Nepal Earthquake Death Toll Keeps Climbing

Once remote parts of the country are reached, the full extent of the damage will be known. There are worrying signs that this ever increasing death toll will jump even further. “With fears rising of food and water shortages, Nepalis were rushing to stores and petrol stations to stock up on essential supplies in the capital Kathmandu, left devastated by Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude quake. Officials say more than 4100 people are now known to have died, making it the quake-prone Himalayan nation’s deadliest disaster in more than 80 years. More than 90 people have been killed in neighbouring India and China while a further 7500 people were injured in Nepal. But senior disaster management official Rameshwor Dangal said the toll in Nepal could jump once rescuers discovered the full extent of devastation in villages outside Kathmandu.” (The Australian http://bit.ly/1ExQDg8)

The latest facts and figures of the damage and humanitarian response, from OCHA. http://bit.ly/1ExQKbJ

The Kathmandu earthquake has stretched our already strained humanitarian relief system beyond capacity, says our own Mark Leon Goldberg in The Washington Post http://wapo.st/1ExR9L5

3,000 Burundians are Fleeing Each Day…”UNHCR-Rwanda reports that as of 26 April, 20,408 Burundians had sought refuge in Rwanda over the past two weeks. UNHCR reports that together with the Government of Rwanda and partners, they are working to relocate a total of 16,000 refugees from the two reception centers, Bugesera and Nyanza, to the new Mahama refugee camp by Friday 1 May. The number of refugees being relocated on a daily basis to the new camp is increasing due to the sharply rising rate of new arrivals (almost 3,000 individuals arriving daily as of 25 April, up from an average of 500 daily arrivals between 16-21 April), overwhelming the two reception centers. UNHCR, the Government and partners are planning for a continued high rate of influx.”  (OCHA http://bit.ly/1A89E3k)

Africa

Pro-government armed groups in Mali seized the northern town of Menaka from Tuareg separatists on Monday during fierce fighting, a spokesman for the group and a resident said. (Reuters http://reut.rs/1A89Q2J)

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo say armed men have crossed into the country from Uganda and set up bases in Beni territory. (VOA http://bit.ly/1OZHqPe)

South Africans celebrated the anniversary of the country’s first fully democratic elections at a time when the country is experiencing xenophobic violence, high unemployment and continued protests over the lack of basic services. (VOA http://bit.ly/1JvPEjy)

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan won a race that was boycotted by the opposition and marred by low voter turnout. (NYT http://nyti.ms/1Fsv9lE)

More than 2,000 Zimbabweans displaced by xenophobic attacks in South Africa have packed their bags for home, but Zimbabwe is unlikely to offer them the means to restart their lives. (IRIN http://bit.ly/1QC4ebm)

MENA

A UN report found Israeli airstrikes hit shelters during the Gaza war, and that Palestinians likely fired weapons from two schools. (Al Jazeera http://alj.am/1ExGArq)

Arab and African migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean must cross through the lawlessness of post-Qaddafi Libya – a failed state in which human smuggling is proliferating. (NYT http://nyti.ms/1Dv6veg)

Syria’s government has introduced new rules to allow Syrian refugees and citizens trapped in neighboring countries due to expired or lost passports to apply for renewals abroad. (Al Jazeera http://alj.am/1Gqz5iR)

Asia

Afghanistan’s president was forced to briefly delay his trip to India after hundreds of Taliban attacked police and army check posts in the northern Kunduz province Monday. (VOA http://bit.ly/1Dv6I0P)

Election officials in Kazakhstan announced on Monday that voters had re-elected Nursultan A. Nazarbayev for fifth term with a whopping 97.7 percent of the vote. That makes him more popular than Omar al Bashir. (NYT http://nyti.ms/1J50fyG)

Thailand’s draft constitution went to political parties for review on Monday, but they are forbidden by the junta from meeting to debate the charter. (VOA http://bit.ly/1KoSLYp)

The Americas

Brazil’s state-owned oil company, Brasileiro SA, has reported a huge loss for 2014, driven in part by a massive charge against earnings due to corruption – and the Petrobras scandal has reverberated to Brazil’s top political tiers. (VOA http://bit.ly/1GqzstO)

Middle-class Chileans, who once had high hopes after the election of Michelle Bachelet, are frustrated by dashed hopes of prosperity, persistent inequality, and distrust of the political system. (El Pais http://bit.ly/1bMGKk8; Spanish)

Grenadian fishermen say they have been catching less fish and their livelihoods are threatened by climate change. (IPS http://bit.ly/1Ow0KJ3)

…and the rest

A new report by the International Labour Organization finds people who live in rural areas have far less access to health care than do urban residents. (VOA http://bit.ly/1ExGZu2)

Opinion/Blogs

Fareed Zakaria is Mark’s podcast guest this week. He offers a pretty thorough accounting of his intellectual development from childhood in India to getting a PhD at Harvard to becoming editor of Foreign Affairs at the age of 28. (Global Dispatches Podcast http://bit.ly/1bvK3LF )

Why We Need to Be Paying Attention to Burundi. (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/1EOnkGs)

Nepal’s other disaster: Its politics (WaPo http://wapo.st/1KoSNPO)

The U.N. at 70: A Time for Compliance (IPS http://bit.ly/1Jvv5Uw)

Does community-driven aid need a makeover? (IRIN http://bit.ly/1A4tY5D)

The American intervention in the Dominican Republic: 50 years later (El Pais http://bit.ly/1HLFI3p; Spanish)

The Collapse of Chávezcare (FP http://atfp.co/1OZJIxI)

What we must do to get oxytocin to the women who need it (GHHub http://bit.ly/1KoSPY9)

 

Opinion: Arab Youth Have No Trust in Democracy (IPS http://bit.ly/1GBI8mz)