SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
corruption
Nepal PM Resigns as Anti-Corruption Protesters Torch Parliament
"In every sector... corruption is increasing," said one protester. "Students are being killed by police... We would like to request that the government of Nepal stand down."
Sep 09, 2025
Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned Tuesday as youth-led anti-corruption protesters set fire to government buildings and assaulted officials as they fled for their lives as the number of demonstrators killed by state forces rose to at least 22.
On Monday, state security forces attacked protesters with weapons including water cannons, tear gas, batons, steel-coated rubber bullets, and live ammunition, killing at least 19 people and wounding upward of 350 others in the capital Kathmandu and other cities. Medical responders said that many of the protesters had been shot in the chest or head.
The BBC reported three more people were killed on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to at least 22. Protesters in Kathmandu stormed and set fire to the Singha Durbar—which houses the Nepalese Parliament and several government ministries—as well as the home of Oli, who was serving his third nonconsecutive term and said he resigned "in order to take further steps towards a political solution."
Video recordings posted on social media show protesters chasing and assaulting Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel, who is seen stripped to his underwear and dragged through a street. Another video shows bank notes raining from the sky as demonstrators set Energy Minister Deepak Khadka's home on fire.
Yet another video posted on social media shows Foreign Minister Arju Rana Deuba and her husband, former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, bloodied after their home was attacked and burned. The home of Jhala Nath Khanal, another former prime minister, was also torched. Khanal's wife, Ravi Laxmi Chitrakar, was inside the house at the time and was severely burned, according to The New York Times.
The Condition of four time PM of Nepal @SherBDeuba and his wife curent foreign minister Arju Deuba Rana pic.twitter.com/BxrQUm9QBs
— IN- Depth Story (@in_depthstory) September 9, 2025
The demonstrations, now in their second day, were sparked by growing outrage over government corruption and impunity, pervasive nepotism personified by the "nepo-kid" children of powerful officials, and the September 4 nationwide ban on 26 social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Reddit, WhatsApp, X, and YouTube.
The ban came after the companies missed a government-imposed registration deadline. Some social media platforms, such as Nimbuzz, TikTok, Viber, and WeTalk registered in time and were allowed to remain in operation.
Critics, who include Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah—a 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician who many believe could be a future prime minister—called the ban an attack on free expression and businesses that depend on social media for sales and marketing.
Although the government subsequently lifted the ban amid the nascent protests, the move came too late—and, critically, the social media proscription was only part of the problem.
"It's shameful to see international media framing Nepal's Gen-Z protest as merely against the social media ban. That's not what it is about," Nepalese physicist Sunny Labh wrote Monday on social media. "The protest was—and still is—against a corrupt system, unchecked government privileges, and years of exploitation. Reducing it to just the ban is dishonest and insulting to the movement."
One student protester in Kathmandu told The New Indian Express: "We are not fighting Oli, we are fighting Oli-ism—the system that rewards loyalty over competence, wealth over work, and silence over truth."
Satish Mandal, a 26-year-old protester in the capital, told the BBC that "Nepal is being corrupted day by day."
"In every sector, especially in heath and education, corruption is increasing," he added. "Students are being killed by police... We would like to request that the government of Nepal stand down."
It is unclear who will be Nepal's next prime minister. On Tuesday, the army issued a statement saying it would secure law and order, starting at 10:00 pm local time.
International human rights defenders condemned the deadly crackdown.
"We call on the authorities to respect and ensure the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression," United Nations Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement Monday. "All security forces must comply with the basic principles on the use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials."
"Nepal enjoys a lively democracy and active civic space, and dialogue is the best means to address young people's concerns," Shamdasani added. "We urge reconsideration of measures to regulate social media to ensure they comply with Nepal's human rights obligations."
Amnesty International Nepal director Nirajan Thapaliya said Monday that "the protestors have a right to peacefully protest and express their frustration and outrage against corruption and the government's restriction on the right to freedom of expression including the social media ban in Nepal."
"It is the obligation of Nepali authorities to respect this right in line with its commitments under international law as well as its own constitution and protect all protesters from further harm," Thapaliya added. "The government must genuinely listen to the legitimate demands of the youth to end corruption, deliver accountability, and ensure civil liberties instead of meting out such reckless violence against them."
Keep ReadingShow Less
I’ve Seen States Collapse; Now I See It Happening Here
After years reporting from post-authoritarian states, I now see the same patterns in my own backyard—where justice has collapsed, truth is suppressed, and power no longer answers to the people.
Sep 07, 2025
I’ve seen the aftermath of collapsed nations—now I see it happening here.
As a journalist and analyst, I’ve spent the last several years living and reporting in regions that have undergone massive political transformations. I lived for years in the Czech Republic, where I met many people with direct ties to the Velvet Revolution. I walked the streets of Prague with those who once occupied them in protest. I studied the Russian language, traveled extensively through the former Eastern Bloc, and listened closely to the survivors of failed regimes—those who remember the slow unraveling of authority, trust, and truth.
I’ve also spent significant time in South America, where I witnessed a very different kind of collapse—and rebirth. In Bolivia, I spoke with officials and journalists who lived through the 2019 coup and saw their country fight its way back to democracy. I’ve walked with communities who understand, firsthand, how empires and juntas collapse—and how people organize in the rubble.
Now I believe this country is collapsing.
Not in the dramatic, Hollywood fashion we tend to imagine—there are no tanks in the streets, no blackout zones or food lines. But what I am witnessing now in Northern Kentucky, through my work with the Northern Kentucky Truth & Accountability Project (NKTAP), is unmistakable: a slow-motion institutional implosion. And it mirrors what I have seen in failed or failing states around the world.
In Northern Kentucky, I’ve uncovered a network of corruption that spans law enforcement, prosecutorial offices, courts, and local media. I’ve documented how whistleblowers are silenced, public records denied, and criminal cases manipulated to protect the powerful.
Police ignore credible murder leads. Prosecutors bury evidence. Courts issue orders without hearings. And journalists—some out of fear, others out of complicity—refuse to report the truth. In my own case, I’ve faced obstruction, threats, targeted harassment, and retaliatory smears simply for investigating what any decent system should have investigated itself.
Our institutions are no longer capable of self-correction. That means the burden of accountability, truth telling, and justice now falls on us.
The structures of governance still stand. The buildings are still open. But the rule of law has collapsed in all but name. What remains is theater—a simulation of justice that functions to preserve power, not serve the public.
This isn’t just about Northern Kentucky. It’s a microcosm. I’m in touch with colleagues around the country—investigators, reporters, former civil servants—and I hear the same story again and again:
- Entire state agencies captured by private interests;
- Local governments ignoring open records laws;
- Whistleblowers retaliated against without recourse;
- Judges ruling from sealed dockets with no oversight;
- Public health policy shaped by ideology, not science; and
- Independent journalism gutted, bought, or blacklisted.
We are in a moment of mass epistemic failure, where truth itself is destabilized and power no longer answers to reason, law, or fact.
It doesn’t come with a bang. It comes with:
- The quiet refusal to investigate credible crimes;
- The steady normalization of lawlessness;
- The dissolution of public trust; and
- The emergence of parallel systems of truth-telling and justice.
This is what I’ve seen before. In Prague. In La Paz. In the fractured republics of the former USSR. It begins when the official channels of accountability no longer function—and the people must build their own.
That’s what I’m doing with the Northern Kentucky Truth & Accountability Project. We’re documenting. Archiving. Speaking to victims. Exposing public records that local officials tried to bury. We’re creating a people’s archive—a living record of a regime in decline.
Because when institutions stop telling the truth, the only way forward is to tell it ourselves.
I used to believe that America was “different”—that our legal tradition, constitutional system, and civic institutions would inoculate us from the kinds of collapse I saw abroad. I no longer believe that.
The US is not collapsing because it is uniquely broken. It is collapsing because it is a state like any other, vulnerable to the same corruption, elite decay, and loss of legitimacy that have brought down countless systems before.
The question is not whether collapse is happening. It is. The question is what we do after we accept that reality.
We can pretend this is just “polarization.” We can tell ourselves that if we just wait for the next election, the pendulum will swing back. Or we can admit the truth: Our institutions are no longer capable of self-correction. That means the burden of accountability, truth telling, and justice now falls on us—on journalists, organizers, whistleblowers, and ordinary people with the courage to say: enough.
I’ve seen what happens when people organize. I’ve also seen what happens when they don’t.
And I’m telling you: Now is the time to choose.
Keep ReadingShow Less
The Real Scandal Here Is Bill Pulte, Not Lisa Cook
While the validity of Pulte’s allegations against the Fed Governor will have to be determined by the courts, the real questions that need answers are about Pulte himself.
Sep 05, 2025
Bill Pulte is the head of Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He has been in the news recently over his allegations that prominent opponents of President Trump committed mortgage fraud. Most recently, Pulte has put Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook in his crosshairs, claiming that she listed two homes as principal residences on mortgage applications.
Trump immediately used this allegation as a basis for trying to fire Cook, even though the Fed is supposed to be an independent agency outside of the president’s control. Governor Cook sued Trump over his firing effort, and the courts will ultimately decide whether this is within his power.
At this point, it is important to remember that Cook has not even been indicted for anything, much less convicted. We only have an allegation from Mr. Pulte.
What reason does Pulte have for not following normal procedures? Pulte really needs to come clean on this.
It is also worth noting the irony of Trump, who was convicted in a civil trial for putting false information on loan forms, trying to fire someone for listing two homes as principal residences. Among the items that Trump put on his loan form was the claim that his 10,000 square foot condo was actually 32,000 square feet. Perhaps President Trump is offended by the pettiness of Cook’s alleged crime.
While the validity of Pulte’s allegations will have to be determined by the courts, the real scandal is Pulte himself. He is supposed to be running the agency that oversees the processing of tens of millions of mortgages by two huge quasi-public agencies. We are not supposed to be paying him to rifle through mortgage documents to find and disclose dirt that Trump can use against his political opponents.
The media really need to be directing some serious questions in Pulte’s direction. First and foremost, how did he happen to discover the mortgage abuses that he alleges were committed by NY Attorney General Letitia James, Senator Adam Schiff (D-California), and now Governor Lisa Cook? Were these “discoveries” the result of random inspections done by agency staff?
Furthermore, was he looking through non-public mortgage files to gather this information? Also, why did he make this information public when he uncovered it, instead of going through normal channels. If he had followed established procedures, he would have turned over the information to the agency’s inspector general, who would then turn if over to the Justice Department, if they determined it was appropriate. The first time the public would hear about it was when an indictment was issued.
What reason does Pulte have for not following normal procedures? Pulte really needs to come clean on this.
He should also come clean on his holdings of Pulte Group stock, the huge housing construction company started by his grandfather. It may be the case that conflicts of interest are almost a job requirement in the Trump administration, but many of us still think that government officials should be working for the public, not trying to fatten their pocketbook.
If Pulte helps Trump get his wish and a Trump-controlled Fed lowers interest rates, it would provide a big boost to the Pulte Group’s profits. That hope would give Pulte a strong motivation to try to hasten the day when Trump appointees dominate the Fed’s Open Market Committee that sets interest rates.
Anyhow, there is definitely a big scandal here—but it involves Bill Pulte, not Lisa Cook. The media really need to take notice.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular