分类： world

A catastrophic glacial lake outburst near the Nepal-Tibet border has triggered devastating flash floods that have left a trail of destruction and thousands unaccounted for, including at least 33 British residents. Among the missing UK citizens are a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, sparking urgent rescue efforts and profound grief across international communities. As of the latest update from Nepali authorities, the confirmed death toll from the disaster has climbed to 359, with more than 1,300 people still missing overall – 644 of those unaccounted for are tourists visiting the Himalayan region.

The disaster struck early Wednesday morning in Rasuwa, a district located just north of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu. Initial hypotheses pointed to an earthquake as the trigger, but revised analysis from the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed the seismic activity recorded was actually generated by a large-scale landslide tied to glacial collapse. A 5.2 magnitude seismic event driven by “glacial collapse and debris flow” was registered near the border at 8:37 a.m. local time Wednesday, official data confirms. Nepali officials have since warned of ongoing risks, including the potential for secondary flooding along the Bhote Koshi river, prompting urgent warnings for residents and visitors to remain vigilant.

Britain’s royal family has publicly expressed their sorrow over the tragedy. King Charles III released a statement saying he and Queen Camilla are “heartbroken” by the loss of life and destruction, sending their “most profound sympathy to all those who have so tragically lost their loved ones.” “Many in the United Kingdom have strong, deep and personal ties to this part of the world,” the statement added. “We feel deeply for the many families awaiting anxiously the news of friends and relations. Our hearts go out also to the families of all the police and armed forces personnel who lost their lives while carrying out their courageous duty in the service of others.” The Prince and Princess of Wales also shared their reaction, saying they were shocked by the disaster and that their thoughts are with every person and community affected.

The UK government has mobilized a rapid response to the crisis. Prime Minister Keir Starmer (correcting the original misattribution to Andy Burnham) announced the UK would provide £5 million in emergency aid to support the Nepali government’s response and recovery efforts, describing the situation as “very distressing and devastating.” The UK Foreign Office confirmed it is working closely with Nepali authorities to locate missing British citizens, and has urged all UK residents in the affected region to follow local safety guidance and stay alert to the rapidly changing hazard conditions.

Multiple tour companies operating in the region have reported missing British nationals who were part of pilgrimage and trekking groups when the floods hit. Most of the missing UK citizens were participating in the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, a sacred Hindu pilgrimage to Mount Kailash – a revered Himalayan peak located near the Nepal-Tibet border that is considered the spiritual home of the Hindu god Shiva. The pilgrimage only recently restarted after years of disruptions, first from the COVID-19 pandemic, and later from cross-border tensions between India and China.

Alpine Eco Trek, one of the tour operators organizing the pilgrimage, has been unable to contact 12 Britons who were part of its Mount Kailash tour when the flash floods struck, along with four of the company’s Nepali tour guides. The youngest person in the group is the 13-year-old girl reported missing earlier. The Trekkers’ Society confirmed nine UK nationals who crossed the Nepal-Tibet border for the pilgrimage remain unaccounted for: four males between the ages of 14 and 50, and five females between 40 and 53 years old. Himalayan Glacier US reported two British citizens are missing from its group of 47 pilgrimage guests, Kailash Journeys says two British men are among 27 missing guests and staff from its tour, and Fishtail Tours confirmed one British person on its itinerary is missing.

For families with ties to both the UK and Nepal, the uncertainty has been unbearable. Pramod Pudel, a British resident originally from Nepal who now lives in East Sussex, told BBC Radio Sussex Thursday that “nothing remains” of the neighborhood where his family home is located. He is flying back to Nepal to search for his wife, mother, brother and uncle, who have been uncontactable since the disaster struck. “It’s a very, very difficult time for me and for my family and my country at this moment, but obviously I have to go and see what’s happening there,” he said. “A lot of people are missing and there is no information regarding who is missing, where they are. Nobody can contact each other and all the bridges are broken, so you can’t cross the land. There’s no power, no electricity, so I can’t contact anyone, so it’s a very difficult time not knowing what’s happening.”

Search and rescue operations are ongoing across the affected region, though damaged infrastructure including broken bridges and cut power lines have hampered emergency response efforts. Authorities continue to prioritize locating missing people and delivering emergency aid to displaced communities affected by the disaster.

BEIRUT — Already grappling with crippling hyperinflation, decades of sweeping Western sanctions, and a war that has eviscerated its critical oil export revenue, Iran’s fragile economy is bracing for a new wave of destabilization as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on the global community to sever all financial and commercial ties with the Islamic Republic. The Trump administration’s latest campaign to force Tehran into compliance gained momentum last week, when the United Arab Emirates announced it would suspend all formal trade relations with Iran — a move that leaves Iran with far fewer economic lifelines at a moment when its foreign commerce was already concentrated among a tiny handful of partner nations. The outcome of the U.S. strategy will largely depend on the stance of China, Iran’s top trading partner and the largest buyer of its crude oil, while Russia — Tehran’s longstanding ally and a fellow target of broad U.S. sanctions — is mired in its own military conflict and economic turmoil, leaving it with limited capacity to provide meaningful financial support to Iran. Regional actors including Turkey, Pakistan and Iraq maintain deep economic and political ties with both Washington and Tehran, leaving them wary of triggering the harsh secondary sanctions that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned will be imposed on any nation that refuses to cut economic ties with Iran. “Those who stand with the United States will reap the rewards of our partnership,” Bessent told reporters Monday while unveiling the administration’s new initiative, dubbed “Operation Economic Outcast.” “Those who tether themselves to the Iranian regime should expect to share in the isolation.” For Iran, replacing the UAE as a key trade and financial gateway will be no quick or easy task. According to data from Trade Data Monitor, a private industry analytics firm, Iran conducted $125 billion in total global goods trade in 2024, despite decades of Western restrictions. Not a member of the World Trade Organization, Iran’s official trade is overwhelmingly concentrated among just a handful of partners: the UAE, China and Turkey account for nearly three-quarters of all Iran’s merchandise imports, while four nations — China, Iraq, the UAE and Turkey — handle more than two-thirds of its non-oil exports. Beyond direct trade, the UAE has long served an irreplaceable role as a logistical and financial intermediary for Iran, keeping the country connected to global markets even amid sweeping sanctions. As a leading global re-export hub, the UAE processed shipments from international suppliers that refused to conduct direct business with Iranian customers, while also providing access to cross-border payment channels that allowed Iranian businesses to send and receive international funds. “From Iran’s perspective, the UAE can be replaced, but the Iranians are openly saying it’s not going to happen overnight,” explained Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute. While China maintains deep-rooted economic ties with Iran, Beijing is far less dependent on the relationship than Tehran is. China’s economic interests across the Persian Gulf extend well beyond Iran, and Beijing has so far avoided being drawn into the conflict initiated by the U.S. and Israel. Currently, China purchases the overwhelming majority of Iran’s crude oil via opaque trading networks that bypass existing U.S. sanctions. Unlike smaller regional partners, China’s massive manufacturing sector and its control over global supplies of critical minerals give it far more leverage to resist U.S. pressure, according to David Lubin, a senior research fellow at London-based think tank Chatham House. He notes that aggressive U.S. action against major Chinese banks and corporations that do business with Iran would reignite bilateral trade tensions at a sensitive moment, just as Chinese leader Xi Jinping prepares for a high-stakes meeting with President Trump in Washington next month. “I don’t see China playing ball by any means,” Lubin said. Data from the WTO and United Nations confirms that China is both Iran’s largest documented export market and a top supplier of critical industrial components and consumer goods. Daniel Fried, an Atlantic Council fellow and former U.S. ambassador to Poland, recalled that during the Obama administration, Beijing agreed to cut its energy imports from Iran as part of a broader nuclear agreement. “We will want the Chinese to go a lot farther than they have gone in the past,” Fried said. “But it’s a lot harder now.” China has a long track record of helping sanctioned allies weather international pressure: for decades, it has served as North Korea’s primary economic lifeline and top diplomatic backer, and experts widely assess that Beijing has avoided fully enforcing UN sanctions on Pyongyang, providing clandestine aid to keep the impoverished regime stable. Even if Iran succeeds in shifting more trade to regional partners, the move would create new frictions for Tehran’s neighbors. The day the UAE announced its trade suspension, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf — who has led Tehran’s negotiations with regional actors over the past six months — was on an official visit to Iraq. Qalibaf framed the trip as focused on “speeding up efforts to expand joint cooperation among all countries in the region, without foreign interference.” Still, the U.S. dollar’s central role in global trade and finance means no country is willing to antagonize Washington lightly, Vatanka noted. “We’re still at a point where if the U.S. wants to hurt you, it will matter,” he said. The risk of U.S. retaliation is already shaping regional policy: in July, Turkey resolved a yearslong U.S. dispute over a state-owned bank’s role in helping Iran evade sanctions via an oil-for-gold scheme. In exchange, Trump lifted crippling sanctions on the NATO member that were imposed over Turkey’s purchase of a sophisticated Russian air defense system. “I really don’t think Turkey would like to become the next country helping Iran to evade sanctions right now,” said Riccardo Gasco, an analyst at Istanbul-based think tank IstanPol. For Iraq, Iran is a critical import supplier and retains major political influence via allied Iraqi political factions and armed groups, but Baghdad has sought closer economic and security ties with Washington in recent years. Since the 2003 U.S. invasion, Washington retains significant control over Iraq’s foreign currency reserves, which are held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, leaving Baghdad with little room to defy U.S. pressure. Oman, which has long served as a neutral intermediary between Washington and Tehran, has found its delicate balancing act increasingly precarious. Last week, Trump issued a public threat against Oman over its ongoing negotiations with Iran regarding the future management of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical oil chokepoints. One potential workaround for sanctions could be rerouting trade through Pakistani ports near the Persian Gulf such as Gwadar, said Peter Harrell, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University. “Ship an intermodal container of drone parts to one of the ports in western Pakistan and unload it onto a truck and have it driven across the border into Iran,” Harrell explained. While Pakistan — a key regional ally and economic partner of China — has expressed interest in expanding bilateral trade with Iran, it faces competing geopolitical pressures: it currently serves as a neutral mediator between Tehran and Washington, and maintains deep security ties with Saudi Arabia, Iran’s longstanding regional rival. Alternative trade routes through the Caspian Sea are unlikely to expand fast enough to offset the loss of UAE trade, analysts say. With the Strait of Hormuz largely blockaded and Russia’s war in Ukraine disrupting commercial shipping in the Black Sea, Iran has pushed to develop what it calls a “road of life” through the Caspian, according to Nikita Smagin, an independent analyst and former Russian state news correspondent based in Tehran. This year, Russia has reportedly supplied drones to Iran, repaying Tehran for its early support of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia has also rerouted a portion of its exports to Iran via Caspian ports such as Astrakhan. Currently, 80% of official trade between Russia and Iran consists of agricultural products. “Both economies are exporting natural resources and have little to offer each other,” Smagin said. The other Caspian-bordering nations — Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan — are unlikely to rush to open new trade routes with Iran, said Umud Shokri, a fellow at George Mason University. Still, Russia and Iran have operated for years as an “axis of the sanctioned,” noted Mark Galeotti, executive director of intelligence firm Mayak Intelligence. The two countries have collaborated for decades to evade trade restrictions, and Galeotti said an expansion of bilateral trade in strategic goods and contraband — including military technology, microchips and luxury counterfeit goods — could be the next step. “Pomegranates and tomatoes only go so far,” he said. This report was contributed to by Associated Press writers McNeil in Brussels, Amir Vahdat in Tehran, and Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia.

A catastrophic natural disaster has unfolded across the Nepal-Tibet border region, where powerful flash floods have left a devastating trail of destruction in their wake. As rescue teams scramble to reach affected communities and account for those caught in the sudden floodwaters, official updated casualty figures confirm that at least 270 people have been killed by the disaster. Compounding the scale of the tragedy, more than 800 additional people remain unaccounted for, with authorities warning that the final death toll is likely to rise as search and recovery operations continue.

In the immediate aftermath of the flash floods, questions have emerged about the root causes that triggered this catastrophic event. Experts and local officials are working to piece together the sequence of events, with early investigations pointing to a combination of unusual weather patterns and geographic factors that created the conditions for sudden, fast-moving floodwaters to surge through low-lying border communities. The remote, mountainous terrain of the region has complicated both initial warnings and ongoing rescue efforts, as damaged infrastructure and blocked access routes slow the delivery of emergency aid to affected populations.

International disaster response organizations have mobilized to support local rescue teams, providing search equipment, medical supplies, and emergency shelter for thousands of residents who have been displaced from their homes by the floods. The disaster has drawn global attention to the growing vulnerability of mountainous Himalayan communities to extreme weather events, a risk that many climate scientists warn is increasing as global temperatures alter weather patterns across the region.