KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nearly 1,500 people remain missing after a catastrophic flash flood tore through the mountainous border region between Nepal and Tibet, sweeping away entire villages and leaving a preliminary death toll of at least 165, authorities said Thursday.

Rescuers are racing against time to locate the missing in a remote, high-altitude region popular with trekkers and religious pilgrims, an area that includes hundreds of foreign nationals from India, the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada.

What triggered the disaster

The flood struck Wednesday, sending a massive wall of water and debris crashing down mountain valleys as people scrambled to flee. Trucks were overturned, and houses, roads and power infrastructure were destroyed across the affected region in Nepal, while officials in Tibet warned of feared “major casualties” after a mudslide struck a border land crossing.

Early reports from Nepali officials initially suggested a magnitude-4.4 earthquake may have caused part of a glacier to collapse and trigger the flooding. But the U.S. Geological Survey later determined that what had been reported as an earthquake was in fact a seismic shock generated by the collapse of glacial rock and ice, followed by a debris flow. No actual earthquake had occurred.

An initial analysis of satellite imagery from Planet Labs indicated that a landslide of ice and rock triggered the debris-laden flood in the Lhende River, located roughly 20 kilometers, or about 12 miles, northeast of the Rasuwagadhi border crossing between Nepal and China, according to Nepal’s national disaster authority. Experts have pointed to the extreme topography of the Himalayas as a factor that compounds the risk of such catastrophic events.

Scale of the missing

Nepali police and tourism officials said almost 600 foreigners were among 826 people reported missing in Nepal alone. Among the unaccounted for were 177 people from India, 63 from the United States, 34 from Australia, 33 from Britain and 25 from Canada.

On the Tibet side of the border, Chinese state media reported that at least 558 people were missing, including at least 260 foreign nationals. Nepali police said 165 bodies had been recovered by late Wednesday, while Chinese state media reported three deaths on the Tibet side.

Many of the victims were believed to have been on pilgrimages to Kailash Mansarovar, a revered high-altitude site in Tibet considered sacred by Hindus, Buddhists and others.

Harrowing accounts from survivors

Survivors described the flood’s sudden and overwhelming force. Bibek Kumal, a laborer working downstream from the hard-hit Rasuwa district near Nepal’s Himalayan border with Tibet, said he began running as soon as he heard what sounded like an earthquake, only to see a wall of water thundering toward him. He said the torrent swept him downstream through mud and debris, and that he survived only by clinging to a mango tree. “Had there been no mango tree, I would have been washed away to death,” he said from his hospital bed.

Keshav Prasad Baral, a 68-year-old survivor being treated at a small hospital, described watching a huge surge of mud rise higher and higher as it approached. He said he tried to pull his wife to safety on a terrace, but she was swept away in the mud before a helicopter arrived to rescue him hours later. He said she remained missing, buried somewhere beneath the debris.

Rescue and relief efforts underway

Helicopters hovered over the disaster zone throughout the day Wednesday, ferrying survivors out of areas cut off by the flooding. In Tibet, officials mobilized nearly 800 emergency workers along with 150 vehicles, sniffer dogs and speed boats to assist search-and-rescue operations, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.

The head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, David Fisher, said entire villages and market areas had been wiped out by the disaster. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said U.N. teams and partner organizations were mobilizing supplies and personnel to support affected communities in Nepal. The U.S. government said it would provide $500,000 in emergency assistance.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the most urgent priority was doing everything possible to locate and rescue those still missing.

Families searching for answers

In the hard-hit districts of Nuwakot and Dhading, families gathered outside a Nepali army training center that has served as the base for helicopter rescue operations, seeking any information about missing relatives. Police recorded the names of the missing just outside the barracks gate, working by mobile phone light after the area lost electricity due to damaged hydroelectric infrastructure.

The tour operator Himalayan Glacier said 47 people, including two children, were missing from one of its trekking groups in Nepal. Managing director Sanket Pandey said the group included 15 Australians, 10 Canadians, nine Nepalis, eight Americans, two Britons, two Singaporeans and one dual Russian-American citizen.

International reaction

Governments around the world responded to news of missing citizens. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his thoughts were with families anxious about loved ones, acknowledging that obtaining reliable information about the status of the missing remained difficult given the scale of the disaster and the damage to local infrastructure.

With power out across large parts of the affected region and communication severely disrupted, authorities warned that both the death toll and the number of confirmed missing could continue to shift as rescue teams reach more remote areas. Search efforts were expected to continue in the days ahead, with international aid organizations and foreign governments coordinating additional support for what officials described as one of the deadliest glacial flood disasters to strike the Himalayan region in recent memory.

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Jude Hillary, the economist who led the project for NFER, says these human skills are what will allow people to get into and keep work at a higher skill level, even while automation bites.

“This is where the job growth is going to be in the labour market,” he says. “It’s really important young people come into the labour market being able to compete for these jobs.”

And he believes focusing on these six essential employment skills will help young people adapt in a time of huge change.

“It’s increasingly likely that during the course of your working life, you might have to make some fairly dramatic changes in what you’re doing as your job gets replaced by technology.”

An independent review led by Alan Milburn, a former health secretary, has been looking at the scale of young people not working, learning or training.

The interim report said 42% of employers listed a lack of soft skills or work readiness as a challenge when hiring young people. Only 10% cited the resilience of young people which was the next biggest concern.

There is increasing pressure for schools, colleges and universities to focus on giving young people what they need to be work-ready alongside academic learning.

Already, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has signalled that more teenagers should start technical education at 14 and has supported a work experience scheme for 10,000 young people announced this week by the retail chain Sainsbury’s.

In September, the final report of the Milburn review is expected to set out its proposals on how to get more young adults into secure work.

Additional reporting by Hannah Karpel.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In the years before her death, Dolly Parton spoke repeatedly and warmly about her hope to one day host Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William and their three children at Dollywood, the theme park she built in the Tennessee mountains she called home.

The country music icon, who died at 80, had a long and affectionate relationship with the British royal family that stretched back decades, including a personal meeting with the late Queen Elizabeth II. That connection was reflected in the royal family’s own tribute following her death, and in Parton’s repeated public wishes to bring the younger generation of royals to her home turf.

A near-miss with Kate

Parton’s most direct brush with an invitation from the Princess of Wales came in August 2023, during a promotional tour for a new album in the United Kingdom. Appearing on BBC Radio 2, Parton revealed she had turned down a chance to meet Catherine during that trip. “This time, Lordy, I even got invited to have tea with Kate,” Parton said, according to People. She explained that her tightly packed promotional schedule made the visit impossible, joking that the meeting likely wouldn’t have done much for album sales anyway.

Dreaming of a royal visit to Dollywood

The following year, Parton made clear the door was still open — and that she hoped to be the one extending the invitation next time. Speaking to Closer in November 2024, she said she would welcome the chance to host Catherine, William and their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, at her Tennessee theme park. “I would absolutely love for them to come to Dollywood, that would be fantastic!” Parton told the outlet.

Parton envisioned treating the young royals to the full theme park experience, imagining George, Charlotte and Louis let loose on the rides during their visit. She also floated the idea of cooking for the family herself, offering a homemade touch rather than royal formality, telling the outlet she’d serve Kate her mashed potatoes without putting on any airs.

Beyond hospitality, Parton believed she and Catherine could bond over shared charitable interests focused on children. Speaking to Saga Exceptional in December 2023, in comments later reported by SheKnows, Parton suggested that common ground could be the centerpiece of any future meeting between the two. “So maybe that’s what we can talk about when we do have tea,” she said, pointing to the kind of causes she hoped they might discuss together, including her own literacy work.

The royal family’s tribute

Following news of Parton’s death, the royal family paid public tribute to the singer in a way that reflected the affection she had shown toward them for years. The day after she died, the Band of the Coldstream Guards performed Parton’s hit “9 to 5” outside Buckingham Palace, with the royal family sharing footage of the performance on its official account on X.

Alongside the video, the royal family wrote a tribute honoring Parton’s cultural impact and philanthropic legacy. “Remembering the late, great Dolly, who brought joy, comfort and inspiration to so many,” the post read, going on to credit the millions of children who received free books through her Imagination Library literacy program. The tribute closed with a nod to one of Parton’s most famous songs, telling her the family would always love her.

A friendship that began with the Queen

Parton’s ties to the royal family long predated her relationship with Catherine and William. She met Queen Elizabeth II in 1977, when she was invited to perform at the monarch’s Silver Jubilee celebrations — an experience Parton continued to reflect on for the rest of her life.

When the Queen died in September 2022, Parton paid her own tribute, sharing a photo from their 1977 meeting on Instagram. “She carried herself with grace and strength her entire life,” Parton wrote at the time.

A year later, in February 2023, Parton opened up further about the encounter in an interview with Insider, recalling her nervousness ahead of meeting the monarch as a performer from rural Tennessee unfamiliar with royal protocol. Despite her worry that she wouldn’t know how to properly curtsy, Parton said the Queen quickly put her at ease, describing her as “she was just very warm, very sweet.”

A cross-cultural bond that endured

The relationship between Parton and the British royal family stood out as an unlikely but enduring connection between two very different worlds — the rhinestone glamour of Nashville and the formal traditions of Buckingham Palace. Parton, who built an empire around approachability and down-home warmth, repeatedly framed her royal encounters and aspirations in the same terms she used for meeting any fan: with mashed potatoes, amusement park rides and genuine curiosity rather than pretense.

That approach appears to have resonated on the other side as well. The royal family’s tribute following her death singled out not just her music, but her charitable legacy, particularly her Imagination Library program, which has provided free books to children around the world, including in the United Kingdom.

While the meeting Parton hoped for with Catherine, William and their children never came to pass during her lifetime, her public wishes for that visit — and the warmth of the royal family’s response to her death — leave behind a portrait of a friendship that crossed continents and social worlds, built on music, charity and, by Parton’s own account, a shared fondness for family and children.

NEW YORK — Rockstar Games is preparing to give fans their most detailed look yet at “Grand Theft Auto VI,” airing an extended preview special on Netflix on Thursday and setting the stage for a wave of press and creator previews expected to follow immediately after the broadcast.

The special, titled “Grand Theft Auto 6: An Extended Look,” is scheduled to premiere on Netflix at 12 p.m. Pacific time, 3 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. British time and 9 p.m. Central European time on Thursday. Viewers who miss the Netflix premiere will have another chance to watch for free roughly six hours later, when the special is set to air on Rockstar Games’ YouTube channel at 6 p.m. Pacific and 9 p.m. Eastern in the United States, landing in the early morning hours of Friday for audiences in Europe.

What’s coming after the broadcast

While the Netflix special itself is the headline event, Rockstar has confirmed that additional previews from gaming press outlets and content creators will follow shortly after it airs. According to content creator TGG, who posts under the handle TGGonYT, select creators and outlets were invited to Rockstar North’s studio in Edinburgh, Scotland, last month, where they were given exclusive information about the game ahead of Thursday’s broadcast.

“Last month I was invited to Rockstar North in Edinburgh. While there, I learned exclusive information about GTA 6. As soon as the Extended Look is out, I’m telling you everything. Tomorrow,” TGG wrote in comments shared publicly ahead of the event.

It remains unclear exactly what those previews will cover, or whether any of the invited creators or journalists were given the opportunity to actually play the game during their visit. One outlet, MP1st, reported receiving word of a media preview event held for “GTA VI” but said attendees “weren’t given free access to mess around with the open world,” adding that, based on what they were told, “they weren’t even able to get their hands on the game at all.” No precise runtime has been confirmed for Thursday’s Netflix special, though it is expected to run between 20 and 30 minutes.

A response to mounting leaks

The timing of Thursday’s reveal comes as Rockstar has been contending with a fresh wave of leaked gameplay footage in the lead-up to the broadcast, following an earlier and much larger leak in 2022 that exposed unfinished development footage from the game. More recently, a leaker using the name CYBERLEEK has been circulating a range of gameplay clips online, adding pressure on Rockstar to reclaim control of the narrative around the game’s presentation.

Rockstar has previously addressed the leaks directly, describing the exposure of unfinished footage as heartbreaking for its development team, while confirming that the official Extended Look special would give fans a proper, studio-sanctioned presentation of the game.

Where the game stands

“Grand Theft Auto VI” has had a long and closely watched road to release. The game is currently scheduled to launch Nov. 19, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, following two previous delays that pushed the title back from its originally targeted 2025 release window, then again from a planned May 2026 launch. In each case, Rockstar cited the need for additional time to deliver the game with the level of polish it says players expect.

“We are sorry for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait, but these extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve,” Rockstar Games said in a statement accompanying one of the delays.

A PC version of the game is widely anticipated but has not been officially confirmed by Rockstar, and no launch date for that platform has been finalized.

Pricing and preorders already set

Rockstar and parent company Take-Two Interactive have already confirmed key details about the game’s release. The standard edition of “Grand Theft Auto VI” will cost $79.99, while a deluxe “Ultimate Edition” featuring an exclusive collection of premium vehicles, weapons, apparel and additional plotlines will retail for $99.99. Preorders opened June 25 through digital storefronts including the PlayStation Store and Xbox Store, as well as select retailers, though Rockstar has not detailed specific bonus content or pricing tiers tied to different preorder packages.

The game returns to the fictional state of Leonida and features a return to Vice City, the fictional metropolis first introduced in 2002’s “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.” Players will follow criminal couple Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, with Caminos marking the first female protagonist in a mainline “Grand Theft Auto” title.

Why this matters for the franchise

Anticipation for the release has built for years, driven in part by the unusually long gap since the franchise’s previous mainline entry, “Grand Theft Auto V,” which launched in September 2013. The 13-year gap between releases stands as the longest in the series’ history. “Grand Theft Auto V” has gone on to become one of the best-selling video games ever made, with Take-Two Interactive reporting the title had sold roughly 220 million units as of 2025.

What to watch for Thursday

With the Netflix special set to air within hours and a slate of previews expected to follow, Thursday is shaping up to be one of the most significant days yet in the lead-up to “Grand Theft Auto VI’s” November launch. Fans and industry watchers alike will be looking for confirmation of new gameplay details, story elements and technical features that could finally move the conversation beyond leaked footage and speculation toward an official, studio-controlled look at one of the most anticipated video games in years.

SAN FRANCISCO — Instinct, a viral AI assistant startup founded just last year, has raised $350 million in total funding after closing a new round that values the company at $2.5 billion, capping off one of the fastest valuation climbs seen in this year’s artificial intelligence funding boom.

The company told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that it had raised $250 million in a recent Series B round, co-led by venture capital firms Index Ventures and Benchmark. Combined with earlier funding, the new round brings Instinct’s total capital raised to $350 million, according to the Journal’s reporting.

From $100 million to $2.5 billion in weeks

The speed of Instinct’s ascent has stunned even seasoned Silicon Valley investors. According to Forbes, the startup’s valuation ballooned from roughly $100 million to more than $2.5 billion in a matter of weeks, fueled by what one report described as a VC feeding frenzy.

Instinct’s rise traces back to earlier this month, when Kleiner Perkins investor Mamoon Hamid led a $75 million Series A round that valued the company at more than $500 million. From there, the valuation kept climbing rapidly, with Benchmark and Index Ventures ultimately stepping in to lead the latest round at the $2.5 billion mark, according to sources familiar with the deal cited by Forbes.

Who’s behind Instinct

Instinct is operated by a company called Spear Street Technology, which California corporate filings show was registered in April by Noah Shinn, a former researcher at AI customer-service startup Sierra. The product itself functions as an AI agent designed to help users manage day-to-day tasks — connecting to a person’s apps and devices and allowing them to communicate with it through text messages and phone calls.

The startup describes Instinct as capable of efficiently organizing a user’s life, handling tasks such as booking flights, making restaurant reservations, managing email follow-ups and even helping with customer relationship management work. Shinn celebrated the momentum in a tweet Wednesday, writing, “I’m thrilled with everything our early users are doing with Instinct,” according to TechCrunch.

Riding a broader wave of AI agent hype

Instinct’s rapid rise didn’t happen in a vacuum. The startup emerged in the wake of OpenClaw, an open-source, lobster-themed project that helped popularize the idea of using AI agents to manage everyday personal tasks, according to Bloomberg’s reporting carried by Forbes. Instinct has positioned itself as a more polished, consumer-friendly evolution of that trend, and early users have compared it favorably to a crowded field of competing agents.

Jesse Middleton, an investor who tested several competing products, wrote on social media that he had “tried Hermes, OpenClaw, Tasklet, GrokBot but Instinct takes the cake,” a comment cited by TechCrunch as evidence of the enthusiasm building around the product in its earliest weeks of availability.

Not everyone is impressed

Instinct’s meteoric rise has come with growing scrutiny, particularly around privacy, security and the reliability of an AI agent being given broad access to users’ accounts and personal information. Not every early user’s experience has matched the glowing reviews. Jason Yeh, of Patron Fund, described on social media how the assistant went off script when he asked it to find open dinner reservations, ultimately booking a table tied to a steep cancellation fee. “Honestly kind of insane how anyone would give them keys to their accounts at large,” Yeh wrote, in comments reported by Forbes, adding that he expected the company to cover the resulting $200 fee.

TechCrunch has separately reported that Instinct’s rapid growth has raised broader concerns among some in the industry about the privacy and security implications of handing an AI assistant deep access to personal accounts, email and financial tools — concerns that have so far gone largely unaddressed publicly by the company. Requests for comment sent to Instinct’s general email address and directly to Shinn were not returned, according to TechCrunch’s reporting.

A symbol of the broader AI funding boom

Instinct’s valuation surge is emblematic of a broader pattern playing out across the AI startup landscape this year, where young companies with viral consumer products have attracted enormous investor interest and correspondingly aggressive valuations, sometimes within weeks of launch.

Social media posts comparing Instinct to project-management software company Linear, which recently crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue with 177% net revenue retention, noted that both companies now sit at roughly the same $2.5 billion valuation — despite vastly different stages of business maturity, according to posts on Digg. Reaction to that comparison was mixed, with some technology figures dismissing the comparable Instinct valuation as inflated hype, while others praised the durability and growth metrics behind Linear’s more established business.

Part of a broader AI investment surge

Instinct is far from the only AI startup drawing outsized valuations this year. TechCrunch has separately reported on companies like General Intuition, a New York-based startup building AI models for robotics applications, which was in talks for a $6 billion valuation just weeks after raising $320 million at a $2.3 billion valuation. That pattern of rapid, successive funding rounds at sharply rising valuations has become increasingly common across the AI sector in 2026, as investors race to back companies they believe could define the next generation of consumer and enterprise AI tools.

With $350 million now in the bank and a $2.5 billion valuation attached to a company still less than a year and a half old, Instinct faces the challenge of translating early viral enthusiasm into a durable, trusted product — particularly as questions about data privacy, security and agent reliability continue to surface among its earliest users. Neither Instinct nor its lead investors have detailed how the newly raised capital will be deployed, though the scale of the round suggests the startup is positioning itself for rapid expansion as competition among AI personal-assistant products continues to intensify.