JOEAL CALUPITAN

Neighbor, Alberto Masakay, points to the second floor of a building in San Isidro Galas village in suburban Quezon city, Philippines that caught fire, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Joeal Calupitan)
Fire that gutted building in less than an hour kills 8 in the Philippines
Eight people have been killed in a nighttime fire in the Philippines that gutted a three-story residential building in less than an hour. At least one resident was injured.
 
French aircraft carrier The Charles de Gaulle docks at Subic Bay port, a former U.S. Naval base northwest of Manila, Philippines, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Joeal Calupitan)
French aircraft carrier stages combat drills with Filipinos in disputed sea and visits Philippines
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships are in the Philippines after holding combat drills with Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that will likely antagonize China.
 
A Chinese military helicopter flies close to a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic (BFAR) aircraft above Scarborough shoal on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Joeal Calupitan)
Chinese navy helicopter flies within 10 feet of Philippine patrol plane over disputed shoal
A Chinese navy helicopter has flown within 10 feet of a Philippine patrol plane in a disputed area of the the South China Sea, highlighting Beijing’s use of force in asserting its claims to the strategic waterway.
 
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, left, and Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo shake hands after a joint press conference in Taguig City, Philippines Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Lisa Marie David/Pool Photo via AP)
Japan and Philippines plan to convey to Trump the need for US engagement in Asia
Japan and the Philippines plan to convey to President-elect Donald Trump the urgent need for the U.S. to remain committed to upholding the rule of law in an Asian region where China’s actions are causing concerns.
 
This image provided by the Philippine Coast Guard shows a Chinese Coast Guard ship 5901 in the seas within the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)
China is pushing the Philippines `to the wall’ with aggression in the South China Sea, Manila says
A Philippine security official says China is “pushing us to the wall” with growing aggression in the disputed South China Sea and warned that “all options are on the table” for Manila’s response, including new international lawsuits.
 
Devotees climb on a glass-covered carriage carrying the image of Jesus Nazareno during its annual procession in Manila, Philippines, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Basilio Sepe)
Filipino Catholics pray for good health and peace in huge procession venerating Jesus statue
At least 1.8 million mostly barefoot Catholic worshippers are marching in an annual procession in the Philippines that venerates a centuries-old black statue of Jesus.
 
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo, left, and Philippines military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., shake hands after a press conference on the Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board held at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio, northern Philippines on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
US forces ready with a ‘range of options’ to deal with South China Sea aggression, US admiral says
 
Filipino gymnast Carlo Yulo, who won two gold medals in the Paris Olympics, arrives in Manila, Philippines, on Tuesday, Aug 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Joeal Calupitan)
Filipino gymnast who won 2 Olympic golds in Paris gets hero’s welcome and free buffets for life
Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo has flown home to a hero’s welcome after winning two gold medals at the Paris Olympics. Donors have pledged more than $1 million worth of cash and gifts for him including a resort house and free lunch buffets for life.
 
Philippine Coast Guard personnel wave Vietnamese and Filipino flags to welcome the Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG) ship, CSB 8002, in Manila, Philippines, Monday, Aug. 2024. (AP Photo/Joeal Calupitan)
Vietnam’s coast guard visits Philippines for joint drills as both face maritime tensions with China
A Vietnamese coast guard ship arrived in Manila on Monday for a four-day goodwill visit and joint exercises as the two countries attempt to put aside their own territorial disputes in the face of rising tensions with China over control of key features in the South China Sea.
 
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, May 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Global aid group asks warring forces to respect its neutrality with 24 of its aid workers killed
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has asked state forces and combatants to respect its neutrality and work of delivering urgent humanitarian help to the most destitute in war zones, saying 24 of its aid workers have been killed this year mostly in the Gaza Strip.
 
In this image made from video provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4, center, is hit by two Chinese coast guard water canon blasts, causing injuries to multiple crew members as they tried to enter the Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin Shoal, in the disputed South China Sea, Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels collided in the disputed South China Sea and multiple Filipino crew members were injured in high-seas confrontations Tuesday as Southeast Asian leaders gathered for a summit that was expected to touch on Beijing's aggression at sea. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)
China coast guard flexes its might against the Philippines in disputed waters as journalists watch
It was a heart-pounding moment far out in the disputed South China Sea: One of at least five Chinese coast guard ships aggressively approached and sideswiped a Philippine patrol ship, creating a loud, jarring noise that sent its Filipino crew scrambling to lower rubber fenders to cushion the boat’s
 
A Chinese coast guard boat moves near the Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 (in green) after it was hit by their water canon blast causing injuries to multiple crew members as they tried to enter the Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin Shoal, in the disputed South China Sea Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels collided in the disputed South China Sea and multiple Filipino crew members were injured in high-seas confrontations Tuesday as Southeast Asian leaders gathered for a summit that was expected to touch on Beijing's aggression at sea. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
The Philippines says it won’t let China remove a Filipino military outpost on a disputed shoal
The Philippine navy says it will not allow China to remove a Philippine military outpost in a fiercely disputed South China Sea shoal where four Filipino navy personnel were injured in a confrontation between Chinese and Philippine ships.
 
Devotees pull the statue of the Black Nazarene during its annual procession which was resumed after a three-year suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 in Manila, Philippines. A mammoth crowd of mostly barefoot Catholic devotees joined a chaotic procession through downtown Manila Tuesday to venerate a centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ with many praying for peace in the Middle East where Filipino relatives work. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Filipino Catholics pray for Mideast peace in massive procession venerating a black statue of Jesus
A massive crowd of mostly barefoot Catholic worshippers has marched in an annual procession in the Philippines’ capital, parading a centuries-old black statue of Jesus.
 
French Minister for the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu, left, shake hands with his Philippine counterpart Secretary Gilberto Teodoro as they hold a document during a joint press conference at a hotel in Manila, Philippines on Saturday Dec. 2, 2023. (Ted Aljibe/Pool Photo via AP)
France and Philippines eye a security pact to allow joint military combat exercises
France and the Philippines are considering a defense pact that would allow them to send military forces to each other’s territory for joint exercises.
 
FILE - In this photo provided by the Department of National Defense PAS, ships carrying construction materials are docked at the newly built beach ramp at the Philippine-claimed island of Pag-asa, also known as Thitu, in the disputed South China Sea on June 9, 2020. The Philippine coast guard inaugurated a new monitoring base Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, on a remote island occupied by Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea as Manila ramps up efforts to counter China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the strategic waterway. (Department of National Defense PAS via AP, File)
The Philippines opens a new monitoring base on a remote island in the disputed South China Sea
The Philippine coast guard has opened a new monitoring base on a remote island occupied by Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea as Manila ramps up efforts to counter China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the strategic waterway.
 
Chinese coast guard and suspected Chinese militia ship block the Philippine coast guard ship BRP Cabra as they approach Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin Shoal, during a resupply mission at the disputed South China Sea on Friday Nov. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Joeal Calupitan)
Dozens of Chinese ships chase Philippine vessels as US renews warning it will defend its treaty ally
As a U.S. Navy surveillance plane flew in circles, dozens of Chinese coast guard and accompanying ships chased and encircled Philippine vessels in the latest confrontation in the South China Sea.
 
A Chinese coast guard ship, left, with a Chinese militia vessel, right, blocks Philippine coast guard ship, BRP Sindangan as it tried to head towards Second Thomas Shoal at the disputed South China Sea during rotation and resupply mission on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Joeal Calupitan)
Philippines protests after a Chinese coast guard ship nearly collides with a Philippine vessel
A Chinese coast guard ship came within a meter (3 feet) of colliding with a Philippine patrol ship it was trying to block in the South China Sea, in an alarming incident that intensified fears that territorial disputes in the waters could spark a larger crisis.
 
Timothy Kinyua unloads sacks of onions from Ethiopia at an open market in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. Restrictions on the export of the vegetable by neighboring Tanzania has led prices to triple. The prices for onions from Tanzania were the highest in seven years, Kinyua said. Some traders have adjusted by getting produce from Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Food prices are rising as countries limit exports. Blame climate change, El Nino and Russia’s war
Restrictions on food exports are spilling over from rice and wheat to other essentials. This ranges from Tanzania’s limits on shipping onions to its neighbors and Morocco’s restrictions on tomatoes to ongoing bans of some kinds of rice in Asia.
 
Philippine police: News conference helped end hostage crisis
Philippine officials say they allowed an armed man who took dozens of people hostage in a mall to hold a news conference to encourage him to free his captives and give police a chance to grab him as he talked with a throng of journalists.
 
Philippine city mayor gunned down during flag-raising event
Philippine police say a mayor who paraded drug suspects in public but was alleged to have drug ties himself was shot and killed during a flag-raising ceremony in front of horrified employees.
 
Philippines warns powerful volcanic eruption may still come
An official says a Philippine volcano which has repeatedly disgorged fountains of lava, ash and molten rock and driven more than 78,000 villagers from their homes remains swollen with magma and could erupt destructively.