US missile strike eliminates Al-Qaeda chief Zawahiri in Kabul
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“No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat
to our people, the United States will find you and take you out. We shall
never waver from defending our nation and its people ... Now justice has
been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more," Biden said in his
address to the nation on Monday evening (US time).
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WASHINGTON, Aug 1: Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri was killed by US missiles
in Kabul on Sunday. Bin Laden's strategist in the 9/11 terror attacks in the
US in 2001, Zawahiri (71) was eliminated in a successful air strike on Sunday
(Kabul time), President Joe Biden announced Monday evening (US time). The Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) carried out the operation outside Kabul.
“Zawahiri carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens.
Now justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more,” Biden
said. "On Saturday (Sunday in Kabul), at my direction, the United States successfully
conducted an airstrike in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed the emir of al-Qa’ida:
Ayman al-Zawahiri. Justice has been delivered," the POTUS post on Twitter said.
Zawahiri was standing on the balcony of a safe house when a drone fired two
Hellfire missiles targeted at him. Zawahiri’s other family members were present
but only the terror mastermind was killed in the mission.
Biden said he gave his go-ahead to the operation on July 25.
US officials said Zawahiri's presence in the Afghan Capital was a "clear violation"
of a deal the Taliban had signed with the US in Doha in 2020 that paved the
way for the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Taliban had promised in the deal
not to allow Afghanistan to be used again as a launchpad for terrorism.
He had a $25 million US bounty on his head.
Zawahiri had taken on the mantle of Al Qaeda mastermind Osama Bin Laden after
he was killed by US forces in Abbottabad in Pakistan where he was hiding in
2011. They were wanted by the US in the September 11, 2001 air attacks on the
Pentagon and New York City's landmark World Trade Centre towers which killed
3,000 Americans and other nationals. Zawahiri had been on the run for over two
decades.
The President recalled that Zawahiri was the mastermind of several other terrorist
attacks including the suicide bombing of the USS Cole naval destroyer in Aden
in October 2000 in which 17 US soldiers were killed.
Biden said that he hoped Zawahiri's death would bring "closure" to families
of the 3,000 people killed in the 9/11 attacks.
“No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat
to our people, the United States will find you and take you out. We shall never
waver from defending our nation and its people,” Biden said in his address to
the nation on Monday evening (US time).
Zawahiri joined jihad in Egypt early in life
In reaction to the killing, the Taliban said the US operation was in violation
of international principles. In a statement, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid
confirmed that a strike took place on Sunday in Kabul.
Zawahiri an eye surgeon, in his early life joined Islamic terror activities
in Egypt. He was arrested at the age of 15 for joining the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
He was an accused in the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat. He was
also behind the massacre of foreign tourists at Luxor in 1997. Later he became
an ideological strategist of the Al Qaeda and Bin Laden's personal doctor as
well. He is said to have planned the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US. He
was one of five signatories to Bin Laden's 1998 fatwa calling for attacks against
Americans.
Later Al Qaeda took on a low profile and the Islamic State group began leading
the jihadist movement.
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SELECTIONS FROM OUR ARCHIVES |
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Top Govt officer thrashed, kicked inside Bhubaneswar office: Incident sparks a debate
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The incident has triggered a debate on social media whether the officer refused to take orders from a party leader or he was accused of any corruption, some netizens justifying the handling in either case, that Ratnakar was blocking public welfare work! It is true the Govt machinery has been the enemy Number One of the people of this country, existing for itself and for these politicians, for well over seven decades. India will never make an inch of progress - real progress, not make-believe-progress - unless and until this machinery is eliminated.
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UK's House of Commons votes to legalise assisted dying: What it means | |
ANALYSIS: There have been cases of Britons going to Switzerland to get rid of a miserable life. Now once the House of Lords also passes the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, terminally ill Britons can call it quits with the help of a medical practitioner here itself. But the measure when comes into practice, will have very serious social consequences, it is feared. There won't be comparisons, even as tropes in Latin American folklores. The worst case scenario is of those who are not terminally ill also trying to misuse the provision to leave this world early when life with dignity is not available. But that is, in fact, a political question and not a moral imbroglio!
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What caused Air India Boeing 787 crash? Some questions, some answers | |
The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.
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Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line brings Kashmir Valley on India's rail map |
- The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line provides Kashmir with all-weather connectivity and integrates the Valley with the rest of India.
- The saying 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari' is now a dream come true.
- The Chenab bridge on the line, an engineering marvel, is the world's highest
railway bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower. (Video: File)
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Work done, Elon Musk steps down from DOGE, leaves White House | |
Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.
PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.
Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people.
(Today's headlines )
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Ailing Asiatic lion Pataudi too dies of bird flu at Kanpur zoo
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Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.
Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.
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48 tourist destinations closed in Kashmir following Pahalgam terror attack
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As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.
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Trump slaps ‘kind’, ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on trading partners; a 'lenient' 26% on India!
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ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!
What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America!
(Today's headlines )
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Trump signs order to shut Education Dept - And the contrast with India
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PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).
In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.
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Sunita, Wilmore's Dragon splashes down in Gulf: What delayed their return? |
THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.
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All 80k health workers in US offered $25,000 voluntary buyout: Administering wrong prescriptions!
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The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.
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Neighbours Calling
Bhutan
Nepal
Malaysia
Dubai
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Visit Indian Travel Sites
Goa,
Kerala,
Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh,
Delhi,
Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Assam,
Sikkim,
Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir
Gujarat
Puducherry
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