Morning everyone. The Australian government has joined counterparts from around the world in scrambling to send aid into the disaster-hit region of Nepal and Tibet while the death toll nears 400. About 1,300 people are still missing, among them 39 Australians, amid fears that the area could be hit by another inundation. We have full reports.The government’s promise of free energy could come at a price for some, and will One Nation’s policy confusion actually help Pauline Hanson? Ratko Mladić, the “Butcher of Bosnia”, has died in prison, and we preview the AFL finals starting tonight.AustraliaSuman Shrestha fears some of his friends have died in the floods. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian
‘Lots of friends are missing’ | The Australian government is urgently seeking information on the welfare of at least 39 Australians missing in Nepal after the catastrophic flash flood swept through the Nepal-Tibet border region on Wednesday. Children as young as 11 are among those missing, and a New South Wales couple on a spiritual pilgrimage have been identified as missing after the disaster. Suman Shrestha, who moved to Australia from Nepal in 2017, says he is frantically trying to contact people in the stricken region. “Lots of my friends are missing,” he says. Australia was joining international efforts to get aid into the region as authorities in Tibet warned that a lake formed at the site where the deadly torrents occurred was rising and at risk of bursting. Experts said the climate crisis may have caused ice to melt and thaw bonds that hold glaciers in place.
