UK Warns against Israel Removing it from Gaza Ceasefire Centerhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5312087-uk-warns-against-israel-removing-it-gaza-ceasefire-center
UK Warns against Israel Removing it from Gaza Ceasefire Center
Palestinians walk past a food-aid warehouse damaged in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a nearby house in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
UK Warns against Israel Removing it from Gaza Ceasefire Center
Palestinians walk past a food-aid warehouse damaged in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a nearby house in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The United Kingdom warned against any attempt by Israel to remove British officials from the Gaza ceasefire coordination center on Friday, after reports that Israel was considering expelling UK officials.
The UK government said on Thursday that it remains committed to implementing the 20-point Gaza peace plan, and any move to remove its officials would “undermine shared efforts.”
The comments came in response to reports that Israel is considering expelling officials from Britain and other European nations from the monitoring center. The UK remains committed to “playing our part in improving the situation on the ground,” the British government told The Associated Press.
Also, the Dutch Foreign Ministry on Thursday said Israel was removing two Dutch diplomats from the ceasefire center. Israel's Foreign Ministry said the decision was in response to a Dutch ban on the trade of Israeli products from the occupied West Bank and other “ anti-Israel measures.”
Senior Ukrainian Official Expects 'Technical Talks' on Russia's War Soonhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5312125-senior-ukrainian-official-expects-technical-talks-russias-war-soon
Parts of a shot-down kamikaze drone at a site of a Russian strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the town of Vyshneve in Kyiv region, Ukraine, August 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Senior Ukrainian Official Expects 'Technical Talks' on Russia's War Soon
Parts of a shot-down kamikaze drone at a site of a Russian strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the town of Vyshneve in Kyiv region, Ukraine, August 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Ukraine's top presidential adviser said on Friday that technical talks on Russia's war would likely take place in the near future but added that he did not expect any swift agreement.
"I think everyone will see the negotiations happening very soon. But this will mainly concern the technical side of things and preparations for something big, which I hope we will eventually get to," Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview for YouTube project "Moseichuk+".
US-backed peace talks have so far led to no tangible results to end a war now in its fifth year. The last round of trilateral negotiations took place in February.
Asked if fighting would drag on through the winter, Budanov said it was "unrealistic" to expect the war to end now.
In recent months, both sides have significantly stepped up attacks on logistics, port infrastructure and energy facilities. Russia is also expected to renew its relentless campaign against Ukraine's power grid as winter approaches.
Ukraine and Russia need to reach a point where they are ready to simultaneously take a step toward each other, said Budanov, who is his country's representative at the talks, adding that Kyiv was open to this.
"And as of now, the Russian Federation — and I'm telling you this as someone who is deeply involved in this process — is saying outright, 'we might want to but no'."
Russia's key demand is Ukraine's withdrawal from the eastern Donbas area, which Russian troops have not managed to fully occupy during their more than four-year full-scale invasion. Kyiv says it will not cede territory it still controls.
EU Pledges Two Million Euros in Nepal Flood Aidhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5312116-eu-pledges-two-million-euros-nepal-flood-aid
A general view shows houses lying deluged in sludge after flash floods at Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot district on August 27, 2026. (AFP)
The European Union on Friday promised two million euros ($2.3 mn) in aid for Nepal after devastating floods on the country's border with Tibet swept away entire villages, killing hundreds of people, AFP reported.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X that the "immediate humanitarian aid" would help "deliver life-saving assistance to families and communities hit hardest."
Death Toll Rises in Nepal-China Border Disaster as a Lake Poses New Flood Threathttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5312040-death-toll-rises-nepal-china-border-disaster-lake-poses-new-flood-threat
A general view shows houses lying deluged in sludge after flash floods at Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot district on August 27, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT
Death Toll Rises in Nepal-China Border Disaster as a Lake Poses New Flood Threat
A general view shows houses lying deluged in sludge after flash floods at Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot district on August 27, 2026. (AFP)
Rescuers pulled out survivors caked in dark brown mud and helicopters lifted stranded people to safety Friday as Nepal and China raced to respond to catastrophic flash floods that killed more than 500 people and left more than 1,500 missing.
Nepal's disaster management authority said the death toll there rose to 538, and that more than 3,700 people have been rescued. Nepali police later put the number of deaths higher at 547.
Meanwhile there was little information on survivors on the Chinese side, where the death toll rose to five Friday as state media showed evacuations of villages and leaders' efforts to direct the relief response.
China's state media previously said 558 people were missing. Across the border, Nepal’s disaster management authority said Friday that 977 people were still unaccounted for. Hundreds of them were foreigners in the area to work, trek or make a pilgrimage to a sacred peak.
Authorities warn of further flooding from a new lake Nepali police issued a fresh alert Friday after receiving information that a dam on the Tibet side has burst. Security personnel and rescue and relief workers were told to stay on high alert and immediately move to a safe location if necessary.
It is unclear if the dam bursting is related to flooding concerns over a barrier lake that formed after the initial flash floods, high up in the Chinese side of the Himalayan mountains. Chinese broadcaster CCTV said the lake was at an elevation of 2,950 meters (9,680 feet.)
Nepali and Chinese authorities earlier warned of further flooding from the barrier lake, which was already overflowing. They urged people in potentially affected areas to move to safer ground.
Nepal police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle told The Associated Press that the rescue operation was continuing but with high alert. “It hasn’t stopped," he said.
Although the new lake is located more than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Gyirong Port, the hard-hit border crossing with Nepal, rescue workers heading to the disaster zone were ordered to stop temporarily Friday morning owing to concern the lake would overflow.
Stranded supply trucks wait at the Kalanki checkpoint for road clearance, following deadly flash floods and a mudslide in Nepal, in Kathmandu, Nepal, August 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Some 680 rescuers eventually reached the hardest-hit area at Gyirong by foot and via rafts after much effort. Some were dropped down from drones flown to the area, CCTV footage showed.
Thousands of people have been evacuated, others await rescue Nepali Army rescuers were working to help people trapped in a hydropower tunnel in Rasuwa, part of the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project.
Video from the scene show rescuers helping the man, covered in dark brown mud, out of the tunnel by pulling and pushing. He was one of likely dozens trapped in the tunnel.
Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet told the AP the focus was on survivors.
“It is complicated to find the entry and exit points of the tunnel because everything has been covered by mud,” Basnet said. “Our first priority is rescuing the stranded people.”
Nepal’s disaster management authority said 3,253 people had been airlifted by helicopter from the disaster area. Survivors, including injured people, were taken to Kathmandu and other locations.
Some felt the ground shake, then saw a ‘black storm’
Scientists who’ve studied satellite images said bedrock underneath a glacier high in the Himalayan region had collapsed, taking part of the glacier with it. The rockfall was so extreme that it reached a magnitude 5.2 seismic measurement.
The rocks and melted water then swelled the rivers in the valleys below, causing a torrent of water that swept buildings, bridges and earth downstream in Tibet and Nepal.
Customs officer Karbir Gaire was among some of the survivors in Timure, the closest Nepalese village to the border with China, where some 1,500 people had lived.
Gaire reached his office around 8 a.m. Wednesday and was working on his computer when he first felt the ground shake.
“Right after the shake, I noticed a black storm coming towards us," he recalled from Kathmandu, where he is back with family. "We all immediately started running out, and within a few seconds, we were climbing uphill on the opposite side of our office building. I think those 10 or so seconds saved some of us.”
Gaire doesn’t remember exactly how many people were in the office when the disaster struck, but 15 colleagues have gone missing. “It was like a Hollywood movie scene. I don’t call it a flood, it was a tsunami.”
Volunteers use bulldozers to clear mud and debris along a road after flash floods at Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot district on August 27, 2026. (AFP)
Families around the world hope for news of loved ones
Nepal’s tourism board has said that among the missing are more than 500 foreigners.
About 90 Americans were unaccounted for. US President Donald Trump said the flooding was terrible to see, and he told reporters in the Oval Office he offered to provide Nepalese leaders “anything they want.”
Rajan Tamang, a restaurant owner in New York City, said he learned from family in Kathmandu that his mother and sister were among those who died, while many other relatives and friends remained missing.
“My family was just waking up, and they didn’t even get any information, and suddenly this flood came. Some of them are missing, some of them lost their life and only a few is alive,” he told the AP after a vigil in New York.
Some of the missing may have been on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus, Buddhists and others.
Vishnuram Ramaswamy, who works at a private company in the southern Indian city of Puducherry, said that he last spoke to his mother and two sisters who were on that pilgrimage Wednesday morning. It was a highly anticipated trip, something his mother had always wanted to do, he said.
“My mother said they were on their way towards the border area and said they’ll reach their hotel and call us,” he said. While he's in touch with government officials, and the travel agency, there's been no news.
“This was the last we spoke to them. They have been unreachable since.”
لم تشترك بعد
انشئ حساباً خاصاً بك لتحصل على أخبار مخصصة لك ولتتمتع بخاصية حفظ المقالات وتتلقى نشراتنا البريدية المتنوعة
