Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina has fired the prime minister and the rest of his government in response to days of deadly protests in the Indian Ocean island over the failure of the electricity and water supplies. Rajoelina said in a speech on national television that Prime Minister Christian Ntsay and other government officials would stay on an interim basis until a new government is formed. Youth-led protests against chronic electricity and water cuts began on Thursday, prompting the government to order nighttime curfews in the capital, Antananarivo, and other major cities. The United Nations human rights office said earlier Monday that 22 had been killed in violence around the protests.

Nepal's president has appointed former Supreme Court Chief Justice Sushila Karki as interim prime minister, the first woman to head the South Asian country's government, following massive protests that collapsed the previous administration. Karki, a popular figure when serving as the court's only female chief justice in 2016 and 2017, was to be sworn in later Friday. The appointment was announced by President Ram Chandra Poudel's spokesman Kiran Pokhrel. Street demonstrations starting Monday in Kathmandu over a social media ban turned violent, with protesters attacking government buildings and police opening fire. The violence prompted the resignation of the previous prime minister.