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Lake has formed at epicentre of flood, forcing rescue teams to withdraw, Chinese state media reportNepal flash flood – latest updatesNearly 1,400 missing, mostly tourists, and hundreds killedVisual guide: how the deadly flooding unfoldedTell us: have you been affected by the flash floods?China has paused rescue work at the epicentre of the catastrophic flooding in Tibet this week amid fears that a lake ⁠formed at the ⁠site ⁠was ⁠at risk ​of ‌bursting, as the overall death toll in Nepal rose to 469 people, with more than 1,300 missing.A lake formed by immense piles of debris has begun overflowing towards the area where rescue teams were headed, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Friday. Continue reading...

• Korea Investment Accelerator and OpenAI partnered to host the ‘Seoul Vibe Hackathon: Toython’ on the 22nd at the Seoul AI Hub Main Center. • Approximately 100 participants divided into 44 teams competed to develop hardware and ideas using no-code development boards within a five-hour time limit. • The event aimed to expand the "Physical AI" ecosystem by demonstrating how AI can be integrated into tangible, physical objects.

• Toh Ser Khoon of SP reports that Singapore's enterprise AI progress depends on workforce readiness, clear governance, and the redesign of organizational workflows. • While many organizations have started with individual experimentation using available tools, core systems and job roles have remained stagnant. • The next phase of adoption requires shifting from isolated tool use to systemic changes that build trust and integrate AI into how work is organized.

• Venture capital firms, including Aramco Ventures, ARK Invest, Salesforce Ventures, Samsung Ventures, and Siemens, are actively funding startups as of August 25, 2026. • Rather than a general return of risk appetite, investors are aggressively targeting specific bottlenecks caused by the rapid deployment of artificial intelligence. • Key investment areas include electricity, semiconductor design, model security, autonomous logistics, licensed media, and specialized workflow software.

Heavy rain expected in parts of Vietnam and southern ‌China, as another storm system, Typhoon Saudel, heads for Japan and TaiwanWidespread flooding triggered by Typhoon Narra has submerged homes and forced mass evacuations in southern China, as another storm system tracked towards Japan and Taiwan.Authorities in Chongzuo, in China’s Guangxi region – famous for its giant waterfalls and karst limestone mountains – on Tuesday evacuated more than 15,000 people after water ⁠levels surpassed a record high set in 2008. Continue reading...

• XPeng’s robotics unit secured over $900 million in its first external financing round on August 24, 2026. • The funding round valued the robotics division at more than $6 billion, marking it as the defining transaction of the period. • This surge in capital reflects a broader venture capital trend shifting toward the physical and financial infrastructure required for the next technology cycle.

• Extreme weather events, including wildfires, floods, and severe storms, are currently striking multiple European nations. • Wildfires are raging in Serbia and Bosnia, while Spain is battling both floods and fires, and Poland is facing severe storms. • Thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate their homes as emergency services struggle with power cuts and disaster containment.

Huge hailstones prompt organisers to act 15km from endRiders seen heading into hotel on route to take coverThe third stage of the Vuelta a España ended without a winner after being halted because of hail on Tuesday.Riders started taking shelter in shops and restaurants by the road with about 15km to go on the difficult 174km route from ‌Gruissan to ‌Font-Romeu that was set to finish in the French Pyrenees. Organisers neutralised the race as the peloton scaled the Col de Mont-Louis and huge hailstones began pelting the ‌riders, with ice on the road and the threat of lightning. They eventually suspended the stage and declared no winner. Continue reading...

Fast-moving, ‘human-caused’ fire in Reno leaves thousands of homes and businesses without power, officials sayTens of thousands of people in Nevada were urged to evacuate as a fast-moving, wind-driven wildfire bore down on the city of Reno.The Hawk fire began on Saturday to the north-west of the city, and quickly grew, showing “extreme fire behavior”. Continue reading...

Hawk fire has covered more than 10,500 acres as blaze approaches University of Nevada campus in RenoA fast-moving Nevada wildfire exploded to more than 10,500 acres (4,200 hectares) early on Sunday, pushing from the Sierra foothills toward the center of Reno and forcing nearly 14,000 homes to evacuate as flames threatened neighborhoods and reached the edge of the University of Nevada campus.The Hawk fire’s “GO NOW” evacuation zone had expanded to the edge of the university campus as strong, gusty winds, low humidity and dry vegetation fueled the blaze, according to Truckee Meadows fire and Rescue in Reno. Continue reading...

David Farley says party wants 100,000 migrant rural workers in addition to the 130,000 migration target it considers the ‘true’ numberFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOne Nation MP David Farley has conceded the minor party’s net migration target is “not too different” to Labor’s, echoing an earlier claim over which he was counselled by his party leader, Pauline Hanson.Appearing on the ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday morning, Farley argued skilled workers and backpackers were critical to keeping Australia fed, and argued they should be considered as a separate category to migration “in its true form”. Continue reading...

• European compliance startups are scaling up as the European Commission’s AI Act enforcement begins, with full implementation of certain mandates set for August 2, 2026. • Key players include Paris-based Rippletide, founded in 2024, which is building infrastructure to make enterprise AI agents more predictable and auditable through explicit decision rules. • Outpost is also gaining traction, having raised €15 million in March to help merchants manage regulatory changes and absorb audit risks.

• The European Commission is shifting its enforcement strategy for Big Tech, moving away from imposing large fines toward ensuring strict regulatory compliance. • Apple has overhauled its EU app developer terms, scrapping a controversial per-install fee to avoid a non-compliance ruling from the Commission. • This move concludes a post-decision procedure following a €500 million fine for anti-steering rules, which had threatened Apple with penalties of up to 5% of its global turnover.

Officers reportedly believed invitees were trying to make unauthorized entry on to Vandenberg base in CaliforniaFive news reporters and two members of the military who were invited to an event at Vandenberg space force base in California were briefly detained at gunpoint by security officers who thought they were gatecrashers, according to local news reports.The incident happened Monday ahead of an invitation-only groundbreaking for a new training facility for missile operators at the federal airfield near Santa Barbara, California. Reporters from Noozhawk and KEYT were among those detained, and both outlets published articles detailing the detainment. Continue reading...

Beto Coral held up banners in Florida warning fellow Colombians to not vote for Abelardo de la EspriellaIn the week before Colombia’s presidential election, Beto Coral, a well-known activist living in the United States, travelled to Florida to persuade fellow Colombians not to vote for the far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella.Coral held banners outside polling stations in Miami warning that the millionaire lawyer, whose candidacy was endorsed by Donald Trump, would “help deport all of you”. Continue reading...

• Representatives from Uganda and Burundi visited Rafah on August 18 as part of ongoing discussions regarding their potential inclusion in a Gaza stabilization force. • In separate military developments, Israel confirmed a strike on a Syrian air base, alleging that Turkey had plans to deploy forces in the region. • Mike Huckabee defended his description of those involved in the Qusra siege as "Israeli terrorists," arguing that settler violence is detrimental to Israel and the Jewish people.

Minnesota attorney general sues Texas governor in case of ICE agent charged with wounding a man in MinneapolisMinnesota’s attorney general has sued the governor of Texas to force him to extradite an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent charged with wounding a man and then lying to justify the shooting during the US agency’s controversial crackdown in Minneapolis.Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s attorney general, is asking a federal judge to bar the sheriff in Cameron county, Texas, from releasing ICE agent Christian Castro, and to order Greg Abbott, Texas’s governor, to sign his extradition warrant so that Minnesota officers can take custody. Continue reading...

Palestine’s vice-president calls plan ‘flagrant violation of international law’ and a step towards full Israeli annexationIsrael’s defence minister wants to transfer law enforcement powers for Israelis in the occupied West Bank over to the police, a plan that Palestine’s vice-president described as a “flagrant violation of international law” and step towards full Israeli annexation.Israel Katz announced that he had ordered the military to draw up plans for the handover of responsibility for policing Israeli settlers amid domestic and international criticism of the army’s failure to tackle militants besieging three Palestinian families. Continue reading...

• Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a report detailing a significant collapse in civil rights enforcement across four key US federal agencies: the DOJ, ED, HUD, and EEOC. • The report highlights a systemic retreat from civil rights duties driven by strategic policy shifts and substantial staffing cuts implemented during the Trump administration. • This decline is critical because these agencies hold the foundational mandates required to protect citizens from discrimination in housing, education, and employment.

Former PM of Israel calls events ‘concerted and meticulous attempt at ethnic cleansing’ against PalestiniansIsraeli troops forced two Palestinian families to leave their besieged West Bank homes on Thursday, the day after a top Israeli commander personally promised he would end a violent settler campaign to drive them out.Israeli soldiers also took over eight other homes in Qusra early on Thursday, telling the village’s mayor, Abdul Azim, that the buildings were needed for a days-long operation to remove the settlers. They later relinquished six. Settlers still roam the village. Continue reading...

• A new report indicates that nearly 25% of the workforce in Southeast Asia is exposed to AI-driven disruption, with clerical, administrative, and professional roles facing the highest risk. • Manual trades, agricultural work, and craft positions remain relatively insulated from these technological shifts. • Analysts emphasize that exposure does not guarantee job replacement; instead, many roles may evolve or move up the value chain to increase productivity.

Move defies US envoy’s claim that Americans could be extracting crude by as early as next yearThe Greenland authorities have forced a US oil company connected to Donald Trump to postpone drilling wells in the Arctic territory, defying claims by the US president’s envoy that Americans could be extracting crude by next year.Amid Trump’s imperialist threats, tensions have been rising on Greenland’s eastern coast after the oil company brought drilling equipment ashore in July without permission, drawing a “strong warning” from the government. Continue reading...

President says Secret Service wanted him on ‘different plane’ due to threat as Democrats call for congressional briefingHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.President Donald Trump said he slipped away from Air Force One after a trip last month in Turkey because the Secret Service and military wanted him on a “different plane” due to a threat that he insisted didn’t scare him. Continue reading...

Journalists and others were allowed to fly on presidential jet despite security threat while Trump was spirited awaySign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Democrats called on Tuesday for a congressional briefing over a stunning charade in which Donald Trump was secretly spirited to different plane than the one the public and press believed he was travelling on, an episode first reported by the Washington Post and also by the New York Times. Critics now question why reporters and the public had been deliberately misled.When US intelligence allegedly found a credible threat that Iran plotted to kill him last month, Trump left Air Force One in a catering truck. While the president was reportedly snuck out the side door of the plane, more than a hundred aides, officials and reporters, were kept onboard to fly towards Britain, without being told there was a threat to their lives. Continue reading...

Demonstrators accuse authorities of failing to tackle issues in exams for highly sought-after civil service jobsThousands of angry young job-seekers clashed with police in Jharkhand, one of India’s poorest states, on Monday as a weeks-long protest over alleged irregularities in recruitment drives for coveted government jobs escalated into a march on the state legislature.Police fired water cannon and teargas and swung batons as they tried to stop flag-waving demonstrators from clambering over barricades and surging towards the assembly in Ranchi, the state capital. Some of the protesters responded by dancing and cheering as jets of water drenched the crowd. Continue reading...

Gabar Choli tells of how, for months, he was shackled, pinned and forcibly fed – and the physical and emotional scars the ordeal has leftIn June 2025, a sluggish and thin Gabar Choli, with sunken temples and bones visible under his skin, braced himself for the immigration detention center guards to charge into his cell once again.Choli was in a solitary confinement medical cell inside the Port Isabel service processing center, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in south Texas where immigrants arrested in Donald Trump’s anti-immigration crackdown are detained. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Film-maker Gabar Choli describes how he endured coercive treatment over eight months in detention in TexasA Kurdish man who was force fed over the course of eight months while on hunger strike in US immigration detention has spoken out about it for the first time, describing how much the process harmed him physically and psychologically.Gabar Choli, a film-maker and activist now living in Canada after being deported, described how he endured the coercive treatment – a practice widely considered torture by international human rights groups – often twice a day after being detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when his asylum application was denied. Continue reading...

Power cable linking UK and Ireland now passes near Bronze Age human burial remains instead of fictional grave on Welsh beachHarry Potter fans have forced a new multimillion-pound power cable between the UK and Ireland to be relocated after complaining it would desecrate the “grave” of Dobby, a fictional elf.The character was laid to rest on Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales, during the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Fans of the wizard series now come to leave stones reading “Here Lies Dobby” despite being asked not to by the land owner, the National Trust, because the beach is an ecologically sensitive site. Continue reading...