August 2, 2022

*) US kills top Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri President Joe Biden has announced that Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri has been killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan. The president said in an evening address from the White House that US intelligence officials tracked Zawahiri to a home in downtown Kabul where he had been hiding out with his family. Zawahiri and the better-known Osama bin Laden had together plotted the 9/11 attacks. Biden said his death delivered justice and hopefully “one more measure of closure” to families of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. *) Russia uses Ukraine's nuclear plant as 'shield' – US The US has said Russia is using Ukraine's biggest nuclear power plant as a "nuclear shield" by stationing troops there, preventing Ukrainian forces from returning fire and risking a terrible nuclear accident. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that "of course the Ukrainians cannot fire back lest there be a terrible accident involving the nuclear plant". He spoke after nuclear non-proliferation talks at the UN in New York on Monday. The US also announced a new tranche of weapons for Ukraine's forces fighting Russia, including ammunition for rocket launchers and artillery guns. *) ​​UN chief warns of 'nuclear annihilation' UN head Antonio Guterres has warned that a misunderstanding could spark nuclear destruction. The statement came after the United States, Britain and France urged Russia to stop "its dangerous nuclear rhetoric and behaviour". Guterres warned that the world faced "a nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War". *) US Pelosi's 'provocative' Taiwan visit to undermine ties – China US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan will undermine relations between China and the US, China's UN ambassador has said. Pelosi is set to visit Taiwan today, three sources said after the US said it would not be intimidated by Chinese warnings to “never sit idly by" if she made it there. Zha