AP PHOTOS: Rescue dogs aid search efforts at site where Bangkok building collapsed after earthquake

BANGKOK (AP) — Sahara, Safari, Lek, Lilly and Naree are among the rescue dogs working at the site of the building that collapsed in Bangkok following Friday's earthquake. They are part of a non-profit that works closely with the Thai government in disaster and humanitarian relief efforts.

The dogs’ main job is to climb onto the rubble, sniffing for signs of humans trapped underneath. After each operation, the canines bathe in an ice-cold bucket of water, are towel-dried and given a medical check. Their paws are inspected for scabs and cuts, and their eyes and ears and checked. They are then put in their respective kennels for a well-deserved rest.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

Rescue dogs rest in their camp at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Lilly, a member of K9 USAR, a specially trained dog unit, rests after returning from a rescue and identifying operation at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April, 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A dog plush toy rests on the helmet of a member of K9 USAR, a specially trained dog unit, at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April, 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A member of K9 USAR, a specially trained dog unit, interacts with rescue dog Naree, who is assigned at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A members of K9 USAR, a specially trained dog unit, plays with a rescue dog at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April, 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A member of K9 USAR, a specially trained dog unit, wipes her rescue dog after their return from a rescue and identifying operation at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April, 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A member of K9 USAR, a specially trained dog unit, bathes rescue dog Naree in their camp at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A members of K9 USAR, a specially trained dog unit, cool their dogs after their return from a rescue and identifying operation at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April, 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A doctor checks the eye of a dog from the K9 USAR, a specially trained dog unit, after their return from a rescue and identifying operation at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April, 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A doctor attends to a dog from the K9 USAR, a specially trained dog unit, after their return from a rescue and identifying operation at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April, 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Dogs and their handler's names along with the operation plan is seen on a white board at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April, 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Members of K9 USAR, a specially trained dog unit, return from a rescue and identifying operation at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April, 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A rescue dog works at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Members of K9 USAR, a specially trained dog unit, works at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April, 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A member of K9 USAR Thailand, a specially trained dog unit, releases rescue dog Lek from a kennel at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A rescue dog called Lek looks away as an oxygen mask is put on a plush toy during a demonstration at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Microsoft has fired two employees who interrupted the company's 50th anniversary celebration to protest its work supplying artificial intelligence technology to the Israeli military, according to a group representing the workers.

Microsoft accused one of the workers in a termination letter Monday of misconduct "designed to gain notoriety and cause maximum disruption to this highly anticipated event.” Microsoft says the other worker had already announced her resignation, but on Monday it ordered her to leave five days early.

The protests began Friday when Microsoft software engineer Ibtihal Aboussad walked up toward a stage where an executive was announcing new product features and a long-term vision for Microsoft's AI ambitions.

“You claim that you care about using AI for good but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military," Aboussad shouted at Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. "Fifty-thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region.”

The protest forced Suleyman to pause his talk while it was being livestreamed from Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Washington. Among the participants at the 50th anniversary of Microsoft's founding were co-founder Bill Gates and former CEO Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft said Suleyman calmly tried to de-escalate the situation. “Thank you for your protest, I hear you,” he said. Aboussad continued, shouting that Suleyman and “all of Microsoft” had blood on their hands. She also threw onto the stage a keffiyeh scarf, which has become a symbol of support for Palestinian people, before being escorted out of the event.

A second protester, Microsoft employee Vaniya Agrawal, interrupted a later part of the event.

Aboussad, based at Microsoft's Canadian headquarters in Toronto, was invited on Monday to a call with a human resources representative at which she was told she was being fired immediately, according to the advocacy group No Azure for Apartheid, which has protested the sale of Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform to Israel.

An investigation by The Associated Press revealed earlier this year that AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI had been used as part of an Israeli military program to select bombing targets during the recent wars in Gaza and Lebanon. The story also contained details of an errant Israeli airstrike in 2023 that struck a vehicle carrying members of a Lebanese family, killing three young girls and their grandmother.

In its termination letter, Microsoft told Aboussad she could have raised her concerns confidentially to a manager. Instead, it said she made “hostile, unprovoked, and highly inappropriate accusations” against Suleyman and the company and that her “conduct was so aggressive and disruptive that you had to be escorted out of the room by security.”

Agrawal had already given her two weeks notice and was preparing to leave the company on April 11, but on Monday a manager emailed that Microsoft "has decided to make your resignation immediately effective today.”

It was the most public but not the first protest over Microsoft's work with Israel. In February, five Microsoft employees were ejected from a meeting with CEO Satya Nadella for protesting the contracts.

“We provide many avenues for all voices to be heard,” said a statement from the company Friday. “Importantly, we ask that this be done in a way that does not cause a business disruption. If that happens, we ask participants to relocate. We are committed to ensuring our business practices uphold the highest standards.”

Microsoft had declined to say Friday whether it was taking further action, but Aboussad and Agrawal expected it was coming after both lost access to their work accounts shortly after the protest.

Dozens of Google workers were fired last year after internal protests over a contract it also has with the Israeli government. Employee sit-ins at Google offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California targeted a $1.2 billion deal known as Project Nimbus providing AI technology to the Israeli government.

The Google workers later filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in an attempt to get their jobs back.

CORRECTS DATE - A pro-Palestinian demonstrator, Ibtihal Aboussad, is escorted away by security as they interrupt Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman during a presentation of the company's AI assistant, Copilot, ahead of a 50th Anniversary presentation at Microsoft headquarters, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Redmond, Wash. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)