With Sushila Karki as interim PM, what's next for Nepal?

Nepal has its interim prime minister after days of deadly protests and an overthrown government. Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki was chosen as the caretaker leader by the same young protesters that pushed KP Sharma Oli's allegedly curroupt government out of power.

Protests, sparked by a ban on social media and feeding into long-standing economic woes, began on Monday and quickly escalated, with parliament and key government buildings set ablaze.

But with Sushila Karki in power, what exactly can Nepal expect from its future?

Sushila Karki's term so far

"We have to work according to the thinking of the Gen Z generation," Karki said in her first public comments since taking office on Friday.

One of the first actions taken by Karki after taking office was to declare all the dead protesters 'martyrs'. She also announced that the families of all those who died will be getting 1 million rupees as compensation. At least 72 people were killed in two days of protests and 191 injured. She also personally visited those who were wounded in the violence last week.

Karki held a minute's silence on Sunday for those killed in the unrest, before meetings began in the key government complex of Singha Durbar -- where several buildings were set on fire during mass protests on Tuesday.

The second major update coming from Kathmandu reinforced the protester's calls for Nepal to remain a true democracy.

The interim government announced that fresh voting will be held in early March to elect a new government. The president had earlier dissolved the the 275-seat parliament.

Calm also appears to have been restored. Restrictions announced during the protests were lifted soon after Karki took office, simmering tensions on the streets. A curfew in the national capital has also been called off. But Nepal's armed forces still roam sensitive areas where non-government officials are not allowed.

But the Gen-Z protesters reportedly still have issues, which they hope to resolve in the elections next year. At the top of their list was the lack of employment, which has driven millions to seek work in other countries across the Middle East and southeast Asia.

Once the protests died down, President Paudel said late Saturday that "a peaceful solution has been found through a difficult process" and hoped for sustained peace in Nepal.

Regional leaders have congratulated Karki, including Nepal's two giant neighbours, India and China.