Long before floods this week left 26 people dead and 200 missing in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, above, scientists had warned that global warming was causing ice from the Himalayas to melt at an alarming rate, increasing the risk of landslides.
But the Indian government overrode the objections of experts and the protests of local residents to build hydroelectric power projects in the volatile area. Our reporters look at the trail of ignored warnings.
Here’s what else is happening
Netherlands adoptions: The country temporarily halted all international adoptions after a report found that the government didn’t act on known systemic wrongdoing, including child theft and trafficking, from 1967 to 1997.
Kobe Bryant crash: The pilot in the helicopter crash that killed the retired star basketball player, his daughter and seven other people flew into clouds in violation of federal rules, investigators said.
Mars mission: A robotic probe from the United Arab Emirates began orbiting the red planet to study its atmosphere and weather. On Wednesday, a Chinese spacecraft, Tianwen-1, is also set to enter Mars’s orbit, while a NASA rover is scheduled to arrive next week.
The New York Times
Snapshot: Above, protesters and security forces facing off in Yangon, Myanmar, on Tuesday. Protests against the military coup that deposed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi showed no signs of fizzling, despite a new curfew and a ban on gatherings of five people or more.
What we’re reading: There’s a neighborhood in the suburbs of Nairobi that serves colonial nostalgia to the upper strata of Kenya’s political class. Its name? Karen.
The New York Times
