Philippines >>

One of the world’s rarest coral reefs is the focus of a new photography exhibition at ZSL London zoo ...

s International Fashion Showcase saw more than 30 foreign embassies and cultural institutions present young design talent to a London audience comprising press, buyers and fashion aficionados. The Manila Wear showcase from the Philippines was the only one that highlighted how six designers incorporate indigenous sustainable materials into their designs. In addition, each designer had either a partnership...

Those caught in conflict and natural disasters are part of growing trend exemplified by Syria, South Sudan and the Philippines For the first time the UN has declared three simultaneous crises – in South Sudan, Syria and the Philippines – as level 3, the highest band of emergency. So this is a period of intense activity for NGOs such as the International Rescue Committee . But it is also a good time...

brainwashing' in China and recruitment quotas for Irish speakers Ghana: former chief of staff recommends cutting half of public service staff Ghana should sack half its public servants and pay the rest better , said a former chief of staff Kwadwo Okyere Mpiani. The government spends a large proportion of tax revenue on the public wage bill, and the civil service is criticised as being bloated. Looking...

Please just take my body home'." He did make it across, but how, he can't remember. The deep lines and constant stiffing of his facial muscles to hold back the emotions echoed in his next comment: "It's still in my dreams and in my day." All the social workers of Tacloban had such stories and have had to make difficult choices between the needs of their own, often traumatised families, and the needs...

s election 'victory' which was officially proclaimed at the weekend. The campaign would be the first step in a non-violent revolution against the regime, to continue until the Government crumbled, she said. Mr Marcos, acting swiftly to deflect growing domestic and foreign pressure following allegations of ballot-rigging on a vast scale, promised reforms and announced the resignation of his most trusted...

Filipino figure skater Michael Christian Martinez talks about his road to Sochi and why we haven't seen the last of him ...

Valentine's Day is often maligned or grudgingly celebrated but some couples around the world have found unorthodox methods to mark the day ...

s visit to Beijing prompts call for new Chinese pressure on Pyongyang John Kerry's appeal for China to help bring North Korea back to nuclear disarmament talks faced an uncertain response after the US also demanded that Beijing roll back on aggressive steps taken during territorial disputes with neighbours. The US secretary of state opened a 24-hour visit in Beijing by meeting the Chinese president,...

David Beckam visits typhoon-hit Tacloban in the Philippines on Thursday in his role as a Unicef goodwill ambassador ...

Assault follows attacks by rebels who reject Malaysian-brokered peace deal between insurgents and Manila government At least 37 Islamist fighters have been killed in the Philippines in a two-day offensive against insurgents opposed to a new peace deal between the government and the main Muslim rebel group, according to the military. President Benigno Aquino III said the military had launched the assault...

s human rights commission reveals suspects were hung upside down and punched 'like Manny Pacquiao' Philippine police officers played a "wheel of torture" game at a secret detention facility near Manila as a way to extract information from suspects – and also to have fun, the government's human rights commission said on Tuesday. Loretta Ann Rosales, the commission chair, said she was horrified by the...

I could see waterfalls of sand pouring over the coral, and on the seafloor, a few metres below us, cracks began forming and the sand was sucked down' I've been scuba diving for 15 years. I love the calmness of being submerged, the hypnotic sound of my breath and the quiet clicks of fish eating coral. Last October, I was on a diving holiday in the Philippines with a friend. It was a sunny...

Refugees from typhoon Haiyan on southern islands evacuated as shelters collapse under force of storm Emergency workers have evacuated thousands of people across the southern Philippines, including many already made homeless by a typhoon in November, after three days of rain flooded towns and farmland. Hundreds of survivors of Typhoon Haiyan – one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall – were...

The former imperial army intelligence officer remained on the Philippine island of Lubang for nearly 29 years without knowledge of Japan's surrender in the second world war. He has died at a Tokyo hospital aged 91 ...

s invisible force of Filipino carers of elderly people and those who are infirm was a little more visible on Wednesday after 47-year-old Rose Fostanes won Israeli X Factor, stunning judges and the public with her rendition of My Way. Fostanes, who has worked in the Middle East for 20 years to send money home to her family in the Philippines, said: "I'm speechless, I cannot say anything now. I can't...

s acclaimed Rosales Saga, five books that follow the fortunes of one family through 100 years of Philippine history. The story begins during the last days of Spanish rule and ends with the entry of America as the new colonial master. It recounts the lives and hardships of the Samsons as Spanish rough justice drives them off their land and forces them to flee their village. On their long and arduous...

s approval to operate in the disputed waters. Department of foreign affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said the Philippines had asked China to clarify the edict and had been told by Beijing that it was "an implementation of China's fisheries law" and that the region was under Chinese jurisdiction. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea, putting it at odds with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines,...

re in a rush to buy it back. Two months after a typhoon mangled it, its shopping scene is perhaps the most encouraging barometer of recovery. Thousands throng downtown streets each day, where makeshift rows of vendors hawk everything from pizza cutters to pork. For $7, you can buy a T-shirt that says, "Tacloban survivor". After Typhoon Haiyan ripped through, this city of 220,000 had almost no lifelines,...

s claims over disputed waters . The US said the regulations are provocative and potentially dangerous. Tensions in the South China Sea have risen in recent years as a result of a complex disagreements among six nations. The area boasts valuable energy resources, as well as fisheries and some of the world's busiest shipping channels. A separate territorial dispute between China and Japan, in the East...