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Nepal-Tibet flash flood: Two workers pulled alive from hydropower tunnel nine days after disaster

Two people have been pulled out alive from a hydropower tunnel in Nepal nine days after deadly flash floods left them trapped. The workers were rescued during an ongoing operation at the Trishuli 3A tunnel, a hydropower project in one of the areas worst-affected by last week’s deadly Nepal floods, according to army spokesperson Brig Gen Raja Ram Basnet. Local television news channels showed images of the first recovered survivor covered in mud and being carried from the site on a rescuer’s shoulder. Sanjay Shah was the first to be rescued and was taken to the Nepal Army barracks in Trishuli. Subsequently, another person, identified as Kabir Maharjan, was also rescued from the tunnel. They were rescued from a depth of 170 metres inside the tunnel confirmed Basnet. Sanjay Shah was foreman at Upper Trishuli 3A and Kabir Maharjan was a supervisor. Most of the hydropower projects along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers were destroyed when a surge of water, debris and mud came coursing down the valley last week, triggered by ‌the collapse of a melting glacier on the border between Nepal and China-controlled Tibet. Rescue efforts have increasingly centred on the hydropower tunnels, where authorities believe workers may ⁠have survived for more than a week due to air pockets. So far, more than 270 people have been rescued. At the Upper Trishuli 3A facility, it took rescue workers almost six days to find the tunnels ⁠because of the thick mud. Army and specialist teams have been working round the clock to try and clear mud and heavy boulders from the tunnel entrance. It was confirmed that voices of multiple people had been heard inside after a breakthrough was made on early Friday morning. After the rescue team called out, “Don’t panic, we are rescuing you,” they received a response from inside: “Okay.” At least 557 workers are missing from the hydropower project along the Trishuli River, with about 115 believed to be trapped in the main tunnel, according to the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal. In total, local authorities estimate around 900 workers are missing from 12 hydropower projects high up in the Himalayas, with roughly 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels,

‘This could just be the beginning’: minorities fear first far-right win in German state election

As the Bible study session wrapped up, leaving worshippers to mingle over cake and coffee, Fatemeh, 44, fought back tears as the conversation turned to Sunday’s state election in Saxony-Anhalt. “I worry about it every day,” she said. “I can’t stop thinking about my son and what might happen to us.” Three years ago she fled Iran with her son after he was stopped by police during a protest over the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini. They ended up in Saxony-Anhalt, where, as they await a final decision on their asylum claim, she has watched him blossom into a gifted athlete and develop a knack for repairing vehicles. Fatemeh worries about what might happen after the elections. Photograph: Christian Jungeblodt/The Guardian Looming over their lives, however, are the politics of Saxony-Anhalt. Polls have suggested that the election on Sunday could yield Germany’s first-ever state government led by the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), shattering a postwar taboo and leaving Fatemeh and her son’s fate in the hands of a party that has promised to launch deportations “from day one”. That possibility has left her racked with worry. “They might send us back to Iran,” she said. “As a converted Christian, that could mean the death penalty for me.” It was a glimpse of the stakes at play in the election. Polls suggest the state’s AfD, whose antisemitic, anti-Islam and anti-migrant discourse has contributed to authorities classifying the party as “firmly rightwing extremist”, is poised to win the most votes. The square in the centre of Magdeburg where the Christmas market attack took place on 20 December 2024. Photograph: Christian Jungeblodt/The Guardian A strong showing in the election could allow it to govern Saxony-Anhalt, turning the eastern state into Germany’s first testing ground for the AfD’s long-running hostility towards migrants, including refugees, Muslims and the LGBTQ+ community. “We’ve never seen emotions run so high over an election,” said Undra Dreßler of Lamsa, an umbrella group for migrant organisations in the state. Calls were coming in daily, she said, as people wrestled with whether the time had come to pack up their lives and start over again somewhere else. “People are really worried and scared,” said Dreßler. “For those with migrant backgrounds, it feels like this vote is about their right to exist and their security.” The pages-long manifesto for the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt promises a “complete, 180-degree” overhaul of the approach to migration, from educating refugee children separately to redirecting funds earmarked for integration to a unit focused on remigration, and calling on federal officials to stop recognising Ukrainians as war refugees. In June, Dreßler’s organisation appealed to Germany’s 15 other states, calling on them to prepare to take in refugees from Saxony-Anhalt after the election. “It’s a precautionary measure,” she said. “The social climate here is already extremely heated. We don’t know what will happen after the elections.” Left: A billboard in Magdeburg shows the AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund and the slogan ‘everything is possible’. Photograph: Christian Jungeblodt/The Guardian. Right: Siegmund addresses delegates at the federal congress of Generation Germany, the party’s youth organisation. Photograph: Jens Schluter/AFP/Getty Tensions have run high in Saxony-Anhalt since late 2024 when a Saudi man drove his car into a crowded Christmas market in Magdeburg, killing six people and injuring hundreds more. Authorities described the attacker as an anti-Islam activist who was sympathetic to the far right. Even so, rightwing voices seized on the moment to scapegoat migrants and minorities for the ills of a state long ravaged by deindustrialisation and depopulation. In the aftermath of the attack, reports of racist attacks soared as migrants and people of colour told of being spat on, threatened and, in some cases, physically attacked. “By mid-2025, we had received as many reports of racist insults and attacks as we did in all of 2024,” said Dreßler. “As forces on the right become stronger, everyday racism and discrimination have become part of everyday life.” On the streets of Magdeburg, many shared their own brushes with overt racism. “When you’re on the street, some people harass you verbally,” said Kirti, 27, a student from India. “They show you the middle finger.” An AfD billboard reads ‘All for our children’. The party has promised to educate refugee children in the state separately. Photograph: Christian Jungeblodt/The Guardian Kirti moved to Magdeburg just over a year ago to study for a master’s degree, becoming part of a cohort of foreign students for whom reports of racism were all too familiar. “I heard of one incident where a student was travelling on a train and people were throwing stones at the door, but the door was closed,” he said. “So people are more concerned about going out. They go out with fear, rather than feeling safe.” A recent survey suggested that as many as 80% of people with a migration background in Saxony-Anhalt are considering leaving, said Ketevan Asatiani-Hermann, who leads the board of the Advisory Council for Integration and Migration in Magdeburg. As questions swirl over what the AfD could realistically do if the party garners enough votes to govern alone, a chorus of voices has begun to warn of the fallout. Saxony-Anhalt is a rapidly depopulating state where the average age of 48.2 ranks as the highest in Germany. “So the fear is that we lose people because of what happens on 6 September,” said Asatiani-Hermann. “And Saxony-Anhalt is dependent on migrants, so it’s absolutely necessary that they stay here.” Ketevan Asatiani-Hermann says Saxony-Anhalt is dependent on migrants and it is ‘absolutely necessary’ they stay. Photograph: Christian Jungeblodt/The Guardian Foreign nationals account for about 9% of the state’s population – compared with approximately 15% nationwide – with many playing a critical role in sectors such as hospitality and care for elderly people. In May, the state medical association said that more than one in four doctors working in Saxony-Anhalt’s hospitals, or 27.1%, do not hold a German passport. “In many regions of the state – especially in rural areas – comprehensive healthcare coverage would no longer be possible without foreign colleagues,” it said, citing the possibility of longer waiting times or facility closures if some of these doctors were to leave. “Migrants make up a huge part of healthcare. If you were to take them out, the whole system would collapse,” said Hamid, 41, a paramedic originally from Iran. “So it’s like if you have a bus and you take off all the tyres. You cannot move.” Hamid, a paramedic originally from Iran, says without migrants in Magdeburg, the ‘whole system would collapse’. Photograph: Christian Jungeblodt/The Guardian At Magdeburg’s synagogue – whose light-filled foyer includes a mural showing one of the few remaining photographs of the original synagogue that was destroyed in a 1938 pogrom – people listed their concerns about an AfD majority, from whether it would affect the funding they receive, to what the party’s plans for a “remigration offensive” would mean for the Ukrainian refugees who had joined their congregation after Russia’s full-scale invasion. The far-right party has also promised to make changes to the school curriculum, in what one party member described as “more Bismarck, less Hitler”. The underlying assumption was that the focus on the rise of National Socialism and the Holocaust – as opposed to the unification of Germany by Otto von Bismarck – had shifted the guilt over what had happened to the current generation, said Igor Mendel Itkin, the synagogue’s rabbi. “They think: ‘If we get rid of this, we will feel free.’ But I think it will be the other way around,” he said. “You cannot get rid of this ghost; you can pacify it, but you cannot get rid of it. If people don’t learn about it, then something like this could happen again, maybe not with the Jewish people, but maybe with the Muslims.” He pointed to Saxony-Anhalt’s AfD manifesto, which makes no mention of the Jewish community but includes promises to “exhaust all legal means to restrict the influence” of Islam, even as it notes that Muslims account for just 2-3% of the 2 million people in the state. Rabbi Igor Mendel Itkin with Maria Schubert at the Magdeburg synagogue say an AfD win is ‘unimaginable’. Photograph: Christian Jungeblodt/The Guardian An AfD win would put Jewish people in a complicated position, said Maria Schubert from the Synagogue Community of Magdeburg. “If they win, we don’t know how we will act with them. For me, it’s unimaginable,” she said. She worried that it could also be a dilemma faced by others if Sunday’s election turned out to be a bellwether of shifting political forces rather than an outlier. “I see it as a threat, in that this could just be the beginning. In other German states, many are looking at Saxony-Anhalt to kick things off,” she said. “I mean, at the beginning, nobody took Hitler seriously.” The AfD was approached for comment. With contribution from Niclas Boenki

Pedicures and a pair of socks: sailors from USS Abraham Lincoln go wild in party resort of Pattaya

On Thursday morning in Pattaya’s Colour Nail salon there isn’t a spare burgundy lounger to be seen as sailors from the USS Abraham Lincoln – male and female alike – settle in for pedicures to take the edge off a gruelling deployment. More sailors are waiting outside for their turn and Arisa Suekkanya, a worker at the salon, says she is “excited” the US military chose Thailand as their first port of call after a record uninterrupted 286 days at sea. The aircraft carrier has been plagued by reports of deteriorating living conditions and poor mental health onboard, including attempted suicides, making headlines around the world and provoking criticism of Donald Trump’s war against Iran. The ship’s captain admitted to a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables but said reports about the living conditions were largely exaggerated. Some of the thousands of crew gave their view while on leave. Adam*, who is on his first deployment, says the living situation is like “being stuck in your bedroom with all your family” but that building relationships with fellow crew and “finding your people” made the difficulties worthwhile. The Guardian has chosen to change the names of the sailors spoken to because they were told not to speak to the media about conditions onboard. For him, the food was the hardest thing to swallow. “I almost choked on this many times,” he says, as he describes eating “uncooked beef” and sliced up, uncooked potato. According to Adam, the decline in living standards was down to the battle conditions imposed during Operation Epic Fury rather than the unprecedented length of deployment. Another crew member, Marco* agrees, saying there was a necessary deterioration during this “battle rhythm” period when it would have put them at risk to restock. Trent* admits the hardest part of the deployment was “pushing through, keeping the mentality” despite the hardships. Dane* says “a load came off my shoulders” when he stepped on dry land again after his first deployment. Lester acknowledged it was “tough but we had a job to do.” He said that on the previous evening, “I ate to my heart’s content. Me and Thai food might be best friends after this.” Another serviceman, who did not give his name, hinted at the toll the long deployment had taken: “Some people adapt to it but not everyone.” Boom time for the big brands Pattaya is a city well known for its red light district and colourful nightlife, but for many, the desires were more prosaic. Tim* was in the Vans store in the mall on Thursday. “It’s the simple stuff like new socks” he was after, holding the pair he was about to purchase. Another sailor, David*, has bought his wife a Hello Kitty soft toy from H&M. He says it was his fourth deployment, and agrees this would have been quite long for sailors on their first. At least for Adam, the past few months have made him all the more grateful for his first night ashore he orders two burgers at Burger King and makes plans to order a tailored suit and explore Thailand’s east coast. Many local businesses have put up signs welcoming the American visitors, offering incentives like tailors Tito Fashion advertising “specially for US Navy ready in 24 hours”, while Thai restaurant Imm-Oon Na offered 10% off for anyone presenting a valid military ID. But the draw of the familiar American brands also proved irresistible. In the mall, the likes of Nike, Victoria’s Secret and Starbucks all reported a spike in sales. The town is hoping the Lincoln’s crew will provide an economic boost. The war in the Middle East has created a downturn in tourism in Thailand, and the rainy season has slowed things, too. Pattaya’s mayor, Poramet Ngampichet, says if each American spends $100-150 per day the visit could generate about $100m Thai baht ($3m). However, not all businesses can take full advantage of the 5,000 sailors, who have not been able to spend money for nearly 10 months. Emma Moontee who runs a gift stall at a night market, says she has only sold one fridge magnet souvenir to a sailor, but hoped there would be more. The crew has also been advised not to go to the beer bars along Soi 6 after sunset, one of the most infamous areas of the town’s red light district where bar girls line the street, and can occasionally be seen physically pulling in male tourists. However, the main strip – known as Walking Street – is not off limits. It is dense with clubs and go go bars featuring pole dancing girls. They are largely private from the outside street view and passers by. Wittaya Phoobantad, who works at Poker Bar on the beach front, about a 10-minute walk from Soi 6, says: “You can see [sailors] walking around but because Soi 6 is banned most of them don’t come in, just go direct to Walking Street.” On Walking Street a massive neon sign has been built at its entrance saying: “Pattaya City is pleased to welcome USS Abraham Lincoln carrier and its personnel”. Venues like the Sapphire Club offered 10% off to US service members. Pattana Prasomsup, who works at M’s Mojito, says the 10 crew who visited the bar on Wednesday night provided a “good boost” but noted they appeared quite cautious about interacting with bar girls. Pattaya is familiar with the US military, who experts agree was the dominant influence in creating the sex tourism industry – and the modern city that developed around it. The once quiet fishing village was drastically transformed in the space of 15 years after becoming an official R&R destination for US soldiers during the Vietnam war, causing a boom in hotels, massage parlours and bars, where heavy drinking and paying for female companionship became the norm. Most of the workers in the sex tourism industry are not local but have themselves migrated to Pattaya, commonly from Isan – Thailand’s poorest and least economically developed region in the north-east – as well as neighbouring Laos and Myanmar or further afield. Back in the mall, Puangbubpha Duangsri, who works at American Eagle, says in the off season they’d usually make 70,000 Thai baht in a day but on Wednesday they made over 200,000 baht after the sailors arrived. By lunchtime on Thursday they had already made over $100,000. “Can they stay an extra week?” she says. * Name has been changed

‘Everyone seems to have forgotten’: In Tibet, flood-hit families search for the missing and grapple with China’s silence

Fan Hong last heard from her husband on the morning of the Nepal-Tibet disaster. More than a week later, the 31-year-old is desperately searching for information about Lin Bo, who was working on a Chinese highway project in Nepal. Struggling to get information from authorities, Fan turned to social media for help. “My husband works on a project in Nepal, about 5 kilometres from the Gyirong border crossing. I want to know what the situation is, but I haven’t been able to reach him,” the 31-year-old from China’s Sichuan province wrote on Rednote. Her post has gained more than 18,000 likes and nearly 4,600 comments. She is one of many in China with missing loved ones trying to piece together information they are finding online, as Tibetan advocate groups say information is being suppressed on that side of the border. Lin began working on repairing the Syaphrubesi-Rasuwagadhi Highway – which links Nepal to Tibet, China, through the Gyirong border crossing – in 2024. He had been living on site and working on a 16km stretch of the road. Fan says that rescue missions into the construction site have stalled. She says relatives of survivors are asking the Chinese authorities for permission to send up their own drones or helicopters to look for the missing. “I feel more disheartened with each passing day. Feel colder and colder inside,” she told the Guardian. “I don’t even have any tears left.” It is just over a week since the collapse of a glacier triggered devastating floods along the Nepal-Tibet border, destroying entire villages and killing more than 1,200 people. On Wednesday, 4,216 remained missing, according to Nepal officials. Chinese authorities say 541 remain unaccounted for on the Tibetan side, including 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries. The relatively low official death toll from the Chinese authorities has also raised some concern among Tibetan advocacy groups, given the scale of the destruction seen in video footage. “All we can do is imagine – and that should terrify us,” said Tenzin Choekyi from Tibet Watch. As of Thursday, China had officially reported 21 people killed. While in China, the official narrative heavily focuses on rescue efforts, online posts across Chinese social media show an emotional outpouring of grief and mourning. On Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, photographs of missing border inspection officers are shared under the hashtag “Salute to heroes guarding the nation’s gateway”. In China, families with missing loved ones say they are relying on information from Nepal, as well as foreign embassies and social media. Tibetan advocate groups say information on the Tibetan side of the border remains heavily restricted. On 30 August, Tibetan police reported that 10 people had been punished for spreading what authorities called “false information” about the scale of the disaster online. “This crackdown is obstructing not just public reporting of the disaster and relief efforts but the basic work of establishing whether communities are alive and receiving the support that they need,” said Tencho Gyatso, president of the US-based Tibetan advocacy group the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) “Sources are now afraid to speak to outside groups including ICT. One source told ICT it was “extremely unsafe” to speak. Another asked us not to make further contact given the potential ramifications,” she said. Fan says she is mainly relying on information from Nepal. “Everyone seems to have forgotten about the workers on the Syaphrubesi–Rasuwagadhi Highway project … All the news coverage is about the hydropower station [in Nepal]. Families of foreign tourists who went missing in Tibet are also desperately searching for information, British nationals Sridhar Avvari, 43, his wife, Deepti, 41, and their 14-year-old son Abhinav went missing near the immigration area at Gyirong on 26 August, close to the Nepal-Tibet border. The family lives in India and relatives believe they over on to the Tibetan side. In a call to the family days earlier, Deepti Avvari told them that there would be no signal but would talk when she returned to an area with network activity. After the flash flood, calls to Deepti’s phone stopped connecting. “There was no signal, so we can’t talk … After coming down, I will call you again,” Deepti told Priyanka Rapaka, her sister in law. They are desperately waiting for updates. “We didn’t get any information from China … We are checking online only who are rescued and … how many are dead,” Rapaka said. Chinese authorities say they are now able to reach the main disaster zone by road. According to state media they are describing the region as an active search and rescue operation and are searching for hundreds of missing people. Naresh Goyal is anxiously waiting for news about his sister, Neetu Goyal Tiwari, a 51-year-old missing British national who flew from India to Kathmandu on 14 August to join an Isha Foundation pilgrimage. “The last message received is that they have reached Gyirong immigration office. “They said they are going to check out.” He says he found his sister’s name on a list of missing people circulating on social media, but said he is unsure where the list originated. Getting information out of the Chinese authorities has been difficult. “Whenever we ask the China government, they are telling us that they will update us through the embassy of the UK,” he says. “It is very painful here Now we have spent at least seven days and every minute we are waiting,” Goyal says.

‘They’ll be finding bodies next year’: a renowned forensic scientist on Nepal’s ‘extreme challenges’

The bodies of some of those killed in the Nepal-Tibet flood disaster may never be found, and some of those that are may never be identified, a world-renowned forensic scientist says. Prof Richard Bassed, the head of forensic medicine at Melbourne’s Monash University, spent three months in Thailand after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and also helped to identify victims of Victoria’s catastrophic Black Saturday bushfires in 2009. Now he has watched as authorities in Nepal and Tibet struggle to find and identify the dead amid the agonies of the living after last week’s devastating flash flood. More than 1,250 people have been confirmed dead, with more than 5,000 missing. The difficult terrain, and inadequate communications and resources, would all hamper efforts, Bassed says. “They could be washed anywhere, buried under mud. I imagine there’s a number they’ll never find. I imagine they’ll be finding bodies next year.” Authorities are still finding bodies from the 2011 Japanese tsunami, he says. The bodies from the 2004 tsunami were relatively easy to recover, but it still took a year to identify 5,000 people, he says. “And there were still some we couldn’t identify.” Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Asked how he copes with the horror of death on such a scale, he says he has “never found it long-term traumatising”. “Occasionally you’ll see something that’ll hit close to home. For me, it’s kids,” he says. “And the randomness. The randomness of a tsunami, the randomness of this massive flood. That gets to you. “But mostly you have your clinical face on, you do the best you can and know you’re doing it to help people.” Authorities will use rapidly improving DNA techniques to try to identify the victims. This week Nepali police urged relatives of missing tourists to provide “a fresh blood sample for DNA profiling and two passport-sized photographs” to the pathology laboratory at the police hospital in Kathmandu. But authorities in Nepal and Tibet face “extreme challenges”, Bassed says. They include the danger of more mudslides, the complexity of co-ordinating across international borders and the likelihood of local mortuaries and other infrastructure being overwhelmed by the number of bodies. The mix of nations and religions also brings issues of different cultural beliefs around how and whether people should be buried. The International Committee of the Red Cross and other international bodies have published Management of dead bodies after disasters: A field manual for First Responders to help people deal with bodies in a “proper and dignified way”, including by taking down details that will later help experts identify the remains. First responders – often locals who are not forensic experts – are trained to follow those guidelines, tagging bodies in the hope they will later be matched to a missing person. They give each body a unique code (for example the name of the place, the name of the team and a number). They will also take photos of the body and any distinguishing features such as gold teeth, clothing and tattoos, including that code in the image. Then they place the body in a body bag and organise its “orderly temporary storage”, again marked with the body code. In Nepal, morgues are filling up and mass burials are taking place, as authorities collect DNA samples. Bassed says most of the missing Australians would have dental records, which could help to identify them, but in Nepal many matches will be made using DNA or pictures, as fingerprints will often no longer be usable. Work is under way to use AI and facial recognition technology to identify victims after disasters, but it’s controversial – Ukraine used Clearview AI software after the Russian invasion in 2022, just as the company was fined millions of dollars for collecting images of people in the UK and elsewhere without consent. Widespread use is also limited by access to the technology. Bassed says researchers have also worked to devise an algorithm that could use passport or driver’s licence photos to identify someone. “But it’s really complex, and it depends how they look, the trauma,” he says. Another possibility is CT scanning, which can get a serial number from joint replacements, for example. “But trying to get this technology to the places it’s needed in the middle of a disaster … you need running water, you need electricity … you could put CT scanners into helicopters, but all this costs an awful lot of money.”

UN to vote on adopting new world map that shows Africa’s true scale

The UN general assembly will vote on Friday on a resolution for the world to formally phase out the traditional Mercator map of the globe in favour of one that more accurately displays Africa’s size. Robert Dussey, Togo’s foreign affairs minister, said the resolution was sponsored by Togo and backed by countries including the African Union’s 54 other member states. He did not specify the total number. “This discussion is not a political discussion [but] a scientific discussion, because there is scientific proof so we all have to accept the reality,” he said. UN resolutions are non-enforceable but if the vote passes, it could lead to an update of classroom curriculums and everyday technology, given the wide usage of the Mercator projection in education, technology and governance. The layout was introduced by the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569 to help sailors navigate the seas. Almost five centuries later it remains the global standard. Because of its projection style, however, regions near the equator appear significantly smaller than they are, whereas high-latitude areas look much larger. For example, the map shows Africa as being similar in size to Greenland, but the continent is 14 times larger than the Danish territory. “You could fit the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico and much of Europe into Africa and still have land to spare,” says a petition on Change.org for the #CorrectTheMap campaign, which has more than 11,000 signatures. The African Union endorsed the campaign in August 2025 and then asked Togo to spearhead its adoption. Historians and geographers have said for years that the Mercator projection is rooted in western stereotypes. Activists have echoed this, with some coining the term “cartographic colonialism”. Some argue that the map has subtly shaped international power dynamics by minimising the physical presence of the global south and visually inflating northern hemisphere nations while shrinking equatorial regions. This, they say, has reinforced systemic biases in international trade, development priorities and educational frameworks. One of the Mercator projection’s most prominent critics was Arno Peters, a German historian, who launched the Peters world map based on the Gall–Peters projection in 1973. It has often been used as an alternative to the Mercator map. Togo’s #CorrectTheMap campaign is promoting the use of the more accurate 2018 Equal Earth design, which was developed by an international team of cartographers. Supporters say it will help to reverse perceptions of Africa and decolonise global curriculums. Some analysts agree too. JJ Enoch, a London-based senior associate at JS Held, a geopolitical risk advisory firm, said the Mercator projection visually diminished Africa’s true scale. He linked the campaign to a quest by African nations for “greater influence in global institutions and greater control over how the continent is represented”. He added: “Adopting an equal-area map … would provide a more accurate basis for education and public understanding, while signalling that Africa’s demographic, economic and geopolitical importance should no longer be viewed through inherited and distorted conventions.” Togolese authorities hope the vote will go the same way as another African Union-backed decision at the UN this year. In March a Ghana-sponsored resolution to describe the slave trade as “gravest crime against humanity” passed, with 123 states voting in favour. Three states voted no and 52 abstained. Ghana’s success has given supporters of the map cause to believe in a favourable outcome. Togo’s government is planning an event in Lomé, the Togolese capital, with Unesco, the African Union and tech brands such as Google Maps during the first quarter of next year to map out the implementation of the resolution. Dussey said: “To those who say why now, I say, why not? When we look at the world map … it is time for us to change the narrative.” He added: “It’s time for us in Africa to take responsibility to change what we can change ourselves.”

Ukraine war briefing: US envoy to visit Kyiv in coming days, Zelenskyy says, as Putin signals ‘chance’ of peace

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that US negotiators will ⁠soon visit Moscow and ⁠Kyiv to resume efforts to end the Russian invasion. The Ukrainian president said in his nightly video address that preliminary dates had been set for the visit. “We expect to see representatives of the US president here in Kyiv,” Zelenskyy said. “There will be a meeting with them in Moscow and in Kyiv. We are expecting a meeting with them in the coming days. It is very ‌important. It is important that America continues ‌to be active.” Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin said on Thursday there was a chance of reaching an agreement to end the war in Ukraine. Speaking at an economic forum, Russia’s president said a number of countries including the US and China were ready to support a peace settlement. “Ultimately, however, the problem must be resolved by the countries involved in the conflict – Russia ⁠and Ukraine,” he said. “We are grateful to everyone attempting to contribute to a settlement. Is there a chance? In my view, yes, there is.” In Washington, Donald Trump said he wanted to see an end to the war and losses sustained by both sides. “I just want ‌to see that end. I think we’ll get it,” the US president told GB News in an interview that aired on Thursday, a day after telling reporters he wanted a summit with Putin when the Kremlin leader is ready for a peace deal. They last met for US-mediated talks in February. Trump has said he would ask ⁠European nations to pay back the US for military aid and munitions previously sent to Ukraine amid the ongoing war with ⁠Russia and appeared to signal ⁠a halt in sales to allied nations. In a social media post, Trump on Thursday also slammed reports of heavily depleted US munition stockpiles amid the ⁠separate war in Iran, while adding that the US was ramping up production and stockpiling munitions. “We are taking them for ourselves, the U.S.A., ⁠rather than selling them to others, but the sales to Allies will soon again, begin,” Trump wrote. A Ukrainian strike ⁠on Thursday killed four people, ⁠including two ⁠medical personnel, in an attack ⁠on Russia’s border region of Belgorod, officials ⁠said. The region’s official headquarters said the ‌dead in Shebekino, just across the border from Ukraine, included a doctor, ‌medic and married couple. Three people were injured. Meanwhile, the head of Russian-controlled parts of ⁠eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Region said three civilians died in drone strikes ‌in three separate districts of the region. Russian drones struck and damaged a Coca-Cola ⁠plant outside the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Thursday, Zelenskyy said. Officials ⁠said there were no injuries in the strike near the town ⁠of Brovary, east of the capital. “Today, the Russians have hit ⁠a Coca-Cola plant with their drone. Coca-Cola is such ‌an enemy that ‌they set it on fire ‌with their Shaheds,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address, referring to Iranian-designed drones. “It’s a clear Russian signal to America. The Russians cannot be unaware that ‌this is an American facility.” A Russian attack on ⁠the Ukrainian capital Kyiv ⁠on Thursday injured 10 people, triggered a fire and badly damaged a high-rise ⁠residential building, officials said. The city’s military administration initially said one person had died ⁠in the latest assault, but later said the report had proved ‌untrue. It said 10 ‌people, including a child, had been hurt. The capital’s mayor, Vitali ‌Klitschko, said nine people were injured, including six medical personnel. Zelenskyy said on Thursday that an investigation would determine what ⁠caused a dispute between two of Ukraine’s security agencies to escalate into a shootout in Kyiv this week that ⁠left three members of the defence ministry’s HUR military intelligence directorate injured. The dispute centres on the disappearance ⁠for nine days of a Russian nationalist activist fighting alongside Ukrainian troops. Russia will close German cultural centres on its territory, its foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said Thursday in a retaliatory measure reflecting the deepening tensions between Moscow and European countries that are helping Ukraine resist the Kremlin’s invasion. Lavrov’s announcement came after Berlin blamed Moscow for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport on 4 August.

Who are the Australians missing in the Nepal floods? What we know so far

The number of Australians missing in the Nepal-Tibet flash flooding disaster has fallen to 36, after two further people were confirmed safe on Friday. It comes after five previously unaccounted for Australians were confirmed safe earlier this week, with one found in Nepal, one in Tibet and three outside the crisis-hit area. A Sydney woman, Cara Severino, 25, was also safely located in Nepal more than two days after the 26 August floods. The names of the Australians confirmed safe this week have not yet been released. Pilgrims trekking to a holy site in Tibet make up the majority of Australians who have been reported missing after the deadly flash floods and landslides tore through valleys on the Nepal-Tibet border. Most were travelling with Himalayan Glacier Adventures, Kailash Journeys and the Isha Foundation. Across Nepal and Tibet, more than 5,000 people have been reported missing and Nepali and Chinese authorities have confirmed that more than 1,000 have died. Here’s what we know about the Australians who remain missing. This article will be updated as more information becomes available. Venkatraman Balakrishnan and Chitra Venkatraman New South Wales couple Venkatraman Balakrishnan, 52, and Chitra Venkatraman, 46, were among 15 Australians travelling to Mount Kailash on a spiritual trip with the Himalayan Glacier Adventures tour group. Their son, Akash Venkatraman, said his parents had planned to leave their riverside accommodation in Syabrubesi before it was devastated by flood waters. Muralitharan family Shylaja Muralitharan, 42, Chandresekaran Muralitharan, 47 and their children Ashwin, 14, and Aarush, 11, were also taking part in the Himalayan Glacier Adventures spiritual tour to Mount Kailash when the flood hit. The parents and two children had been training together for the long walk, Shylaja’s younger sister Vaishnavi said. She lost contact with the family shortly after their breakfast on the morning of the flood. Iyer family Sreedharan Iyer, 52, and Lakshmi Iyer, 50, and their adult sons Rishab Iyer, 23, and Rudhra Iyer, 20, were taking part in the spiritual pilgrimage to Mount Kailash with Himalayan Glacier Adventures. The Iyer brothers are medical students at the University of Newcastle and members of the West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook cricket club in Sydney’s north-west. Karan Bhardwaj, Arpan Mithalal Kothari and Bhavin Raval Karan Bhardwaj, Arpan Mithalal Kothari and Bhavin Raval were travelling together on a Kailash Journey tour of the region. Bhardwaj’s family says the three men have known each other since 2009, when they met at university. Raval’s wife, Bhavinkumar Raval, has told the ABC she believes her husband is still alive and is making plans to travel to Nepal. Bhardwaj is a 40-year-old Brisbane-based member of the Royal Australian Air Force. Bhardwaj’s family member Jen said: “Karan is a dad to my beautiful seven-year-old nephew, as well as a brother, uncle and brother in law. He is so desperately loved by his family and right now we are desperately praying, hoping and believing that Karan is safe, alive and somehow making his way back to us.” Narayan Panthi Narayan Panthi, from Brisbane, has been listed by Nepali police as travelling with operator Kathmandu Holiday Tours and Travel. It is understood Panthi had been carrying out independent volunteer charity work in Kathmandu earlier in the week before travelling towards the border region. Panthi’s cousin, Amrit Bhusal, told Guardian Australia his family were devastated but “holding on to hope and praying for positive news”. “We are still hoping,” Bhusal said. “We are still searching. We are still praying for Narayan to come home safely.” Bhusal said Panthi had been “helping disadvantaged children in Nepal reach their full potential through education”. Bharat Mangwani Bharat Mangwani, 42, was travelling with the Isha Foundation as part of a pilgrimage to Lake Manasarovar when his family lost contact with him on Wednesday morning. He was last seen at Gyirong before the group was set to depart for Kathmandu. “All of us are praying for him and hopefully he comes back to us soon,” said a close friend, Kushagra Tiwari. Mangwani’s family, including his nine-year-old son and three-year-old daughter, have travelled to India with a family friend, while his wife has flown to Nepal to look for him. Renee Spry A Sunshine Coast disability support worker, Renee Spry has been described as a “deeply spiritual” person who travelled to Nepal on a pilgrimage. “She had two degrees, and she chose to do something that was … a completely selfless vocation,” her sister Clair Spry said. “Her priority was always other people.” “Every person she touched, they knew her love and kindness. She would be so uncomfortable with all this.” Clair Spry has set up a GoFundMe so her family can travel to Nepal to look for signs of Renee. Suhasini Kandimalla A mother of two from Springfield, near Brisbane, Suhasini Kandimalla was hiking with another Springfield local, according to her sister, Supreethini Kandimalla. While she was a New Zealand citizen, Suhasini had been approved for Australian citizenship, her sister said. She had planned to attend a citizenship ceremony for it to be granted soon after she returned. “I don’t know if it was a religious calling for her to do it,” Supreethini said of the Nepal trip. “But she certainly loved the treks in New Zealand too, and would go on lots of long hikes.” Reshma Patel A Newcastle woman, Reshma Patel, 46, was in the Isha Foundation group. She didn’t know Sumi Adhikari beforehand but the pair had become friends on the pilgrimage, said Patel’s family friend Chin Valsan. “They were talking to each other, and they were supposed to come back on the same flight on Thursday,” he says. He describes Patel, who has two children aged 10 and 14 and works casually for Canterbury-Bankstown council, as “full of life” and a “kind soul” who loves her family and friends. Kanagamah Sundrasan The mother of two from Springfield, near Brisbane, was part of the Kailash Journey trek to Mount Kailash. Her daughter, Swaatika Kanniah, said her mother had been excited about the hike. “It was a pilgrimage, she really wanted to go and have that experience.” A photograph of her on the trip shows her smiling with five other members of the tour; all are now missing. “I feel like everyone is trying their best but yes we don’t know much about what’s going on,” Kanniah said of the recovery efforts. Michael Keats The family of 37-year-old Michael Keats, from Mollymook in NSW, said on social media that he had died. Keats’s partner, Emily Boyd, said on Instagram on Sunday that he had been on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, which had been his “dream for many years”. “Mike went on a pilgrimage to Mt Kailash seeking enlightenment,” Boyd said. “There’s a bittersweetness knowing that there was nothing more that Mike wanted [than] to know God, and to merge with the divine. “He was a mystic, a medicine man, a teacher, leader, partner, father, brother, son, uncle and dearly beloved friend. He showed up for so many people in so many ways. A heart of pure gold. We love you forever and always.” On Tuesday, the foreign affair minister, Penny Wong, said the Australian government “has not yet received official confirmation of Mr Keats’ passing. He does remain unaccounted for in terms of the information we have. But … we respect the rights of the families to make the statements they have. “Our thoughts go out to his family and to every Australian family who is hoping that the many who are missing can be located.” Luke Costanzo Luke Costanzo, 30, from Perth remains missing, his family has confirmed. He was on a pilgrimage trek with the Isha foundation, and the group was last in contact at the Gyirong border crossing as they were making their way back to Kathmandu on the final day of their journey, the family said. “Luke is an extremely strong, compassionate, disciplined and spiritual person,” they said. “Once he makes a decision he commits to it fully and he was so excited to be visiting Mount Kailash on a pilgrimage trek with the Isha Foundation.” “We truly appreciate all the love and support from friends and family that we’ve received and ask everyone to keep Luke, and all those affected, in your thoughts and prayers.” The family has asked people who wish to help to donate “to aid the wonderful people on the ground who continue with rescue efforts”. Sandeep Mohapatra and Sidharthi Kumari Sahu Sandeep Mohapatra and Sidharthi Kumari Sahu are members of Melbourne’s Odia community. The couple had taken part in a pilgrimage and were last believed to have been making their way towards the immigration office. Hara Patro, a member of the Melbourne Odia community, travelled to India to speak with their families and has urged Australians to keep the couple in their hearts. “Their families are living through unimaginable uncertainty,” he said. “Every day without news makes the situation harder, but we continue to hope and pray that Sandeep and Sidharthi will be found safe.” The couple’s son is staying with family in India as they wait for news.