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Urban forests, parks, and ponds could lower Kathmandu’s temperature by as much as 1.6°C if implemented strategically, according to a new study published in the journal Urban Climate. The research represents the first of its kind to closely examine how different types of blue-green spaces help cool down areas across the Kathmandu Valley.

The study, carried out by an international team from seven institutions, looked at 301 parks, 130 urban forest patches, and 26 ponds within the valley’s high-density urban areas using satellite-based information and Machine Learning algorithms. The study shows that Swoyambhu forest stayed cooler at 31.9°C, while nearby city areas reached 36.0°C—a difference of 4.1°C. At UN Park, the temperature was 34.3°C, compared to 38.2°C in the surrounding buildings, a difference of 3.9 °C. A traditional pond, Na Pukhu, in Bhaktapur measured 39.6°C, while the nearby urban area hit 42.5°C, the study found. 

The number represents the highest cooling effects recorded over five summers, highlighting how much these blue-green spaces can help during the hottest times. It is important to note that the satellite temperature estimates give an idea of the ground temperatures but still need to be confirmed with actual measurements on the ground. However, the differences they show help us understand important cooling patterns.

Overall, urban forests provide the greatest cooling effect, lowering temperatures by up to 1.2°C on average. Parks come next, cooling by up to 0.9°C, and ponds can reduce temperatures by up to 0.85°C.  But how well these spaces cool depends a lot on their surroundings. In vegetation-dominated areas, blue-green spaces can cool temperatures by as much as 1.6°C, while in densely built areas, the cooling effect drops to just 0.3-0.6°C. 

Lead researcher Saurav Bhattarai, a PhD student at Jackson State University, USA and an ORISE fellow, said the findings show that effective cooling strategies should be tailored to specific urban contexts. “Just adding green spaces is not enough; they need to be carefully designed and well integrated with the surrounding city environment,” he explained.

This study comes at a time when the Kathmandu Valley is getting steadily warmer, with temperatures rising by 0.38°C per decade since 1976. 

The study also found that soil moisture in the valley has dropped by an average of 2.1 percent over the past decade, with some central urban areas experiencing reductions as high as 35 percent.

Dr Rocky Talchabhadel from Jackson State University stressed the need for urgent action. “Our study shows that Kathmandu’s high-density areas are at greater risk from extreme heat. Without immediate action, these urban heat islands will only get worse,” he said.

Urban forests demonstrated the strongest relationship between their size and cooling effect—when the forest area doubles, the cooling effect increases by about 30 percent.  Parks showed moderate connection between size and cooling, but how well they cool depends more on how they are designed inside, not just their size. 

Park landscape design reveals that tree canopy coverage proves most critical for cooling effectiveness. In small parks, a one percent increase in high canopy area corresponded to an approximate 0.99°C increase in cooling effect. For the largest parks, high canopy coverage demonstrated substantial impact, with a one percent increase linked to a 1.76°C increase in cooling effect.

Prof Vishnu Prasad Pandey from Tribhuvan University noted that strategic placement and design of blue-green spaces can maximize cooling benefits even in space-constrained urban areas. “This isn’t just about planting more trees. The internal composition of parks—the ratio of tree canopy, grass and impervious surfaces—determines their cooling effectiveness more than their size alone,” he said.

The research team recommends different approaches for different urban zones. For dense urban cores, priority should be given to water features and rooftop solutions, including cisterns, reflective pools, green roofs and rooftop farming, while safeguarding existing mature trees. For transitional areas, the focus should be on expanding forest patches and designing parks with high, contiguous tree-canopy cover to maximize shade. In vegetation-dominated zones, conservation of current forests and green buffers can prevent future urban heat island formation.

Dr Prajal Pradhan from the University of Groningen, Netherlands, stressed the global applicability of the findings and methods. “Cities globally can learn from our findings based on the Kathmandu Valley. We provide a framework for assessing cooling potential that can be applied anywhere and used to plan cities to adapt to urban heat,” he said.

Dr Nawa Raj Pradhan from the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center warned that if no action is taken, increasing temperatures will put pressure on public health systems, increase energy demands for cooling and disproportionately hit vulnerable communities the hardest. The study estimates that implementing comprehensive cooling strategies could reduce urban cooling energy demands by 15-25 percent, potentially saving significant electricity costs while improving public health outcomes.

Israel’s military warned people Thursday to evacuate the area around Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, Associated Press reported.

The warning came in a social media post on X. It included a satellite image of the plant in a red circle like other warnings that preceded strikes.

Israel’s seventh day of airstrikes on Iran came a day after Iran’s supreme leader rejected U.S. calls for surrender and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them.” Israel also lifted some restrictions on daily life, suggesting the missile threat from Iran on its territory was easing.

The Israeli military said Thursday’s round of airstrikes targeted Tehran and other areas of Iran, without elaborating.

Already, Israel’s campaign has targeted Iran’s enrichment site at Natanz, centrifuge workshops around Tehran and a nuclear site in Isfahan. Its strikes have also killed top generalsand nuclear scientists, according to Associated Press.

It has been more than two months since the inauguration of the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, but Nepal’s pavilion remains unopened. The expo, which began on April 13, will continue until October 13.

Construction was delayed due to negligence on the part of key line ministries, namely the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The delay stems from a protracted dispute between government agencies and the contractor. Despite selecting a private company for the project two years ago, poor coordination and unresolved issues have prevented its timely completion.

A government official described the situation as an embarrassment for Nepal, noting that 157 of the 158 participating countries have already opened their pavilions and are actively engaging with visitors and investors. “This has exposed Nepal’s governance failure on the global stage,” the official said, adding that preparations for the pavilion had started two years ago. Government officials put blame on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the entire delay. 

The government is blaming the contractor for the delays. Japanese and international media have begun reporting on Nepal’s lagging progress. Although the contractor, who had halted work, resumed construction just a week ago, it is still unclear when the pavilion will be completed.

This week, the Japanese Association for International Expositions confirmed that construction of Nepal’s pavilion has resumed. Japanese media report that work was suspended in January due to non-payment. Nepal has now assured the Japanese side that construction will be completed within a month.

Two months into the expo, ticket sales are rising steadily. Organizers say daily visitor numbers are increasing, with the reservation website often crashing around midnight due to high demand for slots at popular pavilions and events. Unfortunately, Nepal is missing out on this vital window for exposure and engagement. Since opening on April 13, the expo has sold approximately 3.75m tickets, which is nearly 30 percent of the 13.44m total sold since ticket sales began in November 2023 through June 6. 

Nepali Embassy in Dhaka, in collaboration with the Nepal Tourism Board, hosted a Nepal-Bangladesh Tourism Meet under the theme Destination Nepal: From the Bay of Bengal to the Himalayas in Chattogram, Bangladesh, on Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Ghanshyam Bhandari emphasized the vital role tourism and people-to-people connections play in Nepal-Bangladesh relations. He shed light on the growing ties between the two countries and called for greater efforts to ‘truly connect the heights of the Himalayas with the depths of the Bay of Bengal’. 

He highlighted the ongoing efforts of the Government of Nepal to improve tourism infrastructure.

Ambassador Bhandari also appreciated the important contributions of travel and tour entrepreneurs in further positioning Nepal as a preferred tourist destination, reads a statement issued by the Embassy.

Similarly, Rohini Prasad Khanal, Officiating Director of Tourism Marketing & Promotion Department at the Nepal Tourism Board, delivered a presentation on Nepal’s diverse tourism products and potential, urging the participating travel agents and tour operators to strengthen efforts towards building more robust tourism linkages between the two countries. 

Highlighting Bangladesh as one of Nepal’s major source markets, he expressed optimism about an increased flow of Bangladeshi tourists in the days ahead, according to the statement.

Likewise, Mount Everest Summiteer Babar Ali shared brief remarks about his experiences in Nepal during his successful summit to Mount Everest in 2024 and his recent ascent to Mount Annapurna.

The programme also featured a raffle draw, with tour packages and round trip air tickets for the Dhaka–Kathmandu sector sponsored by Nepali tour and travel agencies, Himalaya Airlines and Biman Bangladesh Airlines.

Over 120 participants including Chattogram-based representatives of ATAB, TOAB, hotels and airlines, and leading organizations from the tourism and hospitality sector attended the event, the statement further reads.

The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it is restarting the suspended process for foreigners applying for student visas but all applicants will now be required to unlock their social media accounts for government review, Associated Press reported.

The department said consular officers will be on the lookout for posts and messages that could be deemed hostile to the United States, its government, culture, institutions or founding principles.

In a notice made public Wednesday, the department said it had rescinded its May suspension of student visa processing but said new applicants who refuse to set their social media accounts to “public” and allow them to be reviewed may be rejected. It said a refusal to do so could be a sign they are trying to evade the requirement or hide their online activity.

The Trump administration last month temporarily halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students hoping to study in the U.S. while preparing to expand the screening of their activity on social media, officials said, according to Associated Press.

Transatlantic airfares have dropped to rates last seen before the pandemic, data shows, the latest sign that fewer Europeans are traveling to the U.S. due to concerns about U.S. border controls and President Donald Trump's policies, Reuters reported.

The trend could extend into and beyond the summer holiday period, typically the busiest time for airlines and travel companies.

Overseas arrivals to the United States fell 2.8% in May from a year ago, according to preliminary data from the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office within the U.S. Department of Commerce. Travel from Western Europe fell 4.4% in May, led by a decline in travelers from Denmark and Germany.

Forward bookings suggest sustained declines are on the horizon, with total inbound bookings to the U.S. in July down 13% year-over-year, according to OAG Aviation, an analytics firm, according to Reuters.

Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cuts an increasingly lonely figure, Reuters reported.

Khamenei has seen his main military and security advisers killed by Israeli air strikes, leaving major holes in his inner circle and raising the risk of strategic errors, according to five people familiar with his decision-making process.

One of those sources, who regularly attends meetings with Khamenei, described the risk of miscalculation to Iran on issues of defence and internal stability as "extremely dangerous".

Several senior military commanders have been killed since Friday including Khamenei's main advisers from the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's elite military force: the Guards' overall commander Hossein Salami, its aerospace chief Amir Ali Hajizadeh who headed Iran's ballistic missile program and spymaster Mohammad Kazemi, according to Reuters.

President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the United States will join Israel's bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites as the Israel-Iran conflict entered its seventh day on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump declined to say if he had made any decision on whether to join Israel's campaign. "I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do," he said.

Trump in later remarks said Iranian officials wanted to come to Washington for a meeting and that "we may do that." But he added, "It's a little late" for such talks.

The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart on Friday in Geneva aimed at persuading Iran to firmly guarantee that it will use its nuclear program solely for civilian purposes, a German diplomatic source told Reuters.