Trump Administration Pauses Visa Appointments Worldwide

And more of today's top travel news stories.Today in travel, we have several stories that may have flown under your radar. Among them: floods in Nepal have killed at least 98; London bus drivers are going on strike over heat; the U.S. is pausing visa interviews; and Dubai travel has dropped over 30%. Dive into these and more as we examine the latest in travel news. Some or all of this article was crafted with help from AI. An editor reviewed and vetted this article before publishing. 1 OF 5 Deadly Nepal-Tibet Border Floods Leave Hundreds Missing At least 98 people have been killed and hundreds remain missing after catastrophic flash floods tore through communities along the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday. Nepal’s government has reported 95 deaths, while Chinese state media said at least three people were killed in Tibet’s Gyirong County. In Nepal, officials say 403 people are missing, including 341 foreign nationals, many of them tourists and pilgrims traveling toward Mount Kailash. Floodwaters and debris destroyed villages, roads, bridges and hydropower facilities, while a mudslide struck Gyirong Port, a major crossing between Nepal and Tibet, cutting transportation, communications and electricity links. High river levels and heavy debris have also complicated rescue efforts in hard-hit areas of Nepal. Experts believe an avalanche of ice and rock from a glacier caused the flood after blocking the Lhende Khola River and sending a sudden surge downstream. A magnitude-4.4 earthquake was recorded in the region shortly before the disaster, although officials have not established that it caused the avalanche. Authorities have warned of additional flood danger, while alerts have also been issued farther downstream in India.Read more at the Associated Press. 2 OF 5 U.S. Temporarily Halted Official Travel to Mexicali Over Security Threat The U.S. government suspended its activities in Mexicali and official travel to the Mexican border city on August 25 after receiving information about a potential security threat. The U.S. Mission to Mexico also issued an alert urging Americans in the area to avoid government buildings and exercise extra caution. Officials did not initially disclose the nature of the threat or identify a specific target. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum later said U.S. agencies had provided information about the possibility of a threat involving a criminal organization, though she stressed that Mexican authorities had not confirmed a specific danger. Authorities increased patrols and surveillance in Mexicali as a precaution. Americans in the city were advised to seek shelter if an incident occurred, follow instructions from Mexican law enforcement, monitor local reporting and keep relatives informed of their safety. The August 25 notice did not announce a general prohibition on Americans traveling to Mexicali.Read the diplomatic security bulletin. 3 OF 5 London Bus Drivers Resume Four-Day Strike Over Extreme Heat About 1,500 Arriva North London bus drivers are staging a four-day strike through Friday, August 28, in a continuing dispute over dangerous temperatures inside driver cabs. Previous walkouts this month caused delays and cancellations on more than 40 routes across London, and the latest action is expected to bring further disruption in north and east London and parts of Essex.Unite and Arriva reached a proposed agreement last week that included improvements to air conditioning across a fleet of about 730 buses. Drivers at three of eight garages rejected the offer, however, amid concerns that upgrades might not be completed before next summer. Workers say existing air-cooling systems can lower temperatures by only a few degrees, while driver cabs have exceeded 40°C during heatwaves, increasing the risk of fatigue, dehydration and heat-related illness.Arriva says it has agreed to the union’s demands and is investing in upgraded cooling systems, while Unite maintains that the proposed changes do not go far enough. Unless the dispute is resolved, eight further strike periods are scheduled across September and October.Read more at The Guardian. 4 OF 5 U.S. Pauses Immigrant Visa Appointments Worldwide for Consular Training The Trump administration has temporarily paused immigrant visa appointments at U.S. embassies and consulates around the world while consular officers undergo additional training. The State Department says the program is intended to strengthen screening of applicants who could be deemed likely to depend on U.S. public benefits and to make evaluations more consistent across diplomatic posts. No timetable has been announced for normal appointment scheduling to resume.Applicants who already had immigrant visa interviews scheduled have begun receiving notices that their appointments are being rescheduled, according to reporting cited by Reuters. The pause applies to immigrant visas and should not be confused with a blanket suspension of tourist, student and other nonimmigrant visa appointments.The disruption comes amid a broader effort by the administration to tighten legal as well as illegal immigration. It also follows a legal setback last week, when a federal judge struck down a separate policy that had suspended immigrant visa issuance for people from 75 countries, ruling that the policy exceeded Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statutory authority.Read more at Reuters. 5 OF 5 Dubai Airport Passenger Traffic Falls 31% Amid Iran War Disruptions Dubai International Airport handled 31.5 million passengers during the first half of 2026, a 31.3% decline from the same period last year, as war and airspace restrictions across the Middle East sharply disrupted one of the world’s busiest international aviation hubs. Traffic was particularly weak during the second quarter, when DXB handled 13 million passengers.The downturn followed the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran beginning February 28, which triggered widespread airspace closures, flight cancellations and rerouting across the Gulf. Dubai International also sustained minor damage during subsequent Iranian attacks. Aircraft movements fell 32.1% year over year during the first six months of 2026, to 150,600.There are signs of recovery. Passenger numbers rose from 3.5 million in April to 4.5 million in May and 5 million in June as airline capacity gradually returned. Dubai Airports expects momentum to strengthen during the second half of the year as international carriers restore flights and connecting traffic rebounds.Read more at the Associated Press.