Zawahiri “is no more”: Biden announces the death of Al Qaeda leader

US President Joe Biden announced on live television the death of Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, killed in Afghanistan overnight from Saturday to Sunday by a drone strike, another blow to the terrorist organization. “On Saturday, on my orders, the United States carried out an airstrike on Kabul, in Afghanistan, that killed the emir of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri,” he said during a short speech from the White House.

"Justice has been served and this terrorist leader is gone,” Joe Biden added. Zawahiri was one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. He had taken over the Jihadist nebula in 2011, after the death of Osama bin Laden, killed by an American commando in Pakistan. Untraceable for more than ten years, he was considered to be one of the masterminds of the attacks of September 11, which killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States.

Return of the heatwave in France

After going through the driest month of July on record, France is waking up on Tuesday to a third summer heat wave that is rising and intensifying through the south of the country, making the consequences of global warming more and more noticeable. “An episode of heatwave is confirmed for the middle of the week, centered on Wednesday and Thursday with maximum temperatures between 34 to 38 degC and locally 40 degC,” Meteo-France said Monday evening.

As a result, four departments in the south-east (Ardèche, Drôme, Gard and Vaucluse) and Pyrénées-Orientales remain on orange alert. Fifty other departments, south of a line from Charente-Maritime to Alsace, are on yellow alert. In this context, already conducive to unprecedented forest fires, a fire destroyed “at least 200 hectares” of scrub in the town of Santo-Pietro di Tenda in Haute-Corsica on Monday, a fire department spokesperson told AFP.

Superprofits, overtime, royalties: lively debates in the French Senate

From superprofits to royalty abolition, overtime and the monetization of RTTs, several fever outbreaks animated the discussion of the draft amending budget on Monday evening in the Senate. Continuation of the energy tariff shield and the fuel discount to 30 cents per liter in September-October then 10 in November-December, revaluation of the index point for civil servants... The amending finance bill for 2022 opens up 44 billion euros in credits, including 9.7 billion euros to finance the 100% renationalization of EDF.

In this second part of the measures to support purchasing power, which will continue to be discussed on Tuesday, the right-wing High Assembly immediately eliminated a tax on the “superprofits” of large groups. The LR group has come back to the plate on overtime, obtaining, with the support of Bruno Le Maire, the perpetuation of the increase to 7,500 euros in the tax exemption ceiling, voted by the National Assembly for 2022.

The High Assembly also voted, this time against the government's advice, to perpetuate the possibility for companies to buy back from employees on RTT days. Another subject of prolonged discussion was the abolition of the audiovisual license, against which the left and the centrists voted.

Ukraine: resumption of grain exports unanimously welcomed

Faced with the global food crisis, Ukraine has resumed grain exports for the first time since the Russian invasion, with the first boat leaving the port of Odessa, which was unanimously welcomed, even though Kiev deemed it “too early” to celebrate. In the evening, the United States announced the shipment of new weapons to Ukraine, including ammunition for the strategic Himars multi-rocket launchers. The cargo ship “Razoni” left the port of Odessa (southern Ukraine, on the Black Sea) bound for the port of Tripoli in Lebanon. It is expected on August 2 in Istanbul”, Turkey, where it will be inspected, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced Monday morning.

IN SHORT

Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, who began an Asian tour in Singapore on Monday, “has the right to visit Taiwan,” said the White House, according to which China “seems to be positioning itself” for a show of military force around this island that it claims.

Le Figaro, L'Equipe, and other French mobile apps sued Apple on Monday, accusing the Apple brand of violating competition law with its monopoly on the distribution of apps on the huge iPhone market.

American superstar Beyonce will have to re-record a song from her latest album after fierce criticism on social media for her use of a slang word considered an insult by people with disabilities.