A 35-year-old former rapper is on track to become Nepal’s next prime minister. Early counting in the elections on Friday (7 March) showed Balendra Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was leading in around 100 seats, far ahead of rivals.
The election is the first in the South Asian country since a youth-led uprising over a social media ban and government corruption in September 2025 killed 77 people and forced then Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to reign.
The Nepali Congress, currently in second place, has already conceded defeat. Final results are expected within days.
Shah, who was previously mayor of Nepal's capital Kathmandu, joined the RSP last year as its candidate for prime minister.
The RSP has promised to create 1.2 million jobs, increase Nepal’s per capita income from $1,447 to $3,000 and provide safety nets such as healthcare insurance for the entire population within five years.
Unemployment and low wages have pushed millions of Nepalis to search for work overseas in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. Around 1.67 million Nepali citizens emigrated in 2024.
As mayor of Kathmandu, Shah focused on improving urban infrastructure, such as waste management, as well as healthcare.
But he also faced criticism, including from Human Rights Watch, for allegedly using police to seize the properties of street vendors and landless people.
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Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, according to the latest data, as uncertainty over the waterway’s reopening kept most shipowners away. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from nine the day before and below the 10-day daily average of 11.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. fulfils the terms of an interim deal, including lifting the maritime blockade and sanctions and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 19th of August, covering the latest developments.
Australia on Thursday condemned Israel’s decision to close its criminal investigation into the deaths of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six World Central Kitchen colleagues killed in Gaza in April 2024.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
North Korea has fired more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles after U.S. President Donald Trump reduced American participation in joint military exercises with South Korea in an effort to revive dialogue with Pyongyang.
Georgia’s foreign trade data for January-July 2026 shows Kyrgyzstan, China and Russia as its top three export markets, highlighting its Middle Corridor ambitions and complex economic ties with Moscow.
Kazakhstan will vote on 23 August in its first parliamentary election under the new Constitution, choosing 145 members of the new Kurultai under a fundamentally changed electoral system based entirely on party lists.
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