Category World News

After weeks of escalating violence and rising tensions between Vice President Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir, the UN has warned that South Sudan is in danger of a new civil war.

His party claimed the peace agreement that had ended years of fighting had failed after Machar was placed under house arrest this week.

Can political mistrust be overcome by opposing parties?

Presenter: Cyril Vanier

Guests:

South Sudanese journalist Patrick Oyet

International Crisis Group senior analyst for South Sudan Daniel Akech

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake quake in Myanmar also affected neighboring Thailand, and its tremors reached India and Cambodia.

The Sagaing region, where buildings fell and infrastructure buckled, was where the earthquake’s devastation appeared to be most severe. It appeared to be in Mandalay, Myanmar’s ancient capital, close to the epicentre of the Sagaing region, where much of the destruction occurred. According to state media, more than 140 people have died in the nation.

A UN seismic risk assessment found that Myanmar has experienced several quakes since a magnitude 7. 4 earthquake in Bago, which in 1930 left at least 550 people dead.

What makes this Southeast Asian nation, which has been plagued by a nearly four-year civil war, so susceptible to earthquakes, and how big was it?

Why do earthquakes occur?

First, let’s get a quick grasp of what an earthquake is. A hot, almost solid layer of rock called the mantle, surrounded by a jigsaw-like crust made up of constantly shifting tectonic plates, forms the core of the Earth’s three parts: a molten, mostly metallic core at its center, and a hot, almost solid layer on the outside.

Energy builds up as a result of the plates moving across the slippery mantle at various speeds and directions. The planet’s surface shakes so violently that it causes an earthquake when this energy is released. A tsunami is a series of large waves that are released from the ocean when the energy is released.

According to Will Yeck, a seismologist with the US Geological Survey (USGS), aftershocks are “triggered by changes in the Earth’s stress from the main shock.”

What is hidden in Myanmar’s underworld?

Myanmar is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because it is situated between two tectonic plates, the India and the Eurasia plates.

The Saigang Fault refers to the boundary between the two plates. Millions of people are at risk as a long, straight line that travels roughly 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) from north to south through cities like Mandalay and Yangon.

The Myanmar earthquake was caused by the India and Eurasia plates rubbing sideways against one another, a process known as “strike-slip faulting,” according to the USGS.

The boundary between the two plates was compared to the well-known San Andreas Fault in California, which was responsible for the 1994 deadly Northridge earthquake, by Dr. Rebecca Bell, a tectonics expert at Imperial College London.

According to her, “the straight nature means earthquakes can rupture over large areas, and the larger the area of the fault that slips, the larger the earthquake,” she was quoted as saying.

What size of earthquake was it?

The Moment Magnitude Scale, which largely replaced the well-known Richter scale in the 1970s, is used to determine the earthquake’s strength.

The 7.7 earthquake on Friday caused chaos in Thailand and Myanmar.

A 33-story high-rise that was still under construction in Bangkok, Thailand’s capital, fell, killing at least eight people and trapping dozens of construction workers beneath the rubble.

Buildings fell to the ground in Myanmar’s Mandalay, the royal palace was damaged, and the Ava Bridge, a railcar, fell. Both Yangon and Naypyidaw, the modern city, suffered damage. According to state media, at least 144 people have died nationwide.

Nearly 800,000 people in Myanmar may have experienced the most bloody shaking, according to the USGS, with an expected rise in the death toll in the coming days.

What kind of damage is anticipated?

Only 10 kilometers (six miles) deep, the earthquake occurred at a relatively shallow depth.

According to Dr. Ian Watkinson, from Royal Holloway, University of London, shallow earthquakes can cause a lot of damage because “the seismic energy is not dissipated much by the time it reaches the surface.”

While some places along active fault lines, like California and Japan, have earthquake-resistant building codes, the infrastructure there is less well-equipped.

According to Watkinson, Myanmar has experienced “rapid urbanization,” with “a boom in high-rise buildings made of reinforced concrete.”

Due to the Republican leader’s constitutional challenges in reorganizing the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the administration of President Donald Trump has submitted a formal request to Congress.

USAID was established as a result of a congressional act. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Friday that the Trump administration would rename the Department of State, which would be in charge of overseeing the agency’s independent functions.

In a statement on social media, Rubio said, “We are reorienting our foreign assistance programs to align directly with what is best for the United States and our citizens.” We are investing strategically to advance our partners and our own nation while carrying out crucial lifesaving initiatives.

However, critics have accused the Trump administration of overstepping its bounds and trying to undermine independent organizations that don’t align with its goals.

Later that day, State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce gave a news conference presentation on the subject.

She claimed that department officials “have informed Congress of their intention to reorganize” the organization, which would involve changing the way the department’s priorities are handled by the department by July 1, 2025, and removing the last USAID functions that don’t align with its administrative priorities.

Bruce also refrained from arguing that the country’s ability to deal with global disasters like the earthquakes in Myanmar and Thailand on Friday.

“We’re prepared to move right away. Therefore, she said, “we haven’t had an impact on how well we can perform those duties, those requests for assistance when and where they come in.”

Through the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, USAID was established under the authority of Congress. However, it is run by the secretary of state.

The organization was one of the largest distributors of foreign aid until Trump’s second term as president, but that activity largely stopped when the president put a freeze on foreign aid in place.

US aid totaling $ 72 billion was distributed by the US alone in 2023. About half of that amount was distributed by USAID.

However, Rubio has since stated on social media that contracts with USAID have been canceled by 83 percent.

Further employee reductions at USAID

Additionally, there have been numerous layoffs at the organization, which started on Friday.

A memo to USAID employees was obtained by US media that warned that all positions, save those that are required by law, would be eliminated. During her briefing, Bruce, the State Department’s spokesperson, inquired about the changes’ scope.

She said, “With any significant change, there will be disruption,” adding that the layoffs were not unexpected.

“This conclusion has been in our minds.” It arrived. At this point, I can’t tell how many people will no longer serve as foreign service officers. I’m not sure if it will be “everyone.”

She continued, “It’s essentially a restructuring.” There will undoubtedly be disruptions from Secretary Rubio down, as with any restructuring. We are committed to keeping USAID’s lifesaving aid programs operational and personnel safe.

Bruce connected the layoffs to the Trump administration’s effort to end alleged “waste, fraud, and abuse,” a project spearheaded by billionaire businessman Elon Musk.

USAID’s workforce was already subject to significant workforce cuts in February. All but a small portion of the company’s remaining employees, including those stationed abroad, were laid off, leaving about 1,600 people.

Workers were given 15-minute window breaks to enter the building and pick up their belongings from there, and the company’s Washington, DC, headquarters was also shut down.

A federal judge ruled earlier this month that Trump, his Department of Government Efficiency, and other individuals “likely” violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways by dismantling USAID.

According to Judge Theodore Chuang, Musk and DOGE “deprived the public’s elected representatives in Congress of their constitutional authority to decide whether, when, and how to dissolve an agency that was established by Congress.”

DOGE and Musk were ordered to stop attempting to terminate USAID’s staff and contracts by placing a temporary injunction. However, it’s unclear whether the secretary of state’s actions fall under that rule.