The week in photos: March 21-27, 2026

MANILA, Philippines – On March 21, US  President Donald Trump threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if Tehran does not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. Before the deadline, on March 23, Trump ordered to postpone any military strikes for five days because of what he described as productive talks with Iranian officials.

However, Iran’s powerful parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said, “No negotiations have been held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped,” he wrote on X.

On March 26, Trump threatened during a cabinet meeting at the White House to increase pressure on Iran if it did not make a deal, before later posting on social media that he would pause attacks on Iranian energy plants for 10 days until April 6.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of national energy emergency on March 24 as global oil prices continued to rise. The President also created the interagency Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport or UPLIFT Committee, which he also heads, to oversee government response to the effects of the US and Israel’s war on Iran.

The committee is meant to ensure a stable domestic energy supply, the delivery of essential services, a continuity of economic activity, and the welfare of the most vulnerable sectors.

Catch more stories in these photos from the week that was:

Muslim children react after the Eid al-Fitr prayer, which marks the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Bo-Kaap, Cape Town, South Africa, on March 21, 2026. PHOTO BY ESA ALEXANDER/REUTERS

A woman walks next to a mural depicting the late leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the late supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, on March 22, 2026. PHOTO BY MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA VIA REUTERS

Clergymen and believers attend a funeral service for the late Patriarch Filaret, a key figure in establishing an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, inside the Saint Michael’s Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 22, 2026. PHOTO BY VALENTYN OGIRENKO/REUTERS

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un receives applause as he attends the first session of the Supreme People’s Assembly, where state media reports he is reappointed as president of state affairs, in Pyongyang, North Korea, on March 22, 2026. KCNA PHOTO VIA REUTERS

Emergency crews work around an Air Canada Express jet that had collided with a ground vehicle at New York’s LaGuardia Airport in Queens on March 23, 2026. PHOTO BY BING GUAN/REUTERS

A woman takes a picture of the painting ‘Icare, 1943’ (Icarus, 1943) by painter Henri Matisse during a press visit of the exhibition ‘Matisse, 1941-1954’ at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, on March 23, 2026. PHOTO BY SARAH MEYSSONIER/REUTERS

Children and teenagers play with a part of a missile that landed in the playground of an elementary school last night, in the Israeli settlement Peduel of the Israel-occupied West Bank, on March 23, 2026. PHOTO BY AMIR COHEN/REUTERS

Yael Admi and Reem Al-Hajajreh hold hands as they take part in the ‘Barefoot walk: Mothers’ call for peace’ demonstration in Rome, Italy, on March 24, 2026. PHOTO BY GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE/REUTERS

A member of the human rights group Madres de Plaza de Mayo (Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo) participates in a demonstration to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1976 military coup, near Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 24, 2026. PHOTO BY AGUSTIN MARCARIAN/REUTERS

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signs an executive order declaring a national energy emergency as global supply risks threaten the country’s fuel stability, in Malacañang Palace on March 24, 2026. PHOTO FROM PRESIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE

Jeepney drivers claim their P5,000 government fuel subsidy cash assistance, facilitated by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City on March 25, 2026. PHOTO BY JIRE CARREON/RAPPLER

A nameplate of Vice President Sara Duterte is placed on a reserved table before the kickoff of the impeachment hearing proper of the House justice committee on March 25, 2026. PHOTO BY DWIGHT DE LEON/RAPPLER

A store helper selling Liquefied Petroleum Gas in Manila changes the price board as the Department of Energy reported that the Philippines has about 23-25 days of LPG supply, with local price increases of P3 to 4 per kilo reported in some areas, on March 25, 2026. PHOTO BY RAPPLER

Parents who say they have lost their children due to social media hold up a banner with the names of the children outside the court after the jury found Meta and Google liable in a key test case accusing Meta and Google’s YouTube of harming children’s mental health through addictive social media platforms, in Los Angeles, California, on March 25, 2026. PHOTO BY MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS

People mourn over the bodies of two paramedics killed by an Israeli strike, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, in Nabatieh, Lebanon, on March 25, 2026. PHOTO BY YARA NARDI/REUTERS

Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin perform during the Pair’s Short Program at the ISU Figure Skating World Championships at O2 arena, in Prague, Czech Republic, on March 25, 2026. PHOTO BY DAVID CERNY/REUTERS

A jockey reacts as he competes in Pacu Jawi, a traditional Minangkabau bull race held in harvested paddy fields, in Tanah Datar regency, West Sumatra province, Indonesia, on March 25, 2026. PHOTO BY WILLY KURNIAWAN/REUTERS

A humanoid robot by Linkerbot dressed in a costume sits next to a piano during a demonstration at the 2026 Zhongguancun forum in Beijing, China, on March 25. PHOTO BY TINGSHU WANG/REUTERS

A couple wearing Korean traditional costume Hanbok shares a moment at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, South Korea, on March 26, 2026. PHOTO BY KIM HONG-JI/REUTERS

Members of the transport group PISTON Cebu and various sectors stage a transport strike along Osmeña Blvd in Cebu City on March 27, 2026. The protesters called for a rollback of oil prices, removal of VAT and excise taxes on fuel, a P5 fare increase, a P1,200 national minimum wage, and the abolition of the Oil Deregulation Law. PHOTO BY JACQUELINE HERNANDEZ/RAPPLER

– with reports from Reuters/Rappler.com