AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI: AL-QAEDA LEADER KILLED IN US DRONE STRIKE

The US has killed the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a drone strike in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden has confirmed.

He was killed in a counter-terrorism operation carried out by the CIA in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Sunday.

Mr Biden said Zawahiri had "carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens".

"Now justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more," he added.

Officials said Zawahiri was on the balcony of a safe house when the drone fired two missiles at him.

Other family members were present, but they were unharmed and only Zawahiri was killed, they added.

Mr Biden said he had given the final approval for the "precision strike" on the 71-year-old al-Qaeda leader after months of planning.

Zawahiri took over al-Qaeda after the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011. He and Bin Laden plotted the 9/11 attacks together and he was one of the US's "most wanted terrorists".

His killing will bring closure to families of the nearly 3,000 victims of the 2001 attacks, Mr Biden said.

CHINA PULLS OUT ITS SELDOM USED “DONT’ SAY WE DIDN’T WARN YOU” OVER PELOSI VISIT

Don’t say we didn’t warn you!” is a phrase used by the People’s Daily prior to China fighting a border war with India and the Sino-Vietnam War of 1979. Nancy Pelosi’s visit was still being rhetoric Threats and warnings were pouring in. The countdown has begun. Although there is confusion about whether Nancy Pelosi will travel to Taiwan or not. Japan, Malaysia, South Korea are named in Nancy’s tour. When Nancy will come to Taiwan, both the guest and host countries have kept it a secret, but China’s Red Army has already started appearing in war action.

China has said US is playing with fire and will get burnt if Pelosi visits, but the country’s media mouthpieces have been more direct and militaristic in echoing the threat, including suggesting that her plane would be shot down.

Beijing’s mouthpiece Global Times invoked the China-India war to say “Don’t say we didn’t warn you!”. The phrase ?????? wù wèi yán zhi bù yù which according to Chinese lore is seldom used by the country’s leadership was used by the People’s Daily in 1962 before China was fought a border war with India and ahead of the 1979 China-Vietnam War.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that such a visit would be entirely her decision, but called on China not to escalate tensions in the event of a visit.

UN CHIEF: WORLD ONE STEP FROM ‘N-ANNIHILATION’

United Nations : The UN chief warned the world on Monday that “humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation. ” Secretary-general Antonio Guterres gave the dire warning at the opening of the long-delayed high-level meeting to review the landmark 50year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treatyaimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and eventually achieving a nuclear-free world. He cited especially the war in Ukraine and the threat of nuclear weapons to conflicts in the West Asia and Asia, two regions “edging towards catastrophe”. Guterres said the month-long conference was taking place “at a time of nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War”. He warned that “weapons are reaching new highs”, almost 13,000 nuclear weapons are in arsenals around the world, and nations seeking “false security” are spending billions of dollars on “doomsday weapons”.

FIRST SHIP OF UKRAINIAN GRAIN LEAVES ODESA PORT

The first shipment of Ukrainian grain since the Russian invasion in February left the port of Odesa on Monday under a landmark deal to lift Moscow’s naval blockade in the Black Sea.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, who brokered the plan with Turkey, welcomed the announcement. Kyiv said it would bring “relief for the world” if Moscow held up its side of the accord.

The five-month halt of deliveries from war-torn Ukraine — one of the world’s biggest grain exporters — has contributed to soaring food prices, hitting the world’s poorest nations especially hard.

Officials said the Razoni cargo ship, registered in Sierra Leone, was making its way through a specially cleared corridor in the mine-infested waters of the Black Sea with 26,000 tonnes of maize on board.

“It is expected in Istanbul on August 2. It will then continue its journey after it has been inspected in Istanbul,” the Turkish Foreign Minister said in a statement.

Other convoys would follow, respecting the maritime corridor and the agreed formalities, the statement said.

EX-PM ABBASI GOT BRIBE FROM INDIAN CO AS NAWAZ’S OIL MIN: IMRAN PARTY

Lahore : A senior Pakistani opposition leader has alleged that former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi received kickbacks from an Indian company when he was serving as the federal petroleum minister in the cabinet of Premier Nawaz Sharif five years ago, media reports said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shahbaz Gill alleged that Abbasi took Pakistani Rs 140 million as a bribe from an Indian firm as consultancy fees, Dawn newspaper reported. “Khaqan Abbasi received Rs140 million from an Indian company through telegraphic transfers when was serving as federal petroleum minister in 2017,” Pakistan Observer newspaper quoted him as saying, adding that he had receipts of all transactions made to Abbasi, now a senior vice-president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) party.

Theproceeds were transferred to Abbasi’s bank account in three transactions, one in 2016 and two in 2017, when he was the petroleum minister in the cabinet of Nawaz Sharif, the Dawn report said, quoting Gill. Gill,the chief of staff to ousted PM Imran Khan, did not disclose the name of the Indian company. Reacting to the allegations, Abbasi, 63, said instead of slinging mud at him, PTI should file a petition against him with concrete proof. Abbasi, who was PM from August 2017 to May 2018, saidthe former PTI government had filed two fake cases against him.

COUNTER PROTESTS IN IRAQ OVER PARLIAMENT TAKEOVER

Hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad Monday in counter-protests as rival supporters of Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr extended their occupation of Parliament for a third day.

A political standoff — almost 10 months after Iraqis went to the polls — pits two key factions among the country’s majority Shia population, between the populist Sadr with a devoted following of millions, and the powerful pro-Iran Coordination Framework.

‘Won’t allow a coup’

“The people will not allow a coup,” read placards held by supporters of the Coordination Framework as they marched towards the Green Zone, the home of Parliament — which since Saturday, Sadr’s supporters have been occupying.

Large numbers of security forces set up roadblocks in a bid to contain the counter-protests, firing water cannon at the crowds to keep them away from the Green Zone.

As demonstrations took place outside the Green Zone’s walls, thousands of rival Sadr supporters maintained their protests inside, waving flags and carrying placards of their leader.

On social media, followers of the Coordination Framework insisted the demonstrations are “not directed against any particular group”.

BIDEN FOR TALKS ON NUCLEAR ARMS CONTROL

President Joe Biden called on Monday on Russia and China to enter nuclear arms control talks, saying that Moscow in particular has a duty to show responsibility after its invasion of Ukraine.

In a statement, the U.S. leader reiterated that his administration is ready to “expeditiously negotiate” a replacement to New START, the treaty capping intercontinental nuclear forces in the U.S. and Russia, which is set to expire in 2026.

“Russia should demonstrate that it is ready to resume work on nuclear arms control,” Mr. Biden said.

Turning to China, which has been bolstering its much smaller nuclear arsenal, the U.S. President said the communist state has a duty as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council “to engage in discussions that will reduce the risk of miscalculation and address destabilising military dynamics.”

‘IRAN HAS MEANS TO MAKE ATOM BOMB, NO INTENTION OF DOING SO’

Iran has the technical capability to produce an atomic bomb but has no intention of doing so, Mohammad Eslami, head of the country’s atomic energy organisation, said on Monday, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Mr. Eslami reiterated comments made by Kamal Kharrazi, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in July.

Mr. Kharrazi’s remarks amounted to a rare suggestion that the Islamic Republic might have an interest in nuclear weapons, which it has long denied seeking.

“As Mr. Kharrazi mentioned, Iran has the technical ability to build an atomic bomb, but such a programme is not on the agenda,” said Mr. Eslami.

Iran is already enriching uranium to up to 60% fissile purity, far above a cap of 3.67% set under Tehran’s now tattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Uranium enriched to 90% is suitable for a nuclear bomb.

SRI LANKA SEEKS URGENT HELP TO FEED CHILDREN

Sri Lanka issued an urgent appeal on Monday to tackle rapidly spreading malnutrition among children as its economic crisis leaves nine out of 10 people dependent on state handouts.

The Ministry for Women and Child Affairs said they were seeking private donations to feed several hundred thousand children suffering due to insufficient food.

“When the COVID pandemic was at its peak, the problem was bad, but now, with the economic crisis, the situation is far worse," secretary Neil Bandara Hapuhinne told reporters in Colombo.

Mr. Hapuhinne said they had counted 1,27,000 malnourished children among the 5,70,000 girls and boys below the age of five in mid-2021.

Since then, he estimated the numbers have increased several fold with the full impact of rampant inflation and dire shortages of food and other essentials.

He said the number of people receiving direct state handouts has almost doubled in the past year with over 90% of the population now relying on the government for financial help.

MYANMAR JUNTA EXTENDS EMERGENCY BY 6 MONTHS

The leader of Myanmar’s junta on Monday extended emergency rule in the country for another six months.

0General Min Aung Hlaing blamed internal instability for junta’s failure to implement a peace plan agreed with other Southeast Asian countries.

The junta declared emergency last year after seizing power from the elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in a coup in February citing voting fraud.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed a five-point “consensus” to end hostilities last year, which was accepted by the junta but there has been little sign of the junta implementing the plan, which includes an end to violence and dialogue.

Gen. Min said pandemic and internal violence prevented the junta from “implementing the ASEAN consensus”, adding that under a “normal” situation progress could be made.

The military has pledged to hold new elections in August 2023. However, opponents do not believe it would be free and fair.