AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

Myanmar quake death toll rises to 1,644 as resistance movement announces partial ceasefire

BANGKOK (AP) — A unilateral partial ceasefire to facilitate earthquake relief efforts was announced on Saturday by Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, which coordinates the popular struggle against the ruling military. The country’s death toll from the disaster soared to 1,644.

The figure was a sharp rise compared to the 1,002 announced just hours earlier, highlighting the difficulty of confirming casualties over a widespread region and the likelihood that the numbers will continue to grow from Friday’s 7.7 magnitude quake. The number of injured increased to 3,408, while the missing figure rose to 139.

In neighboring Thailand, the death toll rose to 17. The quake rocked the greater Bangkok area, home to around 17 million people, and other parts of the country. Many places in the north reported damage, but the only casualties were reported in Bangkok.

Of the death toll, 10 were killed in the high rise building near famous Chatuchak market that collapsed, while the rest were killed in seven other sites. Authorities in Bangkok said 83 people were unaccounted for.

On Saturday, more heavy equipment was brought in to move the tons of rubble, but hope was fading among friends and relatives.

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Trump says he won’t ‘fire people’ over Signal messages, reiterates support of national security team

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday made his clearest commitment to not fire anyone over an embarrassing accidental leak of his administration’s plans for an airstrike against the Houthis in Yemen.

“I don’t fire people because of fake news and because of witch hunts,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker.

He also said that he had confidence in Mike Waltz, his national security adviser, and Pete Hegseth, his Pentagon chief.

Waltz inadvertently added Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic magazine, to a group text using the Signal encrypted messaging service where top officials were discussing plans to attack the Houthis.

During the chat, Hegseth included details on how the strike would unfold before it took place.

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Trump increasingly asks the Supreme Court to overrule judges blocking key parts of his agenda

WASHINGTON (AP) — As losses mount in lower federal courts, President Donald Trump has returned to a tactic that he employed at the Supreme Court with remarkable success in his first term.

Three times in the past week, and six since Trump took office a little more than two months ago, the Justice Department has asked the conservative-majority high court to step into cases much earlier than usual.

The administration’s use of the emergency appeals, or shadow docket, comes as it faces more than 130 lawsuits over the Republican president’s flurry of executive orders. Many of the lawsuits have been filed in liberal-leaning parts of the country as the court system becomes ground zero for pushback to his policies.

Federal judges have ruled against the administration more than 40 times, issuing temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions, the Justice Department said Friday in a Supreme Court filing. The issues include birthright citizenship changes, federal spending, transgender rights and deportations under a rarely used 18th-century law.

The administration is increasingly asking the Supreme Court, which Trump helped shape by nominating three justices, to step in, not only to rule in its favor but also to send a message to federal judges, who Trump and his allies claim are overstepping their authority.

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Trump’s election order creates much confusion before the next federal election in 2026

ATLANTA (AP) — President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to change how U.S. elections are run is creating uncertainty for state and local election officials and worries about voter confusion before the next federal election, the 2026 midterms.

Election officials were already dealing with the loss of some cybersecurity assistance from the federal government and now face the potential for major changes that include a new voter registration requirement, decertification of certain voting systems and stricter ballot deadlines for many states.

In Connecticut, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas is hopeful that ballot scanners the state just bought for $20 million will be acceptable under the executive order, but she worries about other states.

“It’s not like states have millions and millions of dollars that they can just upgrade their election equipment every couple of years,” said Thomas, a Democrat. “Imagine people purchased new equipment and now it no longer can be used. There is no remedy for that in the order.”

Because Trump’s order is likely to face legal challenges, it’s unclear what will be required and when. That means more uncertainty for election officials.

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Most US Institute of Peace workers get late-night word of their mass firing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most employees at the U.S. Institute of Peace, a congressionally created and funded think tank now taken over by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, received email notices of their mass firing, the latest step in the Trump administration’s government downsizing.

The emails, sent to personal accounts because most staff members had lost access to the organization’s system, began going out about 9 p.m. Friday, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisal.

One former senior official at the institute said among those spared were several in the human resources department and a handful of overseas staffers who have until April 9 to return to the United States. The organization has about 300 people.

Others retained for now are regional vice presidents who will be working with the staff in their areas to return to the U.S., according to one employee who was affected.

An executive order last month from President Donald Trump targeted the organization, which seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, and three other agencies for closure. Board members, who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, and the institute’s president were fired. Later, there was a standoff between employees who blocked DOGE members from entering the institute’s headquarters near the State Department. DOGE staff gained access in part with the help of the Washington police.

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A weekend ritual for Trump’s Florida die-hards to get a brief glimpse of their political hero

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The sun was shining outside President Donald Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course on Saturday morning when Alan Mentser got a call letting him know that police were shutting down a road nearby. It was almost time to “show the boss a little love.”

Mentser, 65, and a group of hard-core supporters have spent years gathering at the same spot to welcome Trump when he comes to play golf, and they have the routine down. They monitor flight trackers to know when Air Force One arrives and traffic cameras to see if the presidential motorcade is on the move.

It’s an intense commitment of time and resources for a brief glimpse of their political hero. Mentser pointed to a gigantic banner showing Trump giving a thumbs up against an American flag backdrop. He said each one costs $300, and he has about eight of them.

But Mentser said it’s worth it at a time when supporters view Trump as a man under siege from his enemies and fabricated controversies.

“It might give him 30 seconds of seeing, ‘there’s my people,’” he said. “But that 30 seconds matter.”

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Protests against Elon Musk’s purge of US government swarm Tesla showrooms

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Protesters against billionaire Elon Musk’s purge of the U.S. government under President Donald Trump demonstrated outside Tesla dealerships throughout the U.S. and in some cities in Europe on Saturday in the latest attempt to dent the fortune of the world’s richest man.

The protesters were trying to escalate a movement targeting Tesla dealerships and vehicles in opposition to Musk’s role as the head of the newly created Department of of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, where he has gained access to sensitive data and shuttered entire agencies as he attempts to slash government spending. The biggest portion of Musk’s estimated $340 billion fortune consists of his stock in the electric vehicle company, which continues to run while also working alongside Trump.

After earlier demonstrations that were somewhat sporadic, Saturday marked the first attempt to surround all 277 of the automaker’s showrooms and service centers in the U.S. in hopes of deepening a recent decline in the company’s sales.

By early afternoon crowds ranging from a few dozen to hundreds of protesters had flocked to Tesla locations in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, Minnesota and the automaker’s home state of Texas. Pictures posted on social media showed protesters brandishing signs such as “ Honk if you hate Elon ” and “ Fight the billionaire broligarchy.”

As the day progressed, the protests cascaded around the country outside Tesla locations in major cities such as Washington, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Seattle, as well as towns in Virginia, Pennsylvania and Colorado. Smaller groups of counterprotesters also showed up at some sites.

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American woman held in Afghanistan by the Taliban has been released, AP source says

WASHINGTON (AP) — An American woman detained for weeks in Afghanistan by the Taliban has been released from custody, according to a person familiar with the matter and a social media post Saturday from a longtime U.S. diplomat.

Faye Dail Hall, who was detained in February on charges of using a drone without authorization, was released as part of a deal that Qatari negotiators helped broker, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the negotiations.

The person said that Hall was taken to the Qatari Embassy in Kabul, the Afghan capital, and was in good health, and that arrangements were being made for her to return to the U.S.

In a post on X, a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, confirmed Hall’s release with a photograph of her and said she would “soon be on her way home.” He posted that she was “now in the care of our friends, the Qataris in Kabul, and will soon be on her way home.”

Few details about Hall’s case or the release were immediately available Saturday, including why she was in Afghanistan or how long or the circumstances of her detention. The State Department did not immediately comment.

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At least 1 dead after plane crashes into home in Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (AP) — At least one person in a small plane traveling from Iowa to Minnesota died after the aircraft crashed into a house in a Minneapolis suburb Saturday, a city official said.

The residents of the home were not hurt, Brooklyn Park spokesperson Risikat Adesaogun said. But the house was destroyed.

It was not yet known how many people were aboard the single-engine SOCATA TBM7, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

The agency said the aircraft departed from the Des Moines International Airport with a destination of the Anoka County-Blaine Airport, located in another Minneapolis suburb.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

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Plastics are seeping into farm fields, food and eventually human bodies. Can they be stopped?

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — In Uganda’s Mbale district, famous for its production of arabica coffee, a plague of plastic bags locally known as buveera is creeping beyond the city.

It’s a problem that has long littered the landscape in Kampala, the capital, where buveera are woven into the fabric of daily life. They show up in layers of excavated dirt roads and clog waterways. But now, they can be found in remote areas of farmland, too. Some of the debris includes the thick plastic bags used for planting coffee seeds in nurseries.

Some farmers are complaining, said Wilson Watira, head of a cultural board for the coffee-growing Bamasaba people. “They are concerned – those farmers who know the effects of buveera on the land,” he said.

Around the world, plastics find their way into farm fields. Climate change makes agricultural plastic, already a necessity for many crops, even more unavoidable for some farmers. Meanwhile, research continues to show that itty-bitty microplastics alter ecosystems and end up in human bodies. Scientists, farmers and consumers all worry about how that’s affecting human health, and many seek solutions. But industry experts say it’s difficult to know where plastic ends up or get rid of it completely, even with the best intentions of reuse and recycling programs.

According to a 2021 report on plastics in agriculture by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, soils are one of the main receptors of agricultural plastics. Some studies have estimated that soils are more polluted by microplastics than the oceans.

The Associated Press