World Tour: Earthquake in Nepal

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: WORLD Tour with our Africa reporter, Onize Ohikere.

AUDIO: [Singing performers]

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: U.S.-Africa trade deal — Today’s global rundown starts in South Africa, where singers welcomed trade delegates from the United States and Africa, who were deliberating the future of a two-decades-old trade initiative.

The U.S. first introduced the African Growth and Opportunity Act—or AGOA—in 2000. It grants more than 30 participating countries duty-free exports of more than 1,800 products into the U.S. market.

The act has been renewed twice—in 2004 and 2015—and is set to expire again in September 2025.

U.S. business associations say African countries need certainty over AGOA to reduce dependence on China.

Katherine Tai is a U.S. trade representative.

TAI: So we're actually in a good place where we're talking about it now and we've gotten congressional attention on it. This is light years ahead of where we usually are, if you are following our funding process.

South African Trade Minister Ebrahim Patel said African governments have mostly agreed on a 10-year extension.

Last week, President Joe Biden said he planned to exclude Gabon, Niger, the Central African Republic, and Uganda from the trade program. He says the decision follows the four countries’ failures to protect human rights, which is a requirement for participation. Uganda has lost out on foreign funding after approving a law in May that implements a maximum death penalty for some homosexual acts.

SOUND: [Aid offload]

Nepal earthquake impact — In Nepal, aid has started arriving after a deadly 5.6-magnitude earthquake rocked the northwest late on Friday.

India’s capital of New Delhi felt the rumble of the quake more than 500 miles away.

More than 150 people have died and more than 300 others are injured. Nearly 4,000 homes were damaged.

An Indian Air Force plane loaded with tents, blankets, and medical supplies landed in the city of Nepalgunj on Sunday.

Soldiers started clearing rubble from blocked roads to allow rescuers to rush to some of the worst-hit communities.

SURVIVOR: [Speaking Nepali]

This survivor says her family finally got a tent and some food on Sunday night—their first since the disaster.

Nepal’s Communications Minister Rekha Sharma said authorities are now focusing on supplying food and temporary shelters to those affected.

SOUND: [Cars driving]

Germany hostages — Over in Germany, authorities arrested a 35-year-old Turkish man, ending hours of a shutdown that suspended flights out of Hamburg’s airport.

The suspect barricaded himself and his 4-year-old daughter inside his car, parked at the foot of a Turkish Airlines plane on Saturday evening. He demanded to be allowed on board the plane following a custody battle with the child’s mother.

SPOKESWOMAN: [Speaking German]

A Hamburg police spokeswoman says here that the authorities negotiated with the suspect in order to ensure the child’s safety. They evacuated passengers already on the Turkish plane and in the airport and diverted incoming flights.

Authorities said the man had psychological issues and had previously kidnapped his daughter and took her to Turkey last year.

The man eventually surrendered Sunday without resistance.

AUDIO: [Chanting]

Colombia abduction — We close today in Colombia with the family members and friends of Colombian soccer player Luis Diaz.

They are demanding the release of Diaz’s father after his parents’ abduction two weeks ago in their hometown of Barrancas. Police rescued his mother hours after the abduction.

Authorities have blamed the kidnapping on the National Liberation Army guerilla group—commonly called ELN. The government’s peace delegation is currently negotiating with the group.

SOUND: [Helicopter]

The Colombian army’s anti-kidnapping unit dropped leaflets from a helicopter on Friday, asking for information on the case.

Talks restarted between Colombia’s government and the ELN last year, hoping to end a six-decade conflict.

PETRO: [Speaking Spanish]

Colombian President Gustavo Petro says here that the kidnapping is a step against the peace process.

Diaz—a 26-year-old striker with the UK-based Liverpool soccer club—was absent from a Sunday match against Nottingham Forest.

That’s it for today’s WORLD Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.