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Politics
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Glacial collapse caused huge flood leaving hundreds dead or missing in Nepal and Tibet
Entire populated areas swept away with early death toll standing at 165 and nationals from India, US, UK, Australia and Canada known to be missing Follow latest updates live Tell us: have you been affected by the flash floods? A glacial collapse triggered the catastrophic flash flood in Nepal and Tibet that roared down valleys, wiping out entire villages and leaving a preliminary death toll of at least 165 people, the US Geological Survey said. Rescuers on Thursday raced to locate the hundreds missing, including nationals from India, the US, UK, Australia and Canada. Terrifying videos from the event on Wednesday showed a massive wall of water crashing down on the border as people attempted to flee. Trucks were upended and houses, roads and power projects swept away in Nepal, while officials in Tibet said they feared “major casualties” after a mudslide hit a border land crossing. Continue reading...
Roger Goodell says NFL is reviewing Jed York’s arrest under personal conduct policy
Goodell confirms review after Ohio prostitution sting York pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges NFL has previously disciplined owners for misconduct Commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL is looking into whether San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York will be punished for violating the league’s personal conduct policy after he was caught in a prostitution sting in Ohio. “It’s being reviewed under the personal conduct policy,” Goodell said Wednesday at the owners’ meetings in Atlanta. “We’ll do that and when there’s something to be reported we’ll talk.” Continue reading...
Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist who became a global superstar, dies aged 97
From the 1950s to the 2020s, Kusama produced vivid paintings, sculptures and vast installations that often drew on her experience of hallucinations Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese outsider artist who reached superstar status after decades living in a psychiatric hospital, has died aged 97. Kusama died in a Tokyo hospital on 14 August. Her death was announced by her studio in a statement on her website . Continue reading...
Nepal floods: Children as young as 11 among Australian tour group missing after flash flooding
Nepali tour operator fears 15 Australians who had been on a trekking tour near border with China have died after devastating flooding A Nepali tour operator says he fears that 15 Australians trekking with his company in a valley ravaged by flash flooding have died. Sagar Pandey, the founder and chief executive of Himalayan Glacier Trekking, said he has lost all contact with his tour group of 47 people, which included 15 Australians. Continue reading...
‘No transparency’: Labor to scrap levy secretly placed on Victorian public transport fares
Premier confirms levy, which was intended to help pay for the multibillion-dollar Suburban Rail Loop and other Big Build projects, will be abolished Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A levy secretly slapped on Victorian public transport users – designed to help pay for the Suburban Loop and other Big Build projects – will be scrapped, the state premier has announced. Ben Carroll announced on Thursday that he would move to abolish the levy “because there was no transparency in its creation and implementation”. Continue reading...
Police investigate death of teenage girl two days after alleged ‘sexual choking’ act in Sydney
Paramedics called to northern beaches home on Sunday evening before 16-year-old dies in hospital on Tuesday night after sexual strangulation act Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast New South Wales police are investigating the death of a 16-year-old girl after a suspected sexual strangulation act. Police said emergency services were called to a home in Elanora Heights in Sydney’s northern beaches on Sunday evening in response to a welfare concern report. Continue reading...
Ex-JPMorgan Chase executive shared confidential bank information with Epstein
Jes Staley told US House committee he also was at one point named a trustee of convicted sex offender’s estate Former JPMorgan Chase executive Jes Staley told US lawmakers he repeatedly shared confidential and market-sensitive bank information with Jeffrey Epstein and was at one point named as a trustee of his estate, according to a transcript released by the House oversight committee on Wednesday. These admissions come as lawmakers investigate the late convicted sex offender’s ties with political and business elites. Staley appeared before the committee in July as part of its investigation into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Transcripts from the meeting were released on Wednesday. Continue reading...
Cyborg cockroaches with tiny syringes could soon join search and rescue teams in major disasters
Giant burrowing cockroaches with added cameras and medical injectors are being tested as potential ‘first responders’ in earthquakes Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast For people trapped under rubble in an earthquake or similar disaster, the arrival of a fleet of cockroaches could one day be the difference between life and death. Biorobotics engineers have been working on the design of six-legged cyborg insects with cameras and miniature medical injectors for search and rescue missions. Continue reading...
Australia’s refugee intake to be slashed as Labor works to reduce migration amid One Nation pressure
Quota to fall by a third to Coalition-era levels in move that the Greens say makes Australia ‘meaner and weaker’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia’s annual refugee intake will fall by a third next financial year, as Labor works to drive down migration levels over increasing political pressure from One Nation . Currently set at 20,000 arrivals per year, the annual refugee quota will drop back to Coalition-era levels of 13,750 in 2027-28. Continue reading...
Qantas profits dip to lowest in four years as jet fuel costs climb after Iran conflict
Airline declines to predict impact of new carry-on luggage charge on Jetstar revenue or ticket sales, saying it is offering customers ‘choice’ Qantas has recorded its lowest pre-tax profits in four years, at $2.06bn, after the US war on Iran pushed up its fuel costs by $610m. Australia’s national airline also announced it would phase out its Airbus A380 models as it prepares to add new planes to its fleet, handing down annual results on Thursday. Continue reading...
Busy Philipps reveals brain tumour diagnosis: ‘I’m grateful to be alive’
Actor says she had the ‘weirdest six months of my life’, after being diagnosed days after her Dawson’s Creek co-star James Van Der Beek died of cancer Busy Philipps has revealed she had a brain tumour removed, which was diagnosed shortly after her Dawson’s Creek co-star James Van Der Beek died from bowel cancer. The 47-year-old, born Elizabeth Philipps, starred in the hit US teen drama as Audrey Liddell opposite Van Der Beek, who died in February aged 48 after being diagnosed with bowel cancer. Continue reading...
Nepal flash flood live updates: search on for hundreds missing near Tibet border as officials warn death toll could rise higher
At least 160 people have died, while officials believe 340 foreign nationals from India, the US, UK, Australia, Malaysia and Ukraine among those missing. Follow the latest news Flash floods on Nepal-Tibet border leave scores dead and hundreds missing Tell us: have you been affected by the flash floods? Authorities in Nepal and Tibet have said they fear the death toll from catastrophic flooding could be much higher than 160 people already killed, as search and rescue efforts to locate the hundreds missing continue. A huge wall of mud and rock collapsed into a river on the Himalayan border of Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday, triggering the flash flood which washed away houses, roads and border crossings. Rescue teams are rushing on Thursday to find hundreds of people missing after the flood and landslides killed at least 160 people . Many of the missing were foreign tourists, officials said. Nepali police said they had recovered 157 bodies after “devastating floods” , with officers working to move families in flood-risk areas to safety. Chinese state media reported “major casualties” from a mudslide at a Tibet border hub, reporting three dead and another 265 missing. The overall death toll appears likely to rise. Tibet government officials mobilised nearly 800 emergency workers and 150 vehicles as well as sniffer dogs and speed boats to help the rescue efforts, China’s official Xinhua news agency said. At least 403 tourists – 341 of them foreigners – were unaccounted for several hours after the disaster struck on Wednesday morning, according to Nepal’s tourism ministry. The missing foreigners included 142 Indians, 33 from the UK, 47 from the US, 34 from Australia and 24 from Canada as well as others from South Korea, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Portugal and South Africa, the tourism board said. Nine South Koreans were missing, the country’s foreign ministry said. At least 28 Nepal police officials were missing , a police spokesperson said. Entire villages and markets were “wiped out” , the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said. It was dispatching emergency supplies including blankets, first aid kits, stretchers and body bags. United Nations chief António Guterres said UN teams and partners were mobilising supplies and personnel in Nepal to support affected communities. Surveillance video from the Chinese side of the border showed a raging wall of mud and debris crashing over a building several storeys high , engulfing it as dozens of people flee for their lives below. The surge sweeps away buses and cars. Experts warned that a lingering blockage upstream on the Nepal-China border river could produce a second flood . The cause of the flooding was not immediately clear . Nepalese foreign minister Shishir Khanal said an earthquake likely triggered a landslide, which in turn blocked a river, sending water gushing downstream. Nepal’s disaster authority said satellite data indicated a “snow-rock landslide” on the Nepal-China border may have caused the flood. Scientists say climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in the region. Chinese leader Xi Jinping said “the most urgent task is doing everything possible to search for and rescue the missing people”, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. The US Geological Survey first reported a magnitude-4.4 earthquake early on Wednesday, about 66km (41 miles) north of Kathmandu, near the border. It later updated to call the shaking a 5.2-magnitude landslide. Continue reading...
Key witness in Meta trial says terms of settlement insufficient to halt apps’ harms to teenagers
Exclusive: Arturo Béjar, an ex-Facebook employee and whistleblower, said outcome ‘is not an all clear to say the product is safe’ Meta agrees to major changes to Facebook and Instagram in settlement The star witness in the US government’s landmark trial against Meta believes that a multibillion-dollar settlement reached on Wednesday does not go far enough to stop the social media giant’s harms to young users. “The limitations that are in the agreement are the equivalent of saying: ‘Well you can smoke as many cigarettes as you can in two hours a day,’” said whistleblower and ex-Facebook employee Arturo Béjar. “It doesn’t make the cigarettes any safer.” Continue reading...
Queensland woman gave birth to twins with different parents after surrogacy coincides with natural pregnancy
Both children were born on same day in November 2025 in situation so rare it had not been contemplated by state surrogacy laws Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A Queensland woman gave birth to twin children with separate sets of biological parents last year, in what is believed to be an Australian first situation so rare it had not been contemplated by state surrogacy laws. The woman, anonymised in a court judgment, conceived an unplanned natural pregnancy about the same time as she received an IVF embryo transfer under a surrogacy arrangement with another couple. Continue reading...
NFL finally calls time on beleaguered Pro Bowl after years of format changes
League ends flag football and skills competitions Only original 88 selections will earn Pro Bowl status Players to be honored at Super Bowl week in LA The NFL is ending the Pro Bowl Games after repeated format changes to its annual all-star event. Beginning with the 2026 season, 88 Pro Bowlers will be selected but the NFL no longer plans to stage an AFC-NFC game, a flag-football matchup or an accompanying series of competitions. The players chosen will instead be invited to next year’s Super Bowl site in Los Angeles for an in-person celebration in February. Continue reading...
London neurosurgeons perform first successful AI-assisted operation to remove brain tumour
Surgeons aided by real-time analysis of camera footage that identified critical anatomy in brain to be avoided Neurosurgeons in London have performed the world’s first successful AI-assisted operation to remove a brain tumour, saving the sight of a 48-year-old man, health officials have said. The surgery was performed in May at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), part of University College London hospitals NHS foundation trust, but details were kept secret until Thursday while the patient, Rhys Hibbert, recovered. Continue reading...
Man in prison in New York advances in primary for Alaska’s US House seat
Democrat Eric Hafner, to be released in 2036, also ran for seat in 2024, securing spot on that general election ballot A man who is serving time in a federal prison in New York advanced on Wednesday from the primary for Alaska’s lone US House seat. Eric Hafner, a registered Democrat, also ran for the seat in 2024 and secured a spot on the general election ballot that November despite a challenge brought by the Alaska Democratic party. Continue reading...
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rejoins DSA after membership lapse of seven years
Then House candidate joined Democratic Socialists of America in 2018 but didn’t renew membership after a year Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has rejoined the Democratic Socialists of America after not renewing her membership for seven years, amid speculation that she might run for president in 2028. The 36-year-old New York representative and one of the country’s most prominent democratic socialists renewed her membership in the group’s national organization after reports emerged earlier this month that it had lapsed. Ocasio-Cortez initially joined the group in 2018. Continue reading...
‘Work is good for you’: how UK scheme could help tackle youth mental health crisis
Paid employment can boost confidence and wellbeing, says Pat McFadden as jobs guarantee scheme gets under way Work must be “part of the answer” to the mental health crisis among young people, the work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, has said as he met some of the first beneficiaries of Labour’s youth jobs guarantee scheme . He was speaking on a visit to Boots’s headquarters in Nottingham on Wednesday, where several 18- to 21-year-olds were taken on under the job guarantee – with their wages paid by the taxpayer for six months. Continue reading...
Plug-in balcony solar panels to go on sale in UK for first time
DIY system will be stocked by big retailers, starting with Argos, enabling more homes to lower bills by generating own electricity Plug-in solar panels will go on sale in the UK for the first time from Thursday, allowing households unable to use rooftop panels to also generate their own cheap electricity. Households across the country will be able to join the millions across mainland Europe who generate their own renewable electricity using “balcony solar panels”, which will be stocked by some of the UK’s biggest retailers. Continue reading...
Dozens of Australians believed to be among hundreds of foreign tourists missing in Nepal flash floods
Powerful floods in Himalayan border area sweep away houses, roads and bridges Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Dozens of Australian tourists are reportedly missing in the deadly flash floods that swept through the Nepal-Tibet border, as the Australian government says it is urgently working to confirm their welfare. According to the Nepal Tourist Board, as reported by Press Association, at least 403 people have been reported missing, with 341 foreign nationals unaccounted for. Continue reading...
Australia news live: dozens of Australians believed to be among hundreds of foreign tourists missing in Nepal flash floods
Powerful floods in Himalayan border area sweep away houses, roads and bridges. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, says the government is urgently trying to confirm the welfare of Australians in Nepal, after reports dozens of Australian tourists were among those missing in flash floods. In a statement issued this morning she said: The loss of life and destruction caused by flash flooding in Nepal and China is devastating. Our thoughts are with the loved ones of those killed or missing and all affected by this disaster. DFAT officials are urgently working to confirm the welfare of Australians in the area. That’s where the very large scale of energy is able to be procured at relatively quick speed... we can get renewables online sooner rather than later... What you saw today was a nationally consistent position, that gas will have a role to play when it comes to the firming of renewables, which has always been South Australia’s view. We cannot have datacentres connecting to the grid without bringing their own new generation. Water is also clearly a consideration, but, frankly, energy is the main game. And that is accepted by all states and territories . Continue reading...
Burnham drops support for political funding cap aimed at curbing mega-donors
PM said he would set bar at £500k, but trade unions say funding reforms could undermine their ability to donate to Labour Andy Burnham has dropped his support for capping political donations, causing anger among activists and Labour MPs who have long campaigned for change to the way parties are funded. The prime minister has decided not to back amendments to the elections bill, which would cap the amount a person or an organisation can give in a single donation, according to government sources. Continue reading...
Parent whose 16-year-old daughter died by suicide reacts to Meta settlement – video
Victoria Hicks, mother of Alexandra Hicks, told reporters that she feels 'justice is possible' after Meta settled in its US trial over teen addiction. On 26 August in a Oakland, California, federal courtroom, Meta agreed to establish safeguards for teenagers and pay up to $17bn. Dozens of US states had accused the tech giant of addicting and harming children with dangerous products Continue reading...