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较多美国人看好民主党应对生活负担政策

2026年8月26日 16:45 / 联合早报

美国最新发布的8月份消费者信心指数连续第二个月滑落，跌至七个月新低。消费者最关心物价高企的问题。 （法新社）

（华盛顿综合电）最新民调显示，认为民主党应对生活负担课题的策略优于共和党的美国民众较多，差距达八个百分点。这显示总统特朗普率领共和党迎战11月中期选举居于劣势。

路透社与益普索星期二（8月25日）发布的最新民调结果显示，在951名受访注册选民当中，36%认为民主党在应对生活费问题上有更好的计划或策略，28%选择共和党，其余则表示不确定或认为两党都不理想。

这是这项民调去年10月展开以来，民主党取得的最大领先优势。自特朗普今年2月底对伊朗发动军事打击、引发油价上涨以来，民主党在这项课题上逐渐占据上风。

共和党政治策略师霍夫曼（Jeanette Hoffman）向路透社指出，虽然民调对共和党不利，但从多达37%民众不确定哪个政党表现较好或认为两党都不好来看，民主党的优势并不明显，“恐怕也不能感觉太好”。

另一名共和党策略师尼古拉斯（Christopher Nicholas）则认为，特朗普在回应选民对生活负担的关切上做得不够，使共和党在中期选举中处于劣势。

他建议共和党候选人向选民突出以减税减缓生活负担的政策，同时警告民主党内社会主义分子的影响力日益巨大，导致政策主张走向极端。

担忧物价飙升 美消费信心跌至七个月新低

世界大型企业联合会星期二公布，美国消费者信心指数连续第二个月滑落，在8月份跌至89.4，创七个月来的新低，且低于市场预测。

最新报告指出，燃油价格高企和更广泛的生活费压力，加上招聘活动放缓继续对美国家庭造成压力。消费者最关心的仍是物价，其中高油价是影响信心的重要因素。

最新调查在8月3日至16日进行，由于美伊冲突升温，美国平均汽油价格在这期间持续处于每加仑4美元以上。

较多美国人看好民主党应对生活负担政策

2026年8月26日 16:45 / 联合早报

美国最新发布的8月份消费者信心指数连续第二个月滑落，跌至七个月新低。消费者最关心物价高企的问题。 （法新社）

（华盛顿综合电）最新民调显示，认为民主党应对生活负担课题的策略优于共和党的美国民众较多，差距达八个百分点。这显示总统特朗普率领共和党迎战11月中期选举居于劣势。

路透社与益普索星期二（8月25日）发布的最新民调结果显示，在951名受访注册选民当中，36%认为民主党在应对生活费问题上有更好的计划或策略，28%选择共和党，其余则表示不确定或认为两党都不理想。

这是这项民调去年10月展开以来，民主党取得的最大领先优势。自特朗普今年2月底对伊朗发动军事打击、引发油价上涨以来，民主党在这项课题上逐渐占据上风。

共和党政治策略师霍夫曼（Jeanette Hoffman）向路透社指出，虽然民调对共和党不利，但从多达37%民众不确定哪个政党表现较好或认为两党都不好来看，民主党的优势并不明显，“恐怕也不能感觉太好”。

另一名共和党策略师尼古拉斯（Christopher Nicholas）则认为，特朗普在回应选民对生活负担的关切上做得不够，使共和党在中期选举中处于劣势。

他建议共和党候选人向选民突出以减税减缓生活负担的政策，同时警告民主党内社会主义分子的影响力日益巨大，导致政策主张走向极端。

担忧物价飙升 美消费信心跌至七个月新低

世界大型企业联合会星期二公布，美国消费者信心指数连续第二个月滑落，在8月份跌至89.4，创七个月来的新低，且低于市场预测。

最新报告指出，燃油价格高企和更广泛的生活费压力，加上招聘活动放缓继续对美国家庭造成压力。消费者最关心的仍是物价，其中高油价是影响信心的重要因素。

最新调查在8月3日至16日进行，由于美伊冲突升温，美国平均汽油价格在这期间持续处于每加仑4美元以上。

Republicans are furious that Trump has revived tariff drama — just in time for the midterms

2026-08-26T10:00:29.776Z / CNN

Congressional Republicans were all too happy to see President Donald Trump’s unpopular tariffs largely fade from headlines as the midterms inched closer. Now, with just 10 weeks to Election Day, Trump’s decision to again put them front and center has infuriated his party.

Within the span of a few days, the president both ignited a trade war with Canada and announced he was easing tariffs on imported beef — an economic one-two punch that will have particularly acute effects in a slew of states critical to winning congressional control.

Republicans, already struggling to outrun voters’ widespread cost-of-living concerns, are publicly calling on Trump to drop his hard line against Canada. And lawmakers across the Midwest and the South are distancing themselves from the plan to cut foreign beef tariffs, warning that any brief progress toward lowering prices of the grocery staple will be far overshadowed by the pain it causes American ranchers.

“There’s no Republican on the ballot who will tell you they think this is a good idea,” said Doug Heye, a longtime GOP strategist. “Things are too expensive, and it’s hard to see how this [trade war] would do anything to help any Republicans.”

More than a dozen Republican lawmakers have since criticized the economic moves, including staunch Trump allies who nevertheless openly aired their frustration over the fallout in their home states.

Sen. John Barrasso, the chamber’s No 2. Republican, pleaded with the administration for policies that make it “easier — not harder — for Wyoming ranchers to feed America.” Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton called the beef import plan “ill-advised” and urged Trump to reconsider. Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer was blunter: “I’m extremely disappointed by this decision,” she wrote on X.

In the handful of northern states that could swing control of Congress in November, Republicans caught off-guard by the collapse in talks between the White House and Canada have pressed Trump to call off a trade war that could make a broad range of goods more expensive.

“Imposing new tariffs on Canada is a mistake,” said Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who is locked in a tight race to keep her seat. “I really want us to go back to the very friendly, economically beneficial relationship that we have with our Canadian neighbors.”

The chorus of rebukes further underscored the deteriorating relationship between Trump and the Republican lawmakers whose fate will determine the trajectory of his last years in office.

Trump has largely resisted altering his priorities to help buoy GOP lawmakers ahead of November, spending recent months devoted to his pet construction projects, waging an unpopular war in the Middle East and building on his aggressive tariff regime. Republican candidates, in turn, have grown increasingly anxious that the drag created by Trump’s cratering approval ratings will cost them control of the House and possibly even the Senate.

“The haphazard and inconsistent way that these tariffs have been applied has created unnecessary chaos,” said Jason Roe, a Michigan GOP strategist. “Picking fights with our largest trading partners and allies is not particularly helpful.”

Despite the frustration rippling across the GOP, White House officials downplayed the fallout from Trump’s trade decisions, arguing that they are aimed at benefiting voters over the long term.

In discussions with worried lawmakers and allies, aides have emphasized that the planned ramp-up of ground beef imports is a temporary solution meant to address shortages and bring prices down ahead of November, two people familiar with the matter said. The order, which is still being finalized, is designed to bolster supply until more gradual efforts to boost US cattle producers begin to show results.

“Do candidates not want to talk about what the GOP is doing to get beef prices down?” one White House official said of the blowback on the administration’s beef plan. “It’s not us saying that American producers are not competitive or not doing their jobs. It’s just us saying we’re in a supply crunch.”

The escalating tariff standoff with Canada, meanwhile, is one that aides have sought to turn into the latest display of Trump’s dealmaking prowess — arguing that the pain of any higher costs will fall disproportionately on its northern neighbor.

Trump officials blamed Canadian leaders for tanking a trade deal as it neared the finish line by making new demands, though Canada has claimed that conflicting signals on the US side ended up nixing the agreement. Trump also appeared to undercut his team’s position, suggesting in a phone interview with CNN that he’d added conditions late in the talks.

“That sounds like me,” Trump said Saturday, adding that “they have to pay a fair amount. And if they don’t pay a fair amount, we won’t make a deal. That’s fine.”

Trump has shown no inclination to restart talks in earnest, signaling he’ll push for even more favorable terms and attacking Canada in a flurry of Truth Social posts that included threats to rename Lake Ontario: “Lake America.”

“I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable,” he vented in another social media post.

The two sides still have a couple weeks before the September 8 deadline for Canada to impose its own retaliatory tariffs, a cushion that Republicans have urged Trump officials to take advantage of in pursuit of a deal that averts an all-out trade war.

Trump has repeatedly backed off his most extreme tariff threats in the past in favor of settling for more reasonable agreements that he can tout as victories. And despite the bluster, there’s recognition among some officials that a lengthy trade fight with a close US ally like Canada would be unsustainable and broadly unpopular, a person familiar with the matter said.

Yet the prospect of reaching an economic truce down the road has offered scant comfort to Republicans confronting the more immediate political fallout just two months out from Election Day.

“Roiling the Michigan political scene with this is not super helpful at the moment,” said Roe, who is advising GOP Rep. Tom Barrett in one of the House districts that Democrats are seeking to flip. “We have such a strong economic relationship to Canada that this makes it harder for us to solve some of the affordability issues that are dogging us.”

As for the imported beef plan that Trump officials had hoped would help offset some of those cost concerns, the alarm over its implications has instead spread rapidly through the GOP base — including into the kitchen of Washington’s most popular MAGA hangout.

“From Minnesota to the Texas border, Americans are frustrated that cheaper economies elsewhere are hollowing out our own,” Bart Hutchins, the owner of Butterworth’s restaurant wrote in a DailyWire op-ed. “The expansion will not help the American rancher; it will finish him off.”

In a text message, former Trump strategist and MAGA commentator Steve Bannon offered a more succinct review: “Hate it.”

CNN’s Jim Sciutto contributed to this report.

Michigan GOP lawmaker casts doubt on El-Sayed’s socialist denial as policies tell another story: ‘Sharp odds’

August 26, 2026 5:00am EDT / Fox News

Michigan state Rep Bill Schuette predicts voters will reject El-Sayed’s agenda on ICE, Medicare for All and Israel

By Kiera McDonald, Andrew Mark Miller

Michigan GOP lawmaker says voters won’t buy El-Sayed’s socialist denial

Michigan state Rep. Bill G. Schuette told Fox News Digital Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s policies are “emblematic” of socialism and predicted voters will reject them in November.

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Despite Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed denying ties to socialism, a Republican Michigan lawmaker warned his policy agenda tells a different story and predicted voters will reject it in November.

“Abdul El-Sayed can’t define what a woman is, so I’m not surprised he can’t define what socialist is,” Michigan state Rep. Bill G. Schuette told Fox News Digital.

“The facts are all the policies he supports are emblematic of the DSA movement and of this really far-left socialist idea.”

El-Sayed, a former public health official, narrowly defeated establishment-backed Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., securing an upset victory for the party’s progressive wing in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary earlier this month. His nomination follows multiple primary victories by candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), including in New York, Florida and Colorado.

DEMS’ LEFTWARD LURCH GETS LEGS AS EL-SAYED’S MICHIGAN SENATE VICTORY SPARKS PARTY DEBATE

Abdul El-Sayed speaks to supporters at his Get Out to Vote rally in Detroit, Mich., on Aug. 3, 2026. He is seeking to defeat Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary and advance to the general election in November. The candidates are vying for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat to replace retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters.(JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

While El-Sayed has pushed back on the socialist label, he has drawn support from political heavyweights and DSA members like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

El-Sayed previously told CBS News he wants to build a “broad coalition” of supporters of President Donald Trump and DSA members, saying he doesn’t “do ideology” but favors “solutions that solve problems.” He separately told CNN, “I believe in capitalism, I just believe that capitalism has to be regulated.”

According to Schuette, El-Sayed’s victory is evidence that the Democratic Party has “jumped the shark” by embracing more progressive candidates.

“They’ve gone down a policy rabbit hole of far-left socialism that is at odds with our way of life in Michigan and our way of life in the United States of America writ large,” he said.

Schuette said his biggest concern is that El-Sayed wants to put Michigan on “a completely different track.”

“I’m more concerned about the policies that he’s advocating for that, again, I think are at really sharp odds with the way you can start a business, start a family and live your life in Michigan,” he said.

DSA’S GROWING GRIP ON DEM PARTY HITS NEW TERRITORY AS ESTABLISHMENT FALLS IN LINE

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate primary candidate Abdul El-Sayed and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, greet the crowd after El-Sayed spoke at The People V. The Powerful rally at the Detroit Opera House on July 18, 2026, in Detroit, Mich.(Sarah Rice/Getty Images)

Some of El-Sayed’s campaign priorities are abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Medicare for All, taxing billionaire wealth and ending U.S. military aid to Israel.

Schuette said affordability will be key in the midterms, saying that El-Sayed’s policies run counter to the “spirit of America.”

“The spirit of America is about entrepreneurship and American ingenuity, hard work,” he said. “Those are the types of policies that Abdul El-Sayed would work directly against.”

Schuette also took aim at El-Sayed’s association with far-left streamer Hasan Piker, who has roughly 10 million social media followers and has said “America deserved 9/11.” Piker endorsed El-Sayed and has attended several of his campaign events.

“The fact that he associates with people like Hasan Piker, who say that America deserves 9/11, I mean, that’s disgusting,” he said.

El-Sayed distanced himself from Piker after the streamer’s comments about Jewish Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss, the Democratic nominee in the state’s 11th Congressional District. A recent viral audio clip, which Moss has said is fake, appeared to suggest that his entire reason for running for Congress is to make sure that America continues to support Israel.

Reacting to the clip, Piker said, “If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone is going to come around and take action, not against the state of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews.”

UNEARTHED CLIP OF EL-SAYED REVEALING HIS ‘HATE’ FOR ICONIC MICHIGAN TOWN SPARKS ONLINE FIRESTORM: ‘DARK HEART’

Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, talks poolside with streamer Hasan Piker at a party for content creators supporting his campaign Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Detroit.(Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)

“I want to be crystal clear, nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople,” El-Sayed said in a statement Monday responding to Piker’s comments.

Highlighting the importance of representing Michiganders, Schuette argued El-Sayed doesn’t align with the state, pointing to his resurfaced remarks that he “hates” Mackinac Island and linking football to “toxic masculinity.”

“It doesn’t seem that he likes Michigan very much or our way in America very much either,” he said.

With the midterm elections approaching in November, Schuette said he believes voters will reject socialism and choose “an idea that looks for ways to give the American people more freedom and opportunity and more of their own money back in their own wallets.”

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“I’m confident the people in Michigan will choose that,” he said.

El-Sayed will face Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers for retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters’ seat in a race that could determine control of the Senate.

Fox News Digital reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign for comment.

Kiera McDonald is a Production Assistant for Fox News Digital.

Norah O’Donnell: Secrets of the gut microbiome and how it impacts our long-term brain health

August 26, 2026 / 7:05 AM EDT / CBS News

I have always been interested in the idea of food as medicine, and the significant role our diets play in our long-term health. On the latest episode of “Healthful,” I sat down with Dr. Laura Cox, an assistant professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Cox is an expert on the gut microbiome and what it means for our neurological health.

The gut microbiome “is the trillions of microbial cells that live in our guts,” she explained, describing it as “a community of microbes that supports our health” by making vitamins, educating our body’s immune system and even protecting us from pathogens.

The gut microbiome can affect our brains by changing our immune systems and our metabolism, Cox said.

Her work also focuses on whether gut health is linked to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Here are some of the takeaways from our conversation —watch it on YouTube and listen wherever you get your podcasts:

Can GLP1s help prevent Alzheimer’s disease?

According to Cox, researchers are learning more about the effects of GLP-1 drugs, which are used to treat diabetes or obesity, on our gut health.

“GLP-1s can affect the gut microbiome because they can act on the gut barrier and change some of the immune interactions,” Cox explained, adding that GLP-1 drugs can have a “direct effect on the brain.”

Researchers often refer to Alzheimer’s disease as “Type 3 diabetes” because of its link to insulin resistance.

“So the GLP-1 might have a direct protective effect in preventing Alzheimer’s disease,” Cox said. “Now in late stage, it doesn’t seem to have an effect. And it may be too late of an intervention there. But there may be a pathway for disease prevention very, very early on.”

The possible link between Parkinson’s, the gut and constipation

Gut inflammation is a “primary pathway” through which the gut microbiome can impact certain neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s, Cox said.

“Parkinson’s disease is one of those diseases with the most evidence that the gut microbiome is involved,” Cox said.

Neurological diseases have “different signatures,” she said, and research has found that “constipation symptoms can precede” the onset of Parkinson’s by 20 years.

Cox said alpha-synuclein, the misfolded proteins that cause Parkinson’s disease, can sometimes start in the gut and spread up the vagus nerve — the nerve that carries signals between your brain, heart and digestive system.

According to Cox, studies have shown that cutting the vagus nerve, a surgical procedure known as a vagotomy, can reduce the risk of Parkinson’s.

Parkinson’s patients can also have a “gut inflammatory signature” that looks similar to that of inflammatory bowel disease because of an overabundance of proteins called lipocalin and calprotectin, Cox said.

“One of the things that we understand about Parkinson’s is that oftentimes, there’s a genetic risk plus an environmental risk on top of it,” Cox said. “We know that there are many pathways to Parkinson’s. So there are other environmental toxicants that can lead to this. We think the gut microbiome is a really important pathway there.”

Morning and night breast milk have different hormones

During pregnancy, according to Cox, a mother’s gut microbiome changes to look like her baby’s microbiome.

“She gets higher levels of what I like to call baby bacteria,” Cox said, which include the yogurt bacteria Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.

And during breastfeeding, studies indicate a mother can respond to the changing microbiome needs of her baby, Cox said.

“There are some studies that suggest that the mom can kind of respond to the baby, and if she senses inflammation, she can kind of send out different signals,” Cox said. “We know that breast milk contains many different components to feed an infant’s gut microbiome.”

Furthermore, new research shows the breast milk a mother produces in the morning is different in composition than the breast milk produced at the end of day, containing higher levels of hormones designed to either help their infants stay awake or sleep.

So mothers who pump breast milk can label the two different types.

“For example, there’s higher levels of melatonin, the sleep hormone, in the late-night milk,” Cox said. “So then there’s higher levels of cortisol, the awake hormone, in the a.m. milk. And so the thought is, if you separate that, you might be able to get your baby to sleep better.”

Vitamin B serves several important functions

Cox said vitamin B is crucial to our health because it plays several roles in the body.

“It tunes the immune system,” Cox said. “It supports brain health. And it’s been linked to many different neurologic diseases.”

Cox explained that researchers can study a sample of your gut microbiome and sequence it to determine what chemicals your microbiome is producing and if it’s potentially the source of a vitamin B deficiency.

“We’re trying to say not just how can I have a generic healthy microbiome, but what is your microbiome lacking?” Cox said. “What is it producing? And so how can we keep everything in balance that way?”

尼泊尔与西藏接壤地区突发洪灾 已致八死

2026年8月26日 17:11 / 联合早报

尼泊尔喜马拉雅山脉地区星期三（8月26日）突发大规模洪水，多地村庄和道路被冲毁。当天用手机拍摄的照片显示，尼泊尔的盖尔迟（Galchhi）多栋房屋被淹。 （路透社）

尼泊尔喜马拉雅山脉地区突发大规模洪水，冲毁多个村庄，造成八人死亡；与之接壤的中国西藏地区也受冲击，已有重大人员伤亡和失联。

综合外电报道，据尼泊尔当局星期三（8月26日）通报，尼泊尔灾区位于拉苏瓦山区，包括夏布鲁贝西（Syabru Besi）和蒂穆雷（Timure），当地人口约5万。

洪灾不仅造成伤亡，也损毁尼泊尔靠近中国西藏地区的道路、桥梁和电力设施。

尼泊尔地区行政长官帕里亚尔说，灾区可能已造成重大人员伤亡或财产损失。尼泊尔军方发言人说，洪水还未退去，救援直升机目前还无法在灾区降落。

警方发言人告诉法新社：“我们尚不清楚确切的损失程度，但洪水规模巨大，可能已经摧毁许多居民点。我们已经通知居住在河边的人们撤离……并部署所有资源（救灾）。”

尼泊尔总理沙阿已召集国家减灾风险管理署召开紧急会议，评估灾情。他在社交媒体上发文说：“我们已开始与医疗队、救援队和红十字会协调，采取必要措施。”

另据新华社星期三早些时候报道，受尼泊尔一侧泥石流灾害影响，西藏日喀则市吉隆县吉隆口岸有重大人员伤亡、失联；中方一侧前往吉隆口岸的道路、通信、电力均已中断。

尼泊尔与西藏接壤地区突发洪灾 已致八死

2026年8月26日 17:11 / 联合早报

尼泊尔喜马拉雅山脉地区星期三（8月26日）突发大规模洪水，多地村庄和道路被冲毁。当天用手机拍摄的照片显示，尼泊尔的盖尔迟（Galchhi）多栋房屋被淹。 （路透社）

尼泊尔喜马拉雅山脉地区突发大规模洪水，冲毁多个村庄，造成八人死亡；与之接壤的中国西藏地区也受冲击，已有重大人员伤亡和失联。

综合外电报道，据尼泊尔当局星期三（8月26日）通报，尼泊尔灾区位于拉苏瓦山区，包括夏布鲁贝西（Syabru Besi）和蒂穆雷（Timure），当地人口约5万。

洪灾不仅造成伤亡，也损毁尼泊尔靠近中国西藏地区的道路、桥梁和电力设施。

尼泊尔地区行政长官帕里亚尔说，灾区可能已造成重大人员伤亡或财产损失。尼泊尔军方发言人说，洪水还未退去，救援直升机目前还无法在灾区降落。

警方发言人告诉法新社：“我们尚不清楚确切的损失程度，但洪水规模巨大，可能已经摧毁许多居民点。我们已经通知居住在河边的人们撤离……并部署所有资源（救灾）。”

尼泊尔总理沙阿已召集国家减灾风险管理署召开紧急会议，评估灾情。他在社交媒体上发文说：“我们已开始与医疗队、救援队和红十字会协调，采取必要措施。”

另据新华社星期三早些时候报道，受尼泊尔一侧泥石流灾害影响，西藏日喀则市吉隆县吉隆口岸有重大人员伤亡、失联；中方一侧前往吉隆口岸的道路、通信、电力均已中断。

Nepal flash flood tears through valley leaving 400 tourists missing, including Americans

2026-08-26T07:44:00-0400 / CBS News

By Arshad R. Zargar

Updated on: August 26, 2026 / 7:59 AM EDT / CBS News

At least 18 people were killed and more than 380 listed as missing Wednesday in Nepal after flash flooding tore through valleys in the Himalayan country’s northern border areas, according to authorities. At least three U.S. nationals were among the 291 foreigners listed as missing, according to Nepal’s Tourism Board, citing information from tour companies.

The flash floods decimated villages, slamming into houses, roads, bridges and power plants. Videos broadcast by regional news outlets and posted on social media show violent torrents of water surging through valleys and mountain passes, tearing down bridges and dams and sweeping away buildings.

CBS News’ British partner network BBC cited a statement by police putting the death toll at 18, but there was no word on the nationalities of the casualties.

A sudden surge of water Wednesday morning in the Bhote Koshi River, in the country’s northern Rasuwa district north of capital Kathmandu, quickly affected the neighboring Nuwakot and Dhading districts.

Nepali President Ramachandra Paudel said he was “extremely saddened” by the “loss of lives and property caused by the sudden flood.”

Residents look at houses partially submerged in muddy water after flash floods at Trishuli Bazar, in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, Aug. 26, 2026. Prakash MATHEMA/AFP/Getty

He called on the government, political parties, agencies and the general public to intensify rescue and relief efforts.

“There could be heavy casualties or loss of property,” district administrator Narendra Pariyar was quoted as saying by Reuters. He has also urged people living along the banks of the Bhote Koshi River to move to higher ground.

Nepal’s mountainous terrain, dotted with deep valleys and narrow gorges, makes rescue and relief operations challenging. Helicopters could not land in the affected areas of Syapru Besi and Timure, Reuters said.

In addition to the three Americans, the 291 foreign nationals reported missing included 12 British, 142 Indian, 17 Malaysian, four South African, eight South Korean, one Australian and one Dutch national. The nationalities of 111 other missing people had yet to be ascertained, authorities said.

Most of the missing foreigners were on trips organized by tourism and travel companies.

The flash flood was caused by an earthquake that triggered a large landslide, which blocked the Bhote Koshi River, according to Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal.

Houses lie partially submerged in mud and water along a river after flash floods at Trishuli Bazar, in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, Aug. 26, 2026. Prabin RANABHAT/AFP/Getty

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) confirmed that six of its major hydropower and transmission facilities were damaged in the flooding.

“We do not exactly know the extent of damage, but the flood is big, and it could have damaged many settlements,” Nepal Police spokesman Abi Narayan Kafle told the French news agency AFP. “We have alerted people who are staying near the riverside to relocate … and deployed all our resources.”

“Work has started to take necessary steps in coordination with the medical team, scouts, and Red Cross,” Nepal’s Prime Minister Balen Shah wrote in a social media post.

India’s government ordered authorities in states along the Nepal border to be on high alert.

巴拿马运河“一位难求” 亚洲船东抢位拍出673万新元天价

2026年8月26日 17:28 / 联合早报

受厄尔尼诺引发的干旱影响，巴拿马运河将从9月起进一步限制每日通航船只数量。 （法新社）

（巴拿马城／圣萨尔瓦多综合电）全球航运需求上升，加上厄尔尼诺现象加剧干旱影响巴拿马运河通行能力，巴拿马运河近期上演前所未有的航运“抢位战”。有韩国船东不惜在官方拍卖中以创纪录的530万美元（约673万新元）天价，抢下9月1日的优先通行权。

彭博社引述知情人士报道，这场竞拍由巴拿马运河管理局本周主持，成功中标者为韩国能源企业SK Gas，旗下一艘油轮因此获准由南向北穿越运河。

这一中标金额不仅刷新了本月早些时候由另一家韩国船东创下的460万美元旧纪录，更远高于今年2月以前的约5万5000美元成交价中值。

巴拿马运河管理局星期二（8月25日）回应路透社询问时说，近期部分船只拍得的逾百万美元通行名额，反映的是全球贸易供应链暂时供不应求和市场短期波动，而非运河官方调涨通行费。

当局说：“竞拍成交价由多重因素决定，包括客户的紧急程度、商业优先级，以及整体的市场供需状况。”

伊朗战争扰乱全球贸易航线后，美洲通往亚洲的航运需求更多转向巴拿马运河。没有预订的船只目前最长须等候17天，一些船务公司为了避开延误和高额竞拍费用，已改道绕行非洲好望角。今年8月，约一半从美国前往亚洲的液化天然气运输船选择绕行好望角，使休斯敦至日本的航程从26天延长至45天。

巴拿马运河通航压力还受到气候因素的进一步影响。巴拿马运河船闸运作依赖加通湖和阿拉胡埃拉湖的淡水，但持续时间更长的厄尔尼诺现象导致降雨减少和水位下降。

为此，运河管理局已宣布，从9月4日起将每日通行上限降至34艘，9月15日起进一步降至32艘。在正常情况下，巴拿马运河每天大约可以通行40艘船。

巴拿马已宣布因厄尔尼诺进入紧急状态，洪都拉斯已有约八成国土处于警戒状态，萨尔瓦多则宣布最高级别红色警报，启动对受灾社区的监测和援助。

厄尔尼诺是赤道中东太平洋海面温度异常升高的气候现象，通常每两年至七年出现一次，会扰乱全球风向和降雨模式。今年这一轮预计将是近年来最强之一，正加剧中美洲干旱，导致巴拿马运河水位进一步下降。

As Cook case smolders, Trump has other paths to shape Fed policy team

2026-08-26T10:03:58.557Z / Reuters

Summary

• Powell’s position is the only one Trump is certain to fill before leaving the White House
• Trump administration still trying to remove Cook over mortgage documents
• Unclear whether Jefferson will stay on Fed board when his vice chair term ends in 2027

WASHINGTON, Aug 26 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to oust Federal Reserve officials to clear room for his own appointees have been stalled so far by the courts and political pushback in the Senate, ​but he may still have as many as four opportunities to try to beef up his influence over the central bank’s policy committee.

Trump has so far stood behind Fed Chairman Kevin ‌Warsh even though his handpicked appointee sidelined talk of the interest rate cuts the president has been demanding. Warsh also set aside all rate guidance in June, shortly after becoming head of the central bank.

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While Warsh has talked often about the “incredible team” at the Fed — an institution designed to be insulated from politics by having only two of the seven seats on its Board of Governors expire in any one presidential term — Trump last month said he regarded the central bank’s board in general as “maybe a little bit hostile,” and as standing in Warsh’s way.

“I know he would love to ​see lower interest rates. But he has got a board, and it’s a political board,” Trump said.

Though Trump’s initial efforts to clear room at the Fed have been stymied, the battle to control monetary policy ​hasn’t ended and could shift with the outcome of several personnel battles and decisions.

COOK CASE

Fed Governor Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the central bank’s board, was ⁠appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2022 to a term that lasts until 2038.

Trump tried to fire her a year ago in a case that ended with the U.S. Supreme Court affirming that the president could not ​remove a Fed governor without adequate cause and needed to follow a clear process to lay out the reasons and undergird it with evidence. The ruling left Cook in her position but kicked the case against her back to ​a federal district court.

The administration has chosen to pursue the matter, arguing that a misstatement on a mortgage document years ago was adequate “cause” for firing Cook. The White House demanded she reply by Wednesday to a letter laying out its case for her removal.

Cook, who calls the administration’s effort a pretext to gain sway over interest rate policy, will almost certainly continue to fight her dismissal, with another potentially protracted court battle ahead before a final ruling. Cook likely will remain on the board in the ​meantime.

WARSH’S PREDECESSOR HANGS AROUND

The head of the central bank for more than eight years until May, Fed Governor Jerome Powell has chosen to continue serving on the board. His term lasts until early 2028, the final full year of Trump’s term. ​The end of Powell’s tenure will provide the only certain Fed seat for Trump to fill during the remainder of his time in the White House.

But the president’s earlier efforts to oust Powell — whom Trump first elevated to the top Fed job — are not fully ‌put to rest. ⁠He mulled firing Powell at several points, and the administration launched a criminal investigation related to a central bank building renovation project that had run over budget.

The criminal probe was dropped after a retiring Republican senator vowed to block Warsh’s nomination as Fed chief until the case was put to rest.

In dropping the probe, however, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said she was deferring to a separate Fed Inspector General’s investigation that Powell himself had already set in motion.

The findings of that investigation could prompt another effort to remove Powell, though it is unclear when it will conclude.

THE VICE CHAIR’S PLANS

Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson will next year face the same choice Powell did when his leadership term expires: Decide ​whether to leave or remain in a governor’s seat that ​lasts until 2036.

Typically, Fed vice chairs have left ⁠the central bank when their leadership terms ended, sometimes even before.

Jefferson, who was also appointed by Biden, has not spoken about his plans, and — as one of the less public of the Fed’s current policymakers — he has not been under the same spotlight or pressure as Cook, for example.

His choice could be pivotal to Trump’s hopes of appointing more Fed governors. ​It could inconvenience the president in another way: If Jefferson chooses to continue on the board, Trump would have to choose a vice chair from within the ​narrow pool of current governors.

Besides Warsh, Trump ⁠would have only two of his own appointees to choose from: Michelle Bowman, who is already the Fed’s vice chair for supervision, and Fed Governor Christopher Waller, who was on the short list to replace Powell and relishes his role as a more independent, follow-the-data policymaker.

ATLANTA FED OPENING

Beyond the board, the Fed’s 12 regional reserve bank presidents play an important role in policymaking. Five of them vote on interest rates on a rotating basis, and all participate in shaping monetary policy at the central ⁠bank’s rate-setting meetings, ​currently numbering eight a year.

Regional Fed presidents are chosen by their local boards of directors, but must be approved by the Washington-based Board of Governors.

The top ​job at the Atlanta Fed has been open since February 28.

After nearing agreement on a finalist, opens new tab, the process was delayed to give time for Warsh to take over and vet the selection.

Regional Fed jobs have not traditionally been seen as a pathway for White House influence. Notably, it was ​three regional bank presidents who dissented in favor of a rate hike at the Fed’s July 28-29 meeting, which was only Warsh’s second as head of the central bank.

Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Dan Burns and Paul Simao