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Philippine flood pictures show devastation as water engulfs capital Manila, killing 23
Widespread flooding that killed at least 23 people, battered a million others and paralyzed the Philippine capital briefly eased Wednesday, allowing rescuers on rubber boats to reach a large number of distressed residents still marooned in submerged villages. (Photos: TED ALJIBE/AFP/GettyImages; AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
People walk among logs and debris washed ashore four days after Typhoon Washi hit a village in Iligan city, southern Philippines December 20, 2011. Philippine President Benigno Aquino declared on Tuesday a state of national calamity after flash floods and land slides caused by a typhoon swept through a southern region late last week, killing about 1,000 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless. (REUTERS/Erik De Castro)
Officials prepare mass graves as nearly 700 dead in Philippines floods
Disaster agencies on Monday delivered body bags, food, water, and medicine to crowded evacuation centres in the southern Philippines as officials ordered the digging of graves to prevent disease after hundreds died from flash floods.
The national disaster agency said 684 died after Typhoon Washi slammed ashore in Mindanao island while residents slept at the weekend, sending torrents of water and mud through riverside villages and sweeping houses out to sea.
The Philippine National Red Cross put the toll at 652 killed and more than 800 missing. The casualties far exceeded the 464 people killed in 2009 when a tropical storm dumped heavy rain on the main Luzon island, inundating nearly the entire capital Manila.
Odd Christmas photo of the day
Traffic controller Ramiro Hinojas, wearing a Santa Claus costume, dances as he directs motorists along an intersection in Pasay City, Philippines, Dec. 14, 2011. (Photo: Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters)
Photos of the day
Jonna Baquillas holds her pet, a rescued cat named Rue, both dressed as Little Red Riding Hood during the Philippine Animal Welfare Society’s (PAWS) annual Halloween fundraiser, entitled “Scaredy Cats and Dogs: Year 8” in Manila, October 23, 2011. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)
Photos of the day
Herbert Chavez holds a photo of himself at 16, inside his house in Calamba Laguna, Philippines, Oct. 12, 2011, taken before his cosmetic transformation to look like his idol Superman. Chavez has undergone a series of cosmetic surgeries for his nose, cheeks, lips and chin down to his thighs and even his skin color to look more like the “Man of Steel”. (Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters)
The final ten contestants of the Miss Universe 2011 pageant: Miss Australia Sherri-lee Biggs, Miss Costa Rica Johanna Solano, Miss France Laury Thilleman, Miss Ukraine Olesia Stefanko, Miss Portugal Laura Goncalves, Miss Panama Sheldry Saez, Miss Philippines Shamcey Supsup, Miss Angola Leila Lopes, Miss China Luo Zilin, Miss Brazil Priscila Machado, stand on stage in Sao Paulo, Sept. 12, 2011. Miss Angola won the pageant. (Paulo Whitaker/Reuters)
Monstrous crocodile captured in Philippines
A monster 21-foot (6.4-metre) saltwater crocodile, believed to be the biggest ever captured, has been trapped in the southern Philippines after a spate of fatal attacks, officials said Tuesday.
The 1,075-kilogram (2,370-pound) male is suspected of eating a farmer who went missing in July in the town of Bunawan, and of killing a 12-year-old girl whose head was bitten off two years ago, crocodile hunter Rollie Sumiller said. (Photo: Sylvia Elorde/AFP/Getty Images)
Filipino teen declared world’s shortest man
Junrey Balawing, from a remote town in the southern Philippines, stands just under two feel tall and has been officially declared the World’s Shortest Man by Guinness World Records.
Mr. Balawing, who just turned 18, is 23.5 inches (59.9 centimetres) tall, and succeeds previous title holder Khagendra Thapa Magar from Nepal, who is 26 inches (67.08 centimetres) tall.
A team from Guinness World Records made the announcement in the remote town of Sindangan, where Mr. Balawing lives, on his 18th birthday on Sunday. Claimants for the title must be at least 18 years old. (Photo: Jay Directo/Reuters)
Photos of the Day, June 2, 2011
Residents look for fish during sunset in the shallow waters of Mogpog town in Marinduque island, south of Manila, June 2, 2011. (Erik de Castro/Reuters)
Photos of the Day, April 7, 2011
A boy wades in neck-deep sea water filled with debris while searching for valuable items after a fire razed some 500 houses along a coastal village in Malabon city, north of Manila, April 7, 2011. The fire, believed to be caused by an exploding liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank, started before dawn on Thursday. No casualties were reported but at least 3,000 residents lost their homes. Fire fighters had a difficult time getting to the scene and putting out the blaze because the houses were close to each other and made of light materials, local media reported. (REUTERS/Erik de Castro)
They’re ‘our’ SOBs: U.S. has history of backing despots — when they’re useful
No one knows for sure if President Franklin D. Roosevelt really said, of the U.S.’s support for the corrupt Nicaraguan dictator, Anastasio Somoza Garcia, “He may be a son of a bitch, but he’s our son of a bitch.”
Most likely he didn’t. It hardly matters. The fact the quote has, for 72 years, taken on a life of its own — it has been held up as the defining, cold-hearted mentality behind U.S. foreign policy — does.
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