World, in brief

The lower part of a glacier broke off at about 5,200 metres near Nepal's border with Tibet and crashed onto the valley floor some 1,200 metres below. [2][3]

The ice and rock dammed the Lhende Khola, a small tributary river, then released it in one surge down the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli valleys. [1][6]

At least 98 people are confirmed dead. Nepal's prime minister's office counts 95; China's state broadcaster reported three more killed and 265 missing across the border in Gyirong county. [1][5]

Nepal's officials list 403 people missing, of whom 341 are foreign nationals - including 133 Indians on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, 47 Americans, 34 Australians, 33 Britons and 24 Canadians. [1]

Among the missing are 28 Nepali police officers, nine South Koreans building a hydropower plant, 11 Malaysians and four Russians. [1]

One labourer working downstream at Bidur said he heard a hissing sound, ran, and survived by clinging to a mango tree; his four co-workers had already fled. [7]

Downstream at Galchhi the river rose by as much as nine metres - about 30 feet - within half an hour. [3]

Rasuwa, the worst-hit district, has about 50,000 residents and several hydropower projects under construction. [2][3]

This same river flooded 14 months ago, when a glacial lake in Tibet overflowed in high temperatures, killing nine people and damaging the bridge that links Nepal and China. [1]

Scientists reviewing satellite images say the glaciers in the valley were snow-covered a day earlier and were bare ice by Wednesday - a sign of a sudden warm spell. [2][3]

Nepal's mountains have lost close to a third of their ice in just over 30 years, and ice loss across the Hindu Kush Himalaya has roughly doubled in rate since 2000. [1][3]

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck about 100 kilometres north of Kathmandu minutes earlier. Nepali officials have raised it as a possible trigger; the geologist reviewing the imagery says that is still not clear. [1][2]

India and China, which rarely agree on anything in this border region, both offered rescue help on the same day. [1]

The Himalayas have now had a run of these: a glacial lake outburst in Sikkim in 2023, a tunnel collapse that trapped 41 workers, and last year's flood on this same river. [10]

Why it matters. The confirmed death toll is far below the number missing, and most of the missing were travellers and site workers rather than residents - so the figure that matters over the next week is how many of the 403 are found, not how fast the water goes down.

Ottawa imposed dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs on $20bn of US goods plus a C$7.5bn support package, after Washington held a 50% tariff on Canadian aluminium and Canada matched it. An Angus Reid poll found 76% approved of suspending trade talks - and 40% fear for their jobs. The Canadian dollar hit a one-week low, and Prime Minister Carney will address the European Parliament on 17 September. [11][12][13][14]

Why it matters. One economist puts the eventual cost at 90,000 Canadian jobs, and Canada sends about 70% of its exports to the US. A middle-sized country losing an argument with a large one is going looking for other rooms to have it in.

The Board of Peace envoy told the UN Security Council that if fighting resumes there will be 'nothing left on the ground to rebuild'. Gaza's health ministry counts 1,288 Palestinians killed since the October ceasefire took effect. Israel has threatened to expel residents over kites drifting across the fence; the UN rejected the threat. [15][16][17]

Why it matters. Both sides are being warned by the same mediator, which is usually the last stage before a ceasefire stops being one.

The US, backed by Denmark, asked the Security Council to extend the Darfur arms embargo to the whole of Sudan and to cover drones, before the existing measure expires on 12 September. Fighting is now pulling in Chad and Ethiopia. [18][19]

Why it matters. The army has had a good summer in North Kordofan and is opening a political track - but weapons reaching either side keep the war affordable. [20][32]

Tehran's deputy foreign minister said the Strait of Hormuz remains closed despite a temporary transit deal with Oman, and will not fully reopen until Washington returns to the memorandum. Washington says the mines have been cleared and any ship laying new ones will be destroyed. [21][22]

Why it matters. China's leadership signalled it will keep buying Iranian oil despite US sanctions threats, which is what makes a closed strait survivable for Tehran. [23]

President Lai pressed an opposition-controlled parliament to pass a six-year, T$210bn ($6.6bn) special budget for military drones. The opposition wants annual spending capped at T$40bn and overseen by the economy ministry rather than defence. [24]

Why it matters. The argument is no longer whether to arm, but who signs the cheques - which decides how fast it happens.

Russia has hit at least 246 filling stations across Ukraine, with 114 strikes verified in July alone against 66 in June, while Ukrainian drones burn Russian refineries and a Wildberries warehouse outside Moscow. Ukrainian police now tell drivers to abandon their cars at a fuel pump when the sirens start. [25][26]

Why it matters. Each side is going after the other's fuel at the point where civilians touch it.

The Kremlin confirmed a visit by CIA director John Ratcliffe, the highest-level such trip since November 2021. Trump called it 'semi-routine'; Putin's spokesman said there were no meetings with the president and would say nothing about the agenda. [27][28]

Why it matters. The last CIA director to make this trip went to warn Russia against invading Ukraine.

Icelanders vote on Saturday on whether to reopen membership talks with the EU - not on joining, only on negotiating, with fishing rights the sensitive question. Polls show a narrow majority in favour. [29][30]

Why it matters. A country that walked away from these talks in 2015 is reconsidering, and it is citing global insecurity rather than economics.

The UN human rights office said conditions in Myanmar have fallen to a new low, citing abuse of the Rohingya and the grip of illegal rare-earth mining and scam centres. More than 100,000 people are estimated killed since the 2021 coup. [31]

Why it matters. The money keeping the war going now comes from mines and fraud compounds, which no arms embargo touches.