Nepal’s youngest prime minister takes the oath of office

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s youngest prime minister took the oath of office Friday after his party won a landslide victory in elections earlier this month, and following a youth-led uprising that toppled the government in September.

Balendra Shah was appointed prime minister by President Ram Chandra Paudel Friday after his Rastriya Swatantra Party won nearly two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, in the March 5 polls.

Shah, the 35-year-old political outsider widely known as Balen, will lead a government tasked with navigating deep public frustration with Nepal’s established parties, who were widely blamed by voters for corruption and chronic political instability.

Another 15 members of the new Cabinet were also sworn in an elaborate ceremony that included Hindu rituals, such as the “shankhnaad” or blowing of conches, and religious chanting by Hindu priests and Buddhist lamas.

Army bands played tunes and officials and diplomats lined up to greet the new leader, as hundreds of his supporters cheered outside the presidential residence and the prime minister's office in the heart of Kathmandu.

The timing of Shah's oath taking — at 12:34 p.m. on the day when the Himalayan nation is celebrating Ram Navami — was seen as an auspicious time by Hindu priests based on astrological calculations. It also fits the “1-2-3-4” numerological pattern. Shah later on Friday entered his new office at 14:15 p.m. which also fits a “14-15” pattern. Hindu priests consider such numerical patterns as auspicious as well.

Religion and astrology play a big role in Nepal, which is more than 80% Hindu and where people begin new work, get married and hold religious rituals according to auspicious times.

Shah was born in the capital Kathmandu but his family comes from the Hindu-dominated Terai region of Nepal, near the border with India.

A structural engineer who rose to fame as a rap artist before becoming Kathmandu’s mayor, he leads the Rastriya Swatantra Party, which won about two-thirds of the 275 seats in the bicameral Parliament’s powerful lower House of Representatives.

Shah emerged as a prominent voice during the bloody youth-led uprising in September that toppled the government in the nation of 30 million people, a wave of unrest that left dozens dead.

Although he didn’t directly participate in the protests, Shah publicly expressed support for the largely Generation Z demonstrators who led the movement.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Shah with a message on X.

“Your appointment reflects the trust reposed in your leadership by the people of Nepal," Modi said. "I look forward to working closely with you to take India-Nepal friendship and cooperation to even greater heights for the mutual benefit of our two peoples.”

Nepal's former Chief Justice and interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki, left, watches as Nepal's youngest prime minister Balendra Shah, takes the oath of office at a function in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Nepal's youngest Prime Minister Balendra Shah takes the oath of office at a function in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Nepal's youngest Prime Minister Balendra Shah, second right, takes the oath of office at a function in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Nepal's youngest Prime Minister Balendra Shah signs after taking the oath of office at a function in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Balendra Shah, front center with sun glasses, arrives for a swearing-in ceremony of newly elected members of the House of Representatives at the Federal Parliament in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Balendra Shah, center with sun glasses, arrives for a swearing-in ceremony of newly elected members of the House of Representatives at the Federal Parliament in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

BERLIN (AP) — A whale that was stranded for days in shallow water at a Baltic Sea resort in Germany has swum free from a sandbank overnight after a last-ditch rescue effort. But it isn't out of danger yet.

An excavator spent Thursday digging an escape channel. The whale then swam through it overnight, marine biologist Robert Marc Lehmann said Friday, German news agency dpa reported.

But he cautioned that it was only a small step in the right direction for the marine mammal, which is 12-15 meters (39-49 feet) long, and that it will only really be at home again if it reaches the Atlantic Ocean.

The whale was spotted stuck on an underwater sandbank in Timmendorfer Strand, a popular resort town, on Monday morning. Initial efforts to free it and coax it back toward deeper water, including using coast guard and fire department boats to create large waves, were unsuccessful. The Baltic Sea lacks strong tides that could have freed the whale.

On Thursday morning, rescuers brought in excavators to dig a trench in front of the whale's head, while Lehmann approached the animal and guided the digging. They worked until well after sunset, but hadn't quite been able to get the whale out by the time they had to stop work for the night.

Early on Friday morning, the whale was on its way out of Lübeck Bay, where Timmendorfer Strand is located, said Stephanie Gross of the Institute of Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research. She said the massive mammal, which was about 300 meters (nearly 1,000 feet) off the coast, was being accompanied by a coast guard ship and several boats.

Experts assume that the whale is a young male, as males, unlike females, tend to migrate. It also appeared to be the same whale that was spotted several times in the port of Wismar, east of Timmendorfer Strand, in recent weeks.

It was not immediately clear why the whale was in the area and got stranded.

Humpback whales aren't native to the Baltic. This one faces a journey of several hundred kilometers (miles) through German and Danish waters if it is to reach the North Sea.

A suction dredger, right, is to be used to dredge a pathway for the whale, left, which is stranded on the Baltic coast off near Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Tuesday March 24, 2026. (Ulrich Perrey/dpa via AP)

A ship sails through the Bay of Lubeck behind the humpback whale stranded on the Baltic Sea coast, in Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Jens Buettner/dpa via AP)

Helpers gather on the beach near a stranded whale as a new rescue attempt is to be made in Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa via AP)

Robert Marc Lehmann, biologist, examines a stranded whale in the Baltic Sea in Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa via AP)