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Aug 29, 2026 - World

The devastating flash floods in Nepal this week that killed at least 670 people and left around 3,000 missing — including 90 Americans — might have claimed fewer lives if not for the actions of the Trump administration, former USAID disaster-response chief Jeremy Konyndyk suggested on Saturday.A series of catastrophic flash floods hit Nepal near its border with China on Wednesday causing unprecedented destruction. The event is believed to have been caused by a glacier collapse in the Himalayas.Konyndyk, who led USAID’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic under the Biden administration, raised an unsettling question as to whether the Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, may have crippled locals’ ability to adequately prepare for such a disaster.“DOGE famously used keyword searches for terms like ‘climate’ to terminate federal grants,” Konyndyk wrote, referring to the DOGE-led blitz to gut funding for USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development.“Among the victims: a collab between USAID and NASA for flood prediction, early warning, disaster readiness, glacier inventories, and mapping dangerous glacial lakes… in Nepal.”Spearheaded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, DOGE oversaw around $60 billion in cuts to U.S. foreign aid under the Trump administration, leaving “few surviving” USAID projects in its wake. Among the USAID programs Konyndyk said was affected was SERVIR, a program that produced detailed and advanced flood forecasting with “days lead time” that “allows people to plan and prepare for [floods].” The program also specifically monitored the “potentially dangerous glacial lakes of Nepal.”A notice from NASA supports Konyndyk’s assertion that SERVIR was impacted by DOGE cuts.“Earlier this month USAID notified SERVIR partners that they have terminated all agreements and contracts with NASA and the SERVIR network,” the notice, published in late March of 2025, reads. “Without the partnership with USAID, NASA cannot continue the SERVIR program.”DOGE famously used keyword searches for terms like "climate" to terminate federal grants.Among the victims: a collab between USAID and NASA for flood prediction, early warning, disaster readiness, glacier inventories, and mapping dangerous glacial lakes......in Nepal. pic.twitter.com/AYkA8kZqnf— Jeremy Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) August 28, 2026

Aug 29, 2026 - World

This blog is now closed.‘The flood took everything I have’: survivors grieve for relatives and homes swept away in NepalChinese rescuers find ‘nothing but ruins’ at border crossing as Nepal seeks help to ID and store the deadOutside the army camp in the Nuwakot district of Nepal, people run their fingers down the sheets of paper pinned to the wall, scanning the growing list of those reported missing for news of loved ones. Nepali authorities said nearly 3,000 people are missing, while China reported more than 550 people unaccounted for.Nepal’s foreign minister, Shisir Khanal, has appealed for international support to help rebuild the country after the floods, saying reconstruction efforts could run into “billions of dollars” AFP reports. Continue reading...

Aug 29, 2026 - World

Anil Goyal, a US citizen originally from Delhi, was leading a group of 11 US citizens of Indian origin when they vanished from the Ruswa Garhi immigration centre in China.

Aug 29, 2026 - World

Matt Bradley and crew assaulted while interviewing woman who said settlers had driven family out of homeA Palestinian woman and an NBC News team are reported to have been attacked and injured by masked Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Saturday, amid worsening confrontations in the area.Benjamin Netanyahu said he condemned the violence committed “by a handful of rioters”. Continue reading...

Aug 29, 2026 - World

Mohan Bhagwat arrived in the US on Tuesday as part of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) centenary-year global outreach programme.