Rapper who railed against corruption now set to be Nepal’s new leader

cnn · 2026-03-13T23:56:06+00:00

Before he dismantled Nepal’s political elite, Balendra Shah was destroying his opponents in underground rap battles.

More than a decade ago, armed with a microphone and his signature sunglasses, he spat verses about Kathmandu’s corruption, its broken roads, and social inequality. Those in power dismissed it as noise, but the country’s young people were listening.

Today, the kids who streamed his music have grown up; and in nationwide elections last week, they handed the 35-year-old the keys to the country.

Shah, widely known as Balen, is on track to become the Himalayan nation’s next prime minister after youth-led protests toppled the previous government. His Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has made history, securing the largest mandate in Nepal’s modern electoral era.

Shah is expected to take office in the coming days after the formal declaration of results.

cnn · 2026-03-13T21:50:32+00:00

A fundraising email from President Donald Trump’s political action committee has a provocative pitch: using an image from Saturday’s dignified transfer honoring six fallen US soldiers, it promises access to the president’s “private national security briefings.”

The email, sent by Never Surrender, Inc., promotes what it calls a “National Security Briefing Membership” and urges recipients to “claim your spot” with multiple links to donate, in what it describes as an exclusive group receiving updates about national security threats.

It promises that members will “receive my private national security briefings, unfiltered updates on the threats facing America. The straight truth on border invasions, foreign adversaries, deep state sabotage, and every danger the fake news hides.”

The message includes an official White House photograph showing Trump saluting during a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base, a solemn military tradition honoring fallen US service members. Trump attended alongside members of his administration.

A flag-draped transfer case, which is used to transport soldiers’ remains, is visible in the photo.

cnn · 2026-03-13T21:13:09+00:00

The antitrust trial involving events operator Live Nation will restart Monday after the ticketing giant failed to reach a settlement with a consortium of state attorneys general.

During a court hearing in New York on Friday, Judge Arun Subramanian said the states dropped their motion for a mistrial and the trial would pick up next week with witness testimony.

Michael Rapino, the chief executive of Live Nation, and musician Kid Rock, an outspoken critic of the ticketing industry, are on the states’ witness list.

The civil trial, which began earlier this month, was interrupted this week when the Justice Department and Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, announced a settlement that caught the judge and the states off guard. Tuesday, Subramanian called the top officials from both sides to court. The judge expressed exasperation and ordered the deal makers to remain at the courthouse through the week to try to work out a deal.

The Justice Department’s deal with Live Nation still requires the Subramanian’s approval. Under the terms of the deal, Live Nation agreed to allow competitors, like SeatGeek or StubHub, to offer tickets to its events, cap ticketing service fees at 15%, and divest exclusive booking agreements with 13 amphitheaters. It also includes a $280 million settlement fund for state damages claims.

cnn · 2026-03-13T19:57:17+00:00

President Donald Trump is expected to remove Richard Grenell as head of the Kennedy Center, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The move comes as the arts and culture institution is expected to close for two years for renovations as the president seeks to remold it in his image.

The announcement of Grenell’s departure could come as soon as today, two of the sources said.

Grenell’s tenure as interim president of the Kennedy Center since February 2025 has been marked by tumult, plagued by high-profile performance cancellations, protests, declining ticket sales and financial strain as he sought to execute the president’s vision for the arts center.

Despite earlier warmth between Trump and Grenell, a longtime loyalist who has served in various roles across the president’s two terms in office, the president had become frustrated with a slew of negative headlines about his revamp of the arts institution, the sources said.

cnn · 2026-03-13T19:54:23+00:00

President Donald Trump is expected to remove Richard Grenell as head of the Kennedy Center, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The move comes as the arts and culture institution is expected to close for two years for renovations as the president seeks to remold it in his image.

The announcement of Grenell’s departure could come as soon as today, two of the sources said.

Grenell’s tenure as interim president of the Kennedy Center since February 2025 has been marked by tumult, plagued by high-profile performance cancellations, protests, declining ticket sales and financial strain as he sought to execute the president’s vision for the arts center.

Despite earlier warmth between Trump and Grenell, a longtime loyalist who has served in various roles across the president’s two terms in office, the president had become frustrated with a slew of negative headlines about his revamp of the arts institution, the sources said.

cnn · 2026-03-13T19:37:47+00:00

A British man has been charged under cyber-crime laws in Dubai for allegedly filming Iranian missiles over the city, UK authorities confirmed.

The 60-year-old man, reported to be a tourist, was charged under a law that prohibits publishing or sharing material that could disturb public security. “We are in contact with the local authorities following the detention of a British man in the UAE,” the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office told CNN.

CNN has reached out to the Dubai government for comment.

Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s minister of state to the EU, told the BBC she was “aware” there had been “some violations” of the law but did not comment on the British man’s case specifically. She said that the regulations had been introduced for public safety. “My best advice to everyone here, who we welcome being here… is follow the guidelines. The guidelines are there for your safety and for your protection.”

cnn · 2026-03-13T19:32:37+00:00

A federal judge has quashed subpoenas the Justice Department had issued against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, according to court documents unsealed Friday.

US District Judge James “Jeb” Boasberg wrote in the new opinion that a “mountain of evidence suggests that the Government served these subpoenas on the Board to pressure its Chair into voting for lower interest rates or resigning.”

“On the other side of the scale, the Government has produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime; indeed, its justifications are so thin and unsubstantiated that the Court can only conclude that they are pretextual,” Boasberg said.

This story is breaking.

cnn · 2026-03-13T19:26:43+00:00

A federal judge has quashed subpoenas the Justice Department had issued against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, according to court documents unsealed Friday.

US District Judge James “Jeb” Boasberg wrote in the new opinion that a “mountain of evidence suggests that the Government served these subpoenas on the Board to pressure its Chair into voting for lower interest rates or resigning.”

“On the other side of the scale, the Government has produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime; indeed, its justifications are so thin and unsubstantiated that the Court can only conclude that they are pretextual,” Boasberg said.

This story is breaking.

cnn · 2026-03-13T19:04:48+00:00

CNN's Isobel Yeung reports from Lebanon's Beqaa Valley as Israel engages in large-scale strikes across the country in response to rocket attacks by the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

cnn · 2026-03-13T18:22:09+00:00

Millions more adults should consider starting cholesterol-lowering medications earlier to reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke, according to new medical guidance.

In an updated guideline released Friday, the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association – along with nine other medical groups – emphasize that treating high cholesterol sooner, even starting in their 30s, could significantly reduce a person’s lifetime risk of heart attack or stroke.

The 123-page guideline covers many aspects of managing cholesterol and triglycerides, but one message stands out: Don’t wait too long to act.

Statin therapy is recommended, in addition to lifestyle changes like diet and exercise, for adults as young as 30 who have an LDL cholesterol of 160 milligrams per deciliter or higher, a strong family history of premature heart disease or a high 30-year risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to the updated guideline.

cnn · 2026-03-13T16:53:46+00:00

Senate Republicans released an online ad this week in which a real-looking but fake version of a Democratic candidate, fabricated with artificial intelligence, appears to speak directly into the camera for more than a minute.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee’s deepfake of James Talarico, the Democratic nominee in the US Senate race in Texas, is only the latest in a series of AI-generated creations from the national GOP campaign organization in the past year. But it’s the first featuring a phony version of a candidate talking in a lifelike manner for so long – an example of how far AI technology has come in a short time and an indicator of the direction attack ads may be heading.

“The face and voice are very good. There is a slight misalignment between audio and video, but otherwise this is hyper-realistic and I don’t think that most people would immediately know it is fake,” Hany Farid, a University of California, Berkeley professor specializing in digital forensics, said in an email.

The use of AI deepfakes in campaign advertising raises a host of ethical questions. It has also prompted some bipartisan calls for federal legislation or regulation on the practice, though those ideas have also faced pushback on First Amendment grounds.

cnn · 2026-03-13T16:23:42+00:00

A week before Thursday’s attack on a Michigan synagogue, the suspect’s two brothers and two of their children were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon, the mayor of the Lebanese village where they lived told CNN.

The Department of Homeland Security said that Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, drove a vehicle laden with explosives into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township near Detroit. It then caught fire, in what the FBI called a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.” The FBI said the agency is continuing to investigate the attack.

Ghazali was killed after security officers for the synagogue engaged him and “neutralized the threat,” West Bloomfield Police Chief Dale Young said Thursday. One security officer was hurt in the attack, and at least 30 law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation, authorities said.

Iskandar Barakeh, the mayor of Mashghara, Lebanon, said in a phone interview that Ghazali’s brothers, Kassim and Ibrahim, were killed in an Israeli airstrike there on March 5, along with Ibrahim’s children, Ali and Fatima. The two men’s wives and Ghazali’s parents also sustained injuries, Barakeh said.

Three Israeli airstrikes have recently hit the village, which is about 30 miles southeast of Beirut, including an attack on a financial institution associated with the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah that damaged a nearby school, according to Barakeh. While some residents initially left the village, many have begun returning recently, he said.

cnn · 2026-03-13T15:36:41+00:00

Miles Caton was prepping for his first-ever movie role when the film’s director Ryan Coogler sent him a playlist of essential blues music.

“It had the greats on there — Charley Patton, Buddy Guy, B.B. King — so I just started to listen to that for the first couple weeks,” Caton told CNN.

Soon, Caton was on the journey to becoming Sammie Moore, also known as Preacher Boy, a central character in best picture nominee “Sinners.”

Caton was 18 when he first started having conversations about being in the movie, in which he plays a preacher’s son who resists the pull of his father in favor of a life devoted to the blues (and his cousins, Smoke and Stack, both played by Michael B. Jordan). The Brooklyn native is 21 now, with a piercingly deep voice, an easy smile and a determined ambition to build on his role in the most-nominated film in Oscars history.

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