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The White House has warned that China may respond to Nancy Pelosi's mooted visit to Taiwan with military provocations, BBC reported.

This could include firing missiles near Taiwan, or large-scale air or naval activities, spokesman John Kirby said.

Mrs Pelosi, the US House of Representatives Speaker, is on a tour of Asia.

Taiwanese and US media outlets say she plans to visit Taipei, but this has not been confirmed by the US government. 

Taiwan is a self-ruled island, but claimed by China, which sees it as a breakaway province - Beijing has warned of "serious consequences" if Mrs Pelosi goes there.

While the US maintains what it calls a "robust, unofficial relationship" with Taiwan, it has formal diplomatic ties with China, and not Taiwan. 

On Monday, China's United Nations envoy Zhang Jun warned the visit would undermine relations between Beijing and Washington, Reuters news agency reported.

There is strong bipartisan support for Taiwan among the American public and in the US Congress. And Mrs Pelosi, a senior figure in the Democratic Party, has long been a vocal critic of the Chinese leadership, denouncing its human rights record. She has previously met pro-democracy dissidents and visited Tiananmen Square to commemorate victims of the 1989 massacre, according to BBC.

The speaker began her tour of Asia on Sunday, with stops scheduled in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.

She originally planned to visit Taiwan in April, but postponed the trip after she tested positive for Covid-19.

Earlier this month Mrs Pelosi said it was "important for us to show support for Taiwan".

President Joe Biden has said the US military believes a Pelosi visit to Taiwan is "not a good idea right now". 

On Monday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that China's escalations could include making "spurious legal claims" in the days to come, for example by claiming that the Taiwan Strait is not an international waterway.

He said other signs indicate that Beijing may send flights towards the island, as part of a planned incursion into Taiwan's airspace.

Mr Kirby pointed out that Republican former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich had visited Taiwan in 1997, and that other US lawmakers visited Taiwan earlier this year. 

"Nothing has changed. There is no drama to talk to. It is not without precedent for a Speaker of the House to go to Taiwan," he said, adding that Mrs Pelosi is travelling on US military planes during her Asian tour.

Speaking at the United Nations, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on China to be measured in the event that Mrs Pelosi does visit.

"If the speaker does decide to visit, and China tries to create some kind of crisis or otherwise escalate tensions, that would be entirely on Beijing," he told reporters after nuclear non-proliferation talks in New York, BBC reported.

"We are looking for them - in the event she decides to visit - to act responsibly and not to engage in any escalation going forward."

The US has killed the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a drone strike in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden has confirmed, BBC reported.

He was killed in a counter-terrorism operation carried out by the CIA in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Sunday. 

Mr Biden said Zawahiri had "carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens".

"Now justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more," he added.

Officials said Zawahiri was on the balcony of a safe house when the drone fired two missiles at him.

Other family members were present, but they were unharmed and only Zawahiri was killed, they added.

Mr Biden said he had given the final approval for the "precision strike" on the 71-year-old al-Qaeda leader after months of planning.

Zawahiri took over al-Qaeda after the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011. He and Bin Laden plotted the 9/11 attacks together and he was one of the US's "most wanted terrorists".

His killing will bring closure to families of the victims of the 2001 attacks, Mr Biden said.

"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," said Mr Biden, adding that "we shall never waver from defending our nation and its people".

Mr Biden said Zawahiri had also masterminded other acts of violence, including the suicide bombing of the USS Cole naval destroyer in Aden in October 2000 which killed 17 US sailors, according to BBC.

A Taliban spokesman described the US operation as a clear violation of international principles.

"Such actions are a repetition of the failed experiences of the past 20 years and are against the interests of the United States of America, Afghanistan and the region," the spokesman added.

However, US officials maintained that the operation had a legal basis, BBC reported.

Police have arrested a group of youths who were staging a demonstration outside the Parliament building demanding resignation of Finance Minister Janardan Sharma.

The youths aligned to the Nepali Congress were apprehended from outside the Parliament building while they were chanting slogans against the finance minister.

They demanded the resignation of the finance minister saying that the committee formed to probe allegations against Sharma prepared the report in a unilateral way.

The youths who took to the streets carrying the flags of Nepal Student Union, student wing of the ruling Nepali Congress, were rounded up soon after they reached the gate number 1 of the Parliament.

Pakistan imports fell by more than a third in July after a ban on non-essentials, the finance minister said on Sunday, adding the improved trade situation will reduce pressure on the struggling rupee, The Economic Times reported.

July imports fell to $5 billion, down 35% from June's record monthly high of $7.7 billion, Miftah Ismail told a news conference in Islamabad.

The central bank and Pakistan statistics bureau is yet to post its July data.

"This is very welcoming," Ismail said, adding it was the result of his government's ban on all non-essential imports. "It will remove pressure on rupee," he said.

The rupee traded up slightly at 239.37 to the dollar on Friday, after shedding about 5% last week and more than a quarter of its value this year.

The ban on the import of non-essential goods was lifted last week, except for automobiles, cell phones and home appliances.

Ismail said his government has resolved to bring down the current account deficit significantly and to post a surplus in a year or two, according to The Economic Times.

The South Asian nation has fast-depleting foreign reserves and is struggling to finance a widening current account deficit, which saw a $2.3 billion surge in June, mainly due to rise in oil imports.

The deficit for the financial year ending June 30 stood at $17.4 billion against $2.8 billion the previous year.

Earlier in July, Pakistan reached a staff level agreement with the IMF for the disbursement of $1.17 billion under a resumed payment of a bailout package, The Economic Times reported.