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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A British national was among at least 19 people killed when a passenger bus plunged off a mountain highway into the Trishuli river in Nepal before dawn on Monday (23 February), authorities said. A New Zealander and a Chinese national were among those injured.
The year 2025 was marked by widespread protests and civil unrest across multiple regions, as citizens took to the streets to voice anger over political decisions, economic pressures, governance failures and social inequality.
Authorities in Nepal have raised the death toll from last week’s anti-corruption unrest to 72 after search teams recovered more bodies from government offices, homes, and shops set ablaze during protests, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.
Life in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, returned to normal on Sunday (September 14), just days after deadly protests left at least 51 people dead and blanketed the city in smoke.
In an exclusive interview with AnewZ, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the Islamic Republic is "not targeting neighbouring countries," amid reports of drone strikes on Nakhchivan International Airport on Thursday (5 March).
Trump tells Axios he wants direct involvement in who takes over as Iran's next leader, rejecting Khamenei's son as "unacceptable" and citing the need for a figure who can bring "peace and harmony".
Officials in Azerbaijan have said they have stopped terror attacks in Azerbaijan including on an Israeli Embassy, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and a Synagogue. Tensions between regional and global powers escalate. Military activity, security alerts and travel disruptions continue.
Türkiye and Iran’s foreign ministers spoke by phone after reports that a ballistic missile entered Turkish airspace, with Tehran denying responsibility and insisting its recent strikes targeted only U.S. and Israeli facilities.
China has called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to resolve their growing border dispute through dialogue and diplomatic channels, as clashes between their security forces entered a seventh day and left more than 160 people dead or injured, according to the United Nations.
Newly released FBI records summarising interviews with an unidentified woman contain allegations that U.S. President Donald Trump attempted to force her to perform a sexual act when she was a teenager, according to documents published by the U.S. Justice Department.
Australia’s move to ban social media access for children under 16 has intensified a global debate, as governments around the world weigh tougher rules amid growing concerns over mental health, safety and screen addiction.
Indonesia will restrict access to social media platforms for children under 16, its communications and digital ministry said on Friday (6 March), becoming the latest country to introduce online guardrails aimed at reducing the risks of addiction and cyberbullying.
Ukraine has accused Hungary of taking seven employees of a state-owned bank hostage in Budapest.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 6th of February, covering the latest developments you need to know.
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