Myanmar was hit by a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake on Friday, with tremors felt across Thailand and in nearby Chinese provinces.

It was the most powerful earthquake to strike Myanmar in over a century, according to the United States Geological Survey, dealing a further blow to the civil war-ravaged country that has been cut off from much of the world since the military junta seized power in 2021.

Rescuers continue the desperate search for survivors after buildings were flattened and scores of people were killed as experts fear the extent of the devastation could take weeks to emerge.

Satellite images reveal the scale of the destruction.

She asked to be identified only as “Ambo,” out of fear of being recognized back in her home country.

Over the ambient noise of blade fans attempting to cool the large room, she explained she left her native country of Cameroon due to “political issues,” fearing that she would either be “sentenced dead” or spend the rest of her life in prison if she stayed.

She remembers arriving at the US-Mexico border on January 23 – three days after US President Trump’s inauguration – after trekking through Central America and the dangerous Darién jungle.

She turned herself in to United States Customs and Border Protection in hopes of making her case for asylum. By her count she spent 19 days in US custody, then finally got that chance – or so she thought.

Just after midnight on February 13, by her recollection, she and other migrants were loaded onto a bus where they drove for hours.

“We were so happy thinking that they were going to transfer us to a camp where we are going to meet an immigration officer,” she recalled.

She still thought that when she was loaded onto a plane, believing they were headed to another facility in the United States. But when they landed, they were in Panama.

“We’re asking them why are they bringing us to Panama? ‘Why are we in Panama?’” she said, “People started crying.”

Even still, she was optimistic.

“We’re like thinking maybe the camp in the US is full. That is why they are bringing us here. When it will be our turn, they will come and take us to give us a listening ear,” she said.

Even in a new country, under a new government authority, she held out hope someone from the United States government would step in and fix the situation.

“It wasn’t the case.” Her voice cracked, recalling the moment her optimism shattered.

‘Everyone is in a bad situation’

This is the downstream reality of an increased immigration crackdown in the United States, which the Trump administration has pressured Latin American countries like Panama, Costa Rica, and El Salvador to help with.

Just days before she arrived at the border, Trump had signed an executive order effectively shutting down the US-Mexico border to migrants seeking asylum in the United States. Weeks later, the Panamanian government agreed to receive some of those migrants, at least temporarily, and took in nearly 300.

Many are asylum-seekers from places like Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, China, Sri Lanka. They are now are caught in limbo – expelled from the United States, but unable to go back to their home countries out of fear of being persecuted or killed.

“They shouldn’t just like abandon us like that without telling us what we have done wrong. It become very, very difficult and confusing to us. I’ve left my children back home,” Ambo said through tears.

Another woman from Ethiopia, was on a similar flight. She too requested not to use her name for fear of retaliation in her home country.

“I am so shocked. I’m saying this is Texas or Panama?” she recalled.

They all now live in a humble shelter, one of multiple places in Panama where these migrants are trying to navigate life, in a country where they don’t speak the language.

“Almost all of us are from different countries, but here we are like family, you know?” said the woman from Ethiopia.

“Are you going to kill us?”

Days after they were initially brought to a Panamanian hotel, the migrants were loaded onto buses again. They expected to be moved to another hotel, Ambo says.

But the drive stretched on for hours, until they arrived at a facility over a hundred miles outside of Panama City on the outskirts of the Darién jungle near the border with Colombia.

“Are you going to kill us? Why are you bringing us here?” she recalled asking in fear, “Bringing us in this place, a forest. What is going to happen to us?”

Artemis Ghasemzadeh, an English teacher from Iran, remembers crying after being expelled from the United States on her February birthday.

In February she was seen in a window of the migrant hotel with the words “Help Us” written across the window.

Days later she was at this Panamanian jungle camp, known as the San Vicente shelter, with over 100 other migrants who were in the same situation as hers.

“The food was really disgusting,” said Ghasemzadeh. “The bathroom was really dirty, no privacy, no door,” she added.

Salam said the water for bathing was not clean, causing hives to break out on her skin. She pulled up a pant leg to show the marks on her skin. “All my body is like this,” she said.

Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino has repeatedly denied that authorities have violated the deportees’ rights. Reached for comment about conditions at the camp, a spokesperson from the Panamanian Security Minister’s office deferred to the International Office for Migration (IOM), which assists migrants.

Through every step of the way, attorneys for these migrants argue their rights were violated.

“Our claim is that America violated the right to seek asylum and by extension, by receiving them, the Panamanian government did the same thing,” said Silvia Serna Román, regional litigator for Mexico and Central America for the Global Strategic Litigation Council. “Even though they all claim to be to be asylum seekers, they have never had their right to be heard,” she added.

Serna Román is part of a group of international lawyers that filed a lawsuit against Panama on these alleged violations in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Ian Kysel, who is also part of that group, has previously said they are exploring a range of further legal actions, including against US-specific entities and other countries that might be taking in deported or expelled US migrants.

Panama has denied any wrongdoing in this saga.

In early March, the Panamanian government released the over 100 migrants from the remote jungle camp, but gave them 30-day “humanitarian” permits, extendable up to 90 days, to find another place to go or risk deportation from Panama.

“We’re also trying to navigate the terms of those permits,” Serna Román explained. “If they’re only given 90 days and the 90 days come up then they might be forcibly removed and they might be like involuntarily be taken back to their countries and that’s our concern,” she added.

‘If I come back to my country, my government will kill me’

“Asylum means I’m not safe in my country, I need help. Just that. I’m not criminal. I’m educated person and just need help,” Ghasemzadeh explained.

“If I come back to my country, my government will kill me, so in Panama they are free to kill me,” she added.

Ambo, her life now in a demoralizing standstill, still dreams about the United States, even though she has no idea when this nightmare will end.

“America has always been a country that received people from all over the whole world. I believe that is why many people are going towards the USA for to seek for asylum,” she said.

“They should listen to us and see if they can permit us to stay or not because when you don’t listen to somebody, it means that human rights does not exist again in America.”

It was a televised ambush that many in Europe hope will stop a war.

Donald Trump’s dressing-down of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House was a lightning strike to the transatlantic alliance, dispelling lingering illusions in Europe about whether their American cousin will stand with them to counter Russian aggression.

Reeling, perhaps even fearful, Europe may have finally come to its senses over its self-defense needs in the era of Trump.

In a month when US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Europe “PATHETIC” for “free-loading” on defense in a group chat with administration officials (which inadvertently included a journalist for The Atlantic), the continent has been shattering decades-old taboos on defense. Policies are on the table that would have been unthinkable just weeks ago.

The biggest change came in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy. After the federal election, chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz won a vote in parliament to scrap Germany’s constitutional “debt brake” – a mechanism to limit government borrowing.

In principle, the law change allows for unlimited spending on defense and security. Experts expect the move to unlock as much as €600 billion ($652 billion) in Germany over the next decade.

In getting over its phobia of debt, Buras said that Germany has finally acted as though Europe really had passed a “Zeitenwende” – or “turning point” – as described by outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz in February 2022, just three days after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Although the invasion jolted Germany, “only the Trump shock made them take this really fundamental decision of suspending the debt brake,” said Buras.

“This is the real, proper Zeitenwende.”

Taboos crumbling

In neighboring France, President Emmanuel Macron – who has long called for European “strategic autonomy” from the US – has said he is considering extending the protection of its nuclear arsenal to its allies, already ostensibly sheltered by American bombs.

Macron’s comments earlier this month came after Merz advocated for talks with France and the United Kingdom – Europe’s two nuclear powers – over extending their nuclear protection. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk welcomed the idea, and even called for Poland to consider getting nuclear weapons itself.

Meanwhile, Poland and fellow Baltic states Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia – all neighbors to Russia – have pulled out of the 1997 Ottawa treaty on landmines, long considered a key milestone in the end to mass warfare. Lithuania has already announced the purchase of 85,000 landmines;, Poland is eyeing producing 1 million domestically.

Lithuania also withdrew from the international treaty against cluster munitions this month, becoming the first signatory ever to do so.

Military conscription has also made a comeback on the continent. Denmark made women eligible for obligatory conscription from 2026 and lowered health requirements for some roles, as part of a bolstering of the country’s armed forces. Poland has also announced plans for every adult male to undergo military training.

Even famously neutral countries are reconsidering their positions. Amid discussions about how to keep the peace in Ukraine in the event of a settlement, the government in Ireland – a military minnow focused on peacekeeping operations – put forward legislation to allow troops to be deployed without UN approval, skirting a possible Russian (or American) veto.

It’s long been the uncomfortable – and often unspoken – truth in Europe that its protection from invasion was ultimately dependent on the American cavalry riding over the horizon. That support no longer looks so sure.

The pivot goes beyond who will do the fighting to who will provide the arms. Some have begun to question future purchases of the astronomically expensive US-made F-35 jets that several European air forces had planned to acquire.

Portuguese Defense Minister Nuno Melo said his country was re-evaluating the expected purchases of the jets in preference for European alternatives over concerns of the US-controlled supply of spare parts.

It’s the first time such concerns were aired publicly at such a high level, especially in favor of jets that, on paper, don’t offer the same capabilities.

European unity?

But, although Europe seems to have gotten the message, talk of a unified approach is premature.

When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled a plan to spend billions more on defense, called “ReArm Europe,” Spain and Italy balked. The plan has since been renamed “Readiness 2030.”

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has also ruled out sending Italian troops as part of a European contingent to keep the peace in Ukraine if a negotiated settlement – another key issue on which the continent is split.

The rebranding indicates a dividing line in Europe: The further away from Russia a country is, the less likely it is to put guns before butter.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said this month that “our threat is not Russia bringing its troops across the Pyrenees.” He called on Brussels “to take into account that the challenges we face in the southern neighborhood are a bit different to the ones that the eastern flank faces.”

“The further west you go, the more difficult it is to imagine that sort of thing. All the problems, all the decisions, they’re relative,” Landsbergis said.

Although this geographical split could deepen divisions, Buras, of the ECFR, said total European unity would always be “an illusion.”

“What really matters is what the key countries do,” he said, pointing to Germany, France, the UK and Poland. “I want to be cautiously optimistic, but I think we are on the right track now.”

Asked whether March would be remembered as the month Europe woke up, Buras said: “Yes, we have woken up – but now we need to get dressed.”

A government-sponsored junk food ban in schools across Mexico took effect on Saturday, officials said, as the country tries to tackle one of the world’s worst obesity and diabetes epidemics.

The health guidelines, first published last fall, take a direct shot at salty and sweet processed products that have become a staple for generations of Mexican schoolchildren, such as sugary fruit drinks, packaged chips, artificial pork rinds and soy-encased, chili-flavored peanuts.

Announcing the ban had become law, Mexico’s Education Ministry posted on X: “Farewell, junk food!” And it encouraged parents to support the government’s crusade by cooking healthy meals for their kids.

Mexico’s ambitious attempt to remake its food culture and reprogram the next generation of consumers is being watched closely around the world as governments struggle to turn the tide on a global obesity epidemic.

In the United States, for instance, the Trump administration’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has vowed to upend the nation’s food system and “Make America Healthy Again” by targeting ultra-processed foods to curb surging obesity and disease.

Under Mexico’s new order, schools must phase out any food and beverage displaying even one black warning logo marking it as high in salt, sugar, calories and fat. Mexico implemented that compulsory front-of-package labeling system in 2020.

Enforced from Monday morning, the start of the school week, the junk food ban also requires schools to serve more nutritious alternatives to junk food, like bean tacos, and offer plain drinking water.

“It is much better to eat a bean taco than a bag of potato chips,” said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has championed the effort.

Mexico’s children consume more junk food than anywhere else in Latin America, according to UNICEF, which classifies the nation’s childhood obesity epidemic as an emergency. Sugary drinks and highly processed foods account for 40% of the total calories that children consume in a day, the agency reports.

One-third of Mexican children are already considered overweight or obese, according to government statistics.

School administrators found in violation of the order face stiff fines, ranging from $545 to $5,450.

But enforcement poses a challenge in a country where previous junk food bans have struggled to gain traction and monitoring has been lax across Mexico’s 255,000 schools, many of which lack water fountains and even reliable internet and electricity.

It also wasn’t immediately clear how the government would forbid the sale of junk food on sidewalks outside school campuses, where street vendors typically hawk candy, chips, nachos and ice cream to kids during recess and after the school day ends.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.