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China has begun building a $170 billion hydropower complex on the Yarlung Zangbo river in Tibet, a project that is meant to outsize the Three Gorges Dam but one that downstream India and Bangladesh fear could throttle the Brahmaputra river that sustains tens of millions.
Work started at the weekend on five “run-of-the-river” dams along a steep 50-km gorge where the river drops nearly 2,000 metres, officials said. Beijing says the scheme will generate enough electricity each year to power Britain, creating jobs and fresh stimulus for the slowing economy.
Neighbouring countries worry chiefly about water security. Arunachal Pradesh’s chief minister warned earlier this year that as much as 80% of the Brahmaputra’s flow through the Indian state could dry up, while sediment vital for downstream farming would be trapped.
Michael Steckler, a geophysicist at Columbia University, said the dams would hold back nutrients as well as water, potentially affecting agriculture across India’s Assam plain and low-lying Bangladesh.
China’s foreign ministry, responding on Tuesday, called the project “a matter of China’s sovereign affairs,” adding that it would cut flood risks and that Beijing was sharing hydrological data with neighbours.
Some experts say the impact on flows may be limited because most of the Brahmaputra’s volume comes from monsoon rains south of the Himalayas.
Sayanangshu Modak of the University of Arizona noted that India itself is planning two dams on the same river, including an 11.5-gigawatt plant in Arunachal Pradesh, partly to reinforce its own water rights.
The isolated mountain region is prone to earthquakes, glacial-lake floods and landslides. A series of quakes in Tibet earlier this year revived concerns about safety as dam building gathers pace on the plateau.
India and China fought a brief border war in the area in 1962, and the lack of detailed technical disclosures from Beijing has heightened speculation that water could again become a strategic weapon in any future conflict. Bangladesh, whose deltaic economy depends on the river, has also sought more information.
New Delhi’s foreign and water ministries had not commented by late Tuesday, while Beijing has released no construction timetable beyond saying first power is expected in the early-to-mid-2030s.
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AnewZ has learned that India has once again blocked Azerbaijan’s application for full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, while Pakistan’s recent decision to consider diplomatic relations with Armenia has been coordinated with Baku as part of Azerbaijan’s peace agenda.
The UK is gearing up for Exercise Pegasus 2025, its largest pandemic readiness test since COVID-19. Running from September to November, this full-scale simulation will challenge the country's response to a fast-moving respiratory outbreak.
A Polish Air Force pilot was killed on Thursday when an F-16 fighter jet crashed during a training flight ahead of the 2025 Radom International Air Show.
Ukraine’s air defence systems were activated in Kyiv on Wednesday as the capital came under a new Russian air attack. Authorities urged residents to remain in shelters during the strikes.
China launched its largest military parade on Wednesday, showcasing growing firepower as President Xi Jinping sought to project Beijing’s role on the global stage. Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were among the leaders attending at Tiananmen Square.
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U.S. forces carried out a precision strike on a suspected transnational drug vessel in the southern Caribbean, killing all 11 people aboard, President Donald Trump and the Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday.
Moscow maintains that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine should continue, but stresses that progress is only possible if what it calls the “new territorial realities” are acknowledged.
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