Catastrophic flash floods in a border area of Nepal and China killed at least 160 people and left hundreds of tourists, workers and others missing after sweeping through communities and bringing travel in some areas to a halt. Experts said an avalanche from a glacier was the likely cause in the warming Himalaya region. Police in Nepal reported at least 157 dead. China's state broadcaster CCTV reported at least three dead and 265 missing in the Tibet region's Gyirong County near the border. Over 400 were missing in Nepal.
Drone footage showed roads destroyed and buildings buried by thundering water the color of wet cement. The region's steep valleys are economic lifelines and travel corridors but precarious ones when disaster strikes, giving little time for anyone to flee the gushing waters. The US Geological Survey first reported a magnitude 4.4 earthquake early Wednesday, about 66 kilometers north of Kathmandu, near the border. The USGS later updated to call the shaking a 5.2 magnitude landslide.
Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion and add stronger child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms as part of a landmark legal settlement that ended a trial over teen social media addiction and settled claims filed by nearly every state. The settlement resolved a pivotal case years in the making that sought to hold the tech giant accountable for the role its platforms played in undermining children's mental health. The effort targeted features designed to hook young people's attention.
The agreement "institutes real change, real transparency, real protections for children and teens across the country," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said. If approved by the court, the deal will stop an avalanche of litigation by states against Meta, although the company still faces lawsuits from individuals and school districts throughout the U.S. For the states, the settlement delivers money for mental-health programmes for kids, including after-school or summer activities and digital literacy counselors.
The commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announced the official dissolution of the group, which once controlled a de facto autonomous zone in Syria's northeast. Speaking during a news conference at the presidential palace in Damascus, Mazloum Abdi said the SDF has completed a merger with the Syrian army and would cease to operate as an independent force. The Kurdish-led force lost most of its territory in northeast Syria to a government offensive in January and then signed the deal to merge with the army.
The SDF was once the main partner of the United States in Syria as it battled the Islamic State group. But after the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in December 2024, Washington formed close ties with the new government in Damascus led by interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the former leader of an Islamist insurgent group. The SDF "carried a heavy responsibility during one of the most difficult periods in Syria's history," Abdi said.
Two Frankfurt Airport workers have died of malaria after a rare outbreak led to six employees contracting the serious infection spread by mosquitoes. It is believed the mosquitoes arrived at Germany's busiest airport on a plane, according to German public health officials, triggering an outbreak which was first detected in July. A spokesperson for airport operator Fraport told the BBC an employee had died as a result of the infection, while public health officials said later on Wednesday that two of the affected individuals had died.
Traps have been installed at the airport and mosquitoes captured will be analysed in a laboratory to determine their species and origin. According to the Frankfurt Public Health Department, six male airport workers in different jobs and different areas of the airport were infected, and officials are analysing blood samples to determine if they were infected by one mosquito or six different mosquitoes.
