Rescuers retrieve flood survivors caked in mud as death toll in Nepal-China border disaster climbs
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Rescuers pulled out survivors caked in dark brown mud and helicopters lifted stranded people to safety, as Nepal and China raced to respond to catastrophic flash floods that killed nearly 600 people and left almost 2,500 missing.
The rescue efforts included a team that rappelled into a severely damaged checkpoint area on the Chinese side of the border between the two countries. Rescuers were on high alert for more flooding from a new lake that formed high up in the Himalayan mountains after the initial floods Wednesday. Experts warned that the lake, created after a glacier collapse that triggered the floods, was starting to overflow.
Nepal’s army was deployed to help rescue more than 100 people believed trapped inside a tunnel at a hydropower plant located in the country’s worst-hit district. Like elsewhere in the disaster zone, their work was complicated by thick layers of mud that covered the site.
The rappelling rescue team descended into the once-bustling border-crossing area from wooded mountain slopes, the state broadcaster China Central Television said.
“As far as I can see, it’s nothing but debris,” rescue official Zou Mingqi told state media. The area where travelers went through border control to enter or leave China has been flattened to a muddy area, according to satellite images.
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Trump used to say he saw a quick end to his Iran war, but 6 months later he claims he’s in no hurry
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump arrives at an awkward moment for his presidency on Friday as the U.S.-Israel war against Iran reaches the six-month mark, a notable milestone for a conflict that the Republican leader repeatedly assured Americans would be a “little excursion” lasting a matter of weeks.
The war isn’t over, though Trump claims that through bombs and blockade, he has already devastated Iran’s leadership, military and economy.
And this week his administration said it would turn its focus to increasing economic pressure — rather than military action — to try to finish off Iran. The shifting strategy centers on threats to punish any country or entity that continues to conduct business with Tehran.
The turn to using sanctions as the cudgel of choice comes as the administration weighs diminished munitions stockpiles after months of war, sparking concerns that the prolonged conflict could undermine U.S. military readiness in other parts of the globe.
As the conflict grinds on, Trump’s talk of finding a quick end to the war also appears to be fading. He stressed this week that he’s “not in a hurry” to get Iran back to the negotiating table, and he continues making the case that the Islamic Republic’s leadership is on the ropes.
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Six months on, the Iran war has changed the Middle East, but not in the way its architects had hoped
It’s been six months since the United States and Israel attacked Iran with the perennial goal of transforming the Middle East through military force. The region has changed, but not in the way they had hoped.
The Islamic Republic survived the assassination of its top leaders and weeks of heavy bombing, and found a potent form of leverage in the Strait of Hormuz. Gulf Arab nations saw worrying gaps open up in the American security umbrella they have relied on for decades — and some are looking at alternatives.
Israel has once again thrashed its enemies without defeating them, and after nearly three years of war in Gaza and new land seizures, is at risk of a generational rupture with the U.S., its closest ally. Hopes of normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia — another enduring U.S. and Israeli aspiration — have dimmed even further.
When they attacked Iran on Feb. 28, the U.S. and Israel hoped to topple its clerical leadership and replace it with a pro-Western government. Instead, they’ve ended up with a “hardened and very radical regime,” said Barbara Leaf, a former ambassador who served as assistant secretary of state for the Middle East in the Biden administration.
“That is going to be exceptionally difficult to deal with, to say the least,” she said. Iran’s “confidence has grown over the months that it cannot only survive, but it can prevail, it can reset the regional landscape.”
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Trump administration appeals latest ruling blocking his mail voting order from taking effect
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is appealing a judge’s ruling that blocked limitations on mail voting before the midterm elections, the latest twist in a court fight unfolding days before the first states begin sending out mail ballots for the pivotal November elections.
The notice of appeal filed Friday comes after a federal judge in Boston handed down a new decision blocking implementation of an executive order from President Donald Trump for the next two weeks.
The Supreme Court previously allowed the plan to move ahead on procedural grounds, but hasn’t decided whether it’s legal. The U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals will next consider the case, though it could soon be back before the nation’s highest court.
Under Trump’s executive order, the U.S. Postal Service could refuse to deliver ballots from states that do not submit lists of eligible voters and follow a uniform envelope style. The White House calls the plan a set of “commonsense measures” aimed at protecting ballot security, and calls the order blocking it “unreasoned and unlawful.”
The plaintiffs didn’t have immediate comment on the appeal.
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Washington chemical tank was called unfit for service before deadly failure, investigators find
An inspection contractor found a chemical tank at a Washington state paper mill “not fit for continued service” 10 months before it failed in May, killing 11 in one of the deadliest U.S. workplace disasters in recent decades, according to a federal report released Friday.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board’s update about the May 26 failure in Longview, which expelled enough caustic liquid to blow out building walls, is part of an ongoing investigation. The federal agency said it is still determining the cause of the failure.
The board found that the contractor provided Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company with recommendations for internal inspections and shell repairs, but the company did none between a July 2025 inspection and the May 2026 failure.
“Because the investigation remains ongoing, we will not comment on individual findings or documents at this time,” an emailed statement from Nippon spokesperson Sam Jefferies said Friday. “Our focus remains on supporting affected families and employees and taking the necessary steps toward fully reopening the Longview facility.”
Jefferies said the company will continue to cooperate fully with the board.
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Fed Chair Warsh signals rate hikes may be needed with US inflation stubbornly elevated
JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said Friday that inflation is still too high and suggested the central bank may have to raise interest rates in the coming months to bring it down, a clearer signal than he has previously sent about his economic outlook.
In his first high-profile speech at the Fed’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Warsh acknowledged that recent U.S. reports show that inflation has cooled a bit, but “they do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.”
“We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed,” Warsh said. “Otherwise, we have work to do.”
The comments from the new Fed chair appeared to reassure Wall Street that fighting inflation remains the priority for the central bank. Warsh did not imply that a rate hike is imminent, but he appeared to dismiss perceptions that inflation is no longer a threat.
He pointed to data showing that inflation remains stubbornly above the central bank’s 2% target. Warsh replaced Jerome Powell in late May after his predecessor’s term ended.
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The bond market prepares for a hike to interest rates, while US stocks drift lower
NEW YORK (AP) — The bond market swung Friday as investors built bets that the Federal Reserve may hike interest rates soon to get the nation’s high inflation under control. U.S. stocks, meanwhile, dipped but not by much after economists said a speech by Chairman Kevin Warsh helped strengthen faith that the Fed will do what’s needed to bring inflation down, even if it causes pain for the economy in the short term.
The S&P 500 fell 0.2% after flipping between modest gains and losses through the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 9 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.5%.
The reaction was stronger in the bond market following Warsh’s first speech as chairman of the Fed at an annual economic symposium held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The mountain setting has been the backdrop for major Fed policy announcements in the past, and the pressure was on Warsh.
Worries had grown that his tough talk about getting inflation down to the Fed’s 2% target may be just that, unless the Fed backs it up with action. The Fed could hike short-term interest rates to get inflation under control, but it could also feel deterred from doing so because that would slow the economy and hurt prices for investments. And President Donald Trump, who appointed Warsh, has been vocal about wanting interest rates to be lower rather than higher.
Warsh was adamant again on Friday that he wants to give financial markets fewer clues about what the Fed plans to do with rates for its two jobs of keeping inflation low and the job market strong. He has said he wants markets to react to what incoming data says about the economy and inflation rather than what the Fed says.
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She was a pain specialist to top athletes. Her opioid prescribing alarmed the DEA
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Joan Rubinger overcame a catastrophic biking accident that left her paralyzed to become an influential pain-relief specialist helping top-tier athletes get back on the field after acute and chronic injuries.
Her website touts a client list that includes 169 NFL Pro Bowl selections, 29 NBA and WNBA champions and 15 Olympic medalists. Among some of her most notable patients: NBA All Stars Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade, as well as MLB All Star Fernando Tatis Jr.
But behind the scenes, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration alleged in court filings, Rubinger doled out thousands of illegal prescriptions for highly addictive painkillers, a “covert and slinking” scheme the nurse practitioner likened to selling hamburgers at a fast-food restaurant. Over a four-year period, federal authorities said, the nurse practitioner prescribed 260,000 pills containing controlled substances to patients in more than 20 states.
Citing what an administrative law judge called egregious conduct, the DEA last month revoked Rubinger’s ability to prescribe opioids. That action followed Rubinger’s agreement in March to pay $1.4 million to settle a parallel Justice Department civil complaint that accused her of dispensing controlled substances like oxycodone, Percocet, and Xanax on hundreds of occasions without any legitimate medical purpose. Rubinger did not admit any wrongdoing as part of that settlement and agreed to never again prescribe controlled substances.
While authorities announced the settlement earlier this year, federal court papers unsealed at the request of The Associated Press provide new details of a medical provider who the DEA says was furtively enriching herself even as she put the health of her patients at risk.
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Israeli strikes kill 5 in Gaza and 3 in West Bank, and other news in the Middle East
Israeli airstrikes killed five people in Gaza and three in the West Bank on Friday, despite a fragile ceasefire brokered by the United States.
Meanwhile, thousands of sailors remain stranded in the Persian Gulf by the Iran war, while Iran is touting an energy deal with Russia and the U.S. has imposed restrictions on a major Egyptian bank for its ties with Iran.
Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed five people, local hospital officials said Friday.
Two brothers and another relative died in a strike on the family’s home outside Khan Younis, officials at Nasser Hospital said. Two separate Israeli strikes killed one person each in Gaza City, according to health officials at Shifa hospital.
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Russian drones batter Ukraine’s Kyiv region, hitting apartments and warehouses for a second day
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces on Friday resumed their drone barrage of Ukraine’s Kyiv region, hitting more than a dozen apartment buildings and storage depots in a second straight day of aerial attacks, officials said.
Prolonged air raids in Kyiv on Thursday essentially locked down the Ukrainian capital for 15 hours, the Foreign Ministry said, choking the economy and severely disrupting civilian life more than 4½ years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor. Even longer alerts are a daily reality in regions closer to the front line, the ministry said.
Russian drone and missile attacks are also taking aim at the power grid in what Ukrainian officials say is an annual campaign to “weaponize winter.” In Ukraine’s southern Kherson region on the Black Sea, where glide bombs a day earlier forced a combined heat and power plant to shut down, officials predicted a winter of extended outages and told people to move elsewhere if they could.
Russian strikes in the Kyiv region damaged 14 warehouses, 16 private houses, three apartment buildings and 16 vehicles, Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv regional military administration, said Friday.
A second drone hit one location after emergency crews were deployed, the State Emergency Service said, in what is termed by the military as a “double tap” that targets first responders.
