Nepal struck by huge quake

This past Saturday a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal. The death toll from Nepal’s earthquake has jumped to 3,218. Additionally, 6,538 people have been injured in the earthquake — the worst in the country in 81 years —  and many more are now homeless. These numbers are still rising as the country is still searching for bodies and experiencing aftershocks.

International aid agencies and governments mobilized on Sunday to respond to the quake and have faced challenges in getting assistance to the country and distributing it amongst the extensive destruction. So far Britain provided a £5 million relief package so that its partners and the British Red Cross could address immediate needs in Nepal, Australia provided $5 million (half of which will go to Australian non-government organizations, $2 million of which will support United Nations partners and $500,000 for the Australian Red Cross) and America has pledged $1 million to the aid effort and has said it will send a disaster response team. Other countries to provide immediate help include India, Sri Lanka, Japan, China, Russia and the EU.

Baltimore reacts to Gray’s death

In reaction to the killing of black 25-year-old Freddie Gray during an encounter with the police, the city of Baltimore has been taken over by wakes, protests and riots.

About 2,000 people marched on Saturday afternoon through downtown Baltimore and the police arrested 34 people who ignored orders to disperse. In a statement, police said a “small contingent of [the] protesters caused violent disruptions downtown and in West Baltimore last night and early this morning,” but otherwise the demonstrations had been “mostly peaceful.” Mourners gathered in a wake to remember Gray, who died April 19. He led officers on a foot chase and reportedly sustained a fatal spinal cord injury at the time of his arrest or while he was being transported without a seatbelt in a police van. Anthony Batts, the city’s police commissioner, acknowledged on Friday that Gray did not receive timely medical attention for his spinal injury.

Supreme Court to address gay marriage

This coming week, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on issue of same-sex marriage. Currently 36 states and Washington D.C. allow same-sex couples to marry. Cases from four states — Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee — have been consolidated into one marathon argument session on two distinct questions: first, whether the Constitution allows states to deny gay couples the right to marry; and second, whether the Constitution requires states to recognize valid same-sex marriages performed in other states.

The plaintiffs are committed same-sex couples who either wish to marry in their states and have been prevented from doing so or who have gotten married in other states and wish to have their marriages recognized in the states they live in. If the court rules that same-sex marriage is not required by the Constitution, the bans will survive, and the states in which same-sex marriage is legal as a result of a federal court decision will see their laws revert back to their previous status.