More than 2000 people now missing in Nepal and Tibet; a One Nation canditate in a strong position for a WA state by-election; and in sport, a pay dispute in the A-League Women's com at a stalemate.
Listen to Australian and world news and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts.
TRANSCRIPT
- More than 2000 people now missing in Nepal and Tibet.
- A One Nation canditate in a strong position for a WA state by-election.
- And in sport, a pay dispute in the A-League Women's com at a stalemate.
The number of people missing from flash flooding on the Nepal-Tibet border has jumped dramatically to more than 2,400 after authorities added hundreds of hydropower workers to official figures.
More than 580 bodies have been recovered so far with some of the dead swept downstream as far as India, in the landslide triggered by a glacier collapse in the Himalayas.
Of those missing, at least 540 are foreigners, with 39 Australians among them.
Last night Nepal issued a further flood warning after a dam in Tibet was reported to have burst.
Meanwhile, Chinese state media says rescuers in Tibet have reached the main area wiped out by the devastating mudslide.
.
A survivor of flash flooding in Nepal, Gaurav Thapa Magar, was working in a bank in Timure, which is by the border with China, when everything around him started shaking.
The 32-year-old tells SBS how he escaped the rushing water.
"I felt like I was dead to be true. It's like I was panicking, everyone was panicking - but the real feeling I was feeling was "I'm gone. I have to run, I'm gone" and that's what I was feeling and I was lucky the hill was not that far from my place and just like I said when I started running, when I saw that, I knew I had to go up."
Voters are set to head to the polls in the Western Australian seat of Secret Harbour today, after long-serving MP and senior government minister retirement triggered a state by-election.
Labor's stranglehold on the nation's richest state has been put in doubt by the rising popularity of One Nation in recent months.
The latest DemosAU poll has One Nation up three per cent since June, running equal with the Liberals, with 21 per cent of the vote, while Labor is on 33 per cent.
WA Premier Roger Cook has conceded it will be a battle to hold the outer suburban seat, despite Labor's 11.5 per cent margin.
.
A senate inquiry report into illegal tobacco urges the government to immediately pause tax increases on cigarettes and tobacco products.
The coalition-led senate inquiry report calls for stronger efforts to stop the sale and distribution of illicit tobacco and slash the excise after further consultation.
Tobacco taxes, which add around $1.50 to the cost of every cigarette, formed a key focus of the inquiry.
The inquiry heard some witnesses call for a return to 2019 levels or a cut of about 40 per cent.
An estimated 80 per cent of all tobacco consumed in Australia was illicit in 2025.
.
Norway has a new king, Crown Prince Haakon has succeeded his father King Haakon who died aged 89.
There will be several days of national mourning leading up to Harald's funeral in Oslo Cathedral.
Norwegian Prime Minister Gahr Støre has welcomed the new King and Queen to the throne.
“Today we also open our arms to our new King and Queen. A great responsibility is being carried forward. They are taking on their new roles at a time of mourning. They have our full confidence and support. It is reassuring to know that King Haakon will reign under the same motto as his father, grandfather and great-grandfather before him – We give our all for Norway. An era has ended. A new era is beginning. The King is dead. Long live the King!”
King Haakon's ascension means his oldest child, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, is heir to the throne.
She is the first female heir to the throne of Norway in 600 years.
.
In sport,
Matildas goal keeper, Chloe Lincoln, says an updated pay agreement for the A-League Women's competition could lure big-name stars back to the country.
Most of the Matildas play for clubs overseas.
Sam Kerr's a striker at Gotham FC, Ellie Carpenter's at Chelsea, Mary Fowler's at Manchester City and Kyra Cooney-Cross, Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley are all at Arsenal.
According to the Professional Footballer's Association, three-quarters of players in the league describe their financial situations as 'not at all' or only 'slightly' secure.
The Association is locked in an ongoing pay dispute with the Australian Professional Leagues, with players voting down two proposed collective bargaining agreements over major sticking points including the salary cap.
The League has offered to provide a roadmap to full-time professionalism in the women's game.
