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Japan could use its $1 trillion-plus holdings of U.S. Treasuries as a card in trade talks with Washington, its finance minister said on Friday, raising explicitly for the first time its leverage as a massive creditor to the United States, Reuters reported.

While Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato did not threaten to sell holdings, his remarks touch on a critical concern global investors have about what Japan and China, the two largest owners of U.S. government debt, might do in seeking tariff concessions from the Trump administration.

The Treasury market saw a huge global sell-off last month after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision on April 2 to slap sweeping tariffs on trading partners, including key strategic allies such as Japan.

Kato said in a television interview the primary purpose of Japan's U.S. Treasury holdings - the largest in the world - is to ensure it has sufficient liquidity to conduct yen intervention when necessary, according to Reuters.

There is an influence of westerly and local winds in the country now. 

According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the water vapour-rich air entering from the Bay of Bengal has also had a partial impact. 

The weather will be partly to generally cloudy throughout the country today. There are also chances of light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning at some places of the hilly regions of Koshi and other provinces. 

The weather bulletin also noted that one or two places of the mountainous regions of Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces  are likely to have light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning. 

Similarly, the weather will be partly to generally cloudy in the hilly regions of Koshi, Gandaki and Karnali Provinces tonight. 

Light rain accompanied by thunder and lightning is likely to occur at one or two places of the hilly regions of Koshi and Gandaki Provinces. Likewise, light rain and snowfall is likely to occur at one or two places of the mountainous region of Koshi and Gandaki Provinces.. 

The government's policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year are to be presented in the joint session of the Federal Parliament on Friday. 

President Ram Chandra Paudel is scheduled to present the policies and programs in the joint meeting of both Houses of the federal Parliament. 

The meeting of both Houses of the federal Parliament has been summoned for 3 pm today. 

Secretary General of the Federal Parliament Secretariat, Padma Prasad Pandey said that the tentative agenda of the joint meeting has been fixed. 

As per the Article 95 of the Constitution, the President shall address the joint sitting of both Houses of the federal Parliament.. 

Speaker Devraj Ghimire has already urged the members of the House of Representatives to be present in the prescribed attire and take their seats by 2:45 pm. 

Discussions have already been held among the ruling political parties to bring policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year focusing on the measures to make the economy more circular. 

Similarly, it is believed that the policies and programs will focus on instilling hope among the youth, promoting entrepreneurship, skill, startups and business plans, and increasing the government's expenditure and maintaining good governance.

The Federal Parliament Secretariat has already set the agenda to discuss and pass the government's policies and programs during May 5 to 11. 

Similarly, discussions on the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill – also taken as a pre-budget discussion will begin on May 13. 

The Finance Minister will present the budget for the upcoming fiscal year in the joint sitting of the federal Parliament on May 29. 

Ambassador of Nepal to the United Kingdom, Chandra Kumar Ghimire has presented his letters of credence to King Charles III. 

He presented the letters amidst a special ceremony held at Buckingham Palace on Thursday afternoon. 

During the audience after presenting the letters, the King recalled his historic visits to Nepal at various times and informed that the British government has given priority to accelerating Nepal's development endeavours. 

According to the Embassy of Nepal in London, the British King expressed satisfaction over his country's rewarding relations with Nepal, saying it was cordial and mutually beneficial. 

Affirming happiness over the unwavering friendship between the two countries, Ambassador Ghimire expressed gratitude for the support received from the United Kingdom for Nepal's socio-economic development. 

Also on the occasion, Ambassador Ghimire conveyed warm greetings and best wishes from President Ram Chandra Paudel and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli for personal well being of the King and for the continued prosperity of the friendly people of the United Kingdom. 

Ambassador Ghimire was accompanied to the credential ceremony by his spouse Sarita Neupane Ghimire and senior diplomats from the Embassy. 

Goals from Jadon Sancho and Noni Madueke and a brace from Nicholas Jackson gave Chelsea a comfortable 4-1 win over Swedish side Djurgarden on a tricky artificial pitch in the first leg of their Conference League semi-final on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Sancho opened the scoring in the 12th minute, taking possession just outside the six-yard box before cutting inside to shoot, and defender Marcus Danielsson’s attempt to clear only helped the ball into the back of the net, briefly silencing the passionate home crowd.

Madueke doubled their lead before the break with a controlled first-time finish, stroking home a pass from Enzo Fernandez, with the home side's Tokmac Nguen going close in first-half stoppage time with a rare effort on target for Djurgarden.

With the game under control and one eye on Sunday's Premier League game against Liverpool, Enzo Maresca made four changes at the break, and substitute Jackson made the most of a defensive mix-up to score in the 59th minute, according to Reuters.

Tottenham Hotspur put aside their woeful domestic season with a 3-1 home victory against Norway's Bodo/Glimt leaving them within sight of the Europa League final on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Brennan Johnson's headed goal inside the opening minute paved the way for Ange Postecoglou's Premier League strugglers and James Maddison doubled their lead with a smart finish in the 34th minute after controlling a long pass.

Dominic Solanke's cooly-taken 61st minute penalty, given for a foul by Fredrik Sjovold on Cristian Romero, put the hosts completely in control of the semi-final.

Bodo/Glimt, the first Norwegian club to reach a European semi-final, did not manage a shot on target for the first 83 minutes but there was a late twist as captain Ulrik Saltnes's deflected effort gave them hope for next week's second leg on their artificial pitch inside the Arctic Circle, according to Reuters.

Apple on Thursday estimated that tariffs will add about $900 million in costs to the quarter ending in June if rates do not change, with CEO Tim Cook outlining profound changes to the company's supply chain to minimize the impact of President Donald Trump's trade war, Reuters reported.

Apple shares were down 3.8% after the company released quarterly results.

While the results were better than analysts had expected, investors are focused on how tariff concerns will play out in the coming quarter. Apple executives said that the company expects low-to-mid single-digit revenue growth during its fiscal third quarter, which is in line with analyst expectations of 4.28% growth to $89.45 billion, according to LSEG data.

But Apple did predict a hit to gross margins, which it said will be 45.5% to 46.5% in its fiscal third quarter, which is below analyst estimates of 46.58%, according to LSEG data, according to Reuters.

U.S. President Donald Trump ousted his national security adviser Mike Waltz on Thursday and named Secretary of State Marco Rubio as his interim replacement in the first major shakeup of Trump's inner circle since he took office in January, Reuters reported.

Trump, in a social media post, said he would nominate Waltz to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, adding that "he has worked hard to put our nation's interests first."

Earlier in the day, multiple sources said Trump had decided to remove Waltz from his national security post. The retired Army Green Beret and former Republican lawmaker from Florida had faced criticisminside the White House, particularly after he was caught up in a March scandal involving a Signal chatamong top Trump national security aides.

Rubio will be the first person since Henry Kissinger in the 1970s to hold the positions of secretary of state and national security adviser simultaneously, according to Reuters.