2023 on his way back to Sri Lanka from an official visit to the United States. He made the stop to attend an awards ceremony for his wife, Maithree Wickremesinghe, who was awarded an honorary professorship from the University of Wolverhampton. The government alleged that it was a personal trip for which about $56,000 of public money was used.

Wickremesinghe was widely credited with helping put the country back on the road to economic recovery. He also served six separate terms as prime minister since the 1990s.

He made 23 foreign trips during his time as president, at a cost of more than $2 million, according to BBC Sinhala.

He served as president from 2022 to 2024, stepping into the role after the country’s worst ever economic crisis triggered a popular uprising that caused his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee.

Wickremesinghe’s arrest is the most high-profile case since the National People’s Power, a leftist coalition, won the presidential election in September. Its leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake became president. Dissanayake, 56, campaigned on a promise of weeding out corruption and prosecuting those who had misused public funds.

In 2019, Sri Lanka fell into a downward spiral, partly driven by poor policymaking by the government of Rajapaksa that depleted foreign reserves and eventually forced the country to default on its debt. Terrorist bombings in 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic, which crushed tourism, also eroded the domestic economy.

By 2022, when Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange reserves ran so low that it couldn’t buy fuel, public anger led to protests and the ouster of Rajapaksa.

As president, Wickremesinghe helped secure an International Monetary Fund bailout in 2023. But the deal required austerity measures. Those unpopular policies, a growing sense among people that he was part of the old guard, and discomfort that he was close to Rajapaksa, led Sri Lankans to reject him during last year’s elections.

Colombo, Sri Lanka — As a girl, when Srimathi Mallika Kaluarachchi would go to the cinema with her family, and a man on the screen would hit the character played by superstar Malini Fonseka, Kaluarachchi would cry.

Then she would turn to her father in desperation. “We used to scream at the screen, telling our father to save her,” Kaluarachchi, now 68, recalled. “That was how much we loved her.”

On Monday, Kaluarachchi joined thousands of fans in bidding a final goodbye to Fonseka, who died on May 24 at the age of 78 while receiving treatment in hospital. Neither Fonseka’s family nor the hospital has publicly revealed the nature of her illness. One of the country’s most popular actresses, Fonseka was widely regarded as the queen of Sri Lankan cinema.

She was cremated with full state honours, as fans dressed in the mourning colour of white flocked to Colombo’s Independence Square to catch a glimpse of her coffin before she was cremated. Songs from Fonseka’s films were played while a projector drone flew above the crowd, displaying a montage of scenes from across her career.

Describing Fonseka as “a true icon of Sri Lankan cinema whose grace and talent inspired generations”, Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that “her legacy will forever shine in our hearts and on our screens”.

A trailblazer

Fonseka, who starred in more than 140 films, had a career in Sinhala cinema spanning more than five decades.

“Whenever we saw her, we’d forget all the pain we had in our hearts,” said Kaluarachchi, wiping away tears. “Now, we know films aren’t real, but when we were children, we didn’t realise.”

Fonseka was special, Kaluarachchi said, because of the way she represented how everyday people experienced love and, often, the violence that comes with it for women in patriarchal societies.

Fonseka started her career as a stage actress before making her film debut with the 1968 film Punchi Baba.

Her popularity peaked in the 1970s and 1980s, as she collaborated with renowned directors, including Lester James Peries and Dharmasena Pathiraja.

Many of her most famous roles shared a common theme: the struggles of women in a male-dominated society. She played a wife murdered by her husband in the film Nidhanaya (1972), a college student in a complicated relationship in Thushara (1973), a village girl hounded by male attention in Eya Dan Loku Lamayek (1975), and a girl from a rural fishing village enticed by the big city lifestyle, in Bambaru Avith (1978).

This success continued into the 1980s, when she also expanded into directorial ventures, including in the films Sasara Chethana (1984) and Ahimsa (1987).

‘A bridge’ across generations

She also starred in the first Indian-Sri Lankan co-production Pilot Premnath in 1978, opposite legendary Indian Tamil actor Sivaji Ganesan.

“She never limited herself to one category. She was in commercial cinema and arthouse cinema,” said 27-year-old teacher Prabuddhika Kannagara. “She played a village girl, a young girl, a married woman, a mother, and even a grandmother. She represented women across all generations.”

Kannagara was one of the last mourners at the funeral, sitting and watching as sparks emanated from the white cloth tower in the square, specially erected for Fonseka’s cremation, according to Buddhist rituals.

She told Al Jazeera that Fonseka had acted as a “bridge” across various eras of cinema, from black-and-white to digital, and had remained a star not only for her mother’s generation, but also for her own.

Fonseka was a five-time Best Actress winner at Sri Lanka’s Presidential Film Awards. Her most recent win was in 2006 for her role in Ammawarune, a film she also directed. She also won international accolades at the Moscow International Film Festival and the New Delhi Film Festival.

She became Sri Lanka’s first female television drama director in the 1980s, a time when women’s participation behind the camera was unusual. Fonseka also had a short-lived foray into politics, serving as a member of Sri Lanka’s parliament from 2010 to 2015 under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Film critic and journalist Anuradha Kodagoda told Al Jazeera that Fonseka was “rare and unique in Sri Lankan cinema” for the range of characters she played.

Petite and fair, with an oval face and soft features, Fonseka was a “pioneer” in representing working-class women onscreen, and “represented the beauty idol for Sri Lankan women”, said Kodagoda.

“She portrayed her characters very organically and authentically. That is the magic of it, I think,” Kodagoda said.

‘There will be no other queens’

Many mourners, some of whom travelled long distances to attend the funeral, recalled moments when they had met or spoken with Fonseka.

“She was a role model for us. We saw her as an example when we went to the cinema,” said 56-year-old jam factory worker Pushpa Hemalatha. “She wasn’t arrogant. We loved her when we were young.”

Fonseka’s final acting performance was in the 2024 music video Eya Wasanathaya Nowe, playing an elderly woman remembering her deceased husband.

Ivanka Peiris, an actress and musician who acted with her in the TV drama Hithuwakkara, told Al Jazeera that Fonseka was “very empowering” as a role model for women, and “everything” for younger actresses in the industry.

And, she said, Fonseka would never be replaced.

“She’s the queen. That’s it,” Peiris said. “There will be no other queens in Sri Lanka. She will be the first and the last.”

Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka – On a beach in northeastern Sri Lanka, Krishnan Anjan Jeevarani laid out some of her family’s favourite food items on a banana leaf. She placed a samosa, lollipops and a large bottle of Pepsi next to flowers and incense sticks in front of a framed photo.

Jeevarani was one of thousands of Tamils who gathered on May 18 to mark 16 years since the end of Sri Lanka’s brutal civil war in Mullivaikkal, the site of the final battle between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist group that fought for a Tamil homeland.

As on previous anniversaries, Tamils this year lit candles in remembrance of their loved ones and held a moment of silence. Dressed in black, people paid their respects before a memorial fire and ate kanji, the gruel consumed by civilians when they were trapped in Mullivaikkal amid acute food shortages.

This year’s commemorations were the first to take place under the new government helmed by leftist Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who was elected president in September and has prompted hopes of possible justice and answers for the Tamil community.

The Tamil community alleges that a genocide of civilians took place during the war’s final stages, estimating that nearly 170,000 people were killed by government forces. UN estimates put the figure at 40,000.

Dissanayake, the leader of the Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which itself led violent uprisings against the Sri Lankan government in the 1970s and 1980s, has emphasised “national unity” and its aim to wipe out racism. He made several promises to Tamil voters before the elections last year, including the withdrawal from military-occupied territory in Tamil heartlands and the release of political prisoners.

But eight months after he was elected, those commitments are now being tested – and while it’s still early days for his administration, many in the Tamil community say what they’ve seen so far is mixed, with some progress, but also disappointments.

No ‘climate of fear’ but no ‘real change’ either

In March 2009, Jeevarani lost several members of her family, including her parents, her sister and three-year-old daughter when Sri Lankan forces shelled the tents in which they were sheltering, near Mullivaikkal.

“We had just cooked and eaten and we were happy,” she said. “When the shell fell it was like we had woken up from a dream.”

Jeevarani, now 36, buried all her family members in a bunker and left the area, her movements dictated by shelling until she reached Mullivaikkal. In May 2009, she and the surviving members of her family entered army-controlled territory.

Now, 16 years later, as she and other Sri Lankan Tamils commemorated their lost family members, most said their memorials had gone largely unobstructed, although there were reports of police disrupting one event in the eastern part of the country.

This was a contrast from previous years of state crackdowns on such commemorative events.

“There isn’t that climate of fear which existed during the two Rajapaksa regimes,” said Ambika Satkunanathan, a human rights lawyer and former commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, referring to former presidents Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, brothers who between them ruled Sri Lanka for 13 out of 17 years between 2005 and 2022.

It was under Mahinda Rajapaksa that the Sri Lankan army carried out the final, bloody assaults that ended the war in 2009, amid allegations of human rights abuses.

“But has anything changed substantively [under Dissanayake]? Not yet,” said Satkunanathan.

Satkunanathan cited the government’s continued use of Sri Lanka’s controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and a gazette issued on March 28 to seize land in Mullivaikkal as problematic examples of manifesto promises being overturned in an evident lack of transparency.

Despite his pre-election promises, Dissnayake’s government earlier this month denounced Tamil claims of genocide as “a false narrative”. On May 19, one day after the Tamil commemorations, Dissanayake also attended a “War Heroes” celebration of the Sri Lankan armed forces as the chief guest, while the Ministry of Defence announced the promotion of a number of military and navy personnel. In his speech, Dissanayake stated that “grief knows no ethnicity”, suggesting a reconciliatory stance, while also paying tribute to the “fallen heroes” of the army who “we forever honour in our hearts.”

‘We walked over dead bodies’

Kathiravelu Sooriyakumari, a 60-year-old retired principal, said casualties in Mullivaikkal in 2009 were so extreme that “we even had to walk over dead bodies.”

She said government forces had used white phosphorus during the civil war, a claim Sri Lankan authorities have repeatedly denied. Although not explicitly banned, many legal scholars interpret international law as prohibiting the use of white phosphorus – an incendiary chemical that can burn the skin down to the bone – in densely populated areas.

Sooriyakumari’s husband, Rasenthiram, died during an attack near Mullivaikkal while trying to protect others.

“He was sending everyone to the bunker. When he had sent everyone and was about to come himself, a shell hit a tree and then bounced off and hit him, and he died,” she said. Although his internal organs were coming out, “he raised his head and looked around at all of us, to see we were safe.”

Her son was just seven months old. “He has never seen his father’s face,” she said.

The war left many households like Sooriyakumari’s without breadwinners. They have experienced even more acute food shortage following Sri Lanka’s 2022 economic crisis and the subsequent rise in the cost of living.

“If we starve, will anyone come and check on us?” said 63-year-old Manoharan Kalimuthu, whose son died in Mullivaikkal after leaving a bunker to relieve himself and being hit by a shell. “If they [children who died in the final stages of the war] were here, they would’ve looked after us.”

Kalimuthu said she did not think the new government would deliver justice to Tamils, saying, “We can believe it only when we see it.”

‘No accountability’

Sooriyakumari also said she did not believe anything would change under the new administration.

“There’s been a lot of talk but no action. No foundations have been laid, so how can we believe them?” she told Al Jazeera. “So many Sinhalese people these days have understood our pain and suffering and are supporting us … but the government is against us.”

She also expressed suspicion of Dissanayake’s JVP party and its history of violence, saying she and the wider Tamil community “were scared of the JVP before”. The party had backed Rajapaksa’s government when the army crushed the Tamil separatist movement.

Satkunanathan said the JVP’s track record showed “they supported the Rajapaksas, they were pro-war, they were anti-devolution, anti-international community, were all anti-UN, all of which they viewed as conspiring against Sri Lanka.”

She conceded that the party was seeking to show that it had “evolved to a more progressive position but their action is falling short of rhetoric”.

Although Dissanayake’s government has announced plans to establish a truth and reconciliation commission, it has rejected a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on accountability for war crimes, much like previous governments. Before the presidential elections, Dissanayake said he would not seek to prosecute those responsible for war crimes.

“On accountability for wartime violations, they have not moved at all,” Satkunanathan told Al Jazeera, citing the government’s refusal to engage with the UN-initiated Sri Lanka Accountability Project (SLAP), which was set up to collect evidence of potential war crimes. “I would love them to prove me wrong.”

The government has also repeatedly changed its stance on the Thirteenth Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, which promises devolved powers to Tamil-majority areas in the north and east. Before the presidential election, Dissanayake said he supported its implementation in meetings with Tamil parties, but the government has not outlined a clear plan for this, with the JVP’s general secretary dismissing it as unnecessary shortly after the presidential election.

‘We need answers’

“Six months since coming into office, there’s no indication of the new government’s plan or intention to address the most urgent grievances of the Tamils affected by the war,” Thyagi Ruwanpathirana, South Asia researcher at Amnesty International, said. “And the truth about the forcibly disappeared features high on the agenda of those in the North and the East.”

Still, some, like 48-year-old Krishnapillai Sothilakshmi, remain hopeful. Sothilakshmi’s husband Senthivel was forcibly disappeared in 2008. She said she believed the new government would give her answers.

A 2017 report by Amnesty International [PDF] estimated that between 60,000 and 100,000 people have disappeared in Sri Lanka since the late 1980s. Although Sri Lanka established an Office of Missing Persons (OMP) in 2017, there has been no clear progress since.

“We need answers. Are they alive or not? We want to know,” Sothilakshmi said.

But for Jeevarani, weeping on the beach as she looked at a photograph of her three-year-old daughter Nila, it’s too late for any hope. Palm trees are growing over her family’s grave, and she is no longer even able to pinpoint the exact spot where they were buried.

“If someone is sick, this government or that government can say they’ll cure them,” she said. “But no government can bring back the dead, can they?”