Rescue efforts are continuing in Nepal and Tibet after flash floods that have killed hundreds and left many more missing. But fears that a lake formed by the landslide could overflow and cause fresh flooding, along with difficulty accessing disaster-hit areas, are hindering rescue and recovery missions. Lucy Hough speaks with south Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen, who is in Nepal, about the situation on the ground – watch on YouTube The Guardian
Day: August 28, 2026
The ‘Asian water tower’ is starting to wobble, computer simulations show
“Asia’s water tower” is heading towards a more unpredictable and unstable future, according to a new study measuring the Tibetan Plateau’s stability. The study, published on August 21 in Nature Communications, examined the entropy of the region to gauge how much chaos or disorder was building up in a complex system. Chen Xiaosong, a physicist at the school of systems science at Beijing Normal University and lead author of the study, said on Thursday that from now to the end of this century, “the increase of soil water and the…
Families of 33 missing Britons rush to Nepal as fears grow of more floods
Families are rushing to Nepal to search for the 33 British nationals who are still missing, as fears mount over the risk of a second wave of flooding in the region. The catastrophic flash floods that hit Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday, thundering down valleys and sweeping away entire villages, have killed at least 538 people, while more than 1,500 remain missing. Among them are hundreds of foreign tourists who were visiting the mountainous region, which is popular with trekkers and pilgrims for its natural beauty and religious significance. Relatives…
China strips former generals Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli of top military positions
The two generals have been under investigation for alleged discipline violations since January and were officially stripped of their positions on the Central Military Commission (CMC) at a meeting of the National People’s Congress’ Standing Committee on Friday. As the CMC’s senior vice-chairman, Zhang was the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the Chinese military. Liu was chief of the CMC’s Joint Staff Department. A commentary by the PLA Daily in January said Zhang and Liu had betrayed the trust of the Communist Party and undermined the party’s absolute control of the…
Uzbekistan tests US-China AI rift with bid to join rival tech bloc
The Central Asian country of Uzbekistan has approached the United States about joining Pax Silica, Washington’s flagship initiative on artificial intelligence (AI) supply chains, a month after signing up for China’s own global grouping, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (Waico). Uzbekistan’s ambassador to the US, Furqat Sidikov, said Tashkent had formally notified the US State Department in a diplomatic note last week requesting to join the US-led initiative. “Now, the US should confirm. We are ready to sign,” he said in Washington on Thursday. Sidikov added that countries should…
China’s radar satellites capture sharp images of glacier collapse site in Nepal
Within hours of a devastating glacier collapse on the China-Nepal border, a Beijing-based satellite company had already redirected six of its satellites to survey the disaster zone. The high-resolution radar images they captured revealed a massive collapse site near a remote mountain pass. Unlike optical sensors, radar signals can pierce through haze and cloud, mapping terrain changes with high precision even in the rugged Himalayan plateau. Radar images captured by the Dongpo-15 satellite on August 27, showing (from top) the suspected mudslide gully, suspected collapse area and Gyirong Port, Tibet.…
Gong Zizheng, who led China’s planetary defence project, dies at 61
Gong Zizheng, a pioneer of space debris research and a key figure in China’s planned asteroid defence mission, has died at 61. A top government adviser and prominent leader in international space debris organisations, Gong died on Saturday after a battle with illness, according to Chinese media reports. No further details were given. On social media, one of Gong’s colleagues at the China Academy of Space Technology remembered him as a prolific scientist deeply devoted to his work, a warm and gentle person, and a generous mentor who readily shared…
Nepal-Tibet flood: this is the cost of not acting in the face of the climate crisis | Sunil Acharya
As a Nepali citizen working on international climate policy for more than a decade, it is difficult to look at the harrowing images coming out of the catastrophic flash flood that thundered down valleys in Nepal, sweeping down the Lhende Khola, Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers, and not feel angry. Not just because of the destruction, but because it comes after years of warnings from scientists and civil society that a rapidly warming planet would make disasters more frequent, more intense and harder to predict. This is what the cost of…
Could the China-Nepal disaster spur a safety rethink for a flagship rail project?
This week’s devastating floods on the China-Nepal border could be a catalyst for joint early-warning systems, particularly in relation to a proposed rail link between the countries. Rescuers were still struggling on Thursday to reach Gyirong Port in the Tibet autonomous region where a mudslide struck a day earlier, following flash floods from Nepal. The port is the region’s main foreign trade gateway, which handles a third of China’s trade with its neighbour. Gyirong is also one end of a multibillion-dollar trans-Himalayan project connecting Tibet with Kathmandu. The project was…
Xi-Trump summit plans, Nepal disaster, SCO summit
South China Morning Post