• Dozens killed in Nepal’s worst protest violence in decades.
• Protests led by Gen Z over corruption and lack of jobs.
• Over 2,100 injured; key govt buildings, malls set on fire.
  

Nepal’s interim government, led by former Chief Justice Sushila Karki, has set up a panel to investigate the violence during anti-corruption protests this month that killed 74 people and forced Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to quit, a minister said on Monday.

The demonstrations, which began as a Gen Z-led movement against widespread corruption and a lack of jobs, escalated into the Himalayan nation’s deadliest violence in decades.

More than 2,100 people were injured while protesters set fire to the main office complex that houses the prime minister’s office, the Supreme Court and the parliament building, as well as malls, luxury hotels and showrooms that the demonstrators said were owned by people close to corrupt politicians.

Rameshwore Khanal, who Sushila put in charge of the finance ministry, said the three-member panel headed by retired judge Gauri Bahadur Karki had been given three months to complete the probe.

“It will investigate […] the loss of life and property during the protests, excesses by both sides and people involved in the acts of arson and vandalism during the movement,” Khanal told Reuters.

In a social media post, former Prime Minister Oli also demanded an investigation into the violence and said his government did not order police to fire at the protesters. 

The protests were infiltrated by outsiders and police did not possess the type of weapons which were used to fire on the crowd, Oli said.

Karki is the former chairman of a special court that hears corruption cases in Nepal and has a reputation for honesty and integrity.

Britain, Australia, Canada and Portugal on Sunday recognised a Palestinian state after nearly two years of war in Gaza, with France, Belgium and other countries poised to follow suit at the UN General Assembly.

Here is an overview of diplomatic recognition of the state, which was unilaterally proclaimed by the Palestinian leadership in exile in 1988.

Of the territory claimed by the state, Israel currently occupies the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is largely in ruins.

Which countries recognise or will recognise State of Palestine?

Answer: three-quarters of UN members.

According to an AFP tally, at least 145 countries out of 193 UN members now recognise the State of Palestine.

AFP has not yet obtained recent confirmation from three African countries.

The count includes Britain and Canada – the first G7 countries to do so -, Australia and Portugal.

Several other countries, including France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Malta, are expected to follow suit during a summit on the future of the two-state solution chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on Monday at United Nations headquarters in New York.

Russia, alongside all Arab countries, almost all African and Latin American countries, and most Asian countries, including India and China, are already on the list.

Algeria became the first country to officially recognise a Palestinian state on November 15, 1988, minutes after late Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat unilaterally proclaimed an independent Palestinian state.

Dozens of other countries followed suit in the following weeks and months, and another wave of recognitions came in late 2010 and early 2011.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza has now driven another 13 countries to recognise the state.

Who does not?

Answer: at least 45 countries, including Israel, the United States and their allies.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government completely rejects the idea of a Palestinian state.

In Asia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore are among the countries that do not recognise Palestine.

Neither does Cameroon in Africa, Panama in Latin America and most countries in Oceania.

Europe is the most divided continent on the issue, and is split almost 50-50 over Palestinian statehood.

Until the mid-2010s, the only countries recognising the State of Palestine apart from Turkey were those of the former Soviet bloc.

Now, some former Eastern Bloc countries such as Hungary and the Czech Republic do not recognise a Palestinian state at a bilateral level.

Western and northern Europe were until now united in non-recognition, with the exception of Sweden, which extended recognition in 2014.

But the war in Gaza has upended things, with Norway, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia following in Sweden’s footsteps to recognise the state in 2024, before the United Kingdom and Portugal did so on Sunday.

Italy and Germany do not plan on recognising a Palestinian state.

What does recognition mean? 

Romain Le Boeuf, a professor in international law at the University of Aix-Marseille in southern France, described recognition of Palestinian statehood as “one of the most complicated questions” in international law, “a little like a halfway point between the political and juridical”.

He told AFP states were free to choose the timing and form of recognition, with great variations that are either explicit or implicit.

According to Le Boeuf, there is no office to register recognitions.

“The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank puts all they consider to be acts of recognition on its own list, but from a purely subjective point of view. In the same way, other states will say that they have or have not recognised, but without really having to justify themselves,” he said.

However, there is one point on which international law is quite clear: “Recognition does not mean that a state has been created, no more than the lack of recognition prevents the state from existing.”

While recognition carries largely symbolic and political weight, three-quarters of countries say “that Palestine meets all the necessary conditions to be a state”, he said.

“I know for many people this seems only symbolic, but actually in terms of symbolism, it is sort of a game changer,” lawyer and Franco-British law professor Philippe Sands wrote in the New York Times in mid-August 2025.

“Because once you recognise Palestinian statehood… you essentially put Palestine and Israel on level footing in terms of their treatment under international law.”

• Security tight as memorial crowd exceeds 63,000 people.
• Trump speech casts Charlie Kirk as conservative martyr.
• Mourners say activist died for political, religious freedom.

Some called Charlie Kirk a modern martyr. Others said his death was a pivotal moment for the US.

The potent blend of politics and religion that captivated the Sunday afternoon memorial service for the slain conservative activist left little doubt that Kirk’s death had elevated him to iconic status for the American right.

The event at State Farm Stadium outside Phoenix drew some of the most powerful political and religious voices in the country, led by President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Kirk’s widow Erika and many others. Its size, intensity and patriotic pageantry eclipsed many of Trump’s own campaign rallies last year.

But the impact of Kirk’s assassination as he spoke on a Utah college campus on September 10 may have been most vividly demonstrated by the more than 63,000 regular people who filled the stadium to honour and mourn him. Many had driven or flown thousands of miles to be there.

Cindy Warford, 62, said she and her 13- and 15-year-old granddaughters listened regularly to Kirk, who hosted a podcast and spoke on college campuses. The girls have been hit particularly hard by his death, she said.

“I really feel this is this generation’s Martin Luther King or JFK or even 9/11 – that we lived through,” she said. “This has hit them really hard, because Charlie was talking to them.”

Warford was referring to the assassination of Democratic President John F. Kennedy in 1963, the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr in 1968 and the attacks on US targets in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001.

Pivotal moments for US conservatives

The melding of religiosity and speechifying at the memorial reinforced the perception that Kirk’s shooting death was a galvanising moment for US conservatives in their fight against the left.

Rob Hartz, a business analyst from Arizona in his 50s, described Kirk as inspirational and a martyr for conservative values.

Kirk, 31, ran Turning Point USA, a youth voter turnout organisation for Republicans. He was well known among college students and conservative activists. But the turnout on Sunday showed he became a far bigger figure for the right in death than in life.

Most on the US left, while decrying Kirk’s murder, do not see him as a martyr. They view him as a polarizing figure, as he divided public opinion with remarks about Black Americans, LGBTQ communities, Muslims and immigrants.

Many of the early speakers on Sunday compared the service to a religious revival event, which is known for passionate preaching and intense crowd reactions. Biblical scripture was placed on seats, and Christian-themed music was frequently played.

Throngs of people, most Trump supporters and wearing a combination of red, white and blue, as organisers had requested, began queuing in the pre-dawn hours.

When they entered the stadium, they saw two giant electronic screens – 45 feet wide by 26 feet high – showing an image of Kirk kissing his wife, Erika. Flanking those screens were two American flags, each 20 feet by 30 feet.

Kirk died for freedom

Many people who attended said Kirk had died for the cause of religious and political freedom.

“Look around this place,” said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “The president of the United States is here. His entire cabinet is here. I just came from overseas, and every country I stopped, they gave us their condolences for his passing.”

For several hours before politicians took the stage, the crowd sang and swayed along to bands playing a message of Christian faith, and they prayed for Kirk and America.

In the corridors of the stadium, framed pictures of Kirk and his widow sat on pedestals. Kirk merchandise was for sale, including red baseball caps – an homage to Trump’s signature MAGA head gear – with simply KIRK emblazoned on them.

Trump and Vance have said his murder at a Utah college campus should trigger scrutiny of left-wing groups. A 22-year-old technical college student has been charged with Kirk’s killing. Investigators say he told his romantic partner in text messages that he had killed Kirk because he had “had enough of his hate.”

“Charlie was a martyr for his beliefs. The movement that Charlie created was always meant to outlive him, but no one expected it to be this soon,” said Adam Pennings, 25, who had flown in from Dallas, Texas and lined up at 5 a.m. to attend Kirk’s memorial.

Antonina Gagliano, 58, drove from San Diego to pay tribute to Kirk. She said she didn’t know him well, but her son followed him online.

“His mission is going to grow a hundredfold,” she said.