New Nepal quake sparks fear, search for safety

On Tuesday, the ground shook. Again.

But it soon became clear that this was no mere aftershock, scary though those have been. This was another major earthquake, the kind where you run for your life, where you seek any open area so nothing falls on your head and you don't get trapped under the rubble.

It was then, near the epicenter of Tuesday's quake, that the world's most dangerous airport became a place of safe haven.

In search of any open area People in Lukla -- a town that serves as a gateway to the Everest region and that was near the epicenter of Tuesday's quake -- rushed to the airport.

Most of Lukla's buildings are perched on hilly grounds. The airport is said to be highly dangerous because its runway is short, and it's surrounded by mountains. But on Tuesday, Chungba Sherpa was glad to be there.

"People are here because there is open space," he said by telephone. "They are very scared."

Not for the first time. On April 25 -- just two weeks and three days ago -- Nepal was devastated by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. More than 8,000 people were killed and nearly 18,000 were injured.

No mere aftershock A frightening series of aftershocks has kept residents of Nepal on edge. But none had nearly the power of Tuesday's magnitude-7.3 quake, which was centered near Mount Everest.

It was felt with force 52 miles (83 kilometers) to the east, in the country's capital, Kathmandu, which suffered so much in the April earthquake.

Mingma Sherpa was in his car with two friends in Thamel, Kathmandu's congested tourist district, when the earth began to tremble.

In his rear-view mirror he saw people running in panic. It was then that he knew it was another earthquake.

He was in a hotel parking lot, surrounded by tall buildings. The ground shook for 30 seconds.

He ordered his friends out of the car, and they ran for their lives, joining the crowd, desperately seeking an open space in a part of Kathmandu where there are few.

Eventually, when everything stopped, he was able to make it back home.

Flower pots tumbling, stairs shaking, people fleeing Anup Kaphle, the digital foreign editor for the Washington Post, was in the Shangri La hotel in Kathmandu when the quake hit. He saw flower pots tumbling. The stairs were shaking.

He waited a minute and then ran out.

The streets were in chaos, clogged with traffic. People were staying outside.

But, in his area, Kaphle did not see any fresh buildings down.

"I don't think anyone will be sleeping indoors" Orla Fagan, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, was on the second floor of a building in Kathmandu when the shaking began. An earthquake alarm filled the air -- high-pitched, indicating the quake was intense.

Eight people tried to shelter under a door frame, she said. "It was very, very scary," she said. "The quake was so powerful you couldn't move if you wanted to."

People were out on the streets, Fagan said by telephone, too frightened to go inside.

And the fear, now reinforced by a second major earthquake, seemed likely to persist.

"I don't think anyone will be sleeping indoors tonight," she said.

Goodluck Jonathan

EROWHA – FORMER Minister of Police Affairs, Alaowei Broderick Bozimo, has said that Nigerians will value President Goodluck Jonathan later for his love and sacrifice for the country, insisting that the outgoing president is a hero.

Bozimo made the statement at Erhowha in Isoko South Local Government Council of Delta State weekend during the burial of his late father in-law, Chief Ezekiel Ukodie.

President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari and the President of Chad, Idris Deby, yesterday said the ongoing offensive against Boko Haram insurgency by joint forces of sub-regional armies would be strengthened when the incoming government of Buhari takes over on May 29. Addressing newsmen after a meeting at Defence House, Abuja, General Buhari and President Deby said they would work together to end Boko Haram activities in Nigeria and the sub-region.

Crude oil prices shoot higher

Global oil prices rebounded sharply Tuesday on the falling greenback, which makes dollar-priced crude cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for June delivery jumped $1.09 to $60.34 a barrel.

Armitage Chases Soyinka In Race For Oxford's Poetry offer

Prof. Wole Soyinka

All eyes are on the Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, who is leading other ‘contestants’ for the post of the professor of poetry at the Oxford University, AKEEM LASISI reports Another top-flying poet, Simon Armitage, has joined the race for the next professor of poetry at the Oxford University, thus pitting him against the Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, and three other acclaimed poets.

Bestselling Armitage is a professor of poetry at the Sheffield University.

The race for the job, which The Guardian of UK describes as a prestigious position that was first established in the early 18th century and whose previous incumbents include Robert Graves and WH Auden, is generating excitement.

The Guardian adds that the five-year role is voted for by Oxford graduates “and seen as the UK’s second most important poetry position, behind that of poet laureate.

Three more candidates are also in the running, with poet AE Stallings entering the race late last week alongside the poet, novelist and critic Ian Gregson, who is currently professor of creative writing at Bangor University, and the poet, publisher and psychotherapist Seán Haldane.”

Although Soyinka, who, interestingly, returned to the stage recently when he directed his play, The Beautification of Area Boys, in Lagos, has not made a statement on the contest, Armitage has.

He is quoted as saying “If Oxford saw fit to appoint a self-schooled poet who views poetry from a hill above a Yorkshire village, then I would be greatly excited and deeply honoured to take on the challenge.

“After so many years in the field, I feel I have plenty to say on the subject and a desire to talk and write about it. It’s for that reason and at this time that I have put myself forward for the position of professor of poetry.”

While Armitage was nominated by 54 Oxford graduates, however, Soyinka was nominated by over 90.

The Guardian adds, “The Nigerian Nobel laureate, whose supporters include Melvyn Bragg and Robert Macfarlane, has yet to provide a statement about his plans for the professorship.

“Alicia Stallings, an American poet who studied classics at Oxford and the University of Georgia, and who has published three collections of poetry, is the only female nominee. The role was briefly held by Ruth Padel in 2009, but after it emerged that she had informed journalists about past allegations of sexual harassment made against her rival Derek Walcott, she resigned after less than two weeks.”

Although Soyinka is most famous for his exploits in drama, he is also a respected poet, producing collections that includeIdanre and other Poemsas well asSamarkand and other Markets I have Known.

Some of his most popular poems are “Abiku” and “Telephone Conversation”, which have been studied in schools for decades.

Nepal earthquake, magnitude 7.3, strikes near Everest

A major earthquake has struck eastern Nepal, near Mount Everest, two weeks after more than 8,000 died in a devastating quake.

At least four people have been killed and an unknown number injured, according to aid agencies.

The latest earthquake hit near the town of Namche Bazaar, near Mount Everest. Get the full details @ BCC