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Minister for Foreign Affairs Bala Nanda Sharma is returning back to Kathmandu from Dhaka Thursday afternoon. He is on an official visit to Bangladesh from Tuesday to attend the state funeral of Begum Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Minister Sharma attended the state funeral in Dhaka on Wednesday afternoon, where a floral wreath was laid at the burial site of the late leader on behalf of the Government of Nepal.

During the visit, Foreign Minister Sharma met Tarique Rahman, son of the late Begum Zia and Acting Chairperson of the BNP, and conveyed condolences on behalf of the Government and people of Nepal. Sharma noted Begum Zia’s role in Bangladesh’s political and democratic journey. Rahman thanked the foreign minister for attending the funeral and expressed hope for continued cooperation between Nepal and Bangladesh.

On Wednesday afternoon, Sharma also called on the Chief Adviser of the Interim Government of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, and handed over a message of condolence from Prime Minister Sushila Karki. In the message, the prime minister acknowledged Begum Zia’s contributions to strengthening Nepal-Bangladesh relations during her three terms as prime minister.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, discussions during the meeting covered bilateral relations and explored ways to enhance cooperation in areas such as trade, energy, connectivity, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.

Foreign Minister Sharma also met Bangladesh’s Adviser for Foreign Affairs Md Touhid Hossain and delivered a personal letter of condolence. Hossain thanked Nepal for its continued support and for the foreign minister’s presence at the funeral.

Zohran Mamdani was a trailblazing candidate whom many in his city of 8 million -- some with hope, some with trepidation -- expect to be a disruptive New York mayor.

The democratic socialist's plans for his first day in office on Thursday nod to his politics and priorities, without straying far from his predecessors with a sober official midnight oath-taking followed by a more celebratory ceremony in the afternoon.

New York law spells out that four-year mayoral terms start on the January 1 after elections. To avoid any ambiguity about who's in charge of America's most populous city, it has become a tradition to hold a small midnight swearing-in.

Mamdani has chosen as the site of his midnight oath the Old City Hall subway stop, which was decommissioned in the middle of the previous century and is accessible only a few times a year through guided tours.

The subway site, according to Mamdani’s transition team, reflects his "commitment to the working people who keep our city running every day."

Mamdani, a 34-year-old former state lawmaker, promised a freeze on rents and free buses and childcare, building a campaign around affordability issues that some have seen as a path forward for his Democratic Party around the country ahead of midterm elections.

Mamdani inspired a record-breaking turnout of more than 2 million voters and took 50 percent, nearly 10 points ahead of Andrew Cuomo running as an independent and well ahead of Republican Curtis Sliwa.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who was among Mamdani's earliest prominent backers, was to administer the midnight oath to Mamdani. During the first administration of President Donald Trump, James began investigating his business practices in New York, resulting in a judge finding in 2024 that Trump fraudulently overstated his net worth to dupe lenders. The Trump administration has targeted James during his second term, accusing her of mortgage fraud.

Grant Reeher, a Syracuse University political science professor, said the role James was to play in the inauguration sent a message to core supporters that Mamdani is "going to be independent of the president.”

“Living amid beauty comes with responsibility, not just pride.” 

Gratitude isn’t just a feeling, it’s how we treat the place we call home. We wake up surrounded by mountains people cross oceans to see, and yet somehow forget to thank the land we live on daily. In Nepal, beauty that surrounds us constantly risks becoming invisible. The mountains, the fresh air, the rivers and open spaces….. These aren't things everyone gets to live with but are a part of our everyday lives and maybe that’s why we barely notice them anymore, except in pictures or in moments of nostalgia. 

Kathmandu didn’t always feel this heavy. Over the years the city has changed quietly but drastically. Streets that once felt open and walkable are now crowded with concrete , dust and constant construction. In the rush  to modernise, we built quickly and rarely stopped to think about what we are leaving behind. The old Kathmandu one with charm and balance now exists only in a few corners of the valley. 

A lot of this shift comes from taking our surroundings for granted: Rivers turned into dumping sites, roads turned into endless construction sites and vanishing public spaces. This does not mean we are against development, only that it shouldn't come at the cost of neglect. Every winter the difference becomes impossible to ignore. Just across the border, many cities in neighboring India wake up to hazardous air quality day after day,  people stay indoors, schools shut, masks become a part of their daily routine, and stepping outside becomes a health risk. Kathmandu hasn’t reached that point yet but the signs are there: dry air, dust-filled streets and pollution that affects daily life. What we should be aiming for is a city that feels distinct, not just another capital. With tourism as one of our major sources of income, the city should leave visitors wanting more, not looking for the next place to escape. 

Perhaps the real question is: How do we show gratitude for the place we call home? And what can we do as citizens to treat our city with the same care we give our homes and the basic comforts we depend on every day? 

In the grand scheme of things, it starts with the basics: keeping our streets clean, respecting shared spaces and teaching children basic good habits. With technology at our fingertips, we can do a lot more than just doomscroll, we can actually make a difference. Real change doesn’t come from grand gestures or perfect systems, but in the everyday habits we have learned to ignore. It's tempting to point fingers, but cities don't change unless the people living in them do. We have a shared responsibility to lead by example, help others learn and change our own habits because you can’t change the world until you change yourself. 

Gratitude in this sense isn't about pride or praise, it’s about care. It shows up in how we treat public spaces, in the discipline we practise and in the choices we make when no one is watching and the effort we put into what we have been given. It’s reflected less in words and more in everyday actions that slowly shape the city we live in. 

Kathmandu doesn’t need to be perfect, it needs care, care from people we are willing to try, be mindful and to take responsibility in small but consistent ways. Over time, it's these small efforts that turn a city into a place we are proud to call home.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his administration was removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland but he added in his social media post that federal forces will "come back" if crime rates go up.

Local leaders in those cities and Democrats have said the deployments, which have faced legal setbacks and challenges, were unnecessary. They have accused the Trump administration of federal overreach and of exaggerating isolated episodes of violence to justify sending in troops.

Trump, a Republican, has said troop deployments in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Memphis and Portland were necessary to fight crime and protect federal property and personnel from protesters.

"We are removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, despite the fact that CRIME has been greatly reduced by having these great Patriots in those cities, and ONLY by that fact," Trump wrote.

"We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again - Only a question of time!"

Judges overseeing lawsuits filed by cities challenging the deployments have consistently ruled that the Trump administration overstepped its authority and found that there is no evidence to support claims that troops are necessary to protect federal property from protesters.

Trump's announcement came shortly before a federal appellate court ruled on Wednesday that his administration had to return hundreds of California National Guard troops to Governor Gavin Newsom's control.

The U.S. Supreme Court on December 23 blocked Trump's attempt to deploy National Guard troops in Illinois, a ruling that undercut his legal rationale for sending soldiers to other states.

The court said the president's authority to take federal control of National Guard troops likely only applies in "exceptional" circumstances.

"At this preliminary stage, the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois," the court's majority held in an unsigned order.

The local leaders who opposed Trump's deployment of the National Guard said on Wednesday the legal challenges compelled him to end the deployments in those cities.