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Nepal’s rapper-led centrist party heads for poll landslide

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Nepal’s rapper-led centrist party heads for poll landslide


Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) election candidate Balendra Shah (C) shows a victory sign after collecting a certificate following his win in parliamentary elections at the counting centre in Damak in Nepal’s Jhapa district on March 7, 2026.— AFP

Nepal’s centrist RSP party of rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah had secured a majority in the direct parliamentary elections, partial official results showed Sunday, and was heading for a landslide according to official trends.

The 35-year-old’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was also leading in the proportional representation vote, according to results declared and election commission trends.

The vote was the first since the deadly September 2025 youth anti-corruption protests toppled the government.

Shah himself had on Saturday defeated the veteran four-time prime minister KP Sharma Oli — whose Marxist-led government was ousted in the violence last year — in his own seat.

His victory over the 74-year-old Oli, and his rise from the capital’s mayor to potential prime minister, marks one of the most dramatic results in recent Nepali politics.

The September 2025 youth-led demonstrations, under a loose Gen Z banner, began over a brief social media ban but quickly tapped into broader grievances over corruption and a struggling economy.

Elections on Thursday chose a new 275-member House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament, with 185 seats chosen directly, and 110 by a proportional representation vote.

Poll monitors, The Asian Network for Free Elections, said Sunday that voting had been “peaceful and orderly and reflected continued public engagement with democratic processes despite recent political instability”.

‘Necessary action’

On Sunday afternoon, 153 of the direct elections had been declared: RSP dominating with 117, Nepali Congress 17, and the Marxists of now-defeated Oli trailing with seven.

Former Maoist guerrilla commander Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a three-time prime minister, won his seat, with his party holding seven in total.

Trends showed Shah’s RSP was also leading in eight of the remaining 12 constituencies in the direct elections.

In the proportional representation vote, RSP was leading with nearly half of the counted votes — but final results could take several more days.

Nepali Congress, the largest party in the past coalition government, also saw its new leader, Gagan Thapa, defeated by RSP.

“Counting is moving forward smoothly in all remaining constituencies,” Election Commission spokesman Narayan Prasad Bhattarai told AFP.

“Results of all direct votes are expected by the end of today, the PR (proportional representation) votes will take a few days more.”

The first-time parliamentary lawmaker Shah toured the streets of his new constituency on Saturday evening, wearing his signature dark sunglasses and waving from the sunroof of a car in a victory parade through cheering crowds who chanted “Balen” —as he is better known.

Shah, who did not make a speech, won more than three times more votes than Oli, who congratulated the winner, wishing him “a smooth and successful five-year tenure”.

Nepal’s government-formed investigation commission to probe the deadly September 2025 violence also submitted its report Sunday.

No one has been held accountable for the deaths as yet.

Its findings have not yet been made public, but it was handed to Sushila Karki, the interim prime minister,

Commission member Bigyan Raj Sharma told reporters the team had questioned more than 200 people, and had submitted a 900-page report — with more than 8,000 additional pages.

“We tried to conduct fact-finding for September 8 and 9,” he said.

“Based on what we saw, understood, and verified through the evidence, we have provided our opinions and recommendations. This is now the government’s property, and the government will take the necessary action.”

Oli has denied ordering security forces to open fire on protesters, and has told AFP that he blames “infiltrators” for the violence.





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King Charles and the Trumps unite at White House for a historic tea meeting

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King Charles and the Trumps unite at White House for a historic tea meeting


King Charles and the Trumps unite at White House for a historic tea meeting

A ceremonial welcome finally happened at the White House as Donald Trump and Melania Trump greeted King Charles and Queen Camilla at the South Portico.

The royal tour coincides with celebrations of America’s 250th anniversary an occasion rooted in the nation’s independence from Britain.

Both the leaders and their spouses gathered for tea, seated together over a carefully arranged spread that included finger sandwiches, cakes, and honey.

The first lady was wese into a butter-yellow outfit designed by Adam Lippes, while the Queen opted for an elegant white chiffon dress adorned with black beaded embroidery by Anna Valentine.

Newly released images show the King and Queen in conversation with the Trump’s standing before a striking painting that portrays the president in the aftermath of the July 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.





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Norway joins Type 26 Frigate Programme to boost NATO naval power

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Norway joins Type 26 Frigate Programme to boost NATO naval power


Norway joins Type 26 Frigate Programme to boost NATO naval power

Norway has joined the Type 26 frigates project with Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom in a bid to enhance its naval capabilities and build a formidable naval force for any future conflict.

The Global Combat Ship User Group Charter, overseeing the development, construction and operation of frigates formally welcomed the Royal Norwegian Navy into the team.

The group is building 34 world-class warships for the four states, including Type 26 frigates for Norway and the UK, the River-class frigates for Canada and the Hunter-class frigates for Australia.

The multi-billion-dollar project was initiated in the early 2010s; however, it saw real progress in 2017, gaining momentum after the UK began construction.

Norway was invited to sign the charter around a year ago and now the Kingdom has officially joined the partnership.

Norway wants to procure five Type 26 frigates to enhance its navy’s defensive capabilities in the Atlantic and Europe’s northern flank. The country already operates eight identical warships.

Commodore Stephen Roberts, the Senior Responsible Owner for the UK Type 26 frigate programme, welcomed Norway to the program and said, “Our strategic maritime security partnership with allies is further strengthened by Norway’s inclusion in the wider GCS enterprise alongside our Canadian and Australian partners.”

Captain Alexander Erichsen, Chief Fleet Programme for the Royal Norwegian Navy said that enhanced security cooperation and aligning the designs of frigates will strengthen interoperability and collective security measures across allied navies. 





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Trump calls for Jimmy Kimmel to be fired over jokes made before White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting

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Trump calls for Jimmy Kimmel to be fired over jokes made before White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting


President Trump on Mondaycalled for comedian Jimmy Kimmel to be fired Monday over jokes the late-night host made days before the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

The president’s call for Kimmel’s firing came after hours after first lady Melania Trump, in a rare statement, called the jokes “hateful and violent rhetoric.” 

On his show on Thursday, Kimmel said he was taking “a page from the Kid Rock alternative half-time show” and created a mock correspondents’ dinner, which has featured comedians in the past but this year was set to feature mentalist Oz Pearlman. In the skit, Kimmel referred to Melania Trump as having a “glow like an expectant widow.”

Mr. Trump called the joke a “call to violence.”

“I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale,” the president wrote on Truth Social on Monday. “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”

The first lady had said that ABC should “take a stand” against Kimmel.

“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America,” Melania Trump posted on social media. “People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate. A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him.”

Melania Trump was sitting next to Mr. Trump on Saturday at the correspondents’ dinner when gunshots rang out and they were evacuated from the ballroom. No one was injured and the suspected gunman, Cole Allen, was tackled and taken into custody. He is set to appear in federal court on Monday.

CBS News has reached out to ABC for comment. 

Kimmel was pulled from the air for several nights in September after being criticized by conservatives, including Mr. Trump, for his remarks in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination. Kimmel had said that America “hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”  

Kimmel did not issue a blanket apology for the remarks, but he did say he could see how they were offensive to some. When he returned to the air on Sept. 23, he said it was “not my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual,” referring to the alleged gunman, who is in custody pending trial. 



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