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The final grand procession of the 2026 Esala Perahera of the historic Ruhunu Kataragama Maha Devalaya was held last night (July 29), with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake joining thousands of devotees to witness the sacred event.

President Dissanayake visited the historic Kirivehera Rajamaha Viharaya yesterday afternoon (29), where he met the Chief Sanghanayaka of Ruhunu Magampattuwa and Chief Incumbent of the Kirivehera Rajamaha Viharaya, Venerable Kobawaka Dhamminda Thero and received blessings.

The President later joined thousands of devotees gathered to witness the Perahera procession.

He also participated in religious observances held at the Kirivehera premises and attended the ceremonial placement of the Sacred Relic Casket on the ceremonial tusker.

The President also ceremonially inaugurated the illumination of the Kirivehera temple premises.

Addressing the gathering held afterwards, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake state

A Buddhist monk has been hospitalised following an alleged assault during a dispute over the position of Chief Incumbent of the Senasungala Raja Maha Viharaya in Rideemaliyadda.

The suspect monk was arrested by the Mahiyanganaya Police and produced before the Mahiyanganaya Magistrate’s Court, which ordered his remand until Aug. 06.

According to reports, a long-running dispute had existed between 02 monks over the position of Chief Incumbent following the death of the temple’s previous Chief Incumbent.

Several complaints had previously been lodged with the Mahiyanganaya Police, and after the matter was taken before the court, both parties had reportedly been handed suspended prison sentences.

Police said that on July 24, Ven. Aluketiyawe Seelawansa Thera allegedly arrived at the temple with a letter claiming he had been appointed as the new Chief Incumbent and requested the temple keys from Ven. Keselpotha Medhankara Thera, who was

பரந்தூரில் புதிய விமான நிலையம் அமைப்பதற்காக முன்மொழியப்பட்ட இடத்தை மாற்றுமாறு தமிழ்நாடு அரசு கோரிக்கை எதையும் வைக்கவில்லை என மத்திய சிவில் விமானப் போக்குவரத்துத் துறை தெரிவித்துள்ளது. இது பல்வேறு விவாதங்களை கிளப்பியுள்ளது.

The 1990 Suwa Seriya Foundation has announced plans to introduce a motorcycle-based emergency medical service.

According to the foundation, the new service is designed to provide faster medical assistance to patients in urgent need, improving response times.The motorcycle emergency units will primarily operate in densely populated urban areas, including locations where traffic congestion and road obstructions often delay ambulance services.

The Suwa Seriya Foundation stated that the key objective of the initiative is to provide immediate first aid and basic medical support to patients before the arrival of an ambulance.

Under the programme, specially trained medical officers will be deployed, with motorcycles equipped with essential medicines and medical equipment.
A pilot programme is to be launched before the end of this year, in several major urban areas including Colombo.

Sri Lankan para-athlete Palitha Bandara has secured Sri Lanka’s first medal at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after winning silver in the men’s Discus Throw F42-44/F61-64 event today (July 30).

Bandara produced an impressive throw of 46.84 metres in the final to finish second in the competition.

This also stands as a new personal best in the event for the Sri Lankan athlete.

Wales’ Aled Davies and Akeem Stewart of Trinidad and Tobago claimed the gold and bronze respectively.
This marks Bandara’s second consecutive Commonwealth Games silver medal, following his achievement at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

A judge has ordered all videos featuring popular animated character Wolfoo to be removed from platforms including YouTube after ruling that the cartoon illegally copied audio from Peppa Pig.

Wolfoo, a Vietnamese animation about a young wolf who lives with his family, has had hundreds of millions of views online.

A High Court judge in London recently ruled in favour of entertainment giant Hasbro, which owns the rights to Peppa Pig, after it sued Wolfoo’s makers SConnect for copyright infringement.

Mr Justice Smith said the copying – in which Wolfoo videos used short audio clips of Peppa and her family saying words like “hooray!” – had been “prolific” and “long-standing”.

In a ruling this week, the judge said “all videos featuring Wolfoo” must be taken down before 16:00 BST on Monday.

Hasbro and Peppa Pig’s creators Astley Baker Davies Ltd originally took court ac

Showers will continue to affect several parts of the country today (July 30), with fairly heavy rainfall and strong winds expected in a number of areas, according to the Department of Meteorology.

The department said showers will occur at times in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North Western provinces, as well as in the Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Galle and Matara districts.

Fairly heavy falls exceeding 50 mm are likely at some places in the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in the Kandy and Nuwara Eliya districts.

Meanwhile, mainly dry weather is expected to prevail over the rest of the island.

The department also forecast strong winds of 40 to 50 km/h at times over the Northern, North Central, North Western and Central provinces, and in the Ratnapura, Monaragala, Hambantota and Trincomalee districts.

The US military says it has begun launching strikes against Iran in retaliation for an attempted surprise attack on American forces in the Middle East.

Centcom said on X the strikes were “a powerful response” to Tuesday’s firing by Iran on US bases in Jordan and at ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

The latest hostilities came a day after the conflict expanded, with the first publicly announced joint US-Saudi strikes, which targeted Iranian proxies in Iraq.

When the US and Israel launched military strikes on Iran in February, US President Donald Trump said the war would last only a few weeks, but it has now gone on for five months with no end in sight.

On Wednesday, Axios reported, citing an unnamed US official, that Trump had met with Saudi defence minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, who had conveyed that Saudi Arabia wants to de-escalate tensions. The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.

The conflict has rei

A female tourist had been killed in Bentota in a paramotor crash yesterday evening (July 29), police said.

The deceased is a 31-year old Palestinian national.

According to Bentota Police, the accident occurred when a paramotor operated by a private establishment based along the Bentota coastal road had plunged into the sea during a flight.

The Palestinian tourist, who was on board the parasail, died in the incident, while the operator, a Colombian national, had survived.

The deceased’s body has been placed at the Nagoda Hospital mortuary for a post-mortem examination.

Bentota Police are conducting further investigations.