Katmandu: Nepal’s prime minister resigned on Tuesday, a day after one of the deadliest crackdowns on protesters in years saw at least 19 people killed.
“I have resigned from the post of prime minister with effect from today... in order to take further steps toward a political solution and resolution of the problems,” KP Sharma Oli said in a letter to the president.
The protests, which began on Monday with demands that the government lifts a ban on social media and tackles corruption, reignited despite the apps going back online.
At least 19 people were killed on Monday, and Amnesty International said live ammunition had been used against protesters.
Oli, 73, began his fourth term last year after his Communist Party forged a coalition government with the center-left Nepali Congress in the often-volatile parliament.
Dissatisfaction has grown with political instability, corruption, and slow economic development in the Himalayan nation of 30 million people.
People aged 15-40 make up nearly 43 percent of the population, according to government statistics — while unemployment hovers around 10 percent and GDP per capita is just $1,447, according to the World Bank.
The country became a federal republic in 2008 after a decade-long civil war and a peace deal that saw the Maoists brought into government, and the abolishment of the monarchy.
Since then, a revolving door of aging prime ministers and a culture of horse-trading have fueled public perceptions that the government is out of touch.
Since Friday, videos contrasting the struggles of ordinary Nepalis with the children of politicians flaunting luxury goods and expensive vacations have gone viral on TikTok, which was not blocked.
Nepal prime minister resigns after deadly protests
https://arab.news/4kwqd
Nepal prime minister resigns after deadly protests
- At least 19 people were killed on Monday, and Amnesty International said live ammunition had been used against protesters
Bangladesh arrests journalist for ‘anti-state activities’
DHAKA: Bangladesh police on Monday said they had arrested a veteran journalist for alleged “anti-state activities,” accused of promoting the banned party of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The arrest, which comes ahead of key elections in February, the first vote since the student-led uprising last year that overthrew the autocratic government of Hasina and her Awami League, sparked concerns from a key rights group.
Anis Alamgir was arrested under the Anti-Terrorism Act along with three others, accused of spreading propaganda in talk shows and social media posts, and conspiring to rehabilitate the Awami League.
The interim government banned Hasina’s Awami League in May under amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act — a move Human Rights Watch condemned as “draconian.”
“Anis Alamgir has been arrested on accusations of conspiring against the state,” said Kazi Mohammad Rafiq, officer-in-charge of Uttara West police station in the capital Dhaka.
Three others were named in police documents alongside Alamgir, including actress Meher Afroz Shaon.
Rights organization Ain o Salish Kendra condemned the arrest.
“Using a law, originally enacted to prevent terrorist activities, against freedom of expression and journalism is against the fundamental principles of a democratic state,” it said in a statement.
“It’s an attack on freedom of expression.”
Press freedom in Bangladesh has long been under threat, and Hasina’s tenure was marked as one of the worst periods for media freedom in the South Asian nation.
Bangladesh ranks 149 out of 180 countries for press freedom in 2025, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), up from 165 a year before.
But RSF also notes that over 130 journalists were subjected to “unfounded judicial proceedings” and five detained, in the “political purge that followed the fall of Sheikh Hasina.”
Those listed as detained pending trial are Ekattor TV’s Farzana Rupa, Shakil Ahmad and Mozammel Babu, as well as freelancer Shahriar Kabir and Shyamal Dutta, editor of Bhorer Kagoj newspaper.
