INTERNACIONAL
Survivors still being found from Burma earthquake, but hopes begin to fade as deaths exceed 2,700
- A 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Burma on Friday, killing more than 2,700 people, compounding a humanitarian crisis caused by a civil war.
- The death toll is 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, leaving the full extent of the devastation hard to assess.
- The World Health Organization said more than 10,000 buildings are known to have collapsed or been severely damaged in Burma. The earthquake also hit neighboring Thailand, causing a high-rise building under construction to collapse and burying many workers.
Rescue workers saved a 63-year-old woman from the rubble of a building in Burma’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 Burma’s military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, told a forum in Naypyitaw, that 2,719 people have now been found dead, with 4,521 others injured and 441 missing, Myanmar’s Western News online portal reported.
BURMA-THAILAND EARTHQUAKE: PATRICK SCHWARZENEGGER, ‘WHITE LOTUS’ CAST SEND PRAYERS AS DEATH TOLL PASSES 1,000
Those 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, leaving the full extent of the devastation hard to assess.
Most of the reports so far have come from Mandalay, Burma’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 Burma.
Burma’s rescuers work through rubble of a collapsed building following Friday’s earthquake in Naypyitaw, Burma, on April 1, 2025. (AP Photo)
«The window for lifesaving response is closing. Across the affected areas, families are facing acute shortages of clean water, food, and medical supplies.»
Burma’s fire department said that 403 people have been rescued in Mandalay and 259 bodies have been found so far. In one incident alone, 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 in central and northwest Burma.
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 Burma, 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.
MASSIVE 7.7 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE ROCKS THAILAND, BURMA, COLLAPSING BUILDINGS AND KILLING MORE THAN 1,000
Relief efforts moving at a sluggish pace
Foreign aid workers have been arriving slowly to help in the rescue efforts, but progress was still slow with 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 Burma military government’s official Global New Light of Burma 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.
The same publication 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 U.S. 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 aid to assist Burma 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 Burma’s brutal civil war, and nearly 20 million were in need, according to the U.N.
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 U.N.’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
Burma’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 Burma, 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.
BURMESE GOVERNMENT DENIES CLAIMS IT KILLED 76 VILLAGERS
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.»
«We are in a race against time to save lives,» the NUG said in a statement.
«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.»
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.
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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 Burma commissioned by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, said on X that to facilitate aid, military attacks must stop.
«The focus in Burma must be on saving lives, not taking them,» he said.
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Australia’s most decorated living soldier charged amid fierce debate over war crimes allegations
American freed by Taliban RETURNS HOME
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Australian authorities have arrested and charged the country’s most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, 47, with five war crime murders allegedly committed during the war in Afghanistan.
Roberts-Smith, a former member of the Australian Defence Force, was arrested at Sydney Airport on Tuesday. His arrest has sparked outcry from a former Australian prime minister, who argued its unfair to judge the actions of «men in mortal combat by the standards of ordinary civilian life.» X owner Elon Musk also weighed in on the arrest, calling it «insane.»
The Australian Federal Police and the Office of the Special Investigator said Roberts-Smith is being charged in connection with the killings of five unarmed Afghans in three separate incidents between 2009 and 2012. AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett alleged that Roberts-Smith either killed the unarmed Afghans himself or instructed a subordinate to kill them. If convicted, Roberts-Smith faces life imprisonment on each charge.
«It will be alleged the victims were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder in Afghanistan,» Barrett said during a press conference. «It will be alleged the victims were detained, unarmed and were under the control of ADF members when they were killed.»
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Ben Roberts-Smith arrives at the Federal Court in Sydney on June 9, 2021. Australia’s most decorated living war veteran lodged an appeal on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, against a civil court ruling that blamed him for the unlawful killings of four Afghans. (Rick Rycroft/AP)
The investigation into Roberts-Smith began in 2021, according to Ross Barnett, director of investigations at the Office of the Special Investigator. Roberts-Smith received the Victoria Cross after storming two enemy machine guns during his fifth tour in Afghanistan.
Barnett said at the press conference that the investigation was «under challenging circumstances,» given that some of the murders occurred well over a decade ago and investigators were unable to visit Afghanistan.
«We don’t have access to the crime scenes, we don’t have photographs, site plans, measurements, the recovery of projectiles, blood spatter analysis, all of those things we would normally get at a crime scene,» Barnett said at the press conference.
TRUMP’S DC GUARD DEPLOYMENT DIDN’T FUEL VIOLENCE — BIDEN’S AFGHAN VETTING BREAKDOWN DID
Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith VC, MG attends a Victoria Cross and George Cross Association Reunion Service at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church on May 30, 2012 in London, England. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
While Australia’s current prime minister has yet to weigh in on the arrest, former Australian Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party Tony Abbott expressed his support for Roberts-Smith on X in a lengthy post.
«If Ben Roberts-Smith transgressed, why wasn’t this picked up prior to his gallantry awards and why wasn’t any culture of brutality towards prisoners detected by his more senior officers, and dealt with quickly, rather than being allowed to fester, as has been alleged, for over a decade?» Abbott wrote.
Allegations that Roberts-Smith engaged in war crimes began circulating publicly in 2017 and 2018 in articles published by The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times.
Roberts-Smith filed a defamation suit against the papers, which became Australia’s most expensive defamation trial, but in 2023, a Federal Court judge ruled that four of the six murder allegations brought by the papers against Roberts-Smith were legitimate.
In one of the allegations ruled to have merit by Justice Anthony Besanko, Roberts-Smith allegedly marched a handcuffed Afghan man named Ali Jan off the edge of a 10-meter cliff. He survived the fall, but Roberts-Smith and his fellow soldiers walked down a footpath to meet him. Roberts-Smith then ordered a subordinate, known as Person 11 in court, to shoot him.
Ben Roberts-Smith departs the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney on June 7, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images)
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The High Court dismissed Roberts-Smith’s appeal of the ruling in September 2025.
The criminal charges against Roberts-Smith stem from a joint effort by OSI and AFP. The two Australian agencies have conducted 53 investigations into ADF members tied to war crime allegations in Afghanistan. Ten of the investigations remain ongoing.
australia, afghanistan, army, armed forces, military trials
INTERNACIONAL
Trump backs Hilton ahead of California GOP vote, testing Bianco’s grip on party endorsement
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California Republicans this weekend will vote to endorse their pick for California governor in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The vote, this Sunday in San Diego at the California GOP’s annual convention, comes a week after President Donald Trump took sides between the two major Republican candidates in the race, backing conservative commentator and former Fox News Channel host Steve Hilton over Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
Trump, whose endorsements are extremely influential in GOP primaries, argued in his endorsement statement that California had «gone to hell» and that «Steve can turn it around, before it is too late, and, as President, I will help him to do so!»
The president’s support for Hilton is expected to pay immediate dividends at the state GOP convention.
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Republican governor candidate Steve Hilton speaks to press during Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates press event at Huntington Beach on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Huntington Beach, California. Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates announced his run for California attorney general. (Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
«I think it definitely can help rally the base behind a candidate and generate some noise and some enthusiasm,» California Republican Party chairwoman Corrin Rankin told Fox News Digital.
Bianco is a loyal Trump supporter who has plenty of friends and support among California Republican insiders. But Trump’s endorsement of Hilton, a top adviser to then-British Prime Minister David Cameron a decade and a half ago before moving to the U.S. and becoming an American citizen in 2021, may boost him at the GOP convention, where backing from 60% of delegates is needed to land the party’s endorsement.
But Bianco, the sheriff who recently grabbed plenty of national attention for seizing ballots in Riverside County, appeared defiant.
«For too long, politicians and insiders from Sacramento to Washington have tried to pick our leaders for us. That’s not leadership, that’s a coronation, and it’s exactly how we ended up with the failed leadership Californians are living with today,» he said in a social media video. «This election belongs to the people, not the political class.»
TOUGH ON CRIME REPUBLICAN SHERIFF LAUNCHES BID FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR
Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on May 15, 2024, in Washington, DC. This week marks National Police Week, which sees thousands of police officers from departments across the country coming to Washington DC to honor law enforcement who died in the line of duty. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Trump’s endorsement may have another unintended consequence.
Candidates from both major political parties appear on the same ballot in the left-leaning state’s June primary, with the top two finishers advancing to November’s general election.
Some Democrats were concerned that with nine candidates in the race, support among Democratic voters would be so badly divided in the primary that no contender would reach the general election. Hilton and Bianco had been the top two candidates in some public opinion polls, giving some in the GOP hope of a final face-off between two Republicans.
That scenario may be less likely now, as Hilton’s support is expected to rise and Bianco’s drop in light of the president’s endorsement. Polling in the past week gave a hint of a Hilton surge.
«Trump kills any GOP hopes of an R vs R runoff in the California governor’s race,» Rob Pyers of California Target Book, which describes itself as a non-partisan and unbiased political almanac, wrote last week in a social media post.
MEDIA PERSONALITY STEVE HILTON ENTERS CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL RACE
Trump’s endorsement of Hilton has sent shock waves through California’s Republican Party. (Alex Brandon/AP)
But Hilton dismissed as a pipe dream talk of shutting out the Democrats from the general election ballot.
«That scenario of two Republicans [making the general election ballot], I’ve been saying this for months, was always a fantasy,» Hilton said on Fox Business’ «The Bottom Line.» «The idea that the Democrat machine in California was just going to hand over the state to two Republicans was never serious. It was never, never going to happen.»
He further argued, «What was more likely was actually…you were going to have two Democrats in the top two and then we’ll have no chance of change. So this really makes sure that we have a Republican in the top two.»
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No Republican has won a statewide election in California since then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 re-election victory.
And with the president’s approval rating in California hovering in the 30s, Trump’s endorsement will likely do Hilton no favors if he makes it onto the November ballot.
gavin newsom, donald trump, republican convention, california, republicans, elections, gubernatorial
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