Good morning. We’re covering Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s arrival in Taiwan and an American drone strike that killed Al Qaeda’s leader. |
| Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taipei, Taiwan, on Tuesday. This photo was released by the Taiwanese government.Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
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Soon after arriving Tuesday, Pelosi released a statement saying that the visit was a sign of America’s “unwavering commitment” to supporting Taiwan’s democracy. |
But China’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Pelosi’s visit “seriously undermines China’s sovereignty.” The U.S. has expressed concern that China could use the visit to justify military action. Follow our live updates. |
Analysis: Pelosi’s trip could take the acrimony between the U.S. and China to new heights, and leave U.S. allies in a difficult position, analysts say. |
| Ayman al-Zawahri, right, with Osama bin Laden in 2001, during an interview with a Pakistani journalist.Ausaf Newspaper for Daily Dawn, via Reuters |
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U.S. strike kills Al Qaeda’s leader |
An American drone strike killed Ayman al-Zawahri — a key plotter of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks who took over as the leader of Al Qaeda after Osama bin Laden’s death — at a safe house in Afghanistan. |
The strike in downtown Kabul over the weekend capped a 21-year manhunt. After receiving authorization from President Biden a week ago, the C.I.A. fired two Hellfire missiles and killed al-Zawahri on a balcony of the house without killing anyone else, including members of his family or nearby civilians, U.S. officials said. |
Quotable: “Now justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more,” President Biden said in a televised address on Monday night. “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.” |
| Donald Trump has hinted that he may run again for U.S. president.Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times |
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Trump to face questions about his net worth |
The former president and his eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, are set to be questioned this month by the New York State attorney general’s office, which has been conducting an investigation into whether Trump and his company fraudulently inflated the value of his assets. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., was interviewed last week, according to people with knowledge of the matter. |
The interviews mark the final stage of a three-year civil inquiry that could lead to legal action against Trump and his company. Trump has derided the inquiry as a politically-motivated witch hunt and denied all wrongdoing. If a lawsuit is filed, and Trump loses at trial, a judge could impose steep financial penalties and restrict Trump’s business operations in New York — all amid a 2024 presidential campaign that he has hinted he will join. |
In other U.S. politics news: |
| A Ukrainian soldier sits in a trench on the front lines near the Ukrainian town of Barvinkove on Monday.David Guttenfelder for The New York Times |
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| Boris Johnson announced his resignation outside 10 Downing Street last month.Carl Court/Getty Images |
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| An illegal airstrip in the Brazilian Amazon.Victor Moriyama for The New York Times |
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Hundreds of airstrips have been secretly built by the illegal mining industry on protected lands in Brazil, a Times investigation found. More than 1,200 others were located across the Brazilian Amazon — many of them part of criminal networks that are destroying Indigenous lands and threatening their people. |
A company building a new yacht for Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, recently asked the government of Rotterdam, Netherlands, to briefly dismantle a portion of a decommissioned bridge, so that the newly constructed ship could sail out to sea. It seemed like a fairly benign request: The operation would have been fast, free and disrupted nothing. |
But the Dutch were furious, and they expressed their dismay publicly. Fuming residents became a staple of local TV news and a Facebook group formed to organize an egging of the $500 million boat. |
The clash provided an opportunity to see Dutch and American values in a fiery, head-on collision. The more you know about the Netherlands — with its preference for modesty over extravagance, for the community over the individual, for fitting in rather than standing out — the more it seems as though this kerfuffle was scripted by someone whose goal was to drive the Dutch people out of their minds. |
“There’s a principle at stake,” said Stefan Lewis, a former City Council member. He framed that principle with questions. “What can you buy if you have unlimited cash? Can you bend every rule? Can you take apart monuments?” |
| David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. |
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The second season of the Native American coming-of-age comedy “Reservation Dogs” deepens its emotion. |
In Tyrell Johnson’s thriller, “The Lost Kings,” a woman investigates a crime and its aftereffects on her own body and psyche. |
That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next time. — Matthew |
The latest episode of “The Daily” is about the killing of Ayman al-Zawahri. |
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