Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at flooding rescue efforts across Nepal and Tibet, Taiwan’s drone production ambitions, and potential Russian strikes on British targets.
A Race Against Time
Emergency rescue teams scoured the Nepal-Tibet border on Thursday in search of survivors of a devastating flash flood that hit the region the day before. In Nepal, at least 360 people have been killed, and more than 1,400 others remain missing, including around 700 foreigners, according to Nepali police. Local authorities expect the death toll to rise. On the Tibetan side, Chinese state media said at least three people have been killed and 558 others are missing, though it’s not clear if these numbers overlap with the Nepali figures.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at flooding rescue efforts across Nepal and Tibet, Taiwan’s drone production ambitions, and potential Russian strikes on British targets.
A Race Against Time
Emergency rescue teams scoured the Nepal-Tibet border on Thursday in search of survivors of a devastating flash flood that hit the region the day before. In Nepal, at least 360 people have been killed, and more than 1,400 others remain missing, including around 700 foreigners, according to Nepali police. Local authorities expect the death toll to rise. On the Tibetan side, Chinese state media said at least three people have been killed and 558 others are missing, though it’s not clear if these numbers overlap with the Nepali figures.
Initial investigations indicate that an ice avalanche caused the torrential flood. Early Wednesday morning local time, a large chunk of ice broke off a glacier and fell into Nepal’s Bhotekoshi River, triggering heavy flooding. The landslide was so strong that seismologists first recorded it as an earthquake.
Scientists are unsure why the glacial collapse occurred, but many suspect that global warming could be to blame. Nepal’s mountain ranges lost nearly one-third of their ice in just the past three decades due to climate change, the United Nations reported in 2023. The tiny South Asian country sits wedged between two of the world’s largest carbon emitters: China and India.
Now, it’s a race against time to rescue as many people as possible before monsoon-fueled storms potentially hit the flood zone in the coming days. Beijing has also warned that Wednesday’s catastrophe created a large lake in Tibet that risks breaking through dammed streams and causing even more destruction.
Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet, a Nepali Army spokesperson, confirmed on Thursday that the country’s military has rescued more than 100 people via helicopter operations. Chinese authorities have similarly deployed large military transport aircraft in Tibet to aid evacuation and relief efforts.
Yet search-and-rescue operations must also contend with several hurdles to reach survivors. Wednesday’s flood decimated many key bridges and roads, making access to some of the region’s more rural areas difficult. Scarce resources and a lack of electricity due to damaged hydropower infrastructure have further hampered these efforts, as locals are finding it near impossible to check on their loved ones.
Chinese authorities have also begun censoring video content of the flood on the country’s social media, making it difficult to know the scale of destruction in Tibet—a place already under extremely strict Chinese government restrictions under normal circumstances.
Today’s Most Read
What We’re Following
Defense spending. Taiwan’s opposition-held parliament rejected a proposed $6.6 billion special budget on Thursday to purchase drones that would have run through 2031. Instead, legislators passed a $7.58 billion plan that will extend over the next six years and set annual spending at $1.26 billion, though that amount can be adjusted if needed.
Taiwanese Defense Minister Wellington Koo criticized the opposition’s version of the plan on Thursday, arguing that a $1.26 billion annual limit would prevent Taipei from effectively bolstering its drone capabilities; the government had already planned on spending around $1.32 billion on drones next year. However, the opposition Kuomintang party maintained that its plan would ensure proper supervision of military spending. The government “cannot simply come asking for money every time without any oversight,” Kuomintang lawmaker Hsu Chiao-hsin said.
Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai has not yet said if he will sign the legislation into law. “What I want to look at is whether the relevant bill that got passed meets the needs of the nation, and whether it meets the various needs for our defense self-reliance and for developing the entire drone and unmanned vehicle industry,” he told reporters after the vote. “We will carefully consider this matter with regard to national needs and national security.”
Taipei has prioritized expanding its drone production in recent months to combat threats from China, which does not recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty. Last week, the Taiwanese government proposed a record-high defense budget of roughly $35 billion for next year, boosting military spending past 3 percent of the country’s GDP. However, lawmakers’ monthslong delay in approving a 2026 budget—only to finally pass one last Friday—has officials worried that any military spending plans may be slow-moving.
Threats from Moscow. Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned on Thursday that the country’s military could target British military facilities and equipment inside and outside of Ukraine, in retaliation for Kyiv’s continued use of long-range British cruise missiles to strike Russia. London is just “one step away” from becoming legally complicit for Kyiv’s acts of “terrorism” against Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, threatening “inevitable catastrophic consequences” if the United Kingdom fails to change course.
Throughout the war, Ukraine has used British Storm Shadow missiles and other long-range weapons to hit critical targets deep inside Russian territory. But as Kyiv’s other primary weapons suppliers—namely, the United States—have halted deliveries, Ukraine has had to lean more heavily on the United Kingdom.
During a trip to Kyiv on Monday, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham approved plans to give Ukraine classified blueprints of components used to produce SCALPs, a French variant of the Storm Shadows. “The U.K. is behind you today and for as long as it takes,” Burnham said. The announcement is expected to complement Project Brakestop, another U.K. initiative aimed at mass producing low-cost, long-range strike weapons for Ukraine.
Massive settlement. Meta agreed on Wednesday to pay up to $18 billion over the next decade as part of two landmark lawsuits with 47 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and several U.S. territories. The concession marks one of the largest consumer protection settlements in U.S. history, and it signals a major win for activists who sought greater online protections for minors.
Prosecutors argued that Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, violated federal child privacy and consumer protection laws by failing to adequately address addictive features of its platforms. As part of Wednesday’s settlement, Meta agreed to disable most push notifications to teenage users during school hours; enhance measures to prevent minors from accessing age-restricted content; and restrict teenagers’ access to two hours a day, with all usage blocked between midnight and 6 a.m. unless parental consent is given.
Wednesday’s decision is “the right path forward for our whole industry,” Meta legal chief C.J. Mahoney said, adding that its success now “depends on all other social media platforms,” such as TikTok and YouTube, following suit. Meta has faced global criticism for allegedly fostering a harmful environment for children, prompting dozens of countries around the world to impose age-based bans on social media platforms.
Odds and Ends
Beginning on Friday, Australia’s music charts will only include content that is “substantially human-made.” Earlier this month, a cover of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” by Australian DJ Josh Fawaz topped the country’s dance singles chart and hit No. 2 overall, but it was later revealed that the cover version—with more than 48 million streams on Spotify—used generative artificial intelligence in its making. Although artists will still be allowed to use AI tools “in a supporting role,” the new rules set by the Australian Recording Industry Association aim to “promote the human nature of artistry.”
