As we flew into Kathmandu, you could already see from the sky, the fury playing out on the streets below.

Huge plumes of smoke rose over the Nepalese capital. It was the second day of intense protests, and it soon felt like something seismic.

On the ground, it was kinetic and chaotic. We landed just before the army closed the airport. The protesters were minutes away.

On the road, a constant stream of young people sped by on motorbikes, honking their horns as they raced towards parliament.

Some were carrying batons, others guns, some simply using their voices, declaring a “revolution”.

We watched as they set fire to a police station. Many, already angry, were incensed by the deaths of 19 people on Monday – accusing the police of using live ammunition to silence dissent.

The government has so far only acknowledged using rubber bullets and tear gas.

The leadership did lift the restrictions on social media – allowing people to use apps like X, YouTube and Instagram once again.

And soon after, Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned. But that wasn’t enough to satisfy the thousands defying the curfew.

Nearly everyone we spoke to shared the same message – this was not about any platform – it was about something far deeper and far more entrenched.

“This protest is not against the social media ban,” one man said as he raced through on a bike.

“This is against the big corruption that these ministers have done for the past few decades.

“We were suppressed. Now we have a voice.”

Throughout the day, you could feel people getting more emboldened. It was less than 24 hours before that we’d seen police firing at protesters – some victims died in their school uniforms.

But on Tuesday, we didn’t see a single officer. The only army we clocked was at the airport. And their absence was no more glaring than at the very centre of politics.

Parliament House, home to lawmakers, was engulfed in flames as we approached. Protesters were rejoicing outside – thousands cheering as the building burned.

It was surreal. The building looked abandoned – overrun by those who want radical change.

“They have given an open challenge to Gen Z,” one man told me, punching his wooden stick into the air as he spoke. “You should not challenge the youth or challenge Gen Z.”

I asked a young woman, Sandeep Bista, 26, if she was worried about more violence, given that 19 people had already died.

“I think to gain something you have to lose something,” she said. “So they’re patriots for us. But today I’m happy. Revolution is coming.”

As the light faded, the mood shifted, people edging closer until they finally stormed inside – large groups clutching phones – seemingly undeterred by the sound of small explosions.

There was smashed glass everywhere, dust obscuring the winding stairs. People climbed up them to try and grab or destroy what little was left – relics to remember the day by.

Some came back with gleeful faces, holding bits of gold furniture and decoration – a symbol of the elite they’ve come to loathe.

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Elsewhere in the city, politicians were attacked, their homes targeted. The young people here feel on the cusp of victory and the right side of history.

When you ask them what justice looks like, they say they want equality – a leadership that addresses their needs.

Quite what that equality looks like seems harder for them to specify. But a wholesale change in leadership appears to be a crucial demand.

The big question is, what next?

We don’t yet know who might take over from the prime minister. The police clearly chose to stay away on Tuesday – no doubt fearful of the reception they’d receive.

But by evening, the Nepali army vowed to “take control of the situation”. From what we saw, calm currently feels pretty elusive.

Hundreds of inmates have escaped prisons, politicians’ home addresses are being shared online, and many young people who feel they have waited far too long already want dramatic change and quickly.

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It is a powder keg moment that could change the course of the country for many years to come.

Like the recent demonstration in Indonesia and the uprising in Bangladesh just a year ago, this moment in Nepal has shown the fierce political power of young people.

Nepal’s prime minister KP Sharma Oli has resigned after violent anti-corruption protests.

“The PM has quit,” his aide Prakash Silwal told Reuters news agency on Tuesday.

In his resignation letter, sent to Nepal’s President Ram Chandra Paudel, Mr Oli said he is leaving with immediate effect “in order to take further steps towards a political solution and resolution of the problems […] taking into account the extraordinary situation currently prevailing in the country.”

The president has now begun the process to install a new PM, his aide said.

Mr Oli’s exit comes as demonstrators defied an indefinite curfew, clashed with police and set politicians’ homes on fire, a day after 19 people died in violent protests triggered by a social media ban.

His government lifted the ban after protests turned violent when police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters trying to storm parliament on Monday.

The unrest is the worst Nepal has seen in decades. The Himalayan country has struggled with economic uncertainty and political instability since protests led to its monarchy being abolished in 2008.

Prior to resigning, Mr Oli had on Tuesday called a cross-party meeting where he said violence was not in Nepal’s interests and added: “We have to resort to peaceful dialogue to find solutions to any problem.”

But anger against the government continued with protesters gathering outside parliament and other significant locations in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu.

Kathmandu Airport, Nepal’s international gateway, closed at around 3.15pm local time (10.30am UK time) on Tuesday due to the unrest.

In the city centre, some demonstrators set fire to tyres, threw stones at riot police and chased officers through the streets.

The Kathmandu homes of some politicians were also set on fire. These include properties belonging to resident Poudel and Sher Bahadur Deuba, leader of the largest party Nepali Congress.

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Local media reported that some ministers were taken to safety by military helicopters.

The demonstrations began in response to social media networks, including Facebook, X and YouTube, being blocked in Nepal last week after they failed to comply with new government regulations.

But the unrest has spiralled, driven by young people’s frustration with the Nepali government’s perceived lack of action to tackle corruption and boost economic opportunities.

A handwriting expert has said the signature on a controversial birthday message to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein is “absolutely” US President Donald Trump’s.

Graphologist Emma Bache compared the signature with others the president wrote at the time, and told Sky News: “It is very much the signature he had in the 2000s. I can absolutely say it is Donald Trump’s.”

Newly released files handed to the United States Congress appear to contain birthday messages to billionaire paedophile Epstein from both the US president and the current British ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson.

They include a hand-drawing of a woman’s body, signed “Donald”, a picture of Epstein holding an outsized cheque, signed by “DJTRUMP”, and a message appearing to show Lord Mandelson calling Epstein his “best pal”.

Addressing the release of the image in a post on X, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “As I have said all along, it’s very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it.”

But Ms Bache was unequivocal.

“It’s incredibly distinctive. If we look at the way he has formed the ‘o’ of Donald, it’s actually a circle.

“He also has a very long horizontal stroke at the end of his name – which funnily enough is saying to people ‘keep away’ – and it’s absolutely identical in pressure, in length and formation of about every single stroke (to his current official signature).”

She said the capital ‘D’ of his name in the Epstein message, was also very distinctive and exactly the same as another letter written in 1996 and 2000.

The files were handed over following a demand by the Oversight Committee of the US Congress and are from a book compiled by Epstein’s co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, to celebrate his 50th birthday in 2003.

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The White House said the president’s legal team was “aggressively pursuing litigation”.

Ms Bache said she was “not surprised he would deny it”.

She added: “He has an awful lot to lose, but it doesn’t affect my analysis of it.”

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‘You will listen to me – I am right’

After examining a number of his signatures under a microscope, she concluded: “The idea that it could be forged would be almost impossible. I certainly wouldn’t be able to get anywhere close to Donald Trump’s handwriting.

“It’s a very confident, very speedy signature and when you forge something, you do it more slowly.”

She said his modern signature had changed a little but still had clear similarities.

She added: “His modern signature is all angles and in graphology, angles are about energy, aggression, there’s a tension there.

“There’s no softness and his communication style is one of ‘you will listen to me and I am right’.

Ambassador’s denial

Lord Mandelson has also come under scrutiny for his relationship with Epstein – and the release of the files has compounded the issue.

They appear to include a glowing contribution from the Labour grandee, with him calling Epstein his “best pal” and writing of the friend “taking you by surprise… in one of his glorious homes he likes to share with his friends (yum yum)”.

Lord Mandelson’s spokesman said he “very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein”.