‘Coastal uplift’ exposes coral and kills marine life, as residents say shorelines extended by up to 200 metres

A powerful earthquake that killed at least 61 people in the Philippines this week raised the seabed by as much as 2 metres (6.6ft), exposing coral and harming marine life, the country’s environment department has said.

At least 40 people are still missing after the 7.8-magnitude quake off southern Mindanao island on Monday, according to updated tolls from the disaster agency.

Chaotic week in which enforcer of ‘war on drugs’ flees senate building leaves government looking ‘incompetent’

The wanted man outran security agents, rallied protesters and even serenaded the media with a military hymn. Then, after a sudden exchange of gunfire, the Philippines’ most controversial lawmaker slipped out of the heavily guarded senate building in the middle of the night.

Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who is wanted by the international criminal court for crimes against humanity, is now nowhere to be seen.

In Manila lenkt eines der größten Einkaufszentren der Welt von den sozialen Problemen der Philippinen ab. Schrecklich? Seelenlos? Das dürften viele in den Slums der Hauptstadt anders sehen.

Auf den Philippinen dominieren Familien wie die Marcos und Dutertes alle Ebenen der Politik. Ausgerechnet Ferdinand Marcos will das nun mit einem Anti-Dynastie-Gesetz ändern.

The Philippines is uniquely exposed to the surging oil price caused by the war in the Middle East. The government is facing protests and widespread anger

Jayson Naga is a tricycle taxi driver on the streets of Manila. In a normal day he brings home P500 (US$8) to feed his four children. But these days he is struggling. He requires four litres of gasoline a day to ferry his passengers around the city and the 60% surge in fuel prices has wiped out nearly a third of his take home pay.

“If gas prices go up any further, there will be nothing left for us,” he told the Guardian. His family’s only luxury – driving to air-conditioned malls on weekends to escape the heat – was the first to go.

Filipino carer Mary Ann De Vera was the first victim of the war in Israel, while thousands of others remain in vulnerable positions across the Middle East

Sirens warning of Iranian missiles blare out so frequently that Joycee Pelayo, a Filipino living near to Tel Aviv, doesn’t leave the house any more. Each time an alert sounds, she rushes to help the older man she cares for, supporting him into a wheelchair, then down the steps into a nearby shelter.

“Last night, there were three alerts. We received it at about 2am, in the middle of the night, and then 3am, and then 4am,” says Pelayo.

Methanol, a cheap relative of ethanol, is entering the supply chain, causing thousands of deaths around the world

For Bethany Clarke, poison tasted like nothing. There was no bitter aftertaste, no astringent sting at the back of the tongue. If anything, she thought in passing, the free shots she and her friends were drinking at a hostel bar in Laos had probably been watered down – she wasn’t detecting a strong vodka flavour through the veil of Sprite she had mixed it with.

All in all, Clarke remembers drinking about five of those shots, sitting with her best friend, Simone White, and a crowd of others at the hostel’s happy hour. CCTV footage shows the group laughing in the warm air of the open bar in the town of Vang Vieng, green and red lights dancing over their shoulders.