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UPI ID : enb@axis.com
UPI ID : enb@axis.com
Sri Lanka to build 881 rural bridges under four-year infrastructure programmeJuly 13, 2026Construction of more than 100 rural bridges under the Government’s “Punarudaye Purawara” national programme will commence on Tuesday (14) as part of a four-year initiative to improve rural connectivity and transport infrastructure.The project, implemented by the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government, forms part of a wider plan to develop 881 rural bridges identified by local authorities across the country. Funds for the programme were allocated under the 2026 Budget.The first phase, valued at Rs. 1,050 million, will see construction begin on more than 100 bridges in districts across the island. The main launch ceremonies will be held in Ridigama, Kurunegala, under the patronage of Minister Chandana Abeyratne, and in Sooriyawewa, Hambantota, under Deputy Minister Ruwan Senarath.The ministry also announced that Rs. 2,500 million has been allocated this year to launch income-generating projects for local government institutions from August, with the aim of reducing their dependence on central government funding and strengthening their financial sustainability.Meanwhile, the Government plans to provide 700 items of machinery to local authorities to improve service delivery. As the first phase of the programme, 75 motor graders have already begun arriving in Sri Lanka and will be officially handed over to local authorities on July 22 under the patronage of Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya. (Newswire)
Palestinians mourn as the bodies of those killed are taken from the morgue of Al-Awda Hospital for burial after an Israeli strike targeted civilians gathered outside the Al-Awda Hospital for other Palestinians’ funeral, in Jabalia, Gaza, Palestine on July 17, 2026. [Adam Bilal – Anadolu Agency]Israeli drone strike on funeral gathering in central Gaza kills 8, injures 20At least eight Palestinians were killed and 20 others injured Friday when an Israeli drone struck a civilian gathering during the funeral of a Palestinian who had been killed earlier by Israeli forces in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, despite a ceasefire, Anadolu reports.The strike raised the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn Friday to 13 and to 25 over the past 72 hours, according to Gaza authorities.Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp said in a statement that it received the bodies of eight people and treated 20 injured after an Israeli strike targeted a gathering of civilians in the Al-Balata market area.Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that the drone targeted Palestinians gathered outside the Ahmad Yassin Mosque as they waited to begin the funeral procession.The funeral was for a Palestinian who had been killed by Israeli forces earlier Friday, the witnesses said.Videos circulating on social media showed several bodies and wounded people lying on the ground, with blood covering their clothes and bodies.Commenting on the attack, the Gaza Media Office said the Israeli army had killed more than 25 Palestinians over the past 72 hours in attacks targeting markets, funerals, civilian gatherings and residential homes.In a statement, the office said it was “following with grave concern the systematic criminal escalation carried out by the Israeli occupation army against unarmed civilians in Gaza, in blatant defiance of all agreements, conventions, customs and international humanitarian law.”It added that “the killings and the war of genocide continue at an escalating pace, carried out through a policy of bombing popular markets, funerals, peaceful civilian gatherings and safe residential apartments over the heads of their inhabitants.”The office said the attacks “constitute a clear entrenchment of a policy of terrorism directed against every living being in the Gaza Strip.”The attack came as Israel continued to violate the ceasefire agreement that has been in effect since Oct. 10, 2025.According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israeli ceasefire violations had killed 1,127 Palestinians and injured 3,643 others as of Thursday.The ministry says Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since October 2023 has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and wounded over 173,000, while causing widespread destruction to about 90% of the enclave’s civilian infrastructure.
