Good morning.
A US drone strike in Afghanistan has killed the top al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, Joe Biden announced yesterday.
The US president described the death of Zawahiri, who was Osama bin Laden’s deputy and successor, as a major blow to the terrorist network behind the 9/11 attacks.
“Justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said in a live televised address from the White House. “People around the world no longer need to fear the vicious and determined killer.”
The CIA strike will be seen as a proof of the US’s ability to conduct “over-the-horizon” operations despite last year’s military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. But it also raised questions over al-Qaida’s continued presence in the country since the Taliban regained power.
When did Biden order the strike? After much consideration and detailed questions, the president eventually ordered a strike on the safe house at a meeting of key cabinet members and national security officials on 25 July.
When was it carried out? At 9.48pm ET on Saturday by an unmanned aerial vehicle, while Zawahiri was on his balcony.
California declares state of emergency over monkeypox
California has declared a a state of emergency over monkeypox, becoming the second state in three days to do so as US authorities speed up efforts to combat the outbreak.
The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, said yesterday’s declaration would help the state coordinate a government-wide response, seek more vaccines and lead outreach and education efforts on where people can get treatment and vaccines.
California, the nation’s most populous state, follows in the footsteps of similar declarations issued by New York and San Francisco.
There are more than 5,800 cases of monkeypox in the US, according to the CDC, and public health agencies, left battered by the Covid pandemic, have faced criticism for being too slow to act. The World Health Organization recently declared monkeypox a global health emergency.
What else is California doing? The state said it is also building on the steps developed during the coronavirus pandemic to set up vaccination clinics and make sure there is outreach to vulnerable populations.
Taiwan and China step up military rhetoric as expected Pelosi visit looms
Taiwan’s defence ministry has warned it would appropriately dispatch forces in reaction to “enemy threats”, as China stepped up its military rhetoric on the day of a highly controversial expected visit to Taipei by US speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In a statement on Tuesday, the defence ministry said it had a full grasp of military activity near Taiwan and the “determination, ability and confidence” to ensure Taiwan’s national security. It added that it had made various unspecified plans for an emergency.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s premier reiterated that it “warmly welcomes” foreign guests, ahead of the potential visit by Pelosi. Taiwan “would make the most appropriate arrangements” for such guests and respect their plans, Premier Su Tseng-chang told reporters on Tuesday when asked about a visit.
The statements came after Reuters reported several Chinese warships and planes had travelled near the median line – an unofficial border between China and Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait.
What is happening near the median line? Citing unnamed sources, the report said the vessels had been in the area since Monday, while the latest flights occurred on this morning, prompting Taiwan’s air force to scramble its own aircraft in response.
In other news …
An associate of the far-right Three Percenters militia group has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison for his role in storming the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. It is the longest sentence imposed so far among hundreds of cases related to the insurrection.
The United Nations’ secretary general, António Guterres, has warned that a misunderstanding could spark nuclear destruction, as the US, Britain and France urged Russia to stop “its dangerous nuclear rhetoric and behaviour”. Guterres said he feared that crises “with nuclear undertones” could escalate.
Debris suspected to be from a Chinese booster rocket that made an uncontrolled return to Earth on Saturday has reportedly been found metres from villages in Malaysia and Indonesia. A charred ring of metal about five metres in diameter was found in Kalimantan, Indonesia, according to a news outlet.
The polio virus was present in wastewater in a New York City suburb a month before health officials there announced a confirmed case of the disease last month, state health officials said yesterday, urging residents to be sure they have been vaccinated. CDC says findings indicate others may be shedding virus.
Beyoncé has confirmed that she will remove an offensive term for disabled people from the lyrics of her new album, Renaissance, after it was called “ableist” and “offensive” by disability charities and activists. In Heated, Beyoncé used a derogatory term for spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy.
Stat of the day: Kentucky death toll rises to 35 as Kamala Harris announces $1bn to deal with disasters from climate crisis
Heavy rain has pummeled Kentucky once again, raising fears of further devastating flooding that has already killed 35 people, with hundreds more still missing. Over in Oregon, authorities are investigating four additional deaths potentially linked to last week’s scorching heatwave, bringing the total number of suspected hyperthermia deaths to 14. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris travelled to Miami on Monday to announce a $1bn package to deal with disasters exacerbated by the climate crisis.
Don’t miss this: at 70 I went camping for the first time – and stopped cocooning myself from life
After decades of planning and preparation and facing the prospect of old age, Eric Wilkinson decided it was time for his first experience of camping shortly after his 70th birthday. He slept out in the van by the sea on his first night of his solo camping adventure after midges drove him from the campsite. But he was undeterred. “It’s the things that go wrong, the problem-solving, the people you meet, that take you out of your comfort zone. It’s not cocooning you from life,” he said.
Climate check: risk of human extinction ‘dangerously under-explored’
The risk of global societal collapse or human extinction has been “dangerously under-explored”, climate scientists have warned in an analysis. They call such a catastrophe the “climate endgame”. Though it had a small chance of occurring, given the uncertainties in future emissions and the climate system, cataclysmic scenarios could not be ruled out, they said. “Facing a future of accelerating climate change while blind to worst-case scenarios is naive risk management at best and fatally foolish at worst,” the scientists said.
Last Thing: space debris found in Snowy Mountains paddock believed to be from SpaceX mission
The Australian Space Agency is investigating space debris found in farmland in the Snowy Mountains in southern NSW, after being notified by an astrophysicist who believes it to be from a SpaceX mission. Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at the Australian National University, says he often gets calls from people who believe they’ve found space junk – and they are normally easy to rule out. “This was different,” he said.
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