BANGKOK: Rescue workers saved a 63-year-old woman from the rubble of a building in Myanmar’s capital on Tuesday, but hope was fading of finding many more survivors of the violent earthquake that killed more than 2,700 people, compounding a humanitarian crisis caused by a civil war.
The fire department in Naypyitaw said the woman was successfully pulled from the rubble 91 hours after being buried when the building collapsed in the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that hit midday Friday. Experts say the likelihood of finding survivors drops dramatically after 72 hours.
Death toll numbers forecast to increase
The head of Myanmar’s military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, told a forum for relief donations in Naypyitaw that 2,719 people have now been found dead, with 4,521 others injured and 441 missing, Myanmar’s state MRTV television reported.
He said that Friday’s earthquake was the second most powerful in the country’s recorded history after a magnitude 8 quake east of Mandalay in May 1912.
The casualty figures are widely expected to rise, but the earthquake hit a wide swath of the country, leaving many areas without power, telephone or cell connections and damaging roads and bridges, making the full extent of the devastation hard to assess.
Most of the reports so far have come from Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, which was near the epicenter of the earthquake, and Naypyitaw.
“The needs are massive, and they are rising by the hour,” said Julia Rees, UNICEF’s deputy representative for Myanmar.
“The window for lifesaving response is closing. Across the affected areas, families are facing acute shortages of clean water, food, and medical supplies.”
Myanmar’s fire department said that 403 people have been rescued in Mandalay and 259 bodies have been found so far. In one incident, 50 Buddhist monks who were taking a religious exam in a monastery were killed when the building collapsed, and 150 more are thought to be buried in the rubble.
Structural damage is extensive
The World Health Organization said that more than 10,000 buildings overall are known to have collapsed or been severely damaged by the quake..
The earthquake also rocked neighboring Thailand, causing a high-rise building under construction to collapse and burying many workers.
Two bodies were pulled from the rubble on Monday and another was recovered Tuesday, but dozens were still missing. Overall, there were 21 people killed and 34 injured in Bangkok, primarily at the construction site.
In Myanmar, search and rescue efforts across the affected area paused briefly at midday on Tuesday as people stood for a minute in silent tribute to the dead.
Relief efforts moving at a sluggish pace
Foreign aid workers have been arriving slowly to help in the rescue efforts, but progress lagged due to a lack of heavy machinery in many places.
In one site in Naypyitaw on Tuesday, workers formed a human chain, passing chunks of brick and concrete out hand-by-hand from the ruins of a collapsed building.
The state Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Tuesday that a team of Chinese rescuers saved four people the day before from the ruins of the Sky Villa, a large apartment complex that collapsed during the quake. They included a 5-year-old and a pregnant woman who had been trapped for more than 60 hours.
It also reported two teenagers were able to crawl out of the rubble of the same building to where rescue crews were working, using their cellphone flashlights to help guide them. The rescue workers were then able to use details from what they told them to locate their grandmother and sibling.
International rescue teams from several countries are on the scene, including from Russia, China, India, the United Arab Emirates and several Southeast Asian countries. The US Embassy said an American team had been sent but hadn’t yet arrived.
Aid pledges pouring in as officials warn of disease outbreak risk
Meantime, multiple countries have pledged millions in assistance to help Myanmar and humanitarian aid organizations with the monumental task ahead.
Even before the earthquake, more than 3 million people had been displaced from their homes by Myanmar’s brutal civil war, and nearly 20 million were in need, according to the UN
Many were already lacking in basic medical care and standard vaccinations, and the destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure by the earthquake raises the risk of disease outbreaks, warned the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“The displacement of thousands into overcrowded shelters, coupled with the destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure, has significantly heightened the risk of communicable disease outbreaks,” OCHA said in its latest report.
“Vulnerability to respiratory infections, skin diseases, vector-borne illnesses such as dengue fever, and vaccine-preventable diseases like measles is escalating,” it added.
The onset of monsoon season also a worry
Shelter is also a major problem, especially with the monsoon season looming.
Since the earthquake, many people have been sleeping outside, either because homes were destroyed or out of fear of aftershocks.
Civil war complicates disaster relief
Myanmar’s military seized power in 2021 from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking what has turned into significant armed resistance and a brutal civil war.
Government forces have lost control of much of Myanmar, and many places were dangerous or impossible for aid groups to reach even before the quake.
Military attacks and those from some anti-military groups have not stopped in the aftermath of the earthquake, though the shadow opposition National Unity Government has called a unilateral ceasefire for its forces.
The NUG, established by elected lawmakers who were ousted in 2021, called for the international community to ensure humanitarian aid is delivered directly to the earthquake victims, urging “vigilance against any attempts by the military junta to divert or obstruct humanitarian assistance.”
“Any obstruction to these efforts will have devastating consequences, not only due to the impact of the earthquake but also because of the junta’s continued brutality, which actively hinders the delivery of lifesaving assistance,” the group said in a statement.
The ceasefire plan for the armed wing of the NUG, called the People’s Defense Force, would have little effect on the battlefield, but could draw more international condemnation of continuing operations by the military, including air attacks reported by independent media.
A second armed opposition group, a coalition of three powerful ethnic minority guerrilla armies called the Three Brotherhood Alliance, announced Tuesday that it would also implement a monthlong unilateral ceasefire.
However, Min Aung Hlaing seemed to reject implementing a ceasefire, saying in his speech on Tuesday that the military will continue to take necessary defensive measures against some ethnic armed groups that were currently not carrying out combat operations, but were conducting military training, which amounted to hostile action.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the military has been impeding humanitarian aid. In the past, it initially refused to allow in foreign rescue teams or many emergency supplies after Cyclone Nargis in 2008, which resulted in well more than 100,000 deaths. Even once it did allow foreign assistance, it was with severe restrictions.
In this case, however, Min Aung Hlaing pointedly said on the day of the earthquake that the country would accept outside help.
Tom Andrews, a monitor on rights in Myanmar commissioned by the UN-backed Human Rights Council, said on X that to facilitate aid, military attacks must stop.
“The focus in Myanmar must be on saving lives, not taking them,” he said.
Survivors still being found from Myanmar earthquake, but hopes begin to fade as deaths exceed 2,700
https://arab.news/vmhna
Survivors still being found from Myanmar earthquake, but hopes begin to fade as deaths exceed 2,700
- “The needs are massive, and they are rising by the hour,” said Julia Rees, UNICEF’s deputy representative for Myanmar.
- “The window for lifesaving response is closing”
‘Frightening’: US restaurants, producers face tariff whiplash
- Trump has unveiled a sweeping 10 percent tariff on most US trading partners, set to take effect on Saturday
- The list covers about 60 partners including the European Union, China, India and Japan
WASHINGTON: From European wines to industrial tools, global tariffs launched by US President Donald Trump this week promise to sweep through the world’s biggest economy, impacting everyone from restaurant owners to industrial manufacturers.
For Brett Gitter, who makes his quality control instruments in China-based factories, Trump’s planned tariff hike on goods from the country marks a further price surge to potentially startling levels for customers.
“I add a surcharge at the bottom of every invoice to cover the expense of the tariff,” he told AFP.
“The bottom of the invoice now is going to say 54 percent,” he added, referring to a new rate hitting Chinese imports starting next Wednesday.
All of this stacks on an existing 25 percent rate Chinese imports already faced before Trump returned to the presidency, he said, although he tried to absorb some of the earlier duties.
“That’s a lot,” he added. “That’s going to alarm people.”
This week, Trump unveiled a sweeping 10 percent tariff on most US trading partners, set to take effect on Saturday.
He declared that foreign trade practices have caused a “national emergency,” imposing levies to boost his country’s position.
Additionally, “worst offenders” that have large trade imbalances with the United States will face even higher rates come April 9.
The list covers about 60 partners including the European Union, China, India and Japan.
Gitter said his customers, who are American manufacturers too, will have to decide if they want to foot the higher bill.
“Other countries that have similar types of product have added tariffs too,” he said.
“Where does my product made in China fit, and how bad does it take a hit compared to other competitors?“
Andrew Fortgang, who runs three restaurants and a wine shop in Oregon, worries about Trump’s additional 20 percent tariff on European Union imports — specifically, wine.
The rate is also taking effect April 9.
“Probably 25 percent of our revenue is from imported wine,” he told AFP, noting that the steep tariff will bite.
For these sales to vanish would be “really frightening,” he said.
Beyond that, “everything from oil, to mustards, cheeses, and meats, they are just not fungible, they are not made here,” Fortgang said. “It’s going to add up.”
While he expects he would be forced to pass on some costs to consumers by hiking menu prices, high inflation after the Covid-19 pandemic have weighed on customers.
“You’ll kind of reach a tipping point,” he said, “on how much you can raise prices.”
US Wine Trade Alliance president Ben Aneff called the plan “a disaster for small businesses.”
“Restaurants really rely on large margins in order to effectively subsidize the rest of their business,” he said, adding that consumers will likely see higher prices.
“We import about $4.5 billion worth of (wine) from the EU and US businesses make almost $25 billion from those imports. There is no plug for that hole,” he told AFP.
Others in the food and beverages sector have already been hit by Trump’s multiple waves of tariffs.
Bill Butcher, a craft brewer in Virginia, earlier saw a shortage of glass bottles for his beers when metals tariffs took effect in March — as industry giants pivoted away from aluminum cans to avoid added costs.
Now, he awaits suppliers’ verdict on how much the incoming tariffs on European goods will add to costs for the grains and hops needed in his brews.
“It’s just a lot of uncertainty and chaos in our supply chain,” he said.
Gitter, whose business is based in New Jersey, has tried “many times” to relocate production to the United States.
“There’s a lack of infrastructure in the US to support what we do,” he said.
The printed circuit boards used in his instruments, for example, require chips made in East Asia.
Will Thomas, whose company transforms coils of steel into metal products, added: “We import from necessity, not desire.”
While he is not hard hit by Trump’s partner-based tariffs this week, earlier 25 percent duties on steel and aluminum imports have eaten away at his profits.
“I’m hoping this is not another nail in the coffin for foreign supply,” Thomas said.
“I would just like the leaders of the countries to be able to sit down and work things out.”
Lawyers for a detained Tufts student from Turkiye demand she be returned to Massachusetts
- Rumeysa Ozturk was taken into custody by federal agents in Boston on March 25 and next day and moved to an immigration center in Basile, Louisiana
- She is among several people with ties to US universities who publicly expressed support for Palestinians during the war in Gaza and who recently had visas revoked
BOSTON: Lawyers for a Tufts University doctoral student from Turkiye who was seized by immigration officials off a street near Boston argued in federal court Thursday that she should be returned to Massachusetts, while the US government insisted it did nothing wrong in moving her to a detention center in Louisiana.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was taken into custody as she walked along a suburban street March 25. After being transported to New Hampshire and then Vermont, she was put on a plane the next day and moved to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement center in Basile, Louisiana.
“She was grabbed by federal agents in front of her home and taken over the course of several hours to Vermont without any way to contact counsel or counsel to contact her and with her location for period 22 hours being undisclosed to the Department of Justice attorneys in this case,” Adriana Lafaille, one of her attorneys, told the court.
Ozturk’s lawyers asked US District Judge Denise Casper to order that she be immediately returned to Massachusetts and released from custody. If Ozturk isn’t returned to Massachusetts, Lafaille added, she should be taken to Vermont.
Mark Sauter, a Justice Department lawyer, argued that ICE had a plan for her transport before she was detained and only moved her to Louisiana because there was no bed space for female immigration detainees in New England.
“There was no attempt to manipulate the jurisdiction,” Sauter told the court.
The US attorneys have argued the case should go before an immigration judge.
Ozturk had been moved to Vermont by the time Casper in Boston had ordered authorities to keep her in Massachusetts, they said.
Ozturk’s lawyers said at the time they filed the petition, they had no way of knowing where she was. They have said her detention violates her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process.
Casper issued no immediate decision on the matter after hearing arguments.
Ozturk is among several people with ties to American universities who attended demonstrations or publicly expressed support for Palestinians during the war in Gaza and who recently had visas revoked or been stopped from entering the US.
She was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in The Tufts Daily last year criticizing the university’s response to student activists’ demands. The student activists were demanding that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.
On Thursday, her lawyer released a letter from Ozturk in which she talked about her research and said she would continue to stand up against injustice.
“I believe the world is a more beautiful and peaceful place when we listen to each other and allow different perspectives to be in the room,” she wrote.
“Efforts to target me because of my op-ed in the Tufts Daily calling for the equal dignity and humanity of all people will not deter me from my commitment to advocate for the rights of youth and children,” she added.
Outside court Thursday, about 50 protesters chanting “Rumeysa Ozturk Now” and ICE Out Of Boston” marched and held up signs like one reading: “No More Abductions.”
Recently, two dozen of Ozturk’s colleagues and Tufts University submitted letters to the court backing that request, describing her as a gentle, compassionate and cherished member of the Tufts community.
Reyyan Bilge, a close friend who collaborated with Ozturk on research, was present in court Thursday and described her as a “wonderful student, a wonderful human being.”
“It’s like a nightmare,” she said. “Who would have thought? She came here to do her job as a student, as an exceptional student ... Out of the blue, she was taken for doing nothing wrong, How would you feel if you were to be either your daughter, or your niece, or like someone that’s close to you?“
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed the termination of Ozturk’s visa last week. The official said investigations found she had engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a US-designated terrorist group, but provided no evidence.
Hamas militants invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seizing about 250 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 50,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and destroyed much of the enclave.
Pentagon watchdog to review Hegseth’s use of Signal app to convey plans for Houthi strike
- Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration are required by law to archive their official conversations
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon’s acting inspector general announced Thursday that he would review Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app to convey plans for a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen.
The review will also look at other defense officials’ use of the publicly available encrypted app, which is not able to handle classified material and is not part of the Defense Department’s secure communications network.
Hegseth’s use of the app came to light when a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added to a Signal text chain by national security adviser Mike Waltz. The chain included Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and others, brought together to discuss March 15 military operations against the Iran-backed Houthis.
“The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the Secretary of Defense and other DoD personnel complied with DoD policies and procedures for the use of a commercial messaging application for official business,” the acting inspector general, Steven Stebbins, said in a notification letter to Hegseth.
The letter also said his office “will review compliance with classification and records retention requirements.”
Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration are required by law to archive their official conversations, and it is not clear if copies of the discussions were forwarded to an official email so they could be permanently captured for federal records keeping.
The Pentagon referred all questions to the inspector general’s office, citing the ongoing investigation.
President Donald Trump grew frustrated when asked about the review.
“You’re bringing that up again,” Trump scoffed at a reporter. “Don’t bring that up again. Your editors probably — that’s such a wasted story.”
In the chain, Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop — before the men and women carrying out those attacks on behalf of the United States were airborne.
The review was launched at the request of Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the committee’s top Democrat.
In congressional hearings, Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern about the use of Signal and pressed military officers on whether they would find it appropriate to use the commercial app to discuss military operations.
Both current and former military officials have said the level of detail Hegseth shared on Signal most likely would have been classified. The Trump administration has insisted no classified information was shared.
Waltz is fighting back against calls for his ouster and, so far, Trump has said he stands by his national security adviser.
On Thursday, Trump fired several members of Waltz’s staff after far-right activist Laura Loomer urged the president to purge staffers she deemed insufficiently loyal to his “Make America Great Again” agenda, several people familiar with the matter said.
In his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, Trump’s nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, would not say whether the officials should have used a more secure communications system to discuss the attack plans.
“What I will say is we should always preserve the element of surprise,” Caine told senators.
Putin envoy Dmitriev sees ‘positive dynamic’ in US-Russia relations
- Putin envoy sees prospects for ties, solution to Ukraine war
- Dmitriev says Trump administration open to find solutions
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on Thursday that he saw a “positive dynamic” in relations between Moscow and Washington, though more meetings were needed to sort out differences.
Dmitriev, speaking to both Russian and US media outlets after talks with officials from President Donald Trump’s administration, also said he saw prospects for the beginning of a solution to the more than three-year-old war in Ukraine.
He said his talks in Washington had touched on matters as wide-ranging as rare metals production, cooperation in the Arctic and even crewed flight to Mars. He said work was proceeding on restoring direct air links.
Dmitriev’s visit to Washington follows US-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia and agreement on US-brokered ceasefires against energy targets and allowing problem-free navigation in the Black Sea.
“Without doubt, we note a positive dynamic in our relations,” Russian news agencies quoted him as telling journalists in Washington. “A series of meetings will still be needed for us to resolve all our differences. But the main thing we see a positive, creative attitude.”
“We see absolutely clearly that the president’s administration is intent on solving questions, unlike President (Joe) Biden. They conduct themselves with great respect, ask a lot of questions, find compromises,” he said.
Dmitriev told DNN that with the Trump administration, he saw prospects for diplomatic solution to the Ukraine war.
“I think (with) the Trump administration, we are now in realm of thinking about what is possible, what can really work, and how we can find a long-term solution,” Dmitriev said. “I think (a) long-term solution is what is needed, because we are also thinking about global security, how to make sure that Russian security concerns are taken into account.”
He said progress had been helped by the talks in Saudi Arabia and by the work of US envoy Steve Witkoff.
Witkoff, a Trump envoy who has taken the lead on the administration’s contacts with the Kremlin, invited Dmitriev to the United States last week, US officials said.
Filling niches left by Europeans
Dmitriev, quoted by Russian agencies, said US companies were interested in Russia and “wanted to fill the niches of European companies that have left. We see that the ideological limitations which exist among European companies could well enable American companies to fill a series of niches.”
Talks had extended to Arctic development, rare metals and other sectors “where we can build creative and positive relations.”
He told Newsmax that Russia had “officially said that we would like to work with Elon Musk on a Mars mission, because we believe Russia has some nuclear technology that can be helpful.”
And, according to Russian agencies, Dmitriev said that “work is proceeding on restoring direct air links and we are hoping for progress on that issue.”
Earlier, in comments posted on the Telegram messaging app, Dmitriev had said unidentified forces were trying to sow tension between Russia and the United States.
“Today, numerous forces interested in maintaining tension stand in the way of restoring constructive cooperation... These forces are deliberately distorting Russia’s position, trying to disrupt any steps toward dialogue, sparing neither money nor resources for this,” Dmitriev wrote.
“Opponents of the rapprochement are afraid that Russia and the United States will find common ground, begin to understand each other better and build cooperation both in international affairs and in the economy,” he said.
Restoring dialogue was “a difficult and gradual process. But each meeting, each frank conversation allows us to move forward.”
US Senate Republican pushes for congressional approval of president’s tariffs
- The Republican critics in Congress of Trump’s tariff moves remained a distinct minority
WASHINGTON: Republican US Senator Chuck Grassley introduced a bill on Thursday that would require congressional approval for new tariffs, the day after President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new taxes on a vast array of imported goods.
Grassley, whose home state of Iowa relies heavily on the global agricultural trade, joined Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington for the “Trade Review Act of 2025” which would require Congress to sign off on new tariffs within 60 days of their imposition or automatically block their enforcement. The move, made the day after four other Senate Republicans voted for a measure that would lift Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods, was the latest sign of dissent among Republicans as Trump’s aggressive moves fanned recessionary fears and sparked Wall Street’s worst day since 2022.
Neither Grassley’s bill nor the measure that passed the Senate on Wednesday were seen as likely to become law while Trump’s Republicans hold majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives, where many of their members are voicing support for Trump’s moves.
Trump, who has long advocated for tariffs, said that the highest US trade barriers in more than a century would both raise federal revenue and drive manufacturing back to the US Economists have voiced deep skepticism about both possibilities.
Grassley, the longest-serving member of the US Senate, did not directly criticize Trump in introducing his bill. He noted that he had proposed a similar trade approach during Trump’s first administration, citing the US Constitution establishing congressional authority over trade issues, but that over time the legislature has ceded this power to the executive branch.
But some Republicans have indicated unease with parts of Trump’s tariff plans.
“I would have expected more targeted tariffs to meet the needs of where countries are taking advantage of us, and perhaps a more modest approach in the amounts,” Republican Senator Jerry Moran told reporters. He also expressed concerns that tariffs placed on US allies in Southeast Asia were similar to those placed on China, which he called a “damaging” economy to the US
Republican Senator James Lankford said he was surprised by the 17 percent tariff on Israel and hoped the US Trade Representative could explain why the tariff level on Israel was different from other countries. Republican senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell — the chamber’s former Republican leader — provided the votes on Wednesday to pass Democratic Senator Tim Kaine’s disapproval resolution on the Trump trade approach toward Canada.
“Tariffs drive up the cost of goods and services. They are a tax on everyday working Americans,” McConnell said in a statement on Thursday.
About half of Americans, and one in five Republicans, believe that increasing tariffs on imports will do more harm than good, a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Wednesday found. The Republican critics in Congress of Trump’s tariff moves remained a distinct minority. Indeed, the House earlier this month passed a measure meant to strip Congress’ power to challenge new tariffs imposed by the president.
“The president has been talking about unfair trade against the United States for 40 years, so he’s been very consistent on this,” said Senator John Barrasso, the chamber’s No. 2 Republican. “Long-term, I think this is very important for the country, bringing jobs and manufacturing back to America, focusing on our economy.”
Grassley’s Democratic co-sponsor, Cantwell, said that Trump’s tariffs risked long-term damage to the US economy.
“We can’t afford a trade war that lasts for two or three years, leaving our product off the shelves,” Cantwell said. “We cannot have arbitrary policies that create chaos and uncertainty.”
