Monday Briefing: Devastation in Myanmar

Aftershocks and airstrikes struck Myanmar

More than 1,600 people were confirmed dead across Myanmar over the weekend, and more than 3,000 were injured in the worst earthquake to hit the country in over a century. Here is a map of the damage, and images from the region.

An aftershock yesterday struck Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, near the epicenter of the initial quake, toppling several buildings that had previously survived. Many fear for the missing, whose chances drop sharply after this evening, when a crucial 72-hour survival window closes.

Amid the natural destruction, the governing military junta over the weekend continued a brutal bombing campaign. A long-running civil war has ravaged the country, leaving nearly 20 million people in need of shelter and food even before the quake, according to the U.N.

Power: Experts say the earthquake could change the trajectory of the civil war. The Arakan Army, a powerful rebel group, has won control of large parts of Rakhine State. It could exploit this moment to take the south of the country from the military.

Aid: Support from other countries is arriving, but doubts remained about how the Myanmar Army would distribute the much-needed relief.

“They have a long track record of using aid as a weapon,” said Scot Marciel, the U.S. ambassador to Myanmar from 2016 to 2020.

Thailand: The earthquake sent one building in Bangkok crashing to the ground, killing at least 11 people.

The secret history of the war in Ukraine

After Russia’s armies crossed into Ukraine in 2022, two Ukrainian generals traveled in secret to a U.S. military facility in Germany. There, they sealed a partnership that brought America into the war far more intimately than previously known.

That deal, known only to a small group of officials, became part of what the Biden administration framed as its effort to both rescue Ukraine and protect the post-World War II order in the West. It also enabled Ukrainians to survive three long years of fighting against a far larger, vastly more powerful enemy.

Now, as President Trump begins to undo elements of this agreement, here is the untold story of America’s hidden role in the military operations against Russia’s invading armies.

And if you’re pressed for time, we have the main takeaways here.

Syria formed a new government

Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, announced a new caretaker government over the weekend, and finished swearing in 23 cabinet ministers yesterday. Several are close allies, but others are independent. He named ministers from each of the main ethnic minorities. Among the 23 are five Assad-era ministers who served before the civil war.

Al-Shara kept most of the official power close at hand: He left close allies in charge of defense, and foreign and interior affairs.

What’s next: The government will be in power for five years, allowing for a permanent constitution to be adopted and elections to be held.

Elsewhere in the region: Israel and Hamas signaled that renewed cease-fire talks were underway, but details were elusive.

Trump’s aid and visa cutoffs have left students of the American University of Afghanistan in crisis. When the Taliban returned to power in 2021 and targeted the campus, hundreds of students were evacuated to sister schools in other countries.

Now, with funds drying up in June, students may have to return home, where women cannot get an education and Western ideals could be persecuted.

Lives lived: Gananath Obeyesekere, an anthropologist and a leading intellectual figure in both his native Sri Lanka and Western academia, died at 95.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Skateboarding is taking to the sky again

Before the skateboarder Tony Hawk landed the 900 in 1999 — named for the number of degrees of rotation the move needs — the trick seemed impossible. And then the vertical skating, or “vert,” that Hawk exemplified faded in popularity — until now.

Recently, a rush of young skaters have flooded social media with videos of themselves launching into the air, shaping the sport’s future as they fly. The revival has shocked some veterans, but it has allowed Hawk to push the form back into the public eye. He has been campaigning for vert skating to be in the 2028 Olympics. A final decision is expected on April 9.