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The Guardian
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
All the president's pens and a baby mammoth: photos of the day
Griffin Conine of the Miami Marlins attempts to catch a fly ball hit by Brandon Nimmo of the New York Mets at LoanDepot Park Photograph:Scientists perform a necropsy on the 50,000-year-old baby mammoth nicknamed Yana at North-Eastern Federal University Photograph: AFP/Getty Images People line up for food aid being distributed after the 28 March earthquake Photograph: Sai Aung Main/AFP/Getty Images A painting by the American artist Joan Mitchell donated to Tate by the Miami collectors and philanthropists Jorge M and Darlene Pérez. The 6-metre-long triptych Iva (1973) is on display at the Tate Modern Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian A Palestinian child looks on at the site of an Israeli strike on a tent site housing displaced people Photograph: Hatem Khaled/Reuters Children watch a play organised by Smile Younited in a Syrian displacement camp Photograph: Bilal Hammoud/EPA Protesters take part in a demonstration demanding authorities take action to address the growing wave of violence Photograph: Mentor David Lorens/EPA The actor Violet McGraw, who played Cady in the film M3GAN, poses with 30 people dressed up as the character M3GAN, an AI doll, at CinemaCon 2025 Photograph: Albertofor CinemaCon Livestock surrounded by flood water caused by heavy rain Photograph: Ipa Ibanez/Reuters A monk takes a photo on the banks of the Irrawaddy River in front of the collapsed Ava Bridge, also known as the Inwa Bridge Photograph: Sai Aung Main/AFP/Getty Images The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, falls off a stage during a federal election campaign Photograph: Lukas Coch/Reuters Greenpeace activists suspended on columns unfurl a banner reading '[Britain's foreign secretary David) Lammy Don't Dally' outside the Foreign Office in protest against delays in signing an international treaty protecting oceans Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images A Russian ballistic missile strike killed at least four people and wounded 17 others in the Ukrainian president's home city Photograph: Ukrainian Emergency Service/AFP/Getty Images Spring bloom at the the Keukenhof flower garden Photograph: Molly Quell/AP Protesters clash with Argentine national gendarmerie officers during a rally demanding an increase in pensions and against the government of President Javier Milei in front of the National Congress Photograph: Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images A man throws a bag into a pile of rubbish where people blocked access to the main local dump to demand its permanent closure Photograph: Fernando Cartagena/AFP/Getty Images Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orbán, and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, review a military honour guard Photograph: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump gives pens to the secretary of agriculture, Brooke Rollins, to hand out to members of the audience after signing executive orders imposing tariffs on imported goods during a 'Make America Wealthy Again' trade announcement at the White House Photograph:
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How Myanmar's Junta Is Complicating Earthquake Recovery
Myanmar's junta chief Min Aung Hlaing meets with earthquake survivors gathered at a hospital compound in Naypyidaw on March 28, 2025. Credit - Sai Aung Main—AFP/Getty Images Myanmar's junta government doesn't often want others to intervene in its affairs. Years of internal strife and alleged human rights abuses in the authoritarian-led Southeast Asian nation have pushed it toward isolation. But after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake ripped through the country on March 28, killing thousands, the disputed military leadership made a rare cry for help. 'We need and want the international community to provide humanitarian aid,' said spokesman Gen. Zaw Min Tun in the immediate aftermath of the tremors. 'We will cooperate with them to ensure the best care for the victims.' Read More: Photos Show Devastating Impact of Powerful Earthquake That Rocked Myanmar and Thailand But recovery efforts—including understanding the full extent of the damage and getting aid to where it's needed most—are complicated by Myanmar's ongoing civil war. Since staging a coup in 2021, the Tatmadaw—Myanmar's military—has been in breakout wars with pro-democracy rebels and ethnic militias across the country. Even before the quake struck, the nation of 52 million was already fractured. More than 6,000 civilians have died and over three million have been displaced since 2021, according to Genocide Watch; critical infrastructure linking cities and communications were heavily damaged or destroyed; and press freedoms were virtually nonexistent. The health care system was also already under strain: hospitals in Mandalay and Naypyidaw, the largest urban areas impacted by the quake, are overwhelmed with patients, face shortages in medical supplies, and were hard hit even before the disaster, particularly since the junta has for years deliberately closed facilities that hired medical staff who were professionally blacklisted for aligning with the Civil Disobedience Movement, an anti-junta protest movement involving non-cooperation with the military. The country, says Burmese activist Maung Zarni, was 'utterly unprepared for natural calamity.' Here's what to know about the challenges today—and where the country could go from here. Initial estimates suggested the quake's death toll in Myanmar could exceed 10,000—but the true total may never be known. Many international journalists have been blocked from entering impacted areas, and internet blackouts that originated before the quake have limited the reach of images and information from the ground. The Myanmar Internet Project has recorded 357 total internet shutdowns since the coup in Feb. 2021, and every township has experienced some level of communications outage at least twice since the coup, according to Myanmar-focused pro-freedom of expression nonprofit ATHAN. 'For the junta, taking these areas off-grid is a two-pronged strategy: to disrupt the flow of information among resistance groups and to isolate these areas from global attention,' ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute researcher Surachanee Sriyai wrote in January, before the earthquake. Calls for the junta to lift internet restrictions to facilitate emergency rescue efforts have mounted, while researchers say power outages as a result of the earthquake only further limit access. 'Compare the coverage of the earthquake in Thailand, where tremors and damage have been extensively reported, posted and documented, to Myanmar, where we still don't have a clear picture of the extent of the damage and loss and may not for some time,' Joe Freeman, a Myanmar researcher at Amnesty International told the New York Times. If any information trickles out, it likely has the junta's approval. Min Aung Hlaing (MAH), the military commander-in-chief and Myanmar's unelected leader, made visits to earthquake hit areas, flanked by pro-junta outlets and select foreign media. More critical local press slammed MAH's appearances for treating the disaster as photo opportunities, claiming it was in effort to boost his international image. Such images have little impact domestically, says Phil Robertson, director of the Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates Consultancy. 'There's nothing that Min Aung Hlaing can do to improve his image in the eyes of the Burmese people,' he tells TIME. The recovery effort also appears to function as a display of political alliances: the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that emergency responders from China and Russia were allowed to fly into Yangon, while multiple Western aid agencies struggled to get into the country. (Emergency workers from Taiwan, which junta ally China does not recognize as independent, were even told to stand down.) What aid does reach Myanmar, some worry, may not end up in the right hands. A group of 13 civil society organizations in Myanmar put out a statement on March 30, appealing for humanitarian assistance on the ground while also warning against channeling such aid through the military junta. The junta has 'a long history of weaponizing aid by blocking, diverting, and exploiting it to consolidate its control,' the statement said. Across the world, Burmese people living overseas have echoed that concern, instead imploring those who wish to help to donate to grassroots organizations. These concerns are based on past experience. In 2008, after Cyclone Nargis killed at least 84,500 people in Myanmar, the junta at the time refused to receive international assistance, lacking the transportation infrastructure and organization to distribute aid and rejecting pleas from an exasperated international community to set up a transport corridor for foreign aid workers. The current junta similarly blocked relief in 2023 after Cyclone Mocha, denying visas to aid workers and holding up aid packages in customs. U.N. Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said in a post on X that the junta's response to previous natural disasters 'demonstrate[s] its willingness to weaponize aid.' International coordinators of the emergency response to the latest quake and rescue workers on the ground have accused the junta of confiscating aid, the Guardian reported. One doctor claimed that the military was using its control over checkpoints to block medicine from going to areas controlled by pro-democracy forces and ethnic groups. The junta controls only less than a quarter of the country, according to the BBC, but access to areas it doesn't control are more highly restricted. In Naypyidaw, the seat of the junta, the regime has provided robust assistance, including water, temporary toilets, and phone-charging stations. But in the more densely populated city of Sagaing, which was also severely impacted by the quake but is a pro-democratic stronghold, locals have reported a less urgent aid response. (Sagaing already had the most townships lacking public services like electricity and water, according to a 2024 report from research group Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar.) Richard Horsey, senior Myanmar adviser of the International Crisis Group, tells TIME that the junta has 'a track record of blocking aid to areas controlled by its adversaries,' and has used blockades to 'deprive its enemies of resources,' which he believes 'has certainly given pause to some donors and will negatively impact levels of assistance.' To many in Myanmar, the quake is an omen. In the deeply superstitious nation, an astrologer told Al Jazeera they believe the tremors signal that the junta's 'downfall is not far away.' Some commentators also see the natural disaster as a window of opportunity to spur the end of the protracted conflict. The junta's sluggish response to the 2008 cyclone ramped up scrutiny of the military government at the time and placed pressure on it to change, eventually leading to the rise of a civilian government, albeit short-lived. The National Unity Government (NUG)—a shadow government composed of those ousted in the 2021 coup—proposed a two-week cease-fire from March 30 to allow for emergency rescue operations, promising to pause 'offensive military operations, except for defensive actions.' The Three Brotherhood Alliance, an alliance of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, and the Arakan Army, joined that call, announcing a monthlong cease-fire. But for now at least, that cease-fire remains one-sided: junta chief MAH rejected the proposal, arguing that organizing and training by ethnic armed groups 'are still considered attacks.' The NUG on March 31 claimed the military continued with airstrikes in Sagaing, as well as Karenni, Mandalay, and Naypyidaw, even though there's already extensive earthquake damage in those areas. The Ta'ang National Liberation Army also claimed the junta attacked a Chinese Red Cross convoy that was bringing aid supplies to Mandalay on April 1. The rebel group said the convoy had reported its route to the military, which a junta spokesman disputed to state-run MRTV. While Naypyidaw may have suffered damages from the quake, Morgan Michaels, a Southeast Asian security and defense research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, tells TIME these weren't significant enough to hamper military campaigns and stop attacks: 'The runway is serviceable, and satellite imagery shows that hangars didn't collapse. Airstrikes continue.' 'The generals are insane to seek to politically and materially benefit from the newly emerging international goodwill towards Myanmar people and to keep bombing cities and towns and rebel positions, including schools and religious sites,' Zarni, the Burmese activist, tells TIME.'The junta is 100% focused on keeping itself in power,' says Zarni. 'Those in charge of the military operations seem determined to wage on their wars.' Contact us at letters@
Egypt Independent
30-03-2025
- General
- Egypt Independent
Rescuers search for survivors two days after quake kills more than 1,600 people in Myanmar and Thailand. Here's what we know
CNN — Rescuers are desperately searching for survivors more than two days after a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar, toppling buildings as far away as the Thai capital Bangkok and sending tremors through nearby Chinese provinces. More than 1,600 people are dead after what was the largest earthquake to hit the war-ravaged country in more than a century, authorities say. Experts fear the true death toll could take weeks to emerge. Widespread damage has been reported after the quake triggered bridges and buildings to collapse, including in Bangkok, where authorities are trying to free dozens believed to be trapped under the rubble of an under-construction high-rise. The epicenter was recorded in Myanmar's central Sagaing region, near the former royal capital Mandalay, home to around 1.5 million people, as well as multiple historic temple complexes and palaces. Meanwhile, foreign aid and international rescue teams have started arriving in Myanmar after the military issued a rare plea for help. Friday's quake was the deadliest natural disaster to hit the country in years and comes as Myanmar reels from a civil war that since 2021 has damaged communication networks, battered health infrastructure and left millions without adequate food and shelter. Here's what we know. A woman is rescued from the rubble of a collapsed condo building in Mandalay on Saturday, before being transported to a hospital. Sai Aung Main/AFP/Getty Images Massive human toll More than 1,600 people are dead and around 3,400 injured, Myanmar's military said on state television. Nearly 140 others remain missing. Authorities expect that number to rise. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimated the final death toll could surpass 10,000 people, according to early modeling. In Bangkok, hundreds of miles from the epicenter, at least 17 people were killed. Of these, 10 died when an under-construction building collapsed in minutes, leaving dozens trapped under the rubble. Seven fatalities were reported elsewhere in the capital, authorities said. Search and rescue operations are ongoing in Bangkok for at least 80 people who remain missing, as families gather at the site of the collapsed high-rise for any news of their loved ones. Around 9,500 reports of building damage have been received in Bangkok, the city's governor said Sunday. Other than the collapsed tower, there have been few reports or evidence of catastrophic damage. The earthquake was the most powerful to strike Myanmar in over a century, after it was struck by a 7.9-magnitude temblor in 1912 in Taunggyi, a city also in central Myanmar. Aftershocks, the largest of which was a 6.7-magnitude tremor on Friday, have continued throughout the weekend, according to the USGS. Widespread devastation Testimonies and satellite images of the devastation have begun to emerge as witnesses in Myanmar recall the moments friends and loved ones were buried by rubble. 'It hit very strong and very fast,' one woman living in Mandalay recalled. Part of the wall of the house collapsed onto the woman's grandmother who was sitting nearby, burying her legs in rubble and debris, she said. A former lawyer in the city also told CNN that three members of his wife's family had been killed in the quake. 'Until now, we have not been able to recover their dead bodies from rubble,' he said. The quake also shattered some of the city's mosques, which were busy with worshippers attending Friday prayers, one man said. Since the quake struck, communication has been difficult with people in Myanmar, including Mandalay – making it hard to know the true extent of the damage. In the south, the townships of Nyaungshwe, Kalaw and Pinlaung are among the hardest hit by the earthquake, the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. 'Thousands of people are spending the nights on the streets or (in) open spaces due to the damage and destruction to homes or fearing further quakes,' the agency said. In Naypyidaw, the country's military capital and 160 miles south of Mandalay, a three-story hospital partially collapsed, trapping patients beneath the rubble, Chinese state media said. Some 40 hours after the quake, China's rescue team rescued one person from the debris. As of Sunday, nearly 1,700 houses, 670 monasteries, 60 schools and three bridges were reported to be damaged, and there are concerns for the structural integrity of large dams, OCHA said. It also noted damage to hospitals, major bridges, universities and historical and public buildings. Before-and-after satellite images released by Maxar Technologies show the scope of the damage, with multiple monasteries, temples, pagodas and buildings throughout Mandalay and Sagaing having severe structural damage. The Sagaing Bridge over the mighty Irrawaddy River, which separates Sagaing and Mandalay, was destroyed, with nearly every section of the bridge fully or partially collapsed into the water. Chinese rescue team members, seen in blue, search for victims trapped in the rubble of a damaged temple in Mandalay on Saturday. Sai Aung Main/AFP/Getty Images Foreign aid deployed Several countries have deployed resources to assist in rescue and relief operations after military leaders, normally averse to foreign involvement, issued a rare plea for help. A team from China was the first to reach Myanmar's biggest city Yangon on Saturday, China's state broadcaster CCTV said, as Beijing pledged $13.8 million in humanitarian assistance. Russia was quick to follow China in deploying its own team of specialists, including dog teams, anesthesiologists and psychologists, the country's Emergencies Ministry said. The United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia will donate aid packages totaling over $20 million in humanitarian assistance. United States President Donald Trump described the quake as 'terrible' and vowed that the US would also send assistance. India, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong have also announced they would send help. The UN announced an immediate pledge of $5 million in aid for Myanmar and said it was mobilizing teams and support for the relief effort. However, rescue teams face a daunting task after infrastructure weakened by the civil war was further damaged by the quake. Efforts are also likely to be complicated as the quake's impact zone includes areas that have seen intense fighting since the junta seized power in 2021 and where competing administrations – the military government and rebel groups – operate separately. Aid groups say wrecked roads, rubble and communication blackouts are impeding relief efforts, according to the United Nations, as health authorities struggle to cope in a system also hollowed out by conflict. Severe shortages of medical supplies – including trauma kits, blood bags, anesthetics and assistive devices – have complicated relief efforts, OCHA said Saturday. Health workers on the ground are struggling to field streams of injured people, according to OCHA. Buddhist monks walk past a collapsed building in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on Saturday. Aung Shine Oo/AP Why was this earthquake so destructive? Myanmar is on an active earthquake belt, but many of the temblors usually happen in sparsely populated areas, not cities like those affected Friday. The USGS and Germany's GFZ center for geosciences said the earthquake was a shallow 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). Shallower earthquakes tend to cause more damage. The energy released by it was the equivalent of 334 atomic bombs, a geologist told CNN, warning that aftershocks could be felt for months. Scientists say the quake occurred along the Sagaing fault, which runs north-south through Myanmar, and that it is a 'strike-slip' fault, when two tectonic plates shift mostly horizontally. Brian Baptie, seismologist with the British Geological Survey, said the rupture moved the earth five meters (16.4 feet) over about a minute in some areas. Because most of the buildings in the area are made from 'timber or unreinforced brick masonry,' he said, they are highly vulnerable to quake damage.
Egypt Independent
29-03-2025
- General
- Egypt Independent
Voices are starting to emerge from quake devastated Myanmar. Here's what we are hearing
CNN — A powerful, deadly earthquake struck at the heart of civil war-ravaged Myanmar on Friday, piling fresh misery on an impoverished nation that was cut off from much of the world even before this natural disaster struck. The timing could hardly be worse. The Southeast Asian country is reeling from a raging civil war between a military junta that seized power in 2021, and pro-democracy fighters and ethnic rebel groups battling to overthrow it. The war – now in its fifth year – has ravaged communications and transport in Myanmar, making it particularly difficult to get a clear picture of the damage. So far authorities say more than 1,000 people have died. But experts fear the real toll will be far higher and could take weeks to emerge. Here's what we know so far. A historic city hit hardest On Saturday fragments emerged showing the destruction wrought by the quake from former royal capital Mandalay, home to around 1.5 million people and the city closest to its epicenter. Residents of the city known for its Buddhist monasteries and a sprawling palace told CNN of homes, offices, mosques and monasteries collapsing and roads to the city ruptured by quake – which unleashed energy equivalent to '334 atomic bombs,' according to one geologist. And they spoke of desperately rushing injured loved ones to medical care – or the agonizing wait for news of friends still missing or trapped under the rubble. CNN managed to reach one woman living in Mandalay who recalled the terrifying moment a family member was buried by rubble. She asked not to be named. 'It hit very strong and very fast,' she said of the earthquake. She recalled she was boiling water to make milk for her baby when the 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck not far from her home to the east of the city. Part of the wall of the house collapsed onto the woman's grandmother who was sitting nearby, burying her legs in rubble and debris, she said. 'The door couldn't open as a fence had collapsed onto it. I shouted out for help and my husband came in from the street. He jumped on the door and managed to open it.' A damaged pagoda is pictured in Mandalay on March 29, 2025, a day after an earthquake struck central Myanmar. Sai Aung Main/AFP/Getty Images A former lawyer in the city who did not want to give his name, told CNN three members of his wife's family had been killed in the quake. 'Until now, we have not been able to recover their dead bodies from rubble,' he said. The quake also shattered some of the city's mosques which were busy with worshippers attending Friday prayers, one man said. 'When the buildings collapsed, many Muslims got trapped inside, causing casualties and deaths… In one mosque, there are more than a hundred injured.' Across the mighty Irrawaddy river that runs past Mandalay, there is also destruction in Sagaing region, a more rural area, where many live in more flimsy – but more earthquake survivable – wooden and thatched houses. Nang Aye Yin, 34, heard news that the nunnery where a relative of his was studying had collapsed. 'Luckily no one died, but two were badly wounded. One of my nieces aged 11 lost three toes and another nun had her head broken as well as one of her legs.' Hospitals in both Sagaing and Mandalay turned them away as they were already at full capacity, he said. Rescuer search through the rubble of a damaged building looking for survivors in Mandalay on March 29, 2025, a day after an earthquake struck central Myanmar. Sai Aung Main/AFP/Getty Images A rare call for outside help Myanmar's military junta seized power in a 2021 coup after a brief 10-year experiment with democracy. Before that, Myanmar's generals ruled for decades. And generally, whenever disaster struck, they would eschew foreign help and play down the impact. This time it's different. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing took the unusual step of quickly asking for foreign aid. He visited the city of Mandalay on Saturday to inspect the damage, state media reported, as well as the capital Naypyidaw which was also hit hard. On Saturday several neighboring countries began sending rescue teams and aid. A team from China – historically one of the junta's closest partners – were the first to arrive, touching down in Myanmar's commercial hub Yangon bringing relief supplies, Chinese state media said. Singapore, Malaysia, India and Russia also announced they would send help. But for those in quake-stricken Mandalay, around 380 miles away and with transportation uncertain, the wait driving them mad. 'My head is going to explode while waiting for calls for friends who cannot be found yet,' the former lawyer said.
