☕ Earthquake rocks Asia

Good morning.

There’s an evolving situation across Southeast Asia, where a large earthquake struck central Myanmar. It has caused damage as far as China and Thailand, and as videos and images emerge from affected areas, it’s clear we won’t know the true death toll from the quake for many hours or days.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• A 7.7-magnitude earthquake has hit Myanmar, with the military declaring a state of emergency in multiple regions. The shocks were felt across Southeast Asia, with a number of people killed after a skyscraper under construction fell in Bangkok, Thailand. Another 30-story skyscraper has collapsed, trapping 43 workers, and their condition is unknown.

• Canadian PM Mark Carney said Canada “must fundamentally reimagine [their] economy’ because their “old” relationship with the US is over. Carney was responding to President Trump’s 25% tariff on US auto imports, which are set to come into effect next week. He indicated Canada would turn to other allies and reciprocate tariffs on the US, stating that it was “clear the US is no longer a reliable partner”. However, Carney left the door open to the rebuilding of ties, saying that “comprehensive negotiation” could restore trust between the neighbors.

• A federal court judge has ordered Trump officials to preserve messages from the Signal group where cabinet members discussed a military strike against Houthi forces, inadvertently including a journalist. Signal’s app is designed to allow users to easily delete messages instantly or after a period of time, such as seven days. The Justice Department is currently working to preserve these messages, while the Treasury Department says they have managed to obtain only partial messages. The court ordered government officials to file a status report on Monday, updating the court on the efforts to protect the message history. 

• The woman convicted of the 1995 murder of Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla-Pérez has been denied parole after 30 years in prison. Yolanda Saldívar, who had been the president of the Selena fan club, shot the 23-year-old in the back at a motel in March 1995. In a statement to Instagram, Quintanilla-Pérez’s family said they were “grateful” Saldívar had not been granted parole. The singer’s first English language album, which features ‘Dreaming of You’ and ‘I Could Fall In Love With You’, was released posthumously.

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President Trump announced he has withdrawn his nomination for US ambassador to the UN, Elsie Stefanik. Trump made the decision to prevent a reelection in Stefanik’s congressional seat, as Republicans become increasingly nervous about their House majority.

Currently, the President’s legislative agenda is imperiled by a slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

On Truth Social, President Trump called Stefanik “one of his biggest allies” but said he could not risk a Democrat taking her place in Congress.

Who is Elsie Stefanik?

Stefanik, a former Bush administration staffer, has represented her New York district seat over five consecutive terms. When first elected, she was the youngest woman in US history to enter Congress.

Her nomination to UN Ambassador required her to step back from her duties as a Congresswoman and House Republican Conference Chair, the fourth most senior position in the Republican House hierarchy.

Stefanik won her last contest in her New York seat with 61% of the vote.

Why are Republicans so concerned about a special election?

Republicans currently have a historically thin majority of 218 Senators in the House of Representatives. This will make it difficult for Republicans to pursue President Trump’s legislative agenda. Anxieties have been compounded by the four House seats left vacant by the death of two Democratic representatives and two Republicans stepping down.

A special election occurs when a Senator or Congressman vacates their position, and voters of the district have to reelect a representative.

Republicans are contesting two special elections in Florida next Tuesday. According to Axios, internal polling shows one Republican in the lead, but another trails his democratic opponent by three points.

On Truth Social, President Trump said the nomination withdrawal was required to ensure Republicans were in the strongest position to push through his legislative agenda.

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Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has announced a significant overhaul of the Health and Human Services department (HHS).

In a statement, the HHS said it would save $1.8 billion and lose 20,000 employees, half of whom are being let go.

The cuts come as part of President Donald Trump’s promise to limit federal government spending.

Health experts have raised concerns that the reduction in workers will harm health initiatives.

The Trump administration’s government reduction

Since his inauguration, Trump has sought to cut federal government spending, mainly by firing employees or offering redundancies. 

Last week, the White House began reviewing plans for another round of spending cuts submitted by the heads of each government department. 

As part of Kennedy’s push to “Make America Healthy Again”, the health secretary has announced significant cuts to his department.

What are the cuts?

According to a statement, 20,000 HHS employees will leave. Half will be fired, while the remaining half are either retiring or taking a redundancy.

This includes 3,500 Food and Drug Administration employees, 2,400 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and 1,200 from the National Institutes of Health.

To accommodate the cuts, the CDC will focus solely on “epidemics and outbreaks”. Currently, the CDC focuses on a wide range of diseases and related issues, including smoking, maternal health, and vaccine distribution.

Kennedy, a vocal vaccine skeptic, also reduced the HHS’s 28 divisions to 15, and created the Administration for a Healthy America to deal with addiction, toxic substances, and occupational safety.

Five of the ten regional HHS offices will be closed down.

Kennedy says the changes largely centralize administration functions, such as IT and human resources.

The changes will come into effect on May 27.

Will service be affected?

Kennedy said the department will do “a lot more – at a lower cost to the taxpayer,” saying HHS’s $1.7 trillion budget has failed to improve Americans’ health.

At the moment, the CDC is overseeing the containment of an increase in measles cases and a bird flu outbreak. Experts have raised concerns that the cuts may impact the CDC’s ability to manage these.

A pharmaceutical lawyer quoted by Reuters said FDA cuts would likely delay medical device and drug approvals.