The CIA killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, with a drone strike in Afghanistan at the weekend, bringing to an end the decades-long hunt for the man who succeeded Osama bin Laden. President Biden confirmed Zawahiri’s assassination after the White House confirmed “a successful counterterrorism operation” against al- Qaeda in Afghanistan. The drone strike is the first on a terrorist target there since US forces withdrew from the country last year. The killing of Zawahiri, 71, marks the biggest blow to al-Qaeda since the US assassination of Bin Laden at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011.
Pak’s first Hindu woman senior cop
Beating all odds and rising to become Pakistan’s first Hindu woman deputy superintendent of police, Manisha Ropeta is thrilled to have “proven wrong” her relatives and is looking forward to take on new challenges: to be a “women protector” by leading a feminism drive and encourage gender equality in a patriarchal society. Ropeta, 26, who is from Jacobabad in interior Sindh province, believes women are the target of many crimes and are the “most oppressed” people in male-dominated Pakistan. Ropeta cleared the Sindh Public Service Commission examination last year. She ranked 16th on a merit list of 152 successful candidates.
Pak helicopter goes missing with top armymen
A military helicopter with an army general and five others went missing during a flood relief operation in southern Pakistan, the army said. The army aviation helicopter, which was helping with the operation in Lasbela district in southern Balochistan province had lost contact with air traffic control, the army said. It said six people, including the army general, who commands southern 12 Corps were on board. The military did not say how long the helicopter had been missing. There hasn’t been any trace of the chopper since a rescue operation began, said police official Pervez Umrani. The search had been halted due to bad weather and will resume later, he said.
British father, son die in Bangladesh
A British taxi driver and his son died in Bangladesh of a suspected poisoning. Rafiqul Islam, 51, and Mahiqul, 16, along with three other members of their family, were discovered unconscious by police. The father and son died on their way to hospital. Islam’s wife, Husnara, 45, and their daughter Samira, 20, were said to be critical and their son Sadiqul, 24, is under treatment. The family, from Cardiff, were on a holiday visiting relatives and friends and were living in a rented flat the eastern city of Sylhet. Islam’s mother, his brothers and sister flown down to Bangladesh after informed about the tragedy.
6 Bangla war criminals get death
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal sentenced six members of the infamous paramilitary force ‘Razakar Bahini’ to death for collaborating with the Pakistani Army for “crimes against humanity” during the 1971 Liberation War.
The three-member tribunal headed by Justice Mohammad Shahinur Islam delivered the verdict. “They shall be hanged by neck until their death,” Islam pronounced, with five of the convicts faced the trial in person, while one convict was tried in absentia. Of the six accused, one was absconding. The convicts were present on the dock as the judgment was delivered after which they were brought to Dhaka Central Jail.
Lanka’s inflation surges to 60% in July
Sri Lanka’s inflation surged to 60.8% in July, up from 54. 6% in June, the crisishit country’s statistics department said, as food and fuel remained scarce amid depleted foreign exchange reserves. The year-on-year inflation based on the Colombo Consumer Price Index was 60. 8% in July, the Department of Census and Statistics said in a statement. In June it was 54. 6%. The year-on-year food inflation in July is 90. 9 up from 80.1% in June. The country’s central bank has said inflation may peak at 75%. Sri Lankans have faced a shortage of essentials amid the ongoing economic meltdown, the worst since 1948.
Man gets hired after 39 rejections
Meet Tyler Cohen, the man who chased after his dream job and didn’t give up until he got it. Cohen applied at Google not one but a whopping 39 times. Cohen took to LinkedIn and shared a screenshot of all the e-mails exchanged between him and Google. In the photo, it is seen that he first applied for a job at the tech giant in August 2019. He kept getting rejected till July 19, 2022, when he was selected by the tech giant. Cohen, who lives in San Francisco, said he worked as an Associate Manager of Strategy & Ops for DoorDash before he accepted his Google job.
Ukrainians ready to give PM role to Johnson
A tongue-in-cheek petition to give outgoing British PM Boris Johnson Ukrainian citizenship and make him the country’s prime minister has garnered over 2,500 signatures hours after being put up on Ukraine’s official petitions site. Despite losing domestic popularity and eventually having been forced to announce his resignation, Johnson remains a cult figure in Kyiv for his vocal support of Ukraine as it fights off Russia’s invasion. Paintings, murals, and even cakes in Ukraine’s capital bear the likeness of the man some Ukrainians affectionately call “Johnsoniuk”.
Thai business cash in on cannabis
Thai businesses are cashing in with cannabis-infused products like toothpaste, tea, soaps and snacks after the government legalised the plant and its extract this year, generating a wave of interest in the drug. “It gives me a deep and comfortable sleep,” said Pakpoom Charoenbunna, 32, who buys a cannabis-infused drink from his regular milk-tea vendor. Last month, Thailand decriminalised marijuana but the regulator limits the content of THC - the active ingredient that gets users high - to just 0. 2%.
N Korea is ready to use nukes
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned he’s ready to use his nuclear weapons in potential military conflicts with the United States and South Korea, state media said, as he unleashed fiery rhetoric against rivals he says are pushing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war. Kim’s speech to war veterans on the 69th anniversary of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War was apparently meant to boost internal unity in the impoverished country amid pandemic-related economic difficulties. While Kim has increasingly threatened his rivals with nuclear weapons, it’s unlikely that he would use them first against the superior militaries of the US and its allies, observers say.
Notre-Dame set to re-open in 2024
Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris is on track to reopen in 2024, culture minister Rima Abdul Malak said, more than three years after its roof was destroyed in a massive blaze. She said the clean-up phase of the restoration project had ended, allowing rebuilding work to get under way at the end of the summer.
Notre-Dame has been closed for restoration since the fire in 2019 gutted its roof and sent its spire crashing down, to the horror of onlookers and people watching in France and around the world on television and social media. “We are confident that 2024 will be the year a large part of this work is completed, the minister said as she visited the site.
Bill to ban assault weapons gets US House nod
The US House of Representatives passed legislation banning assault-style rifles that have been used in mass shootings, sending it to the Senate where it faces likely defeat. By a mostly partisan vote of 217-213, Democrats won passage of the measure amid public anger over mass murders in which rapid-fire AR-15 rifles were used to kill and wound school children and adults engaging in day-to-day activities. “They’re easier for a teenager to get than to buy a beer,” Democratic Representative Lloyd Doggett said during debate. “We’ve turned our churches, schools, shopping centers, entertainment venues into a battleground with one massacre after another,” he added.
Boy found dead inside washing machine
A seven-year-old boy in the United States was found dead inside a washing machine hours after his parents reported him missing. The boy identified as Troy Khoeler from Texas was first reported missing around 6:30am (local time). His father was at home during the time, while his mother returned from a night shift at the hospital and was still in uniform when police arrived. The cops informed that Troy was adopted in 2019. They are still investigating the incident. No charges or arrests have been made yet, reports said.
