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Humanitarian groups mobilize for Nepal-China border flood survivors

Illustration accompanying article: Humanitarian groups mobilize for Nepal-China border flood survivors
  • Humanitarian organizations are mobilizing to aid survivors of floods that killed more than 300 people along the Nepal-China border.
  • More than 1,400 people remained missing Thursday after the floods swept through border communities on Wednesday.
  • A glacier collapse triggered the disaster, sending a torrent of water and mud described as several stories high through border communities.
  • The Nepalese army is using helicopters to rescue stranded residents because roads and bridges have been washed out.
  • Direct Relief said it had pre-positioned emergency supplies in Nepal ahead of the upcoming monsoon season, enabling rapid deployment when the unexpected floods hit.
 2026-08-28 · 3 MIN READ

Obtained letter contradicts Kennedy's Senate testimony on Samoa trip

Illustration accompanying article: Obtained letter contradicts Kennedy's Senate testimony on Samoa trip
  • A letter Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote to Samoa's prime minister before his 2019 visit used the word "vaccine" or "vaccination" eight times and explicitly sought to study MMR vaccines.
  • During his Senate confirmation hearings, Kennedy told senators that the trip "had nothing to do with vaccines" and that he went to introduce a medical informatics system.
  • The trip preceded a measles outbreak in Samoa that killed 83 people, mostly children under five; public health experts have said anti-vaccine activism there was emboldened by the visit.
  • A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson called the allegations "defamatory" and said Kennedy's visit was "unrelated to vaccines."
  • Knowingly giving material false testimony to Congress is a federal crime, though it is rarely prosecuted; the statute of limitations is five years.
 2026-08-27 · 5 MIN READ
Illustration accompanying article: Becerra faces projected doubling of uninsured Californians by 2030