A seventh consecutive night of attacks by United States forces on targets across Iran has left 10,000 people without water after a desalination plant was hit, with Iran retaliating by launching another wave of drones and missiles at US-allied Gulf states.

Hamzeh Pour, chief executive of the Hormozgan Water and Wastewater Company, was quoted by the Tasnim news agency on Saturday as saying that a seawater pumping station and a power transformer at the Bunji desalination plant in Jask in southern Iran were “completely destroyed”, depriving 20 villages of water.

Iran’s retaliation also targeted civilian infrastructure, a war crime under international humanitarian law.

In the early hours of Saturday, Kuwait announced the closure of its airspace and said two power and water desalination plants were hit by Iranian attacks. Several Kuwaiti firefighters were wounded while responding to a fire sparked by the strikes, the country’s firefighting force said.

Air raid sirens also sounded repeatedly in Bahrain, where authorities urged residents to seek shelter.

In Jordan, authorities said they intercepted 10 Iranian ballistic missiles.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its naval forces had targeted a US military fuel pier at Kuwait’s al-Ahmadi port and a US warplane assembly site at Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa Air Base. The IRGC also said it attacked a US base in Azraq in Jordan, claiming to have destroyed two American fighter jets.

The Iranian attacks came after the US military’s Central Command, or CENTCOM, announced it had carried another wave of overnight strikes targeting “surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities” in Iran.

[Aljazeera]

The world cup of tennis, the Davis cup Asia/Oceania Group IV 2026 will be held in Sri Lanka from the 20^th to the 25^th of July 2026 at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) courts. This tournament is held under the guidance of World Tennis, is the main team event for the male tennis players of the world.

There will be seven nations participating in the event to be held in Colombo. The teams being Iraq, Northern Mariana Islands, Qatar, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyztan, Kuwait and the host country Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lanka team for the tournament comprises of Apna Perera, Thehan Wijemanna, Ganuka Fernando and Saha Kapilasena making up the team with a blend of youth and experience with Mineth Navarathna being the stand by player. The team is coached by the experienced Sankha Athukorala with Lakshan Wijerathna being the physio/ Masseur of the team. The manager of the  team is  Rukmal Cooray.

The seven teams will be divided into two groups. One group of three teams and the other one of four teams. Matches will be played in the round robin format in the initial stages and the top two teams from the two groups will compete in cross over matches. The  two winners will be promoted from this event. The third placed teams from the two groups will play a demotion play off match. The loser will be demoted. The team which finishes in the 4^th place in the group of four will automatically be demoted. As such two teams will be promoted and two teams will be demoted.

Official practice days are the 20^th and the 21^st of July and the matches will be held from the 22^nd to the 25^th of July.

The captain’s meeting and the draw for the tournament will be held at the SLTA on Tuesday the 21^st at 10.00 am, while the opening ceremony of the event is expected to be held on Wednesday  the 22^nd of July at 9 30 am on the Center court.

The balls for the event will be Wilson US Open, with Trident Distributors, the official partner for Wilson sporting goods in Sri Lanka coming on board as the official ball suppliers for the event. Apart from this, Trident Sports under the guidance of Yasser Farook, the managing director has come on board as the official apparel partner for the Sri Lanka team as well.

All teams will be staying at the Cinnamon Lakeside hotel with Cinnamon Lakeside hotel coming on board as the official hospitality partner for this tournament.  Dushyantha Tittawella, the General manger of the hotel is pulling out all the stops to make sure that the teams have a comfortable stay whilst they are in Sri Lanka.

Perera and Son bakers limited will be the official food and beverage partner for the tournament and will be in charge of making sure that the players’ needs are met throughout this event.

The tournament Director is  Dinith Pathiraja and has  S Thevanesan as his assistant.

Wan Xianling of China is the referee for the event and  Dharaka Ellawala being his deputy. There are six Chair umpires who have been appointed with two of them being Sri Lankans, namely Anjana De Silva and Chamod Rupassara. Jeyachandirun Saarangan is the Chief of Umpires and Adheesha Paranagama, Prageeth Polgampola, Pasindu Sampath and Yumira Kuruppu rounding up the tournament staff for the event with Mrs Nipuni Maheshika being the safeguarding officer and the UNO official for the tournament.

The SLTA president Iqbal Bin Issack with  General Secretary  Pradeep Goonasekera have been advising and looking into all the arrangements to make this tournament a success.

From left: Dinith Pathiraja (Tournament Director, Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV Event), Iqbal Bin Issack (President, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA)), Yasser Farook (Managing Director, Trident Distributors (Wilson Agents in Sri Lanka), Pradeep S. Goonasekera (General Secretary, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA)), Rukmal Cooray (Vice President, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA))

From left : Dinith Pathiraja (Tournament Director, Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV Event), Iqbal Bin Issack (President, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA)), Dushyantha Tittawella (General Manager, Cinnamon Lakeside), Pradeep S. Goonasekera (General Secretary, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA)), Rukmal Cooray (Vice President, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA))

(PDES)

Rescuers are rushing to locate dozens of people missing in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing, after a deadly landslide buried homes in the area, according to Chinese authorities.

The landslide took place around 9:10am (01:10 GMT) on Friday in Chongqing’s Pengshui county, killing eight people, leaving 34 unaccounted for and displacing more than 1,100, reported state media.

Footage shared by China’s CCTV broadcaster showed a huge buildup of rocks and dirt covering part of a residential and commercial street at the bottom of a mountain in the region.

Ten people have been rescued from the debris, including two who are seriously injured, reported China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.

Water, electricity and gas supplies were cut off within a one-kilometre (0.6-mile) radius of the landslide to prevent further disruptions. More than 800 rescuers have gone to the site, reported CCTV.

Authorities said they sent more than 8,000 disaster relief items to Chongqing, including tents, folding beds and family emergency kits.

Pengshui county is located in the southeast part of Chongqing, bordering the provinces of Hubei and Guizhou.

The area where the landslide happened is known for “unpredictable” steep terrain, a local official told a news conference, adding that dangerous rocks remain along the sides of the cliff.

The government has allocated 50 million yuan ($7.36m) in natural disaster relief funds to support the rescue and relief operations and to provide assistance to affected residents, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management said.

[Aljazeera]