Month: August 2026

Rescuers in Nepal Face Devastated Roads and Tough Terrain After Deadly Flood

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As rescuers and security forces in Nepal and China raced to locate survivors and deliver desperately needed aid by air and road to flood-hit Himalayan valleys, their challenge was compounded by widespread destruction to transport and communications infrastructure. The raging torrent of water and mud on Wednesday damaged dozens of bridges and nearly 25 miles of paved roads, according to the Nepali authorities. Floodwaters had not completely receded in some areas more than a day after the disaster struck. Some villages and roads were left under a thick coat of…

China’s Information Control Could Hamper Flood Rescue Efforts in Tibet

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As journalists in Nepal gather eyewitness accounts and up-to-date information about the deadly flood that swept entire villages away on Wednesday, the scene across the border in China could not be more different. By Thursday, videos taken and posted online by locals, including a widely circulated clip of a mudslide engulfing a border crossing in Gyirong County, in China’s Tibet, were censored on Chinese social media platforms. More than 500 people were missing in Gyirong, with three confirmed deaths in the county of about 2,000 people. The authorities have provided…

How Shenzhen can win the ‘AI for science’ race

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The next big competition in artificial intelligence is over science. The question is shifting from who has the largest model to who can use AI to shorten the discovery cycle: forming a hypothesis, running simulations, designing an experiment, operating equipment, collecting results and learning from them. The United States made that shift explicit. The Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission aims to bring together 17 national laboratories into an integrated discovery platform to double the productivity and impact of US research and innovation within a decade. This year, the programme announced…

What China can do to secure trade routes in its coming high-seas struggle with US

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China should forge a national consensus on “regaining mastery of the oceans” and direct overseas investment returns into defence spending to brace for sea-power competition with the US, according to a prominent Chinese academic. Di Dongsheng, associate dean of Renmin University’s school of international studies in Beijing, warned on Tuesday that as economic ties between the United States, the dominant maritime power, and China, which relies heavily on sea-bound trade, shifted towards competition, the era of open oceans could be drawing to a close. “We must prepare for struggle in…

Wang Yi calls on US to ‘overcome obstacles’ ahead of Xi-Trump meeting

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Washington to help “remove interference and overcome obstacles” to high-level exchanges as the two sides prepare for President Xi Jinping’s expected visit to the US next month. Meeting US Ambassador David Perdue in Beijing on Wednesday, Wang said both sides should put the Xi-Trump consensus into practice, focus on a positive agenda and manage differences to keep ties “stable, healthy and sustainable”, according to China’s foreign ministry. In a social media post, Perdue later described the talks as part of “preparations for President…

Chinese scientists discover that trees are producing ozone smog in Beijing

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Beijing’s hundreds of thousands of weeping willows and poplars have been a welcome source of shelter from the fierce summer sun for more than four decades – but they may also be an unexpected source of pollution, according to new research. Scientists warned that this urban greenery may be “choking” the Chinese capital’s 20 million residents by increasing the levels of ozone in the city’s air. Smog caused by the ozone released by car exhaust has been recognised as a public health problem since the 1940s, with some severe incidents…

What caused the catastrophic flash flood in Nepal and Tibet – and how does a glacier collapse?

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Flash floods that swept through the Nepal-Tibet border region on Wednesday have left scores dead and more than 1000 people missing. Here’s what we know so far, and what likely caused the disaster. Nepal flash floods: what we know so far On Wednesday morning local time, a landslide of ice and rock resulted in a torrent of mud, water and debris bursting the banks of the Trishuli river, also known as the Bhotekoshi, which runs between China and Nepal. Homes, roads, bridges and power plants were swept away. Officials in…

How the deadly Nepal and Tibet flash flood unfolded – a visual guide

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The massive glacial collapse that caused catastrophic flash floods in the Himalayan border region of Nepal ⁠and Tibet has killed at least 165 people, though the number of dead is set to rise, with local officials saying more than 1,000 were missing. Officials said 826 people were missing in Nepal, among them 579 tourists from two dozen countries, including India, the US, Australia, Britain and Canada. Chinese ‌state media said 558 people were missing ​in Tibet’s Gyirong ⁠county. It was not immediately clear if the missing counts were separate or…