Global Pulse

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  • Alleged 9/11 mastermind to go on trial in June 2028

    Alleged 9/11 mastermind to go on trial in June 2028

    Nearly 27 years after the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil, the long-running legal saga of the alleged architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks has hit a new milestone: a confirmed trial date. A U.S. court official announced Thursday that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, will appear before a U.S. military court at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba starting June 5, 2028, alongside three co-accused plotters: Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi.

    The timeline marks a delay from the prosecution’s requested January 2027 start date, after the presiding military judge ruled additional time was required to resolve lingering pretrial disputes. This procedural hold-up is just the latest in a string of delays that have stretched on for nearly two decades, as the case has been bogged down by legal, political and ethical debates surrounding the defendants’ detention.

    Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, widely known by the initials KSM, was once a top lieutenant to Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. He was captured during a raid in Pakistan in March 2003, and spent three years held in secret CIA black site facilities before being transferred to the notorious Guantanamo Bay military prison in 2006. A trained engineer who studied at a U.S. university, Mohammed has openly claimed he planned the 9/11 attacks “from A to Z”, and has also admitted involvement in numerous other anti-U.S. plots, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center that killed six people, and the 2002 beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl.

    The 9/11 attacks remain the deadliest terrorist act in modern U.S. history: 19 al-Qaeda hijackers crashed four commercial passenger planes, two into New York’s Twin Towers, one into the Pentagon outside Washington D.C., and a fourth into a rural field in Pennsylvania, leaving 2,977 victims dead.

    The most recent major push toward a trial collapsed in 2023, when a proposed plea deal that would have spared the four defendants the death penalty was withdrawn after intense public backlash from family members of 9/11 victims. For years, the central legal battle in the case has centered on whether the defendants can receive a fair trial, after it was confirmed they were subjected to systematic torture by CIA interrogators while in secret custody. Evidence obtained through torture is inadmissible in U.S. legal proceedings, creating a major legal hurdle that has slowed the case for decades.

    The Guantanamo Bay detention facility was opened by the U.S. government in the wake of the 9/11 attacks to hold militants captured during the global War on Terror. The base’s isolated location outside the continental United States was intentionally chosen to prevent detainees from claiming full constitutional rights under U.S. domestic law. At its peak, the facility held roughly 800 prisoners, but most have since been transferred to other countries for detention or release, leaving only a small fraction of the original detainee population still in custody today.

  • ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ Ratko Mladic dead: Serbian state media

    ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ Ratko Mladic dead: Serbian state media

    Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander infamously known as the “Butcher of Bosnia” for orchestrating the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, has passed away, Serbia’s state-owned broadcaster RTS confirmed Thursday. The 80-year-old (or 81, per tribunal records) had been in failing health for months, suffering multiple strokes, while serving a life sentence at a United Nations detention facility in The Hague.

    Mladic’s death closes a dark chapter in post-World War II European history, marking the end of a decades-long journey to accountability for one of the continent’s worst atrocities. As the military leader of Bosnian Serb forces during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War, which grew out of the violent collapse of communist Yugoslavia, Mladic stood at the center of a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing aimed at carving out an ethnically pure “Greater Serbia” from Bosnian territory. The war ultimately claimed an estimated 100,000 lives and displaced more than 2.2 million people.

    The most horrific act of Mladic’s command came in July 1995, when his forces overran Srebrenica, a small town designated a UN-protected safe haven for Bosnian Muslim civilians. Over the course of days, Mladic’s troops systematically separated 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys from their families, marched them into remote forested areas, and executed them en masse. Contemporary footage captured Mladic appearing to offer sweets to Srebrenica’s children moments before women and children were forcibly bused out of the enclave, while the men were led away to their deaths. To cover up the massacre, perpetrators buried victims in mass graves, later exhuming and reburying bodies across multiple sites to destroy evidence of the slaughter. The few survivors escaped to share harrowing accounts of systematic murder, torture, and sexual violence committed by Bosnian Serb forces.

    The road to Mladic’s conviction stretched nearly two decades. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) first indicted Mladic for war crimes and genocide in November 1995, shortly after the Srebrenica massacre. Though removed from his military post, Mladic evaded capture for 16 years, initially living a comfortable lifestyle shielded by sympathizers within Serbia’s military establishment, where he remains venerated by many Serbs as a nationalist hero even today. After the fall of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, pressure on Mladic grew, and he was finally arrested in Serbia in May 2011 and extradited to The Hague to stand trial.

    Throughout his trial and subsequent appeal process, Mladic repeatedly maintained his innocence, launching angry tirades against judges and dismissing the tribunal as a tool of Western powers aligned against Serbia. He framed himself as a victim of NATO aggression, casting his actions as necessary to protect the Serb people. In 2017, the tribunal found him guilty on all counts of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, sentencing him to life in prison. The conviction was upheld on appeal in 2021. The tribunal described Mladic’s crimes as “amongst the most heinous known to humankind,” while former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein labeled Mladic the “epitome of evil.”

    In his final months, Mladic’s legal team and Serbian officials repeatedly petitioned for his release on humanitarian grounds, citing his terminal, untreatable health condition and limited life expectancy. His lawyers argued that continued detention served no legitimate purpose and amounted to inhumane treatment, but the tribunal rejected all appeals for early release. Mladic’s death leaves unresolved the deep divisions that persist over the legacy of the Bosnian War: while survivors and the international community recognize Mladic as a perpetrator of genocide, a large segment of Serbian society continues to view him as a patriotic leader defending Serb interests.

  • After US settlement, EU says Meta must ‘protect our kids too’

    After US settlement, EU says Meta must ‘protect our kids too’

    In the wake of a groundbreaking multi-state settlement that forces Meta to implement sweeping new restrictions on teenage use of its Facebook and Instagram platforms, the European Union has issued a clear call for the tech giant to extend equivalent child safety protections to young users across the bloc.

    Last month, the European Commission already ruled that Meta violated the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA) — a landmark regulatory framework designed to curb harmful practices by large technology companies operating in the EU’s 27 member states. At that time, regulators ordered the company to draft concrete proposals to reduce risks to minors using its platforms.

    European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters Thursday that EU regulators have held new discussions with Meta following the U.S. settlement, which Brussels has monitored “very closely.” “The ball is in Meta’s court,” Regnier said. “Meta knows what we are expecting from them. Now it is for the company to offer these commitments in the European Union to protect our kids here too.”

    Regnier confirmed that EU investigators are probing Meta over the same harmful design features that were the focus of the U.S. legal action, and regulators are pushing to secure “at least equally good protection for our kids here in the European Union.” Specific demands from Brussels include mandatory, built-in screen time management tools and robust, default parental controls for minor accounts.

    EU regulators have long flagged risks to children from specific Meta platform features, including infinite scrolling functionality, algorithmically-driven highly personalized content feeds that promote compulsive use, and automatic video playback. Regulators issued a nearly identical warning to rival short-form video platform TikTok back in February.

    Meta has publicly stated that it disputes the EU’s DSA violation finding, but has committed to engage “constructively” with regulators to address their concerns. If the company fails to meet the bloc’s demands, EU rules allow regulators to impose fines of up to 6% of Meta’s total global annual revenue, a penalty that could run into billions of dollars.

    The U.S. settlement, which resolved a years-long landmark lawsuit brought by a coalition of U.S. states in California, requires Meta to pay up to $16.7 billion in damages and implement a far-reaching set of new safety rules for underage users. These include an automatic block on platform access during nighttime hours and a default daily cumulative usage cap of two hours across all of Meta’s apps. The agreement marks the strictest set of child safety obligations Meta has ever agreed to, coming after years of sustained criticism from parents, child health experts and policymakers over the impact of social media on adolescent mental health and development.

    Parallel to its ongoing DSA investigation, the EU is also considering broader age restrictions on social media access, a move driven by multiple member states that want to follow Australia’s lead on strict child online protection rules. Last month, an expert panel convened by the EU presented its recommendations to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Von der Leyen is scheduled to outline proposed new restrictions in a major policy speech on September 16, with a formal draft legislative proposal expected before the end of the year.

    The panel, which includes doctors, academic researchers, youth representatives and parents, recommended a complete ban on screen use for infants and toddlers. For children under 12, the panel advised that only age-appropriate social media platforms should be allowed, all under direct adult supervision. For adolescents aged 13 to 18, the panel recommended gradually expanding autonomous access only to platforms that have already implemented mandatory core child safety features.

    “This is not about whether children can access social media. It is about whether and when social media can access our children,” von der Leyen said last month, emphasizing that the burden of proof falls to technology companies to “prove that their services do no harm.”

  • ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ Ratko Mladic dead: Serbian state media

    ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ Ratko Mladic dead: Serbian state media

    Ratko Mladic, the former top military commander of Bosnian Serb forces whose role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre earned him the notorious moniker the “Butcher of Bosnia”, has passed away, Serbia’s state-owned public broadcaster RTS announced on Thursday. The 80-year-old had been serving a full life sentence at a United Nations detention facility in The Hague, Netherlands, after being convicted of genocide, multiple war crimes, and crimes against humanity for his central role in orchestrating the Srebrenica slaughter — the worst episode of mass killing Europe has witnessed since the conclusion of World War II.

    In the months leading up to his death, Mladic had experienced multiple strokes that left his health in severe decline. Serbian government officials and members of Mladic’s family had repeatedly submitted formal requests to the international tribunal in The Hague, calling for his compassionate release on medical grounds. All of these appeals were ultimately rejected by judicial authorities, who ruled that Mladic should serve out his full sentence behind bars.

    Mladic stood as one third of a brutal power bloc that drove ethnic violence through the Balkans during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. The political wing of the faction was led by Slobodan Milosevic, the former president of Yugoslavia, and Radovan Karadzic, the founder and former leader of the unrecognized Bosnian Serb state. When communism collapsed across Eastern Europe, the former Yugoslavia fractured along ethnic lines, plunging the region into a devastating four-year war between 1992 and 1995. By the time the conflict ended, official casualty counts put the total death toll at roughly 100,000, with an additional 2.2 million people forced to flee their homes and become displaced persons.

    No atrocity during the conflict gained more global infamy than the Srebrenica massacre. In July 1995, Mladic’s Serb forces swept into Srebrenica, a small town in eastern Bosnia that had been formally designated a UN-protected safe haven for vulnerable Bosnian Muslim civilians. Over the course of several days, Mladic’s troops systematically rounded up and executed more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys, burying their remains in mass unmarked graves across the surrounding countryside. For decades after the massacre, forensic teams have continued to recover and identify remains from these mass graves, providing long-awaited closure to surviving family members.

    Mladic evaded capture for more than 16 years after the end of the Bosnian war, living in hiding in Serbia before he was finally arrested by Serbian security forces in 2011. He was extradited immediately to The Hague to face trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and was found guilty on all counts in 2017. His final appeal to overturn the conviction was rejected by the UN appeals court in 2021, which upheld his life sentence.

  • Taiwan lawmakers approve $7.6 bn drone budget as China threat grows

    Taiwan lawmakers approve $7.6 bn drone budget as China threat grows

    Against a backdrop of rising cross-strait tensions and growing international pressure to bolster asymmetric defense capabilities, Taiwan’s legislative body has greenlit a $7.6 billion budget to develop and manufacture domestically produced drones, a move central to the island’s efforts to counter mounting military threats from mainland China.

    For years, Taiwan has steadily expanded its military investment, prioritizing the growth of a domestic defense industry that can produce critical equipment and ammunition locally rather than relying exclusively on foreign imports. This push comes as China continues to claim the self-governing island as an inalienable part of its territory and has repeatedly threatened to take control of it by force if necessary.

    The approved budget proposal, backed by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), advanced through parliament after the administration of President Lai Ching-te saw its original drone spending plan rejected. President Lai’s administration had sought to allocate NT$210 billion ($6.6 billion) in a special five-year budget overseen by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, aiming to build a domestic drone output capacity sufficient to repel a potential Chinese incursion. The original plan covered development of multiple drone variants, including coastal surveillance models, attack drones, and surface drones.

    Negotiations over drone spending have been marked by repeated clashes between Lai’s ruling government and opposition blocs, which hold a legislative majority. Disagreements centered on total funding amounts, budget structuring, and allocation timelines. The KMT, which advocates for closer economic and political ties with mainland China, joined the TPP to put forward an alternative plan totaling NT$240 billion ($7.6 billion) spread over six years integrated into the regular annual budget process. After initially holding firm to an annual spending cap of NT$40 billion, the KMT compromised to introduce flexible spending allowances and agreed to let the defense ministry lead the drone procurement and development process.

    When pressed by reporters on whether he would sign the opposition-drafted legislation, Premier Cho Jung-tai, head of Taiwan’s executive Cabinet, emphasized that national security remained his top priority. “What I care about is whether the legislation meets the nation’s needs — whether it aligns with our indigenous defense strategy and the various requirements for developing our drone and unmanned vehicle industries,” Cho stated, adding that officials would conduct a careful review based on national security and broader national interests.

    KMT lawmaker Hsu Chiao-hsin framed the budget as a critical step to growing Taiwan’s domestic defense industrial base ahead of the vote, noting that Taiwan “must genuinely encourage localisation and domestic production” to mature the sector. She added that the policy prioritized supporting established local manufacturers that operate outside of Chinese supply chains, guarantee robust cybersecurity standards, and sustain consistent long-term growth.

    The approval of the drone budget comes amid growing pressure from the United States, which has repeatedly called on Taiwan to ramp up its defense spending and domestic arms production to deter Chinese aggression. In recent weeks, U.S. calls for swift passage of the drone legislation grew increasingly urgent: during a visit to Taipei last month, U.S. Republican Representative Young Kim stressed that “time is short” for Taiwan to build up its drone capabilities. Pointing to ongoing combat in Ukraine and the Middle East, Kim noted that “the wars over Ukraine and Iran show that Taiwan needs to buy and build drones at a huge scale.”

    Taiwan currently relies heavily on U.S. arms sales to maintain its defense deterrent, and Washington has repeatedly pushed the island to take greater financial and industrial ownership of its own security. Lessons from the war in Ukraine have reshaped Taiwan’s defense planning, with military leaders concluding that small, agile systems such as drones are a critical asymmetric advantage against a far larger and better-resourced Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

    The approval caps a period of extended legislative wrangling over national budgets: Taiwan’s 2026 general annual budget passed earlier this month after a record-setting delay, while the 2027 general budget has already been finalized. President Lai’s administration has proposed a record NT$1.1 trillion defense budget for 2027, which would push defense spending above 3% of Taiwan’s total GDP, marking the highest share of output allocated to national defense in decades.

  • Norway’s King Harald, 89, in ‘extremely serious’ condition

    Norway’s King Harald, 89, in ‘extremely serious’ condition

    Oslo, Norway – Norway’s 89-year-old monarch King Harald V, who has been hospitalized for a blood disorder, has seen a sharp decline in his health and is now classified as being in “extremely serious” condition, the Norwegian Royal Palace confirmed in an official statement released Thursday.

    Following the announcement of the king’s worsening health, Queen Sonja and 53-year-old Crown Prince Haakon – who has served as regent during Harald’s ongoing illness – have scrapped all upcoming public royal engagements. Local Norwegian media reports confirm both senior royals are currently at the king’s bedside at Oslo’s main hospital, with photos captured by press outlets showing Queen Sonja, Haakon, and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit arriving at the medical facility earlier this week.

    King Harald, who is currently the oldest reigning monarch in Europe, first entered Oslo University Hospital on August 17 to receive treatment for haemolytic anaemia, a chronic blood condition marked by the premature breakdown of red blood cells that often causes persistent fatigue and difficulty breathing. He was initially admitted after experiencing dangerous fluid retention triggered by cortisone treatment for the condition. By Sunday, palace officials shared that the king had developed a bacterial blood infection and was receiving antibiotics, noting that he had shown initial positive responses to the intervention. No further specific clinical details have been released alongside Thursday’s update on his severe decline.

    Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told Agence France-Presse he was deeply shaken by the updated health news. “I stand together with the entire country as we now send our warmest thoughts to the king and the rest of the royal family,” Store said. “I am confident that the king is being well taken care of, and that he is receiving good and compassionate treatment.”

    In response to the announcement, Norway’s national body of bishops cut short an official study visit to Rome, where they had been meeting with newly elected Pope Leo XIV, and arranged for immediate return to Norway on Thursday, according to local Christian publication Vart Land.

    Harald V ascended to the Norwegian throne following the death of his father King Olav V in 1991. In recent years, the monarch has faced a string of chronic health issues: he received a pacemaker to regulate cardiac function and has gradually reduced his public official schedule, but he has repeatedly rejected calls for abdication, noting that he took a lifelong oath of service to the Norwegian people before parliament.

    This year has already been marked by repeated health scares for the royal household: in February, Harald was hospitalized during a private vacation in Tenerife for an infection and severe dehydration, while Queen Sonja was briefly admitted for cardiac-related concerns in May. The current decline in the king’s health comes amid an unusually turbulent year for the entire Norwegian royal family, which has faced multiple public controversies in recent months.

    Crown Princess Mette-Marit has faced sustained public scrutiny over her documented links to disgraced late American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Court documents released in the United States earlier this year exposed years of regular, at times intimate correspondence between Mette-Marit and Epstein that ran from 2011 to 2014 – years after Epstein had already completed his conviction for sex offenses. Now 53, Mette-Marit lives with a severe chronic lung disease and underwent a life-saving lung transplant just last month.

    Adding to the royal family’s public pressures, Mette-Marit’s son from her first relationship, Marius Borg Hoiby, is currently at the center of a high-profile legal case. In June, he was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted on two counts of rape and 32 additional criminal charges, including repeated violent assault against a former romantic partner. He has since filed an appeal against the verdict, which is still pending.

    Despite the string of controversies and health challenges that have hit the royal household this year, the institution remains broadly popular among the Norwegian public, a level of support widely attributed to King Harald’s reputation as a unifying national figure known for his unassuming, modest personal lifestyle that aligns with Norwegian cultural values.

  • Rapper Yung Filly allowed to fly back to UK by court ahead of retrial over rape allegations

    Rapper Yung Filly allowed to fly back to UK by court ahead of retrial over rape allegations

    A Western Australian court has granted bail to British rapper and prominent YouTube creator Yung Filly, legally clearing him to travel back to his home country ahead of a scheduled retrial on unresolved rape charges. Born Andres Barrientos, the 30-something entertainment personality has been confined to Perth since his late 2024 arrest, which stemmed from allegations that he sexually assaulted, choked and raped a 20-year-old female fan during an Australian tour stop.

    Barrientos has maintained a plea of not guilty to all charges brought against him, and his first two-week trial concluded earlier this year in the Western Australia District Court. The jury delivered a mixed verdict: jurors found Barrientos guilty of one count of assault linked to biting the accuser across the face, neck and breasts, which left an open wound, but acquitted him of one count of choking and three separate rape charges. The panel was unable to reach a majority consensus on three outstanding rape charges, leaving those counts unresolved and requiring a retrial.

    During Thursday’s bail hearing, Judge Linda Black noted that a significant delay was inevitable before a new trial date could be scheduled for the outstanding charges. Black argued that forcing Barrientos to remain in Western Australia through this extended waiting period would be unfair, pointing out that he has already been required to stay in the country since his 2024 arrest, and that this would mark his second trial related to the incident.

    After carefully reviewing the case against the provisions of Western Australia’s Bail Act — including a full assessment of the risk of flight — Black ruled that appropriate bail conditions could be structured to mitigate any concerns, clearing the way for Barrientos to return to the UK. “After careful consideration the accused is allowed to return to UK until he is needed at trial,” Black stated in her ruling.

    As part of the approved bail terms, Barrientos is required to reside at a confirmed, undisclosed address in the UK for the duration of the pre-trial period. He must also return to Western Australia no later than 10 days prior to his scheduled court appearance for the retrial. A further condition prohibits Barrientos from publishing, commenting on, or engaging in any public or private discussion related to the ongoing court proceedings, either directly or indirectly.

    The case has been adjourned until September 25 for a formal scheduling of the retrial date, and court officials confirmed Barrientos will not be required to attend the September listing hearing. The assault conviction from the first trial remains in place, and Barrientos will be sentenced for that offense following the conclusion of his retrial on the outstanding charges, per standard Western Australian legal procedure.

  • Australian shares dragged down by interest rate fears after inflation data

    Australian shares dragged down by interest rate fears after inflation data

    Australia’s benchmark share market faced steep downward pressure on Thursday, dragged lower by a combination of stickier-than-expected inflation, stronger-than-forecast household spending, and a wave of underwhelming corporate earnings results that have flipped market expectations for future interest rate moves. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed the trading session down 89.60 points, a 0.98% drop that brought the index to 9038.20, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 95.60 points, or 1.02%, to settle at 9243.20. Against this volatile backdrop, the Australian dollar strengthened against the U.S. dollar, hitting 71.83 US cents at market close. Just two of the ASX’s 11 industry sectors managed to finish the day in positive territory, with nine ending the session in negative territory.

    The sell-off was led by the consumer discretionary, technology, and large mining sectors, with top retailers leading the declines after releasing weak full-year results. Retail conglomerate Wesfarmers, one of the biggest listed companies on the exchange, saw its share price slump 4.58% to $79.46 after reporting a 1.8% annual drop in net profit to $2.87 billion, where strong performance from its Bunnings and Kmart divisions was offset by lackluster earnings from Officeworks. Rival electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi fell 4.48% to $66.02, and furniture retailer Harvey Norman dropped 2.17% to $4.50.

    In the technology sector, major listed software firms also posted broad losses. Accounting software leader Xero fell 2.60% to $81.73, logistics tech firm WiseTech Global dropped 3.28% to $39.55, and enterprise software provider Technology One fell 2.74% to $31.64. For large iron ore producers, results were mixed: BHP fell 1.48% to $66.40 and Rio Tinto slipped 0.52% to $178.70, while Fortescue Metals bucked the downtrend to gain 0.85% to $17.70. A small number of stocks outperformed, most notably airline giant Qantas, which saw its share price jump 4.77% to $9.66 despite reporting a 13.1% annual drop in net profit to $2.06 billion, a $330 million decline driven largely by a $420 million hit from surging jet fuel costs. Corporate Travel Management, meanwhile, announced it would refund $191 million to customers and set aside an additional $55 million for remediation for three major clients, as the firm narrowly avoided being delisted by posting a full-year net loss of $346.7 million, dragged down by goodwill impairments.

    The market downturn was triggered largely by fresh economic data released earlier this week that has reinforced expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) may need to implement one more interest rate hike to bring persistent inflation under control. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released Wednesday showed that headline annual inflation fell to 3.5% in July, down from 3.8% in June, but the figure still came in hotter than economists had forecast. The RBA’s preferred trimmed mean inflation measure, which strips out volatile price movements to track underlying inflation, held steady at 3.6% – matching the previous month’s reading and defying expectations for a small decline.

    Compounding the inflationary pressure, ABS data released Thursday showed household spending rose a stronger-than-expected 1.1% in July, signaling that consumer demand remains resilient enough to keep upward pressure on prices. As a result of the new data, money markets are now pricing a 50% chance that the RBA will raise its official cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.6% when its Monetary Policy Board meets on September 29. Three of Australia’s four major banks have now updated their forecasts to predict a rate hike before the end of 2024, with NAB chief economist Sally Auld reversing her earlier call for rates to hold steady to predict a September hike.

    “July CPI data showed inflation running hotter than the RBA expected in early August, and the RBA has repeatedly signalled in recent weeks that the Monetary Policy Board would act if upside risks to inflation were realised,” Auld noted, adding that “the risk is biased towards an additional hike in November, especially if activity data shows resilience in coming months.” Westpac remains the only major bank that has not updated its rate forecast to reflect the new inflation and spending data.

  • Desperate families search for missing after Nepal floods

    Desperate families search for missing after Nepal floods

    In the wake of a devastating tsunami-scale flood of water and mud that tore through river valleys along the Nepal-Tibet border, grieving and anxious families are crowding hospital corridors and police stations across Nepal, clinging to faint hope of finding loved ones still unaccounted for days after the disaster. As of Thursday, official counts put the confirmed death toll at 165, with hundreds more still missing across both Nepali and Tibetan affected areas.

    One of those waiting for answers is Subash Khatani, who has been poring over victim lists and questioning officials at Kathmandu’s government-run Bir Hospital, searching for any trace of his older brother Ram Sharan Rasaili, who was in the hard-hit northern district of Rasuwa when the flood struck. “My elder brother Ram Sharan Rasaili is among those missing in Rasuwa. That’s why we are out searching for him,” Khatani told Agence France-Presse at the hospital.

    The disaster unfolded on Wednesday, when a massive, fast-moving wall of water and debris surged through communities along Nepal’s Bhote Koshi and Trishuli Rivers. Nepali police confirmed they had recovered 162 bodies as of Thursday, with three additional fatalities recorded in southern Tibet per Chinese state media. The flood cut a destructive path more than 160 kilometers south from its origin near the border, reaching Chitwan, a district just north of the Indian border, with fatalities reported across seven Nepali districts. Rasuwa, the first area hit, remains the worst affected.

    While the exact cause was not confirmed in the immediate aftermath of the event, the U.S. Geological Survey linked the catastrophic flood to a glacial collapse that triggered seismic activity, sending massive volumes of water downstream to devastate populated areas in both Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

    Chitra Bahadur Nepali, 52, is another family member searching for answers. His nephew Yubraj Sewak, a professional driver, was traveling toward Rasuwa when contact was lost as the flood hit. “My nephew was on his way to Rasuwa and was in contact with my sister until about 8:00 am yesterday,” Nepali explained, displaying a photograph of his nephew on his mobile phone. “We have not heard from him since the flood. His name is not on any of the lists we have seen, and another member of our family is also missing.”

    Across the flood-ravaged region, specialized rescue teams are conducting widespread search operations to locate any surviving victims trapped in debris or cut off by flood damage. Meanwhile, distraught family members have been moving between hospital morgues, official victim lists and police help desks, desperate for any update on the whereabouts of their missing loved ones.

    Local media in Nepal reports that Bir Hospital, the main public receiving facility for disaster victims in Kathmandu, has announced it will provide free medical care to all flood survivors and says it is “fully prepared” to accommodate a potential surge of patients seeking treatment.

    Nepal’s national disaster management agency reports that 823 people – including 579 tourists, both Nepali citizens and international visitors – still remain out of contact with authorities. In Tibet, Chinese state media confirms that 558 people, among them 260 foreign nationals, are currently listed as missing following the mudslide and flood disaster.

  • The missing in Nepal-Tibet flash floods

    The missing in Nepal-Tibet flash floods

    One of the world’s most sought-after destinations for adventurous hikers and mountaineers has been hit by a devastating natural disaster, after sudden flash floods and cascading landslides along the Nepal-Tibet border left at least 165 people confirmed dead and more than 1,300 others unaccounted for as of Thursday.

    Nepal’s national disaster management agency updated official figures Thursday, reporting 823 people still missing within Nepali territory. That total includes roughly 579 people who are either Nepali or international tourists visiting the region, though no breakdown of foreign nationalities has been released in the official count. Across the shared border, Chinese authorities confirmed 558 people remain missing on their side, nearly half of whom are foreign nationals.

    Nepal draws hundreds of thousands of adventure travelers every year, who flock to the Himalayan nation to tackle iconic high-altitude routes including Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak. Disaster response officials have warned that official casualty and missing person counts are likely to shift in the coming days, a common pattern in the aftermath of large-scale catastrophes. Fluctuations can stem from overlapping counts of dual citizens, ongoing efforts to match recovered remains to missing person reports, and the widespread chaos that disrupts information-gathering immediately after a disaster.

    Authorities and governments around the world have been working around the clock to confirm the status of their citizens caught in the disaster. On China’s side of the border, 298 Chinese nationals are currently listed as missing.

    As of the last updated Nepali Tourism Board data from Wednesday, 142 Indian nationals are unaccounted for, all of whom were traveling with three local tour operators: Samrat Tours & Travels, Leaf Holiday, and Himalayan Glacier.

    Ukraine’s foreign ministry announced Thursday that Nepali tourist police had confirmed 53 Ukrainian citizens are missing, including a large group of 46 travelers that authorities lost contact with after the floods struck. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed 34 Australians are missing, with 15 of those part of a pilgrimage group that includes two teenagers, a representative from the group’s tour operator confirmed to AFP.

    Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reported Thursday that more than 50 Malaysian citizens in Nepal have not been reached since the disaster. Twelve UK citizens traveling with Alpine Eco Trek are unaccounted for per Wednesday’s tourism board data, with two additional Britons confirmed missing in the Rasuwagadhi region by Himalayan Glacier.

    Nine South Korean hydropower workers have been out of contact in Nepal’s Rasuwa district since the floods hit, South Korea’s foreign ministry confirmed Wednesday. Japanese acting Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she was deeply concerned by reports that five Japanese nationals are missing, posting to social media platform X that she “fervently prays that each and every irreplaceable life will be protected.”

    Four South African travelers, also with the Alpine Eco Trek agency, are missing per Wednesday’s official list. Three U.S. citizens traveling with Fishtail Tours & Travels are unaccounted for, and Himalayan Glacier managing director Sanket Pandey confirmed an additional eight American travelers are in the missing group. Two Portuguese nationals, one woman and one man, are missing, with the country’s foreign ministry telling AFP it continues “to monitor the situation minute by minute.”

    One Dutch citizen traveling with the same tour operator as the missing Australian group is also unaccounted for. In Italy, the foreign ministry confirmed two Italian nationals and their local guide were stranded upstream of a major landslide, though they are already receiving emergency assistance. Italian officials have accounted for 90 Italian citizens currently in the Nepal-Tibet border region, but have not yet confirmed if any others are affected. New Zealand’s foreign ministry reported five New Zealanders are unaccounted for, and Pandef confirmed 10 Canadian and two Singaporean citizens are also among the missing.

    China’s official missing count of 558 includes 260 foreign nationals, but no nationality breakdown has been released for that group. Multiple Nepali tour operators have also reported unaccounted-for foreign travelers whose nationalities have not yet been confirmed: 77 with Trekkers Society, 26 with Kailash Journey, and eight with Richa Tours & Travels.