Australia news LIVE: More than 40 Australians remain missing in Nepal as death toll rises above 800; US strikes Iranian rocket launchers in Hormuz in first military action in weeks

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What you need to know today

By Emily Kaine

Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of national news for Monday, August 31. Here’s what is making headlines today.

  • The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed yesterday that 42 Australians were still missing in Nepal and Tibet after catastrophic flash flooding. The death toll in Nepal has risen above 800, according to Nepalese authorities, who also warned of possible fresh flooding after water levels rose in the Bhote Koshi River. More than 3000 people are missing in Nepal and Tibet.
  • Pauline Hanson has said One Nation’s win in the Secret Harbour byelection in WA over the weekend should be a “warning” to Labor. “We’re coming for more of your seats”, she wrote on social media.
  • Attorney-General Michelle Rowland will address the media later today to unveil reforms to Australia’s privacy laws. The reforms are expected to address the risks and harms associated with surveillance technology such as smart-glasses.
  • And US forces have struck Iranian rocket launchers in the Strait of Hormuz in the first military action in a month, a US official has said. Semiofficial news outlets in Iran reported sounds of explosions near Larak island on the strait.
Nepalese soldiers assist survivors after they arrive at an army post in Bidur by helicopter.