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Death toll in Burma, Thailand earthquake rises to more than 1,600 victims
The death toll from the devastating earthquake that rocked Burma and Thailand on Friday has risen sharply to more than 1,650 victims.
The earthquake’s epicenter was in central Burma, where 1,644 have been confirmed dead with nearly 140 people still missing, the nation’s ruling military said Saturday.
The 7.7 magnitude quake knocked down scores of buildings as well as destroyed bridges and highways in what was the deadliest natural disaster to hit the impoverished, war-torn country in years. Burma is also known as Myanmar.
Survivors in Mandalay, Burma’s second-biggest city, dug with their bare hands on Friday in desperate attempts to save those still trapped, lacking heavy machinery and with authorities absent. Burma’s military rulers let in hundreds of foreign rescue personnel on Saturday.
Rescue personnel work at the site of a building that collapsed, following a strong earthquake, in Mandalay, Burma on March 29, 2025. (REUTERS/Stringer)
AMERICA’S MOST EXPENSIVE NATURAL DISASTERS IN RECENT DECADES
The quake struck during Friday prayers across the country, causing the collapse of at least 50 mosques across the country, killing nearly 300 people, the Yangon Khit Thit News Agency reported.
An initial assessment by Burma’s opposition National Unity Government said at least 2,900 buildings, 30 roads and seven bridges had been damaged by the quake.
The quake comes amid a raging civil war that has wrecked the economy and displaced millions. It makes movement around the country both difficult and dangerous, complicating relief efforts and raising fears that the death toll could still rise precipitously.
People drive on a motorbike past a collapsed building in Mandalay on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake in central Burma. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)
Airports too have been damaged, further hindering rescue efforts. For instance, satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC show the earthquake toppled the air traffic control tower at Naypyitaw International Airport as if sheered from its base, according to The Associated Press.
The country sits on the Sagaing Fault, a major north-south fault that separates the India plate and the Sunda plate.
WATCH: First responders clear leveled apartment building in Thailand after powerful earthquake
IS THE EAST COAST ON THE BRINK OF A MAJOR EARTHQUAKE — AND ARE WE PREPARED?
President Donald Trump said the earthquake was «terrible» on Friday and assured that the United States would assist in relief efforts.
«It’s a real bad one, and we will be helping. We’ve already spoken with the country,» Trump said.
In neighboring Thailand, where the quake shook buildings and brought down a skyscraper under construction in the capital Bangkok, at least ten people were killed.
Dramatic footage captured in Bangkok midday Friday showed a 33-story apartment building that was under construction falling down, scattering dust and debris throughout the city’s streets. Bangkok city authorities said earlier Friday that 10 people were killed, 16 were injured.
Water from a separate high-rise building with rooftop pools in Bangkok spilled over the side as they shook and debris fell from many buildings.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said the country has now «returned to normalcy.»
Aftershocks were reportedly felt in India and China.
WATCH: Skyscraper in Bangkok collapses after 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocks Burma, Thailand
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Photos and video from Burma showed two hard-hit cities with extensive damage.
In Mandalay, Burma’s second-largest city and close to the epicenter, the earthquake damaged part of the former royal palace and buildings, according to videos and photos released on Facebook social media.
In the Sagaing region just southwest of Mandalay, a 90-year-old bridge collapsed, and some sections of the highway connecting Mandalay and the city of Yangon were also damaged.
In the capital Naypyitaw, the quake damaged religious shrines, sending parts toppling to the ground and some homes.
Christina Shaw, Greg Norman, Bradford Betz Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Evangelical leaders rally for Trump and Israel as Operation Epic Fury reshapes the region
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Despite efforts to shift evangelical Christian support away from Israel, some of the most influential leaders say the community has stood firmly by the Jewish state since the start of the joint U.S.-Israel operation against Iran.
As Wednesday’s ceasefire took effect, Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem and a close evangelical ally of President Donald Trump, reflected on the war. Evans flew to Israel on Feb. 26 as tensions escalated ahead of the operation.
During his visit, Evans toured impact sites caused by enemy missiles, met wounded civilians and Holocaust survivors, and provided $50,000 in financial assistance to a bereaved family.
«I knew the war would start, so I flew to the area. I have been in 41 wars. I go there intentionally when people are hurting to help them,» Evans told Fox News Digital.
TRUMP VOWS TO HIT IRAN ‘VERY HARD’ AFTER OBLITERATING NEARLY ’90 PERCENT’ OF REGIME MISSILES
Rescue workers and military personnel carry the body of a victim after several people were killed by an Iranian missile strike in Beit Shemesh, Israel, March 1, 2026. (Leo Correa/AP Photo)
On March 1, an Iranian missile struck the city of Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem, killing nine people. Evans arrived at the scene with first responders shortly after the strike. He later visited Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital, where he met Pnina Cohen, who was injured and lost both her husband and mother-in-law in the attack.
«I have been doing this for half a century. This is my life—combating antisemitism and helping the Jewish people,» Evans said.
Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign [named Roaring Lion in Israel], began on Feb. 28, with the stated goal of «obliterating Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and production capacity,» weakening its military infrastructure and preventing it from acquiring nuclear weapons, according to a White House briefing. The first day of the operation was marked by the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
AMERICAN WHO FLED IRAN SAYS CITIZENS ‘DESPERATE’ FOR FREEDOM, PRAYING FOR ISLAMIC REGIME TO FALL
Leading evangelical figures urge President Trump to continue backing Israel. (Graham; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, Mike Evans; Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
According to Israel’s Ministry of Health on Tuesday, since the beginning of the war, 7,183 people have been evacuated to hospitals, of whom 118 are currently hospitalized.
Evans described the U.S.-Israel partnership as unprecedented. «No one could have imagined an American president partnering so closely with Israel against radical Islam,» he said, calling the campaign «historic.»
He said evangelical support for Israel is rooted in religious belief. «The Bible is a Jewish book, and evangelicals believe in a Jewish person, Jesus,» he said. «They see Israel as the biblical land and believe God keeps his promises.»
The Evangelical Christian community, which numbers about 52 million people in the United States, supported Trump’s presidency on the condition that he would back Israel, Evans said.
Beyond political backing, Evans said evangelicals are active online. «We’ve had 127 million views on social media in the last eight weeks,» he said. «We are fighting misinformation and antisemitism because lies can cost lives.»
He emphasized that support is also practical. «We don’t just offer prayers — we provide financial help to those who lost homes and possessions.»
President Donald Trump bids farewell to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he leaves the White House after a meeting on April 7, 2025. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Evans acknowledged that a portion of younger evangelicals has shifted away from traditional support for Israel. «A segment has been influenced by universities and online voices,» he said, estimating that about 22% to 23% have shifted. «We are working to reach them and I believe we can.»
American Pastor John Hagee, the founder and chairman of the Christian Zionist organization Christians United for Israel, told Fox News Digital that the evangelical community supports Trump’s decision to seek the end of Iran’s menacing and murderous behavior.
AIRMAN RESCUE SHOWS U.S. CAN PENETRATE ENEMY TERRITORY ‘ANYWHERE’ IN IRAN, FORMER PENTAGON OFFICIAL WARNS
«We will be backing his request to Congress to fund this effort, and we will ensure our elected officials represent the will and morality of the American people by seeing this righteous endeavor to its righteous end,» he said.
Hagee said that «as Americans, we have a right to defend ourselves against the Islamic Republic’s half-century of terror. As Christians, we are mandated to defend ourselves against evil, to stand with the oppressed against the same, and to stand with the children of Israel at all times.»
People take shelter as Iran launched missiles and drones toward Israel following the U.S.-Israel attacks. (Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
«Evangelical Christians who’ve been raised in the church and are biblically literate are Christian Zionists,» he said.
«The rise of antisemitism on the ‘woke right’ is not a product of evangelical churches, but rather a product of the false doctrine of Replacement Theology, repurposed and used as clickbait,» he continued.
Any pastor or priest, politician or podcaster, who charges that the modern children of Israel are anything other than the direct descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the beneficiaries of God’s unbreakable covenant with Israel, Hagee said, is not preaching the word of God.
«Operation Epic Fury is making the world a safer and better place for all its inhabitants; stay the course, Mr. President,» he said.
An Israeli fighter jet takes off for strikes in Tehran. (IDF)
Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, an international, evangelical Christian disaster relief organization, said Iran has vowed to wipe the State of Israel off the face of the earth, and with nuclear weapons, they could.
«If President Trump had not stopped them, this is something this fanatical Islamic regime might have done within the next few months,» he said.
The Rev. Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, speaks during President Donald Trump’s visit to Hurricane Helene-damaged North Carolina on Jan. 24, 2025. (Samaritan’s Purse)
«My message to the American people would be to remember Israel is the only truly democratic nation in the Middle East — the only one. And they have been our nation’s closest ally in the region. I urge Americans to ‘pray for the peace of Jerusalem’ as the Bible instructs us,» he continued.
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Graham said Trump stood with Israel in a way no other American president did in the past.
«We’ve never had a president like President Trump in my lifetime. If he says he’s going to do something, he’ll do it. He warned Iran that if it continued to develop nuclear weapons, the U.S. would intervene, and that’s exactly what he did.»
anti semitism, war with iran, evangelical, donald trump, franklin graham, israel
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Epstein survivors push back on Melania Trump hearing call as Comer vows ‘we will have hearings’
Melania Trump advisor reveals why she addressed Jeffrey Epstein ‘lies’
Melania Trump publicly denies ties to Jeffrey Epstein, calling for an end to ‘disgraceful lies’ and demanding congressional action for survivors. Senior advisor Marc Beckman emphasizes her clear record and advocacy for Epstein victims, pushing for a public hearing. This rare statement aims to fight against ongoing false narratives and highlight her achievements, including the ‘Take It Down Act’ she championed.
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Some Jeffrey Epstein abuse survivors are pushing back on first lady Melania Trump’s call for public congressional testimony, as House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., confirmed Friday «we will have hearings,» following a rare public statement Thursday by Trump at the White House where she came out swinging at those who have linked her to Epstein.
The first lady also called on Congress to conduct hearings «specifically centered around the survivors.»
«Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony,» Trump said. «Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public if she wishes, and then her testimony should be permanently entered into the Congressional Record.»
But a group of 15 Epstein victims released a joint statement Friday against the move.
«First Lady Melania Trump is now shifting the burden onto survivors,» they said. «Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filing reports, and giving testimony,» they added. «Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility, not justice.»
MELANIA TRUMP DENOUNCES ‘LIES’ CONNECTING HER WITH DISGRACED FINANCIER JEFFREY EPSTEIN IN WHITE HOUSE EVENT
First lady Melania Trump delivers a statement Thursday at the White House denying any link to Jeffrey Epstein, while calling for a congressional hearing to allow survivors of his abuse to share their stories. (Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Comer said such hearings have always been on his radar.
«I agree with the first lady and appreciate what she said. We will have hearings,» Comer told Fox News’ Sandra Smith. «I’ve always planned on having hearings with the victims.
«My attorneys on the Oversight Committee have been communicating on a constant basis for months with the attorneys representing Epstein victims,» he added. «There are some victims who are willing to come in, [but] most victims aren’t, and I completely understand that, but we have always planned on having a hearing with Epstein’s victims once the depositions have been completed.»
Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton both sat for closed-door depositions with the House Oversight Committee in February for questioning related to Epstein, and a deposition is forthcoming for Microsoft founder Bill Gates in June.
EPSTEIN’S LAWYER ‘NOT AWARE’ OF ANY RELATIONSHIP TRUMP HAD WITH LATE CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER, COMER SAYS
House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., says «we will have hearings» with Jeffrey Epstein abuse survivors. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images; Neil Rasmus/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images)
«The first lady accomplished three things [Thursday] as it relates to the disgraceful Epstein,» the first lady’s senior advisor, Marc Beckman, told «Fox & Friends» Friday. «First, she cleared her record; she set the record straight, she debunked all of the lies surrounding her and Epstein.»
MELANIA TRUMP ADVISOR SAYS SHE’S HAD ‘ENOUGH’ AFTER BREAKING SILENCE TO DENY JEFFREY EPSTEIN CONNECTION
Epstein abuse survivor Teresa Helm speaks during a news conference with lawmakers on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Nov. 18, 2025, outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images, File)
«Second, she became a champion for these women, for the victims, and finally, third, she’s a real leader in Washington, D.C. She’s calling on Congress to act now.»
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It is unclear when or how many of the survivors will come forward to testify.
«Survivors have done their part. Now it’s time for those in power to do theirs,» the survivors said in the statement.
hearings house of representatives politics, melania trump, jeffrey epstein, congress, politics
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