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‘This is our revolution. It’s our turn now’: Nepal’s ‘gen Z protesters’ speak out against corruption | Nepal
The whiteboard listing the names of patients at a hospital in central Kathmandu tells the story of a protest gone badly wrong. Beside each name is written their ages; 18, 22, 20, 18, 23. The list goes on.
By Wednesday morning there were still scores of Nepal’s young being treated for gunshot wounds and injuries sustained when police opened fire on protesters in Kathmandu on Monday.
These are the so-called gen Z protesters, a generation of young Nepalis who led a mass protest against government corruption, nepotism and a ban on social media sites, and paid for it with bullet wounds and in some cases their lives. Hundreds were injured and at least 22 are believed to have died.
From his hospital bed, Saurav*, an 18-year-old college student, said he had been excited to join the protest. “When it comes to the nation, there is no need for motivation. The politicians are just selling our country for their own greed. That’s not supposed to happen,” he said.
The violence that broke out before the police opened fire on the huge crowds that had gathered outside the parliament building in Kathmandu on Mondays was, insists Saurav, instigated by groups outside their anti-corruption movement.
As the shooting started, a protester standing in front of Saurav was shot in the chest and died on the spot, he said. Pellets from the shot hit his hand. “I was screaming in pain and my friends carried me to this hospital … It was totally unnecessary. Killing people, I don’t think that’s humanity. That’s just disgusting,” he said.
By Tuesday afternoon the prime minister, KP Sharma Oli, had resigned and thousands of Nepalis had taken to the streets to spontaneously celebrate his downfall and express their anger.
The mood initially was one of jubilation at what many saw as the end of widespread government corruption, and bitter resentment at the killing of the protesters the day before.
For the past 10 years, Nepal has been ruled by the same three elderly leaders – Oli, Sher Bahadur Deuba and Pushpa Kamal Dahal – who have effectively taken up the post of prime minister on a rotating basis. Between them, they have led the country on 12 separate occasions. While yesterday’s protests may have been triggered by the government’s ban on dozens of social media sites last week, it was built on years of frustration and anger at politicians who are widely viewed as corrupt and self-serving.
By 4pm the main roads into the heart of the city were packed with protesters, many on motorbikes, chanting, shouting and waving the Nepali flag, in defiance of a government curfew. Many more lined the streets, filming the moment and taking selfies, sensing that history was being made.
Much of the anger was directed at Oli, with handwritten signs scrawled on walls and T-shirts calling for him to be killed. “He killed our youth. He should be dead,” said one.
The focus of the crowds was Singha Durbar, the complex of government ministries, which was then breached and much of it set on fire. One group drove a police van out of the main gate, carrying dozens of triumphant protesters on its roof. Three young men scaled the ornate entrance gate to wave the national flag. On the ground below, a group belted out the national anthem. A small number of soldiers stood by but did little to intervene. There was no sign of the police.
As thick, acrid smoke belched out across the streets and over the city, some protesters emerged from the burning buildings carrying reams of paper, office chairs and computer monitors.
“This is a revolution. This is the end of the corruption. It’s our turn now,” said Sujan Dahal, a young Nepali celebrating the downfall of the prime minister in Kathmandu on Tuesday. “The government was so corrupt. They used that money to improve their own lives, but there has been no change in the lives of normal people.”
By the end of the day, the scale of destruction had shocked many Nepalis, amid a sense that the movement has been sabotaged by groups seemingly bent on retribution and violence.
“I’m feeling bad. This is not good for us,” said a young man, who did not want to give his name. Along with government ministries and residences, dozens of other properties have been set on fire across the city, including a luxury hotel and a prestigious private school.
Throughout the day, groups of protesters had formed human chains around some sites to protect them, including the entrance to an army camp. “We are protecting the army. We are not against the army. We are against the government. The corruption. They are trying to shut our voices by stopping social media. Today we won. It is our victory. Oli has resigned,” said Sajad Ansari, 20.
By Wednesday morning, the administrative heart of Kathmandu looked like the aftermath of a missile attack. Burnt-out buildings stood smouldering in the light rain. The charred shells of cars and motorbikes lay strewn across the streets. Plumes of dark smoke still rose over the city.
The city is now in a state of almost complete lockdown, with soldiers stationed at major junctions enforcing a strict curfew.
It is unclear what shape a future government might take.
It is a sentiment shared by Saurav even as he recovers from his injuries but, like many, he remains optimistic. “If the power is in the right hands, of course Nepal will develop,” he said. “Our young generation are very capable. We don’t seek for our own greed. We think about the good of the nation.”
* Name has been changed
NEW YORK — Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison wrested the title of the world’s richest man from longtime holder Elon Musk early Wednesday, according to wealth tracker Bloomberg, as stock in his software giant rocketed more than a third in a stunning few minutes of trading.
A college dropout, the 81-year-old Ellison is now worth $393 billion, Bloomberg says, several billion more than Musk, who had been the world’s richest for four years running. Stock in one of Musk’s biggest holdings, Tesla, has been moving in the opposite direction of Oracle’s, dropping 14% so far this year as of Tuesday.
The switch in the ranking came after a blockbuster earnings report from Oracle powered by multibillion dollar orders from customers as the AI race heats up.
Another news organization with a long history of tallying the world’s richest, Forbes, still has Musk at the top, at $439 billion. Bloomberg put his net worth at $385 billion. The difference is in how the two estimate the value of Musk’s rocket company SpaceX, among other private holdings.
With Ellison’s surging fortune Wednesday, he could fund the lifestyles of 5 million American families for a year, about the entire population of Florida, allowing them to all quit their jobs, assuming the U.S. median household income.
Or Ellison could just tell all of South Africa to take a vacation for year and produce nothing, based on its gross domestic product.
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Shooting at Evergreen High School leaves three students with gunshot wounds, including the suspected shooter
Updated at 6:53 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025
A shooting at Evergreen High School this afternoon hospitalized four students — three with gunshot wounds, including the suspected shooter.
The students with gunshot wounds were treated at CommonSpirit St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood. After treatment, two of the three — one being the suspect — are still in critical condition.
The third victim has non-life-threatening injuries.
The sheriff’s office confirmed in an evening update that the suspected shooter sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Officials said a fourth juvenile took themselves to the hospital with injuries sustained while escaping the high school and fleeing to a nearby elementary school.
“This is the scariest thing you could ever think could happen,” said Jacki Kelley, public information officer with Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “Honestly, I don’t know if our suspect is old enough to even drive.”
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Kelley said it was not clear who the shooter was or how many shooters may have been involved. Over 100 police officers from around the Denver area rushed to the school to try to help, Kelley said.
Officials said the shooter used a handgun and that police have not found a letter explaining the attack. Kelley said it appeared the shooting happened on school grounds, but outside the school.
The school is about 28 miles southwest of Denver. It enrolls about 900 students, according to the state Department of Education.
Tony Gorman/CPR News
Cameron Jones is a 9th grader at Evergreen High School. He said he was eating lunch outside when he heard three gunshots. A security guard then told him to run.
He said he never thought a shooting like Wednesday’s would happen in Evergreen.
“Absolutely not,” Jones said. “I thought this was like a one-in-a-million thing, and it still feels surreal that it happened.”
Jen Weber, a mother of a freshman student at the school, said she was washing her car when her son sent her a text message that a shooting was happening.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
“I think if I’m being honest with myself, I always knew it was ‘When, not if?’” Weber said. “But having been born and raised in Evergreen, I didn’t ever really think it would happen here in Evergreen.”
Weber was still waiting on Wednesday afternoon to be reunited with her son.
Authorities have not released more details on the shooting. Videos on social media show emergency service vehicles racing towards the school.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
“I am closely monitoring the situation at Evergreen High School, and am getting live updates. State Troopers are supporting local law enforcement in responding to this situation. Students should be able to attend school safely and without fear across our state and nation. We are all praying for the victims and the entire community,” said Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.
Federal law enforcement is also responding to the scene to assist.
Allison Sherry/CPR News
Parents are being asked to go to Bergen Meadow Elementary School at 1928 Hiwan Drive to reunify with their students.
Outside the school on Wednesday afternoon, a long line of parents waited to be reunited with their students.
Flatirons Community Church in Golden was planning a vigil on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
The Jefferson County Education Association, a teachers’ union in the district, said in a statement that every time a school shooting happens, it retraumatizes the community that lived through the Columbine shooting in 1999.
“Colorado has lived through this pain too many times. We cannot become numb. We cannot accept this as normal. We demand that our leaders at every level — local, state, and national — take real, meaningful action to end the epidemic of gun violence in our schools,” the association’s leaders said in a statement.
All Jefferson County school athletics and activities for Wednesday were canceled.
CPR reporters Haylee May, Alejandro A. Alonso Galva, Yesenia Robles, Molly Cruse, Kevin Beaty, Ben Markus, Allison Sherry and Tony Gorman, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with more information about the victims and the alleged shooter.
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Melissa McCoul, the professor fired by Texas A&M University on Tuesday for allegedly not changing her course content to match its description, is disputing her cause for termination and exploring legal options, according to a statement her attorney sent to The Texas Tribune on Wednesday.
McCoul’s attorney Amanda Reichek said the listed reason for termination was that she failed to change her course content to align with the catalog and course descriptions despite numerous instructions to do so. However, Reichek countered that McCoul’s course content was consistent with the descriptions, and she wasn’t instructed to change her course content. She had also been teaching the course for multiple years at that point with no difficulty.
McCoul has appealed the firing and is exploring legal action, Reichek said.
Texas A&M President Mark A. Welsh III terminated McCoul after a video went viral that showed a confrontation between her and a student in one of her summer classes, an upper-level children’s literature course. The video, which does not show anyone’s face, captures audio of a student objecting to a professor teaching that there are more than two genders. The student said this conflicts with President Donald Trump’s executive order and her religious beliefs, and McCoul responded by saying she had a right to teach the lesson while the student had a right to leave.
Texas A&M and Welsh have come under increasing fire from Republican lawmakers over the video. As a result, Welsh fired McCoul, revoked administrative duties from the head of the department that oversaw the course and reportedly demoted Mark Zoran, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Texas A&M’s second-largest college with more than 15,000 students.
The backlash from Republican lawmakers critical of the video has put Texas A&M on the defensive, a push fueled by Texas Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, publishing new, unreleased audio recordings of a meeting Welsh had with the student who confronted McCoul. In the audio, Welsh defended the professor and the topics taught in the class.
But, as the pressure to fire McCoul ramped up, Welsh switched gears. Late Monday, he removed both Zoran and the then-head of the English department, Emily Johansen, from their positions, saying they approved plans to teach material that was inconsistent with the published course description. The university has not confirmed whether they were fired or re-assigned. However, a university employee who works in upper administration told The Tribune that both Zoran and Johansen have been demoted.
It’s unclear who is leading the College of Arts and Sciences. On Wednesday, the English department announced that its associate department head would move up to acting head while they search for a replacement.
In a statement, the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents said they would audit every course to ensure compliance with the law. A separate statement from Chancellor Glenn Hegar praised Welsh for sacking McCoul. She was not tenured and had been an educator for more than 10 years.
Texas A&M has not identified any students involved in producing the video or audio.
Hours before Welsh announced McCoul’s firing, Gov. Greg Abbott called the dean and department head’s removal “good” in a post on X before also calling for the professor to be fired. Harrison, however, responded to Abbott’s post saying that the removals were not good enough and that Welsh “must also be fired.”
Several Republican lawmakers have since called for Welsh’s removal, and Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, wrote on X that the incident was “deeply concerning” and said the agency would “look into” it. The Justice Department declined to comment further. Texas A&M University did not respond to questions or provide additional information about the incident.
Harrison, a Texas A&M alum and former Trump administration official, has clashed with Welsh for months over diversity, equity and inclusion policies. In May, he accused Texas A&M of “egregious discrimination” by offering DEI-related courses and “targeted student recruitment.” Welsh has denied violating the law or discriminating.
It’s unclear how Harrison, the state representative, acquired the video and audio recordings. He also posted multiple screenshots of presentation and classroom material on X that is not available to people not enrolled in the course.
Welsh became Texas A&M’s president in 2023, the same year Texas lawmakers passed a ban on DEI offices and programs at public universities. He took over after the resignation of former President M. Katherine Banks, and since then, Republican leaders have moved aggressively to assert more control over higher education.
Disclosure: Texas A&M University has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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