First Thing: Rescue efforts continue as death toll rises in Nepal-Tibet flood
More than 1,300 people are missing in Nepal and in Tibet after catastrophic flash floods. Plus: Six months of the war in Iran
Good morning.
Rescue operations have resumed in Nepal and Tibet after a pause when a lake at the border began to overflow. The lake was formed when a wall of mud and debris hit the hub of Gyirong in Tibet on Wednesday, causing catastrophic flash floods that thundered down valleys and obliterated villages.
More than 1,300 people are missing, with the death toll reaching 469 on Friday. More than 500 foreign citizens were among 826 people missing in Nepal, police and tourism officials have said, with Chinese state media reporting that at least 260 of the 558 missing people on the Tibet side of the border were foreign nationals.
What could have caused this deadly flash floods? Satellite imagery suggests a glacier collapse high in the Himalayas was the primary cause, raising concerns that the climate crisis is destabilizing the geology of mountain and polar regions.
This is a developing story. Follow our live coverage here.
Senator calls for criminal investigation of RFK Jr after Guardian report
A senior Democratic senator has called for a criminal investigation into Robert F Kennedy Jr after reporting by the Guardian that indicated he lied during Senate confirmation hearings last year. Ron Wyden said in a statement: “RFK’s platform is built on lies and grifts that leave a trail of dead children in their wake. There are consequences for lying to Congress.”
What did Kennedy purportedly lie about? A Guardian analysis of newly obtained documents found that the US health secretary had lied when he told lawmakers who held the key to his confirmation that a 2019 visit to Samoa had “nothing to do with vaccines”.
South Korea to re-examine 310,000 missing person cases after fake record scandal
South Korean police will re-examine about 310,000 missing persons cases closed over the past three years after an officer was arrested on suspicion of falsifying records to close files on two people who were later found dead. President Lee Jae Myung has ordered an investigation into the police handling of adult missing persons and told the force to draw up a reform plan.
How many people have been reported missing? More than 70,000 were reported missing last year, with 99.7% of cases closed without a full-scale search. Of those, 931 people were found dead.
Why were so many missing persons cases closed? Only children, autistic people, and people with dementia or mental disabilities are formally treated as missing under missing law. Everyone else is classified as a runaway, with none of those tools automatically available.
In other news …
King Harald V of Norway, Europe’s oldest reigning monarch, died on Friday at the age of 89. He will be succeeded by his son King Haakon VIII.
Seven people charged with vandalising Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Scotland have been accused of malicious damage and “having a terrorist connection”.
Three journalists who were fired by the Pentagon from a US government-funded news outlet have sued the Department of Defense and are arguing that their dismissals were illegal and violated their first-amendment rights to free speech.
A federal judge on Thursday placed a 14-day hold on attempts to implement Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting in a case that could head back to the supreme court.
Stat of the day: $1bn worth of goods cross into Detroit from Windsor, Canada every day
Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, are two largely blue-collar US and Canadian cities that have come to act as one in the creation of North America’s auto industry. With an estimated $1bn in goods crossing the river that divides the two cities each day, Trump’s bluster this week about imposing 50% tariffs on Canadian goods has many in the two cities worried.
Culture Pick: Tim Curry’s best screen roles
The world lost an acting legend this week with the death of Tim Curry. Here’s a look back at some of his most memorable screen roles, from the campy menace that was Dr Frank-N-Furter to the terrifying Pennywise the Clown.
Don’t miss this: The man leading the DRC’s Ebola fight
Prof Pierre Akilimali heads the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is in the midst of the largest outbreak in its history. There have been more than 5,650 confirmed cases and more than 2,710 deaths. “Rest is not an easy thing for the Ebola workers to find,” the doctor said. “What carries me and the team is the simple knowledge that every contact followed, every family supported, is a life where the worst was avoided.”
… or this: Six months of the Iran war
Today marks the six-month anniversary of when the US and Israel began launching large-scale strikes on Iran, plunging the region into a conflict that upended global trade. The Guardian’s visuals team has put together a timeline documenting six months of strikes, public threats, failed diplomacy and wild swings in the price of oil.
Climate check: The burning of fossil fuels may have supercharged El Niño climatic patterns, study finds
El Niño – a naturally occurring phenomenon when the waters of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean heat up, causing a cascade of effects around the world – typically brings a surge of global heat that further amplifies the escalating climate crisis. But new research has established that the reverse is also true – that human-caused global heating is making El Niño more intense when it does arrive.
Last Thing: Erykah Badu on defying definition
Erykah Badu sat down with the Guardian before the release of her newest album, Before the World Blows: The Abi and Alan Experiment. A collaborative record with the famed underground producer the Alchemist, it will be her first album in 11 years. “Procrastinating and living, learning and stuff – that gives you stuff to write about,” she said. “It’s important to gather the data, upload as much as I can. I don’t have a choice. But when the thing gets kind of full, I download it through writing music.”
Sign up
First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com