Christmas

Typhoon Phanfone ruining Christmas for thousands

Typhoon Phanfone smashed into the central Philippines on Tuesday, leaving thousands of people unable to get home for the Christmas holidays and forcing many others to evacuate in the face of the onslaught.The tropical storm was upgraded to a typhoon shortly before it made landfall on Christmas Eve in the mainly Catholic nation, but early reports indicate there had been no casualties so far.It struck the southern tip of the impoverished island of Samar in the afternoon with gusts of up to 150

25 December 2019
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Indonesia boosts security for Christmas, New Year

Indonesia will deploy some 180,000 security personnel ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays, authorities said Friday, following the arrests of more than a dozen suspected militants in the world's biggest Muslim-majority country.Thirteen suspected militants were arrested in separate, pre-emptive raids across the Southeast Asian nation earlier this month.Many of the suspects were proven to have links to the Islamic State group or had fought in Syria.Police spokesman Martinus Sitompu

22 December 2017
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Duterte Orders Christmas Truce With Communist 'Terrorists'

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the military to suspend operations against communist rebels over Christmas, the government said Wednesday, despite ending peace talks and branding the insurgents "terrorists"."This unilateral ceasefire would lessen the apprehension of the public this Christmas season," Duterte's spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement, adding the government expects the rebels to make "a similar gesture of goodwill".The &quot

20 December 2017
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