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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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Australia expulsó al embajador de Irán y suspendió su misión diplomática tras vincular a Teherán con ataques antisemitas
El gobierno de Australia ordenó la expulsión del embajador de Irán y la suspensión de sus actividades diplomáticas en Teherán, tras acusar al régimen persa de estar detrás de ataques antisemitas contra objetivos judíos en Melbourne y Sídney.
Según informó el primer ministro australiano, Anthony Albanese, se trata de la primera vez desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial que Canberra adopta una medida de este tipo contra un representante diplomático extranjero.
Durante una comparecencia pública, Anthony Albanese afirmó que “los servicios de inteligencia llegaron a la conclusión profundamente inquietante de que Teherán dirigió al menos dos ataques antisemitas en territorio australiano”.
El jefe de gobierno detalló que los incidentes investigados incluyen un ataque incendiario dirigido en octubre de 2024 contra el Lewis Continental Cafe, una cafetería kosher ubicada en el suburbio de Bondi, en Sídney, y otro incendio intencional perpetrado en diciembre del mismo año contra la sinagoga Adass Israel, en Melbourne. “Se trata de actos de agresión extraordinarios y peligrosos orquestados por una nación extranjera en suelo australiano”, declaró Albanese ante los medios.
El mandatario subrayó que Irán buscó “socavar la cohesión social y sembrar la discordia en nuestra comunidad”, señalando que “es totalmente inaceptable” que un Estado extranjero impulse actos de odio en Australia.
Albanese advirtió que las autoridades de inteligencia consideran “probable” que Teherán haya coordinado además otros ataques antisemitas registrados en el país.
A raíz del informe de los servicios de seguridad, el embajador iraní en Canberra, Ahmad Sadeghi, fue declarado persona non grata, junto con otros tres funcionarios de la representación diplomática iraní. Todos ellos deberán abandonar el territorio australiano en un plazo máximo de siete días. El Ejecutivo también resolvió retirar a su embajador en Teherán y suspender todas las actividades de su misión diplomática en la capital iraní. Los diplomáticos australianos han sido ubicados “a salvo en un tercer país”, según confirmó el primer ministro.
En paralelo, el gobierno recomendó a todos los ciudadanos australianos que no viajen a Irán y pidió a quienes permanezcan allí que abandonen ese país en cuanto sea posible y seguro. Las autoridades consideraron que la situación actual representa un riesgo inaceptable para la integridad de sus ciudadanos y su personal consular.
La ministra australiana de Asuntos Exteriores, Penny Wong, calificó la decisión como histórica. “Es la primera vez en la posguerra que Australia expulsa a un embajador”, remarcó. Wong también precisó que, pese a la gravedad de los hechos, Canberra mantendrá relaciones diplomáticas limitadas con Irán para proteger intereses consulares y de ciudadanos en el extranjero.
“Irán ha intentado socavar la cohesión de nuestra sociedad, ha tratado de dividir a la comunidad australiana y lo ha hecho con actos de agresión que no solo buscaban aterrorizar, sino que además pusieron en riesgo vidas australianas”, sostuvo Wong.
La ministra enfatizó que el Ejecutivo prioriza la protección de los habitantes del país ante amenazas extranjeras. “Estos actos extraordinarios y peligrosos de agresión, orquestados por una nación extranjera en suelo australiano, han cruzado una línea”, añadió.
El gobierno australiano detalló que el Cuerpo de la Guardia Revolucionaria Islámica de Irán (CGRI), institución encargada de la seguridad del régimen iraní y de operaciones en el exterior, será incluido en la lista oficial de organizaciones terroristas.
El ministro del Interior, Tony Burke, expuso el impacto que los episodios generaron en la sociedad australiana. “Hay antisemitismo en Australia. Es real, es debilitante, pero los ataques fueron impulsados por el antisemitismo originado en Irán. Dicho esto, nada cambia el hecho de que fue un ataque antisemita y nada cambia el hecho de que el impacto es idéntico”, señaló el ministro.
La investigación determinó que los responsables de los ataques ejecutaron instrucciones directas de Teherán, con el objetivo de sembrar temor y tensión en la comunidad judía australiana. Según el informe, ambos atentados buscaban “alterar la cohesión social, dividir a la sociedad y amenazar a ciudadanos australianos de fe judía”. Las autoridades australianas reiteraron su rechazo al antisemitismo y anunciaron medidas adicionales de seguridad y monitoreo en espacios sensibles de Sídney, Melbourne y otras ciudades.
(Con información de EFE y AFP)
Asia / Pacific,Government / Politics,CANBERRA
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Social media erupts after DNC speaker says migrant crime, carjackings ‘don’t matter’ to many Americans
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Insha Rahman, vice president of advocacy and partnerships of the far-left criminal justice reform group, Vera Institute of Justice, caused an uproar on social media after she told Democrats on Monday that migrant crime and carjackings «don’t matter to that many Americans.»
During a political strategy session about crime and safety at the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Rahman urged Democrats to seize on President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown, calling it a «political liability.»
«Trump is not about safety,» Rahman said. «This is a political power grab, and he will do it however he can, whether that’s at the ballot box or taking over our cities.»
While Rahman focused her remarks on how Democrats can reject Republicans’ «tough on crime scare tactics,» the Vera Institute, where the Democratic strategist serves as a senior official, has a long record of supporting defunding the police.
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With the dome of the U.S. Capitol in the background, members of the DC National Guard keep watch outside Union Station on Aug. 19, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/File Photo/Reuters)
«We must dismantle the current culture of policing in the United States,» the Vera Institute said in a 2020 statement during the anti-police protests that erupted across the country after George Floyd, a Black man, was murdered by a White police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
VANCE, WHITE HOUSE BLAST ‘CRAZY COMMUNISTS’ PROTESTING DC CLEAN-UP, TERRORIZING LOCALS: ‘STUPID WHITE HIPPIES’
The liberal criminal justice think tank went on to affirm their support for «the outrage we’re seeing,» and announced they were «building on this unique moment of public awareness, outrage, and calls to defund the police.»
Fox News Digital has covered the Vera Institute for years, including its ties to former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department and billionaire liberal megadonor George Soros.
The Vera Institute has advocated for defunding the police and has openly stated their mission is to demolish a «racist» criminal justice system.
A woman waves an upside-down American flag as people gather at Black Lives Matter protest on Nov. 5, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital discovered in 2022 that the non-profit secured a staggering $171.7 million federal contract to provide legal assistance to unaccompanied minors, according to a federal database.
«Don’t take the bait in talking about migrant crime or carjackings or the things that actually don’t matter to that many Americans, and then go to the policy proposals that we think work,» Rahman instructed Democrats on Monday.
This clip went viral Monday afternoon with conservatives slamming Rahman for her rhetoric and pointing out her organization’s ties to the Defund the Police movement.
«Who has given money to the George Soros-tied Vera Institute?» conservative communicator Steve Guest posted on X. «The Biden DOJ, the Open Society Foundations, Rockefeller, Tides, the Ford Foundation and MacKenzie Scott. Vera Institute in turn supports BLM and numerous left wing causes. FOLLOW THE MONEY!»
«This Democrat Speaker is a member of the Vera Institute of Justice which advocates for defunding the police,» the Republican National Committee’s research account posted on X.
«She makes over $300k in salary according to last year’s tax filings, and the Vera Institute brought in around $140 million in revenue,» the Project for Immigration Reform posted on X.
Trump last week floated the deployment of federal law enforcement to address major U.S. cities, including Chicago, after mobilizing more than 2,200 National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., to fight a «crime emergency.»
A Metropolitan Police Department police cruiser blocks a street leading to the White House on Nov. 3, 2020. (iStock)
The president signed an executive order on Monday, seeking to eliminate cashless bail for suspects arrested in the nation’s capital.
Rahman said Democrats should respond by saying, «They want money and privilege and to give a handout to the bail bondsman while we want to make sure safety, not wealth, determines who stays in jail and who goes home to their families.»
She also advised Democrats not to let Trump «take credit» for crime going down.
«It’s going down in spite of him and because of Democratic leadership like mine. That is the phrase you want to use. Don’t be afraid of the crime debate. Lean all the way in. Call out what Trump is doing and say, ‘The reason crime is going down, our communities are becoming safer, is because of us,’» Rahman said.
Members of the National Guard facilitate entries at the staging area of local and federal law enforcement agencies inside the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility on Aug. 12, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Craig Hudson For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Regarding questions about defunding the police, Rahman said Democrats should «call out the scare tactics.»
«I’m not about scare tactics or slogans,» she said Democrats should tell their Republican opponents. «I’m not afraid to have an honest conversation.»
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«We keep expecting police to solve every social problem. No one profession can do that. We’re spending too much and putting too much burden on them. It’s time to pry out some promising new solutions to lift the burden. It’s time for support and change, not blame,» she added.
Fox News Digital reached out to the DNC and Vera but did not immediately receive a response.
democratic party,elections,woke,police and law enforcement
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