Nepalese villagers: ‘WE NEED HELP’
PAUWATHOK, Nepal – At the entrance of this destroyed mountain village, a wooden sign stands, cobbled together from debris of homes flattened by Nepal’s devastating earthquake. Its message: “WE NEED HELP. PLEASE HELP.”
A steep winding road leads up to the ruins of the small village of Pauwathok, perched on a ridge about 3,600 feet (1,100 meters) above sea level. It’s just 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital. But villagers say not one government official, not one soldier has visited since the massive quake struck a week ago, underscoring just how unprepared and overwhelmed Nepal’s government has been.
Early Saturday, a convoy of covered trucks approached Pauwathok. The trucks were apparently transporting aid and escorted by Nepalese police carrying automatic weapons. Hungry residents ran toward the road.
The trucks were not stopping.
“Are we invisible to you?!” a voice among the crowd screamed as the trucks rode slowly up a hill and out of sight.
Fate of heritage sites in Nepal in doubt
KATHMANDU, Nepal – The blue-rimmed eyes of Kathmandu’s gold-spired Swayambhunath stupa have long stared silently from a lush hilltop overlooking this city nestled in the Himalayan foothills.
But since Nepal was shattered by a mammoth earthquake a week ago, those eyes have gazed upon a nation in mourning – and on a microcosm of its despair inside the ancient temple itself.
Here, monkeys scurry across the demolished ruins of a pair of precious bullet-shaped edifices built by King Pratap Malla in the 1600s. Saffron-robed monks haul golden relics and carpets out of a ruined monastery. The temple now has its own population of displaced – priests and vendors huddle under tents, after their own homes in the complex crumbled.
Swayambhunath, which dates back to the 5th century, is one of at least 68 cultural heritage sites in Nepal that were damaged by the tremor, according to Nipuna Shrestha of UNESCO, the UN cultural heritage organization, citing preliminary figures from the Department of Archaeology.
That’s nearly 80 percent of historic landmarks in seven monument zones that have been declared World Heritage Sites in the Kathmandu Valley alone.
Few would compare the loss of Nepal’s historic treasures to the massive human misery wrought by the magnitude-7.8 earthquake, which has claimed nearly 7,000 lives, damaged more than have a million homes and displaced nearly 3 million people.
Britain gets itself a new princess
LONDON – From Prince Charles to royal fans to most of those who put down a bet, millions in Britain were hoping for a girl.
The Duchess of Cambridge delighted her nation, and royal enthusiasts around the world Saturday by delivering one such princess. The royal birth was greeted with cheers and elated cries of “Hip, hip, hooray!” outside St. Mary’s Hospital in London, where fans and the world’s media have waited for days.
The baby – Prince William and Kate’s second child – was born Saturday morning and weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces (3.7 kilograms), officials said. She is fourth in line to the throne and the fifth great-grandchild of 89-year-old Queen Elizabeth II. Britain hasn’t welcomed a princess born this high up the line of succession for decades.
It may be a day or two before the world knows what to call her. When Prince George, her older brother, was born in 2013, royal officials waited two days before announcing his name.
Speculation about the new royal’s name has been frenetic, and all the top bets for the baby’s name have been for girls: Alice and Charlotte are the clear favorites, followed by Elizabeth, Victoria and Diana – all names with strong royal connections.
Royal children are usually given several names – the baby’s brother was christened George Alexander Louis – so the princess’s name could incorporate more than one of those guesses.
Associated Press
