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US jet that flew Pelosi to Malaysia tracked off Philippines, no landing request

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Malaysia’s Parliament Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun pose for photographs during their meeting at Malaysian Houses of Parliament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 2, 2022. Malaysian Department of Information/Famer Roheni/Handout via REUTERS

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KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 (Reuters) – A US air force jet that flew House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Malaysia left the country on Tuesday and flew close to the Philippines, in the day’s most followed flight on tracking site Flightradar24.

Reuters could not immediately establish if Pelosi or her delegation were on flight SPAR19, but authorities in the Philippines, a US ally, said no request had been received from the United States for her to visit or transit in the country.

The plane left Kuala Lumpur at 3:42 pm (0742 GMT) and flew east towards Borneo on a route that skirted the South China Sea.

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It was last seen on the tracker off the southernmost Philippine region of Mindanao, however, flying along the country’s Pacific east coast.

Pelosi was expected to arrive in Taipei later on Tuesday, sources said earlier. read more

Like SPAR19, a second US air force plane arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday morning. According to Flightradar24, SPAR20 had not left the Malaysian capital.

A visit to Taiwan by Pelosi, who is second in the line of succession to the US presidency and a long-time critic of China, would come amid worsening ties between Washington and Beijing.

She has not confirmed if she would visit the self-governed island which Beijing claims as its own.

Both the Philippines air force and its Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said they had received no word from the United States that Pelosi might land in the country on Tuesday.

“The DFA has not received any request from the US government or their embassy in Manila for Speaker Pelosi to transit and/ or visit the Philippines as part of her current swing of visits to the region,” the DFA said in a text message to reporters .

As of 1130 GMT, SPAR19 was flying just south of the Philippines, according to Flightradar24, in a route tracked by as many as 300,000 people on its website.

A normal flight from Kuala Lumpur to Taiwan’s capital of Taipei would cross the South China Sea, with a typical flight time of under five hours.

Since last week, China’s People’s Liberation Army has conducted various exercises, including live fire drills, in the South China Sea, Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea, in a show of Chinese military might.

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Reporting by Ebrahim Harris and Rozanna Latiff in Kuala Lumpur and Ryan Woo in Beijing; Additional reporting by Neil Jerome Morales in Manila; Editing by Martin Petty, William Maclean

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Kentucky floods kill at least 37 as more storms forecast

Aug 1 (Reuters) – Floods unleashed by torrential rains in eastern Kentucky have killed at least 37 people, including four children, Governor Andy Beshear said on Monday while warning that more dangerous weather is approaching the region.

Beshear on Monday morning confirmed 30 deaths, followed by five more in an afternoon briefing, when he said there would be yet more to come. Hours later he confirmed on Twitter there had been two more deaths.

Authorities continued to work to rescue residents and provide food and shelter for thousands who had been displaced. Efforts have been hampered by weather conditions, officials say.

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Many residents had been unprepared for heavy downfall overnight, leading to more deaths, Beshear said. For people remaining in Eastern Kentucky, he advised seeking higher ground ahead of evening storms.

“It is a continuing natural disaster. We are still searching for people,” Beshear said in a CNN interview. “A large amount of grief throughout Kentucky.”

The National Weather Service forecast several rounds of continuing showers and storms through Tuesday.

Beshear, who declared a state emergency last week, said over the weekend that authorities would likely “be finding bodies for weeks” as teams fanned out to more remote areas.

Days of heavy rainfall – described by Beshear as some of the worst in the state’s history – caused some homes in the hardest-hit areas to be swept away. Video clips posted online showed rescue teams guiding motor boats through residential and commercial areas searching for victims. read more

The Wolfe County Search and Rescue Team on Sunday published footage on Facebook of a helicopter lifting an 83-year-old woman from the roof of a home almost completely submerged. This was part of a five-person rescue.

A flooded area is flown over by a Kentucky National Guard helicopter deployed in response to a declared state of emergency in eastern Kentucky, US July 27, 2022. US Army National Guard/Handout via REUTERS

At least 16 deaths were reported in Knott County alone. The bodies of four children, between ages 18 months and eight years, were recovered Friday afternoon. A fast current had swept them out of their parent’s grip, a family member told the Lexington Herald Leader.

“The mother and father was stranded in the tree for 8 hours before anyone got there to help,” Brittany Trejo said.

Also among the dead in Knott County was Eva Nicole “Nikki” Slone, a 50-year-old who ventured out on Thursday to check on an elderly friend, according to her daughter.

Slone’s body was recovered the next day near home.

“My mom was a very caring woman,” Misty Franklin told the newspaper.

The floods were the second major disaster to strike Kentucky in seven months, following a swarm of tornadoes that claimed nearly 80 lives in the western part of the state in December. read more

President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Kentucky on Friday, allowing federal funding to be allocated to the state.

Power lines were widely damaged, with more than 8,000 households remaining without power on Monday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.US. But that was down from 15,000 on Monday morning.

Among the various charitable efforts springing up to help flood victims is one by the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team.

The team, one of the most decorated in college sports, said it would open practice for a telethon for Kentucky Flood Relief Tuesday evening.

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Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Tyler Clifford in New York; Editing by Mark Potter, Aurora Ellis and Bradley Perrett

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Al Qaeda leader Zawahiri killed in US drone strike in downtown Kabul

  • Zawahiri tracked to safe house in Kabul
  • Hit by Hellfire missile while standing on balcony
  • “This terrorist leader is no more” – Biden
  • Taliban “grossly violated” Doha Agreement – Blinken

KABUL/WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) – The United States killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a “precision” strike in the center of Kabul, the Afghanistan capital, President Joe Biden said, the biggest blow to the militant group since its founder Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011.

Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon who had a $25 million bounty on his head, helped coordinate the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Zawahiri was killed when he came out on the balcony of his safe house in Kabul on Sunday morning and was hit by “hellfire” missiles from a US drone.

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“Now justice has been delivered, and this terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said in remarks from the White House on Monday. “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.”

He said he had authorized the precision strike in downtown Kabul and that no civilians were killed.

Three spokespeople in the Taliban administration in Kabul declined comment on Zawahiri’s death.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had previously confirmed that a strike took place in Kabul on Sunday and strongly condemned it, calling it a violation of “international principles.”

A spokesperson for the interior ministry said a house was hit by a rocket in Sherpoor, an upscale residential neighborhood of the city which also houses several embassies.

“There were no casualties as the house was empty,” Abdul Nafi Takor, the spokesperson, said.

Taliban authorities threw a security dragnet around the house in Sherpoor on Tuesday and journalists were not allowed nearby.

A senior Taliban official told Reuters that Zawahiri was previously in Helmand province and had moved to Kabul after the Taliban took over the country in August last year.

US intelligence determined with “high confidence” through multiple intelligence streams that the man killed was Zawahiri, one senior administration official told reporters.

“Zawahiri continued to pose an active threat to US persons, interests and national security,” the official said on a conference call. “His death of him deals a significant blow to al Qaeda and will degrade the group’s ability to operate.”

Zawahiri succeeded bin Laden as al Qaeda leader after years as its main organizer and strategist, but his lack of charisma and competition from rival militants Islamic State hobbled his ability to inspire devastating attacks on the West. read more

There were rumors of Zawahiri’s death several times in recent years, and he was long reported to have been in poor health.

SANCTUARY

Osama bin Laden sits with his adviser Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian linked to the al Qaeda network, during an interview with Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir (not pictured) in an image supplied by Dawn newspaper November 10, 2001. Hamid Mir/Editor/ Ausaf Newspaper for Daily Dawn/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

The drone attack is the first known US strike inside Afghanistan since US troops and diplomats left the country in August 2021. The move may bolster the credibility of Washington’s assurances that the United States can still address threats from Afghanistan without a military presence in the country.

His death also raises questions about whether Zawahiri received sanctuary from the Taliban following their takeover of Kabul in August 2021. The official said senior Taliban officials were aware of his presence in the city and said the United States expected the Taliban to abide by an agreement not to allow al Qaeda fighters to re-establish themselves in the country.

“The Taliban will have to answer for al-Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul, after assuring the world they would not give safe haven to al-Qaeda terrorists,” Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Taliban had “grossly violated” the Doha Agreement between the two sides by hosting and sheltering Zawahiri.

Former President Barack Obama joined lawmakers in praising the operation.

“Tonight’s news is also proof that it’s possible to root out terrorism without being at war in Afghanistan,” Obama said in a Twitter message. “And I hope it provides a small measure of peace to the 9/11 families and everyone else who has suffered at the hands of al Qaeda.”

ReutersGraphics

Republican US Senator Marco Rubio said: “The world is safer without him in it and this strike demonstrates our ongoing commitment to hunt down all terrorists responsible for 9/11 and those who continue to pose a threat to US interests.” said

Until the US announcement, Zawahiri had been rumored variously to be in Pakistan’s tribal area or inside Afghanistan.

A video released in April in which he praised an Indian Muslim woman for defying a ban on wearing an Islamic head scarf dispelled rumors that he had died.

The senior US official said finding Zawahiri was the result of persistent counter-terrorism work. The United States found out this year that Zawahiri’s wife, daughter and her children had relocated to a safe house in Kabul, then identified that Zawahiri was there as well, the official said.

“Once Zawahiri arrived at the location, we are not aware of him ever leaving the safe house,” the official said. He was identified multiple times on the balcony, where he was ultimately struck. He continued to produce videos from the house and some may be released after his death, the official said.

In the last few weeks, Biden agreed to officials to scrutinize the intelligence. He was updated throughout May and June and was briefed on July 1 on a proposed operation by intelligence leaders. On July 25 I received an updated report and authorized the strike once an opportunity was available, the administration official said.

With other senior al Qaeda members, Zawahiri is believed to have plotted the October 12, 2000, attack on the USS Cole naval vessel in Yemen which killed 17 US sailors and injured more than 30 others, the Rewards for Justice website said.

He was indicted in the United States for his role in the August 7, 1998, bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people and wounded more than 5,000 others.

Both bin Laden and Zawahiri eluded capture when US-led forces toppled Afghanistan’s Taliban government in late 2001 following the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

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Reporting by Idrees Ali and Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Alexandra Alper, Eric Beech, Jonathan Landay, Arshad Mohammed, Patricia Zengerle, Matt Spetalnick in Washington, Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar and Reuters staff in Kabul; Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Stephen Coates

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