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Basanta Panchami is being celebrated across the country by paying homage to Goddess Saraswati, known as the goddess of knowledge, on Friday. 

Also known as Saraswati Puja, writers, artists, journalists, teachers and students worship their tools, pen, paper, pencil and musical instruments as goddess Saraswati.

There is also a belief that you will be blessed if you begin your learning after worshiping Saraswati. The day is also regarded as auspicious for social and religious functions like marriage, bratabanda, gufa and belbibaha.

It is considered auspicious to start education for children and to pierce their nose and ears. Devotees, especially students, throng the temples of Goddess Saraswati since early morning today.

The price of gold reached an all-time high in the domestic market on Friday, setting a new historical record.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Traders, the price of gold has increased by Rs 9, 200 per tola to reach Rs 301, 400 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 292, 200 per tola on Thursday. 

Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 270 and is being traded at Rs 5, 190 per tola. It was traded at Rs 5, 870 per tola on Thursday. 

Nepal on Friday signed an Emission Reductions Purchase Agreement (ERPA) with the LEAF Coalition, paving the way for the potential sale of up to 4 million tonnes of verified emission reductions from its jurisdictional REDD+ program across Gandaki, Bagmati and Lumbini Provinces. 

The deal, valued at an estimated USD 40 million or more, marks Nepal’s first formal entry into high-integrity jurisdictional carbon markets and represents one of the largest performance-based forest finance opportunities in the country’s history.

The transaction will be facilitated by Emergent, the LEAF Coalition’s intermediary, and implemented under the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) using its TREES standard. 

The standard requires stringent carbon accounting, robust forest monitoring, safeguards for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, permanence and leakage controls, and transparent benefit-sharing mechanisms.

The LEAF Coalition is among the world’s largest public–private initiatives supporting high-integrity forest carbon finance. 

Participating countries are offered a guaranteed floor price of USD 10 per ton for jurisdictional REDD+ credits, providing a stable incentive for scaling credible forest conservation programmes at national and subnational levels.

“This marks an important milestone for Nepal, reflecting the culmination of decades of work to protect forests, establish credible monitoring systems, and place communities at the centre of forest stewardship,” said Mario Boccucci, Head of the UN-REDD Secretariat. He added that the agreement positions Nepal to expand jurisdictional approaches and engage global markets that reward integrity, scale and long-term performance.

Once payments are accessed, revenues will be distributed through Nepal’s emerging benefit-sharing framework. 

Under current provisions, 80 percent of proceeds will be channeled to community forest user groups, Indigenous Peoples, local governments and other implementing entities, underscoring the central role of communities in conserving and restoring the country’s forests.

“This represents an important milestone in Nepal’s long-standing efforts to protect forests and addressing climate change, and demonstrates Nepal’s commitment and readiness to deliver verified emission reductions, which can unlock significant payments from public and private buyers to support Nepal in building a sustainable economy that supports healthy forests and resilient communities,”  says Einar Telnes, Energy and Climate counsellor at the Norway Embassy in Nepal.   

Over recent years, Nepal has strengthened the institutional, technical and safeguard systems required for high-integrity jurisdictional REDD+, including enhanced monitoring capacity and governance arrangements. The ERPA is expected to enable the country to scale forest-based climate action while linking local stewardship efforts to global results-based finance.

Russia said it will hold security talks with the U.S. and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on Friday, but warned after a late-night meeting between President Vladimir Putin and three U.S. envoys that a durable peace would not be possible unless territorial issues were resolved, Reuters reported. 

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters the talks, which began shortly before midnight and lasted some four hours, had been "substantive, constructive and very frank".

He said Russian Admiral Igor Kostyukov would head Moscow's team at the three-way security talks, and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev would meet separately on economic issues with Steve Witkoff, the envoy of President Donald Trump, according to Reuters. 

The District Police Office has stated that 88 polling stations in the Kavrepalanchowk are sensitive, of which 23 are 'highly sensitive'. 

"Security arrangements for highly sensitive and sensitive polling stations will be tightened," District Police Chief Komal Shah said, expressing the commitment that security personnel will be deployed at the sites to smoothly conduct the House of Representatives elections scheduled for March 5. . 

There are plans to deploy 2,269 election police – 1,115 from the Nepal Police, and 350 from the Armed Police in the district. 

Out of the total 326,611 voters in Kavrepalanchowk, 167,499 are male, 159,110 are female, and two from another gender category. 

Meanwhile, for the upcoming elections, written exams and interviews for the selection of election police were conducted in Dhulikhel on Thursday. 

The district comprises two constituencies for the upcoming elections.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka passed her first major test of the Australian Open on Friday, fending off a serious challenge from Anastasia Potapova to reach the fourth round with a tense 7-6(4) 7-6(7) win, Reuters reported. 

At a Grand Slam spiked with geopolitical tension, Potapova played for Austria after a recent nationality switch from Russia, and represented the central European nation with distinction in the early match at Rod Laver Arena.

Seemingly down and out at 4-0 in the second set, the world number 55 broke Sabalenka three times and nudged ahead to 6-5, forcing the Belarusian into a surprising scrap to the finish, according to Reuters. 

AS Roma took a big step towards qualifying for the Europa League last 16 with a 2-0 win over VfB Stuttgart on Thursday, after Aston Villa and Olympique Lyonnais had earlier become the first teams through to the knockout stage, Reuters reported. 

Roma midfielder Niccolo Pisilli slotted in to give his side the lead shortly before halftime and added another in stoppage time to seal the win.

Disturbances in the stands marred many of the evening matches. In France, tensions escalated between Nice fans and Go Ahead Eagles supporters, prompting security forces to intervene for several minutes before order was restored, with Nice ultimately securing a 3-1 win, according to Reuters. 

Manchester United midfielder Casemiro will leave the Premier League side at the end of the season upon the expiry of his contract, the club said on Thursday, Reuters reported. 

The 33-year-old does have a one-year extension option, but the club has chosen not to activate it according to a team source.

United's decision not to extend or renew his contract was made far in advance of Thursday's announcement as part of long-term squad overhaul plans. Casemiro had requested the club confirm his summer departure at this time, according to Reuters.