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Chitwan, a district in the Bagmati Province, has not received adequate rainfall this monsoon, even as the third week of July has passed. 

The delayed monsoon has adversely affected rain-dependent agriculture, particularly paddy transplantation. 

Farmers who had managed to transplant paddy using irrigation are now worrying as recently planted seedlings are drying up in the fields.

Water levels in local sources, including rivers and streams, have dropped considerably, creating further challenges in managing irrigation.

In western Chitwan, under the Bharatpur Metropolitan City, farmers primarily rely on the Narayani Lift Irrigation System for irrigation. However, due to a sharp decline in water levels in the Khageri River, many farmers who previously used this water source have now turned to the Narayani system for irrigation. 

As a result, water from the Narayani River is being diverted into the Khageri Canal to support irrigation efforts in the affected areas.

Kularaj Chalise, Chief of the Narayani Lift and Khageri Irrigation Management Division Office, stated that water from the Narayani River is being released into the Khageri Canal 24 hours a day in response to growing demand from farmers.

“With the delay in rainfall, we havehad to regulate canal operations more intensively,” Chalise said. “Under the Narayani Lift Irrigation Project, irrigation is being provided to 4,700 hectares of land, where 90% of paddy transplantation has already been completed."

The 3,900 hectares of land has been covered by the Khageri Irrigation Project in Devnagar, Gitanagarm and Parbatipur. It has so far witnessed the completion of only 70% of paddy transplantation. 

Areas such as Sharadanagar, Shibanagar, Parbatipur, and Jayanagar are among the worst affected by the rainfall deficit. 

Farmers are also turning to underground water sources for irrigation, though this is proving insufficient in many cases.

Farmers said that though the use of underground water provided support for irrigation, it has not been sufficient. 

As they report, due to low electricity voltage, they are able to operate tube wells only during the night which further limits irrigation capacity. 

Khilaraj Regmi, Vice Chair of the Khageri Irrigation Project Users Committee and a farmer himself, said that the drought has significantly delayed paddy transplantation. “Water supplied through the Narayani Lift has been a respite, but it hasn’t fully addressed the needs." 

Due to limited water availability, farmers are accessing canal water on a rotational and rationalized basis. 

Purna Bahadur Ranabhat, Chair of the Narayani Lift Irrigation Consumers’ Committee, added that the prolonged dry conditions have led to the wilting of transplanted seedlings.

According to the District Agriculture Development Office, 87.60% of paddy transplantation has been completed so far in Chitwan. 

Office Chief Jhalaknath Kandel reported that the western belt of Bharatpur Metropolitan City has been most affected by the lack of rainfall, with seedlings beginning to dry up in several areas.

U.S.-funded contraceptives worth nearly $10 million are being sent to France from Belgium to be incinerated, after Washington rejected offers from the United Nations and family planning organisations to buy or ship the supplies to poor nations, two sources told Reuters.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday that a decision had been taken to destroy the stock.

The supplies have been stuck for months in a warehouse in Geel, a city in the Belgian province of Antwerp, following President Donald Trump's decision to freeze U.S. foreign aid in January.

They comprise contraceptive implants and pills as well as intrauterine devices to help prevent unwanted pregnancies, according to seven sources and a screengrab shared by an eighth source confirming the planned destruction, according to Reuters.

Gaza is suffering man-made mass starvation caused by a blockade on aid into the Palestinian enclave, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

He spoke following an appeal by more than 100 aid agencies warning of hunger in Gaza while tons of food, clean water and medical supplies sit untouched just outside the territory.

"I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation, and it's man-made, and that's very clear," Tedros told a virtual press conference live-streamed from Geneva. "This is because of (the) blockade."

Gaza's food stocks have run out since Israel, at war with Palestinian militant group Hamas since October 2023, cut off all supplies to the territory in March and then lifted that blockade in May - but with restrictions that it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups, according to Reuters.

A Thai F-16 fighter jet bombed targets in Cambodia on Thursday, both sides said, as weeks of tension over a border dispute escalated into clashes that have killed at least two civilians, Reuters reported.

Of the six F-16 fighter jets that Thailand readied to deploy along the disputed border, one of the aircraft fired into Cambodia and destroyed a military target, the Thai army said. Both countries accused each other of starting the clash early on Thursday.

"We have used air power against military targets as planned," Thai army deputy spokesperson Richa Suksuwanon told reporters. Thailand also closed its border with Cambodia, according to Reuters.

Cambodia's defence ministry said the jets dropped two bombs on a road, and that it "strongly condemns the reckless and brutal military aggression of the Kingdom of Thailand against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia".

The Chitwan National Park (CNP) reported the deaths of 83 wild animals in the last fiscal year (2024/25). 

It is said that 45 among them died due to natural causes.

According to the Park’s Information Officer, Abinash Thapa Magar, 28 rhinoceroses died in the last fiscal year with 18 facing natural deaths while three were killed in fighting, one in electric shock, two in floods and landslides, and three got stuck in the marshland. 

The cause behind the death of a rhino still remains unknown. 

As the CNP data states, a leopard and five elephants died of natural causes while the reason behind the deaths of two elephants is still unknown.

A tiger was killed in fighting whereas the cause of another tiger’s death is yet to be ascertained. 

Likewise, 12 spotted deer (chital) died of natural causes, while two were killed in road accidents. One got caught in a wire fence, and 16 died following dog bites.  

Additionally, three deer, one Ratuwa (barking deer), two gharial crocodiles, two nilgai (blue bulls), one python, one jackal, one bear, and two other animals also died in this period. 

However, 135 animals, including four rhinoceroses, two tigers, seven spotted deer, three turtles, and 37 snakes, 61 pythons, 11 mugger crocodiles, two gharial crocodiles, two vultures, one iguana and three other animals were also rescued during this period. 

Columbia University said on Wednesday it will pay over $200 million to the U.S. government in a settlement with President Donald Trump's administration to resolve federal probes and have most of its suspended federal funding restored, Reuters reported.

Trump has targeted several universities since returning to office in January over the pro-Palestinian student protest movement that roiled college campuses last year. He welcomed the agreement between his administration and Columbia in a post on social media late on Wednesday.

In March, the Trump administration said it was penalizing Columbia over how it handled last year's protests by canceling $400 million in federal funding. It contended that Columbia's response to alleged antisemitism and harassment of Jewish and Israeli members of the university community was insufficient.

"Under today's agreement, a vast majority of the federal grants which were terminated or paused in March 2025 - will be reinstated and Columbia's access to billions of dollars in current and future grants will be restored," the university said in a statement, according to Reuters.

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned top European Union officials on Thursday to "make correct strategic choices", state media said, during a key summit in Beijing set to be dominated by thorny issues ranging from trade frictions to the Ukraine war, Reuters reported.

Expectations were low for the summit marking 50 years of diplomatic ties after weeks of escalating tension and wrangling over its format, with the duration abruptly halved to a single day at Beijing's request.

Issues of trade imbalance, market access and rare earths are on the agenda as Xi and Premier Li Qiang meet visitors Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union Commission, and Antonio Costa, the European Council president.

"The more severe and complex the international situation, the more China and the EU must strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust and deepen cooperation," Xi told von der Leyen and Costa, state broadcaster CCTV said, according to Reuters.

A summit between China and the European Union (EU) has kicked off in Beijing on Thursday, with leaders set to discuss issues ranging from trade conflict to the war in Ukraine, BBC reported.

Expectations have been tempered however by uncertainty over global trade, politics and the attendance of Chinese President Xi Jinping, after he had earlier reportedly declined a visit to Brussels, where the summit was originally to be held. 

China confirmed this week that Xi would meet European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa in Beijing.

Optimism had surrounded EU-China relations at the start of the year, with hopes that a Donald Trump presidency in the US would bring the two economic powerhouses closer, according to BBC.