 Here’s what you need to know to get the day started: | | | U.S. drone strike kills al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, Biden confirms | | |  | Ayman al-Zawahri is seen in this 1998 photograph taken in Khost, Afghanistan. (Mazhar Ali Khan/The Associated Press) | | | U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed Monday that a weekend drone strike in Afghanistan killed Ayman al-Zawahri, who took over as the leader of al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden died in a U.S. raid in 2011.
"Justice has been delivered, and this terrorist leader is no more," Biden said in an evening address from the balcony off the White House Blue Room. Biden is currently in isolation after testing positive again for COVID-19.
"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.
According to a report from The Associated Press, Biden approved the operation last week and it was carried out on Sunday.
Al-Zawahri, a doctor, merged his group of Egyptian militants with bin Laden's al-Qaeda in the 1990s.
Biden described al-Zawahri as bin Laden's No. 2 man during the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. The president said al-Zawahri was a "mastermind" who was deeply involved in the attacks, as well as the bombing of USS Cole, a U.S. navy guided missile destroyer, and bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. | | | | | For 1st time since Russia's invasion, Ukrainian grain ship leaves port of Odesa | | |  | (Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP/Getty Images) | | | | The bulk carrier M/V Razoni, carrying a cargo of more than 23,000 tonnes of corn, leaves the Ukrainian port of Odesa, en route to Tripoli, Lebanon, on Monday. It marked the first shipment of Ukrainian grain to leave the port since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Read more on this story here. | | | | | | | | | In brief | | | Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos on Monday announced nearly $18 million to expand HIV testing in Canada, with a substantial portion of the funding going toward self-administered kits. Of the $17.9 million, $8 million will go toward purchasing HIV self-testing kits and distributing them to community organizations, Duclos said at the 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal. The other $9.9 million will go to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg for expansion of HIV testing in northern, remote or isolated communities. Health Canada approved the first HIV self-test in late 2020. It's a one-minute, finger-prick blood test from Richmond, B.C., company bioLytical Laboratories Inc. Duclos said the government is looking to apply lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic to HIV/AIDS. "We know that HIV is preventable, yet the rate of HIV infections remains high in Canada and in other countries. Providing individuals with access to testing, treatment and care can help reverse this trend," he said. "Removing barriers is the key to ending the AIDS pandemic." Read more on this story here.
Evacuation orders have now been issued for 324 properties in B.C.'s southern Interior following major growth of the Keremeos Creek wildfire over the last day. As of Monday at 2:30 p.m. PT, the fire to the southwest of Penticton was estimated at 22.6 square kilometres in size, more than five times the estimate given a day earlier. "It's not a very predictable wildfire. It's an out-of-control wildfire," B.C. Wildfire Service information officer Bryan Zandberg told reporters at a news conference. Another 438 properties are on evacuation alert, meaning they should be ready to leave at a moment's notice, according to Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen information officer Erick Thompson. Although B.C. saw a late start to the wildfire season, there has been significant drying of vegetation in the southern Interior in recent weeks that has been conducive to fires, said Zandberg. Read more here.
When James Glasbergen boarded an Air Transat flight departing from Toronto to London on June 30, he was excited to begin his journey to see the Rolling Stones play live in Europe. What the 46-year-old quadriplegic man from Kitchener, Ont., wasn't looking forward to was getting out of his custom-fitted electric wheelchair and into an airplane seat, as required by federal law. His concerns turned out to be warranted after airline staff helping to transfer Glasbergen to his seat dropped him in the aisle, setting off a more than three-minute struggle to lift the 200-plus-pound man from the floor and set him upright. Glasbergen is calling on airlines and regulators to figure out a way to allow wheelchair users to remain seated in their personal mobility devices when they fly, as they can on buses and trains. Between the hassle, potential injuries and damage to wheelchairs stowed alongside luggage, people who rely on wheelchairs for mobility, advocates and the U.S. transportation secretary, argue it's time to make air travel more accessible so people living with disabilities have a more equitable flying experience. Read the full story here.
After city workers in London, Ont., cut down a monarch butterfly habitat without the homeowner's permission, an environmental lawyer says Ontario cities must re-examine policies addressing complaints over butterfly-friendly wildflowers. Susan McKee returned from vacation in July only to discover her pollinator garden, once bustling with monarch butterflies and bees, was mowed down by city workers while she was away. She said the garden was used by neighbours as a source of eggs to help colonize nearby gardens with the embattled insect. McKee got three tickets totalling $300 in cleanup, inspection and administration fees because city workers had to deal with "tall weeds and grass" on her property. In doing so, workers removed more than a dozen varieties of plants, including milkweed — a plant considered a vital habitat for monarch butterflies, a once pervasive insect that was declared endangered just weeks ago by an international consortium of science and conservation groups. Whether city workers violated the Species at Risk Act when they destroyed monarch butterfly habitat would be a question for a court to decide, said Theresa McClenaghan, executive director and counsel for the Canadian Environmental Law Association. Read more here.
Swimmer Summer McIntosh, weightlifter Maude Charron and judoka Christa Deguchi each won gold medals for Canada on Monday at the Commonwealth Games taking place in Birmingham, England. McIntosh captured her second gold medal of the Commonwealth Games by winning the women's 200-metre individual medley. The 15-year-old phenom swam the distance in a personal-best time of 2:08.70 to edge Australia's Kaylee McKeown by 0.82 seconds. Charron set multiple Commonwealth Games records while capturing gold in the women's 64-kilogram event. Meanwhile, a golden score ippon lifted Deguchi to victory in the women's under-57 kilogram category. Canada's 15 medals on Monday propelled the country to six gold, 11 silver and 16 bronze so far at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Read more on Canada’s Day 4 medal haul.
Now for some good news to start your Tuesday: Travelling to Newfoundland this summer means Norma Gould can finally start answering one of life's most daunting questions: "Who am I?" Gould, who currently lives in North Carolina, discovered she has a half-sibling and cousins from Newfoundland and Labrador after completing DNA tests in 2016. It's also the land of her late father, who's buried there, and who she'd never met. This summer, she finally made the long-awaited journey alongside her daughter, Debra Braddy. "I'd look in the mirror and I didn't know who I was. I didn't know who I looked like," Gould told CBC Radio's Newfoundland Morning. "Now meeting all my cousins, or many of them anyway, I feel complete. I feel like I belong." Read more on this story here. | | | OPINION | Shifting to EVs is not enough. The deeper problem is our car dependence | | | Electric vehicles will be part of the solution, but meeting the challenge of climate change requires taking on the dominance of cars in our communities, writes Paris Marx. Read the column here. | | | | | FIRST PERSON | I work hard to control the voices in my head. And even harder to be a voice for others | Leif Gregersen has experience with psychosis and schizoaffective disorder, as well as the stigma that comes with them. He hopes to be a voice of change by doing all he can to increase awareness of mental illnesses and understanding for those who suffer from them. Read his column here. | | | | | | |  | Inuit ask Pope for justice over accused priest | Last week, Canada asked France to extradite a Catholic priest accused of crimes against Inuit children in Nunavut decades ago.
RCMP have said Rev. Johannes Rivoire is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant related to a sexual assault charge laid in February. Rivoire had previously been charged with sexually abusing children in Nunavut, but those charges were stayed in 2017.
In Iqaluit on Friday, as part of the Pope's final stop in his "penitential pilgrimage" in Canada, a delegation once again called on the pontiff to personally intervene.
Today, we're talking to investigative journalist Kathleen Martens about the long fight to put Rivoire on trial. This episode will also feature clips from Martens's exclusive interview with Rivoire for APTN.
Listen to today's episode | | | Today in history: August 2 | | | 1610: English explorer Henry Hudson enters Hudson Bay. In his ship Discovery, he explored the eastern shore of the bay and then wintered in the extreme south of James Bay. His crew mutinied the following spring, and Hudson was set adrift in an open boat with his son and seven crew members. Nothing is known of their fate.
1862: Victoria, B.C., is incorporated as a city.
1892: Movie mogul Jack L. Warner is born in London, Ont. With his brother Harry, Albert and Sam, he found Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. in 1923.
1992: Rower Silken Laumann completes one of the most remarkable comebacks in Olympic history when she wins a bronze medal in women's single sculls in Barcelona. The medal win came less than three months after her right leg was seriously damaged in an accident during a competition in Germany.
Do you engage with CBC comments?
The CBC Research team wants to hear from you. We’re looking for people passionate about commenting, whether you read or write comments on cbc.ca.
We want to learn more about how you use our commenting features, and your perspectives and feelings on moderation and our CBC submission guidelines.
Learn more and register here for the research study! | | | (With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters) | | | | |  | CBC NEWS APP | The most convenient way to get your news
Breaking news alerts
Local, national & world news
In-depth coverage | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
forwarded to you. | | | |
