BY TIMOTHY MCGRATH / GlobalPost

Click HERE for information on how you can help relief efforts in Nepal.

It’s hard to capture how much death and ruin has come to Nepal, but this aerial footage helps.

The official death toll is now over 4,600. That number could rise significantly when we get more information about how the 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit remote areas. In the hard-hit city of Kathmandu, people are sleeping in the streets, many because their homes have been destroyed, others because they’re terrified to be indoors during the aftershocks.

New drone footage shows what their world looks like now. 

It was shot by Kishor Rana and uploaded to his Facebook page. Some HD versions are now hosted on Storyful’s YouTube channel. Rana has shot three videos so far, but he plans to shoot more in the coming days, so key an eye out for them.

Here’s what the devastation in Nepal looks like from the sky:

Rana has been delivering on his promise to keep shooting footage of the earthquake destruction. Here are more videos he’s posted to Facebook.

Click HERE for information on how you can help relief efforts in Nepal.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I- VT), the longest-serving independent in congressional history, is going to announce his run for the U.S. presidency on Thursday, proving that when someone says they’re 99% sure they’re not going to do something, that 1% can still happen. The self-described democratic socialist will be directly competing with Hillary Clinton by running as a Democrat on the ballot, though registration rules in Vermont will not require him to officially change parties.

Sanders has been quite vocal in his defenses of lower and middle class Americans, and a year ago in an interview with Time he expressed his doubts that Clinton would be a candidate that would bring about the political revolutions needed for the working class:

I like Hillary. I knew her when I was in the House and she was First Lady, and obviously I knew her when she and I served together in the Senate. So I like her. She’s a very, very intelligent person, no question about it. But I think, you know, if you talk about the need for a political revolution in America, I think it’s fair to say that Secretary Clinton probably will not be one of the more active people.

More recently, in an interview with Bloomberg Sanders reaffirmed his doubts:

Is Hillary Clinton, are other candidates, prepared to take on the billionaire class? Based on her record, I don’t think so.

So far the political landscape appeared to be shaping up as Clinton versus a veritable clown car of right-wing wackjobs, thus effectively guaranteeing Clinton a victory. With Sanders entering the race, the waters are bound to get much muddier: Clinton has experience in the White House already, and following up the first black president with the first female president would be quite the flourish in the country’s march towards greater equality, but continuing a dynasty of (primarily) two families warring over the presidency is something that gives many pause; meanwhile, Sanders is one of the most truly and fiercely progressive voices in American politics and has political experience a mile long, but his relative lack of presence with the general public and his advanced age are two things that could be leveraged against him.

Pop some popcorn; things are about to get interesting.

We’ve been together for more than eight years. We kind of resisted marriage at first because we were already committed to one another, but all the progress that’s happened over the last few years, and the likelihood of a favorable Supreme Court ruling in June, has made us really think about what marriage means to us and our relationship. To deny our right to get married is to deny our relationship’s validity. It amazes me to think that my Mad Men character, Ed Gifford, would not have been able to legally marry a non-Caucasian woman in Mississippi before 1967. It wasn’t until Loving v. Virginia that the Supreme Court ruled state bans on interracial marriage violated the constitution.We all have a right to love, a right to happiness, and a right to find a partner in life.”

Meyer, Phillippe, Christopher at the April 24 San Francisco screening, photo credit: Christopher’s Facebook page

Northern Ireland health minister and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Assembly member Jim Wells has resigned after saying that children of gay parents are “more likely” to be abused or neglected, reports RTE.

Shortly after being appointed health minister last September, Wells started blocking LGBT and women’s rights groups on Twitter.

Footage in which he says “facts show you certainly don’t bring a child up in a homosexual relationship” was released following an election campaign event.

PSNI probes Jim Wells’ gay abuse comments t.co/WL6KPeaWVT pic.twitter.com/CXPv0Lufd0

— Belfast Telegraph (@BelTel) April 24, 2015

Stating that at no time did he wish to cause offense, Wells said that he was under a lot of stress when he made the comments as his wife is currently in hospital:

“The events of the last week have taken place against the backdrop of a difficult period.

“On the issue of comments I have made which have attracted significant publicity, I have already said sorry for the offense caused and acknowledged that the comments were factually inaccurate.

“At no time did I set out to hurt or offend anyone and it has upset me greatly that the comments made have caused distress to some within our community.

“I am deeply saddened that some of those who represent a different viewpoint from me have attacked my family and me in a deeply personal, nasty and, in some cases, threatening way.

“Some of the outbursts on social media have been particularly abusive and menacing in nature.”

Sinn Féin‘s Maeve McLaughlin said Wells’ position as health minister was “clearly untenable after his attack on the LGBT community, which was completely unacceptable from someone holding the position of health minister”.

She also called on the DUP to end its opposition to “marriage equality, blood donations from gay men and adoption by gay couples”.

Watch a report and Wells’ original comments, AFTER THE JUMP…

Yesterday, the Northern Ireland Assembly rejected same-sex marriage legislation for the fourth time following the employment of a blocking mechanism by the DUP.

A recent update to Instagram’s search functionality gave users the ability to turn hashtagged emoji into platform-wide queries.

Emoji, for the folks unfamiliar with the popular symbols, are little sticker-like icons that are basically a step up from old-school emoticons. Now, for instance, if you wanted to search for pictures that had been captioned with smiley faces, salsa dancers, or sushi, you can plug those corresponding emoji into Instagram’s search bar and get back results.

Interestingly enough, though, of the dozens of emoji that you can ask Instagram to search for one of the most popular symbols is conspicuously missing–the purple eggplant.

Many emoji, like words, have come to carry multiple meanings that might not immediately be obvious. A cup of tea, for example, isn’t always just a cup a tea–it can also refer to (spilling) tea or to the popular internet meme featuring Kermit the Frog sipping Lipton. The purple eggplant, commonly used to make jokes about sex, has become synonymous with penises. Fans of the eggplant suspect that Instagram’s removed it from the list of searchable emoji in an attempt to keep adult content off of the platform, or to at least make it more difficult to search for.

Naturally, Instagram users are fighting back in the way that makes the most sense: flooding Instagram with eggplant emoji. Styled after #freethenipple, a widespread internet campaign urging social networks from censoring pictures of women’s nipples, #freetheeggplant wants to do the same for the digital aubergine. While the campaign may seem a bit silly–remember, this isn’t about bringing more penises to Instagram–the underlying message about the censorship of peoples’ bodies is a worthwhile one.

(h/t Bustle)