NEPAL
Lake caused flood: expert
The deadly flood in the Bhote Koshi that killed at least nine people and left more than two dozen missing this week was triggered by the draining of a supraglacial lake in the Tibet region of China, a regional climate monitoring body said on Wednesday. Floodwater on Tuesday also washed away the Friendship Bridge to China. The Kathmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development said that satellite imagery showed the flood originated from the draining of the lake north of Nepal’s Langtang Himal range. “This is based on the preliminary analysis based on the available satellite images,” said Sudan Maharjan, a remote sensing analyst and glacier expert at the center. A supraglacial lake is formed on the surface of a glacier, often beginning as small meltwater ponds.
Photo: AP
ISRAEL
Missile from Yemen blocked
The army yesterday said that it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen, days after carrying out strikes on Houthi rebel targets in the country. “Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted,” the army wrote on X.
COLOMBIA
Mule used in attack
A soldier was killed and two others were wounded on Wednesday when explosives carried by a mule exploded in a rural area, authorities said. Antioquia Governor Andres Julian Rendon confirmed the soldier’s death and blamed the National Liberation Army. Rendon said that “an equine armed with explosives” targeted soldiers patrolling near Valdivia. The army later confirmed that the animal was a mule and condemned “the cruel and macabre use of animals to carry out terrorism.”
EL SALVADOR
Mexican envoy recalled
President Nayib Bukele on Wednesday recalled his ambassador to Mexico and asked the country to clarify Mexican Secretary of Security Omar Garcia Harfuch’s claim that an intercepted plane loaded with cocaine had originated in El Salvador. Harfuch on Tuesday said that authorities had detected a small plane “originating in El Salvador” carrying 428kg of cocaine and that they had arrested three people. Bukele called the claim “FALSE” in a post on X and said he was recalling Ambassador to Mexico Delmy Canas. “We demand an immediate clarification and rectification from the Mexican government,” Bukele said separately at a news conference.
UNITED STATES
Tunnel in LA collapses
Thirty-one construction workers inside a huge industrial tunnel in Los Angeles made it to safety after a portion of it collapsed on Wednesday evening. The cave-in appears to have occurred between the tunnel boring machine 8km in from the sole entrance and the construction workers who were working 9.6km in, said Michael Chee, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, which is in charge of the nearly US$700 million wastewater project. The workers were about 121m underground. Authorities were still investigating the cause, Chee said. The workers scrambled over loose soil to reach the boring machine and then were transported back to the opening. None of those rescued had major injuries, authorities said.
REVENGE: Trump said he had the support of the Syrian government for the strikes, which took place in response to an Islamic State attack on US soldiers last week The US launched large-scale airstrikes on more than 70 targets across Syria, the Pentagon said on Friday, fulfilling US President Donald Trump’s vow to strike back after the killing of two US soldiers. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on social media. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.” The US Central Command said that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery targeted ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites. “All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned
‘POLITICAL LOYALTY’: The move breaks with decades of precedent among US administrations, which have tended to leave career ambassadors in their posts US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered dozens of US ambassadors to step down, people familiar with the matter said, a precedent-breaking recall that would leave embassies abroad without US Senate-confirmed leadership. The envoys, career diplomats who were almost all named to their jobs under former US president Joe Biden, were told over the phone in the past few days they needed to depart in the next few weeks, the people said. They would not be fired, but finding new roles would be a challenge given that many are far along in their careers and opportunities for senior diplomats can
Seven wild Asiatic elephants were killed and a calf was injured when a high-speed passenger train collided with a herd crossing the tracks in India’s northeastern state of Assam early yesterday, local authorities said. The train driver spotted the herd of about 100 elephants and used the emergency brakes, but the train still hit some of the animals, Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told reporters. Five train coaches and the engine derailed following the impact, but there were no human casualties, Sharma said. Veterinarians carried out autopsies on the dead elephants, which were to be buried later in the day. The accident site
RUSHED: The US pushed for the October deal to be ready for a ceremony with Trump, but sometimes it takes time to create an agreement that can hold, a Thai official said Defense officials from Thailand and Cambodia are to meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of resuming a ceasefire between the two countries, Thailand’s top diplomat said yesterday, as border fighting entered a third week. A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be witnessed by US President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said after an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The two countries agreed to hold talks using their General Border Committee, an established bilateral mechanism, with Thailand
RSS