Nepal’s youngest premier sworn in after releasing new rap song about unity
Al Jazeera
At 35, Balen Shah becomes Nepal’s first Madhesi prime minister, representing the southern plains bordering India.
Balendra Shah, Nepal’s youngest prime minister, has been sworn in after his party’s landslide election victory following protests led by young people that toppled the government in September.
A rapper-turned politician, Shah was appointed prime minister by President Ram Chandra Paudel on Friday, after his three-year-old Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) won 182 seats in the 275-member parliament in the March 5 vote, the first election since anticorruption Gen Z-led protests in which 76 people were killed.
The 35-year-old wore black trousers, a matching jacket, his signature black Nepali cloth cap and sunglasses as he was sworn in at the President House, in the presence of diplomats and senior government officials.
A day earlier, the new premier, better known as Balen, released his first public statement since the historic vote with a rap song shared on social media.
“Nepal is not scared this time, the heart is full of red blood … Laughter and happiness will reach every household this time,” Shah raps in the song titled Jay Mahakaali (Victory to Goddess Mahakali).
Yair Lapid says military ‘is stretched to the limit and beyond’ as Israeli forces wage attacks on Iran and Lebanon.
Elsewhere, Bolivia beat Suriname and Jamaica defeat New Caledonia in intercontinental playoff semifinals.
Discarded, near-end-of-life electronics shipped from developed countries are adding to Nigeria’s growing e-waste burden.
It is the single point of failure of globalised production.
The Israeli army fired tear gas at Palestinian residents of the Beit Imrin village in the occupied West Bank.
Australia’s prime minister says his government has made a “constructive” contribution to the war on Iran.
France beat Brazil 2-1 in a friendly in the United States, in what was a potential dress rehearsal for World Cup 2026 final.
Fear for future of peaceful protest in Australia, while some say Jewish community being prioritised over others.
Alliances are fluid in Myanmar’s civil war where a military regime, ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy forces are battling it out.
