A Thai navy SEAL who was part of the dramatic rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave has died of a blood infection contracted during the risky operation, the Royal Thai Navy said.Petty Officer 1st Class Bayroot Pakbara was receiving treatment, but his condition worsened after the infection spread into his blood, according to an announcement on the Thai navy SEAL’s Facebook page.He is the second navy diver who lost his life in the high-profile operation that saw the boys and the coach extracted from deep inside the northern cave complex, where they were trapped for two weeks in June-July last year.Lt. Cmdr. Saman Gunan died while resupplying oxygen tanks July 6, 2019.According to the Bangkok Post, Pakbara was buried Friday at the Talosai mosque in southern Satun province. Local media quoted his mother as saying her son had been in and out of the hospital since the cave rescue.The boys and their coach entered the Tham Luang cave complex after soccer practice and were quickly trapped inside by rising floodwater. Despite a massive search, the boys spent nine nights lost in the cave before they were spotted by an expert diver. It would take another eight days before they were all safely removed from the cave.A team of expert divers guided each of the boys out of the cave on special stretchers. The operation required placing oxygen canisters along the path where the divers maneuvered dark, tight and twisting passageways filled with muddy water and strong currents.
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Category: East
East news. East is the direction toward which the Earth rotates about its axis, and therefore the general direction from which the Sun appears to rise. The practice of praying towards the East is older than Christianity, but has been adopted by this religion as the Orient was thought of as containing mankind’s original home
UN Official Decries Human Rights `Backlash’ in Last Decade
The past decade has seen a backlash against human rights on every front, especially the rights of women and LGBT communities, according to a top U.N. human rights official.
Andrew Gilmour, the outgoing assistant secretary-general for human rights, said the regression of the past 10 years hasn’t equaled the advances that began in the late 1970s — but it is serious, widespread and regrettable.
He pointed to populist authoritarian nationalists'' in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, who he said are taking aim at the most vulnerable groups of society, including Rohingya Muslims, Roma and Mexican migrants, as well as gays and women. He cited leaders who justify torture, the arrests and killing of journalists, the brutal repressions of demonstrations anda whole closing of civil society space.”
“I never thought that we would start hearing the terms `concentration camps’ again,” Gilmour told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview. And yet, in two countries of the world there's a real question.'' FILE - A Chinese police officer takes his position by the road near what is officially called a vocational education center in Yining in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, Sept. 4, 2018.He didn't name them but appeared to be referring to China's internment camps in western Xinjiang province, where an estimated 1 million members of the country's predominantly Muslim Uighur minority are being held; and detention centers on the United States' southern border, where mostly Central American migrants are being held while waiting to apply for asylum. Both countries strongly deny that concentration camp-like conditions exist. The progress of human rights is certainly not a linear progression, and we have seen that,” he said.
Gilmour is leaving the United Nations on December 31 after a 30-year career that has included posts in hot spots such as Iraq, South Sudan, Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories and West Africa. Before taking up his current post in 2016, he served for four years as director of political, peacekeeping, humanitarian and human rights affairs in former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office.
Despite his dim view of the past decade, Gilmour — a Briton who previously worked in politics and journalism — said he didn't want to appear “relentlessly negative.'' Not a straight line
There was definite progression from the late '70s until the early years of this century. And we've now seen very much the countertendency of the last few years.'' but there wasn’t a pushback as there is now.”
Gilmour said human rights were worse during the Cold War between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union,
He pointed to the fact that in the past eight years or so, many countries have adopted laws designed to restrict the funding and activities of nongovernmental organizations, especially human rights NGOs.
And he alleged that powerful U.N. member states stop human rights officials from speaking in the Security Council, while China and some other members go to extraordinary lengths to prevent human rights defenders [from] entering the [U.N.] building even, let alone participate in the meetings.'' mind-numbing crimes
FILE - Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, then the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, is pictured after a news conference at the U.N.'s European headquarters in Geneva, October 2014.In March 2018, for example, Russia used a procedural maneuver to block then-U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein from addressing a formal meeting of the Security Council, the U.N.'s most powerful body, Gilmour said.
Zeid was able to deliver his hard-hitting speech soon afterward, but only at a hurriedly organized informal council meeting where he decriedcommitted by all parties in Syria. derogatory comments” about both groups.
Gilmour also cited the United States' refusal to authorize the council to hold a meeting on the human rights situation in North Korea, a move that effectively killed the idea. Rights of women, gays
The rights of women and gays are also at stake, Gilmour said. He said nationalist authoritarian populist leaders such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have made
He said the U.S. is aggressively pushing'' back against women's reproductive rights both at home and abroad. The result, he said, is that countries fearful of losing U.S. aid are cutting back their work on women's rights. I feel that we really need to do more — everybody … to defend those courageous defenders,” he said.
Gilmour also pointed out a report issued in September that cited 48 countries for punishing human rights defenders who have cooperated with the U.N.
Gilmour said the U.N. should also stand up when it comes to major violations of international law and major violations of human rights, but I have found it extremely difficult to do so in all circumstances.'' FILE - United States U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft addresses the Security Council after a failed vote on a humanitarian draft resolution for Syria, Sept. 19, 2019, at U.N. headquarters.He said he was happy to hear that the new U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Kelly Craft, feels strongly about ensuring human rights. he said.
“And I do hope that she will be gently and firmly held to that high standard,
Gilmour said that after his departure from the U.N, he will take a fellowship at Oxford’s All Souls College, where he will focus on the importance of uniting human rights and environmental rights groups.
The human rights impact of climate change — it's going to be so monumental,'' he said. What gives me hope as we start a new decade is that there will be a surge in youth activism that will help people to get courage, and to stand up for what they believe in,” he said.
As he relinquishes his post, Gilmour said he is counting on younger generations to take up the mantle of human rights and fight for other causes aimed at improving the world.
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UN Condemns Abuses Against Myanmar’s Rohingya
The U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution Friday strongly condemning human rights abuses against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims and other minorities, including arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and deaths in detention.
The 193-member world body voted 134-9 with 28 abstentions in favor of the resolution, which also calls on Myanmar’s government to take urgent measures to combat incitement of hatred against the Rohingya and other minorities in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states.
General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding but they do reflect world opinion.
Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long considered the Rohingya to be Bengalis from Bangladesh, even though their families have lived in the country for generations. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless, and they are also denied freedom of movement and other basic rights. FILE – A boy searches for useful items among the ashes of burned dwellings after a fire destroyed shelters at a camp for internally displaced Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State near Sittwe, May 3, 2016.The long-simmering Rohingya crisis exploded on August 25, 2017, when Myanmar’s military launched what it called a clearance campaign in Rakhine in response to an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. The campaign led to the mass Rohingya exodus to Bangladesh and to accusations that security forces committed mass rapes and killings and burned thousands of homes. Myanmar responseMyanmar’s U.N. ambassador, Hau Do Suan, called the resolution another classic example of double-standards [and] selective and discriminatory application of human rights norms, designed to exert unwanted political pressure on Myanmar.'' will sow seeds of distrust and will create further polarization of different communities in the region.” FILE – Rohingya refugees gather to mark the second anniversary of the exodus at the Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, Aug. 25, 2019.The resolution expresses alarm at the influx of Rohingya Muslims into neighboring Bangladesh over the last four decades — the total is now 1.1 million, which includes 744,000 who arrived since August 2017 —
He said the resolution did not attempt to find a solution to the complex situation in Rakhine state and did not recognize government efforts to address the challenges.
The resolution, the ambassador said,in the aftermath of atrocities committed by the security and armed forces of Myanmar.'' of gross human rights violations and abuses suffered by Rohingya Muslims and other minorities” by the security forces, which the mission said
The assembly also expressed alarm at an independent international fact-finding mission's findings undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law.'' 'Deep distress'deep distress at reports that unarmed individuals in Rakhine state have been and continue to be subjected to the excessive use of forces and violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law by the military and security and armed forces.”
The resolution called for an immediate cessation of fighting and hostilities.
It reiterated
And it called for Myanmar’s forces to protect all people, and for urgent steps to ensure justice for all rights violations.
The resolution also urged the government to expedite efforts to eliminate statelessness and the systematic and institutionalized discrimination'' against the Rohingya and other minorities, to dismantle camps for Rohingyas and others displaced in Rakhine, andto create the conditions necessary for the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of all refugees, including Rohingya Muslim refugees.”
It noted that the Rohingya have twice refused to return to Myanmar from Bangladesh because of the absence of these conditions.
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Australia’s Wildfires Threaten Sydney Water Supplies
Australian authorities said Friday they are focused on protecting water plants, pumping stations, pipes and other infrastructure from intense bushfires surrounding Sydney, the country’s largest city.Firefighters battling the blazes for weeks received a reprieve of slightly cooler, damper conditions over Christmas, but the respite is not expected to last long.Temperatures in New South Wales (NSW) state are forecast to head back toward 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) early next week, fueling fires near Warragamba Dam, which provides water to about 80% of Sydney’s 5 million residents.“In recent days up to the cool change, the fires had been a potential threat to supply and assets, particularly in Warragamba and in the Blue Mountains,” a spokesman for the state’s water authority, WaterNSW, told Reuters. “With the coming very hot conditions the fire situation may escalate in both those fronts and possibly elsewhere.”Warragamba Dam is 65km (40 miles) west of Sydney, catching water flowing from the mountains.FILE – Dick Pearson from the Sydney Catchment Authority stands in front of Sydney’s Warragamba Dam to show the lowest level the dam has ever been.It is at 44.8% capacity, down from almost being full less than three years ago, as a prolonged drought ravages the continent’s east.40 New South Wales damsDespite the widespread destruction, the state’s water infrastructure network has not been damaged, the spokesman said.With more than 40 dams across the state, WaterNSW supplies two-thirds of untreated water to the state’s water utilities, which then treat and clean the resource to provide drinking water to cities and regional towns.Large quantities of ash and burned material could pose a threat to the quality of water in the dams if the fires are followed by heavy rain.However, there is no significant rain forecast for NSW in the short-term and WaterNSW has put containment barriers to catch potential debris run-off, the water authority said.Members of the Horsley Park RFS honor volunteer firefighters Andrew O’Dwyer and Geoffrey Keaton, who died when their firetruck was struck by a falling tree as it traveled through the front line of a fire, in Horsley Park, NSW, Dec. 20, 2019.Volunteer firefightersAustralia’s reliance on a large volunteer firefighting force has been tested during this fire season that potentially has months to run through the southern hemisphere summer.While conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison previously said compensation for volunteers was not a priority, he said Tuesday that government workers could receive additional paid leave for volunteering.A senior government minister said Friday the government was now looking into providing wider relief.“The prime minister is looking at this issue further on how we can provide targeted support in these extreme circumstances so that our volunteers get the support they need to keep volunteering,” Defense Minister Linda Reynolds told media in Perth.While there are different rules across Australia’s states, volunteers tend to negotiate time off directly with their employer.Morrison has been under intense political pressure after it was revealed he was holidaying in Hawaii shortly before Christmas while the country grappled with an emergency and two volunteers near the fire frontlines had been killed. Eight deaths, including the two volunteer firefighters, have been linked to the blazes since they flared in spring.Fires destroy millions of hectaresFires are traveling immense distances through bushland before hitting towns and containment lines where volunteer firefighters concentrate their resources.The bushfires have destroyed more than 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres) across the country, dwarfing the terrain burnt by fierce fires in California during 2019.
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Death Toll Reaches 28 as Philippines Recovers from Christmas Typhoon
The death toll from a Christmas typhoon that tore through the central Philippines rose to 28 Friday, with 12 people missing, the disaster agency said, as authorities moved to restore power and residents tried to repair damaged homes.Typhoon Phanfone hit late Tuesday with winds of up to 120 kph (75 mph) and gusts of 150 kph, dumping sheets of uninterrupted rain on a string of islands, damaging hundreds of homes and causing flooding in eight areas.It was the seventh typhoon to strike the Philippines this year and came as millions of people in the predominantly Catholic country were heading home to celebrate Christmas with families.Devastating stormAbout 43,000 people were in temporary shelters Friday, among the 185,000 affected by the typhoon, which destroyed 49 homes and partially damaged 2,000.There was widespread travel disruption with 115 flights canceled and thousands of people stranded by the suspension of ferries because of storm surges.It was unclear how the deaths occurred, but officials said some victims were hit by trees, electrocuted or drowned.”People did not expect that the storm would be that devastating,” said disaster agency spokesman Mark Timbal.Poorest areas hitThough less powerful than other typhoons this year, Phanfone made landfall in some of the country’s poorest and least-developed islands.Among them was the island of Samar, which bore the brunt of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, the Philippines’ most powerful and deadliest storm on record. It killed more than 6,300 people.Residents there were clearing debris, with wooden pillars and sheets of corrugated iron roof that were once homes, scattered across the ground. Men pulled tried to recover fishing boats with tangled or damaged outriggers.Samar resident Virgilo Catayas, whose sibling was among those killed by Haiyan, said he lost another to hypertension when Phanfone hit.”We can’t really do much if that’s what happened, we’ll have to accept it,” he told broadcaster ABS-CBN. “The important thing is to stay strong,” he said, sitting next to a casket.Blue sky and destructionTelevision showed minor damage to the airport at Kalibo, an alternative gateway to the holiday island of Boracay, while the disaster agency said 55 schools had suffered some damage.The agriculture department estimated initial damages of 569 million pesos ($11.17 million) mostly to fish farms.Images on social media showed government workers clearing trees from roads, with a clear blue sky after the storm moved out over the South China Sea late on Wednesday.
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Japan’s NHK Sends Erroneous Alert of North Korean ‘Christmas Gift’
Japanese public broadcaster NHK Friday sent a news bulletin that incorrectly reported North Korea had launched a missile that fell into waters east of the Japanese archipelago, issuing an apology hours later explaining it was a media training alert.The news alert came as the United States and its East Asian allies have been on tenterhooks after Pyongyang’s warning this month of a possible “Christmas gift” for Washington in what experts took to mean a possible long-range missile test.The NHK bulletin, sent out 22 minutes after midnight on its website, read: “North Korean missile seen as having fallen into seas about 2,000 km east of Hokkaido’s Cape Erimo,” suggesting a flight path over Japanese territory.At 2:28 a.m., NHK issued an apology on its website, explaining that the text was meant for training purposes and was “not true.”“We apologize to our viewers and the public,” NHK said.Warning citizens about disasters and security threats is one of the mandates for the publicly funded broadcaster, whose newscasters regularly and frequently hold drills for earthquakes and other disaster coverage.When North Korea did launch missiles that flew over Cape Erimo in Japan’s far north in 2017, warnings spread through sirens and government-issued “J-alerts” on millions of cell phones throughout Japan, jolting some out of sleep.NHK had also sent an erroneous news alert about a North Korean missile in January of last year. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had given the United States until the end of the year to propose new concessions in talks over his country’s nuclear arsenal and reducing tensions between the adversaries.Its last test of an intercontinental ballistic missile was in November 2017 when it fired a Hwasong-15, the largest missile it has ever tested. Pyongyang said the missile was capable of reaching all of the United States.
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Japan to Send Warship, Aircraft to Middle East to Protect Vessels
Japan will send a warship and patrol planes to protect Japanese ships in the Middle East as the situation in the region, from which it sources nearly 90% of its crude oil imports, remains volatile, a document approved by the cabinet showed Friday.Under the plan, a helicopter-equipped destroyer and two P-3C patrol planes will be dispatched for information-gathering aimed at ensuring safe passage for Japanese vessels through the region.If there are any emergencies, a special order would be issued by the Japanese defense minister to allow the forces to use weapons to protect ships in danger.Friction between Iran and the United States has increased since last year, when U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of a 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran and re-imposed sanctions on it, crippling its economy.In May and June, there were several attacks on international merchant vessels, including the Japanese-owned tanker Kokuka Courageous, in the region, which the United States blamed on Iran. Tehran denies the accusations.FILE – A hole the U.S. Navy says was made by a limpet mine is seen on the damaged Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned oil tanker Kokuka Courageous, anchored off Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, June 19, 2019.Japan, a U.S. ally that has maintained friendly ties with Iran, has opted to launch its own operation rather than join a U.S.-led mission to protect shipping in the region.Last week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe briefed visiting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tokyo’s plan to send naval forces to the Gulf.The planned operation is set to cover high seas in the Gulf of Oman, the northern Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden, but not the Strait of Hormuz, the cabinet-approved document showed.The Japanese government aims to start the operation of the patrol planes next month, while the destroyer will likely begin activities in the region in February, a defense ministry official said.A European operation to ensure safe shipping in the Gulf will also get under way next month, when a French warship starts patrolling there.
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Vietnam Wants to Be Next Singapore
As the only Southeast Asian nations in what was once called the TPP trade agreement, Vietnam and Singapore seem far apart. One has the lowest income per capita among agreement members, the other has the highest. One relies on physical manufacturing and commodities, the other on financial and trading services. One is populated by close to 100 million people, the other is an island of not even 6 million people. However, Vietnam would like to think the two are closer than that as it labors to become the next Singapore. FILE Tran Quoc Khanh, Vietnam’s deputy trade minister, left, talks with Singaporean counterpart Chan Chun Sing during a meeting of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, in Santiago, Chile, May 16, 2019.Both are linked in joining what is now called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement. More generally, Vietnam thinks of Singapore as a reachable example of an open and attractive economy, yet one that has been largely controlled by the same political party for decades. “Vietnamese enterprises are using Singapore as a hub to reach out to the international market, and Singaporean companies are investing in Vietnam to expand their business,” said Tao Thi Thanh Huong, Vietnam’s ambassador to Singapore. She said she was happy to see “the cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore as strategic partners.” Vietnam is not the only one with its eyes on Singapore. Numerous developing nations want to mimic its economic development. Developed nations wonder whether to copy its decreased taxes to please corporations. As Britain prepares for Brexit, its departure from the European Union, some bankers want a “Singapore-on-Thames” of decreased taxes and regulation to favor their industry. State capitalism For Vietnam, the goal combines economics and politics. Author Parag Khanna argues controversially that nations no longer prefer liberal democracy, but economic growth with stable politics, more along the lines of Chinese state capitalism. Singapore and Vietnam have the longest-ruling parties in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. How is Vietnam studying Singapore? Students go there literally to study. Officials from both governments conduct informational exchanges. Corporations go to Singapore to incorporate and raise money from global investors. FILE – Laborers work at the Ford Vietnam car factory in Hai Duong, Vietnam, April 12, 2019.”Vietnamese issuers and investors have found the Singapore capital markets to be of great interest, and we have the privilege of being the preferred listing venue for bond issuers from Vietnam,” said Loh Boon Chye, chief executive officer of the Singapore Exchange (SGX). Singapore is also the largest investor in Ho Chi Minh City and the third largest in Vietnam. However, the figures are likely inflated because corporations incorporate in Singapore while actually originating elsewhere. It is similar to the trend of foreign investors officially coming from the Virgin Islands but not likely to have actual operations there. However, there is Singaporean influence in Vietnam. There are two Vietnam-Singapore industrial parks close to Ho Chi Minh City. Singaporean corporations invest in Vietnamese real estate and banking, as well as join the Singapore Business Group of Vietnam. “Today over 40 stocks listed on SGX, across a range of industries such as pharmaceutical, energy and consumer business, have business relations with Vietnam,” Loh said in a speech welcoming Huong, Vietnam’s first female ambassador to Singapore, to SGX this month.
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2019 – A Year of Ups and Downs for US-China Relations
From a trade war to disagreements on Hong Kong and human rights, the ties between the United States and China were seriously tested in 2019. And despite the recent agreement on phase one of the trade pact that averts the imposition of further tariffs against each other, some analysts say Washington’s issues with Beijing are more intractable. State Department correspondent Nike Ching has the story
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Thousands in Asia Marvel at ‘Ring of Fire’ Solar Eclipse
People along a swath of southern Asia gazed at the sky in marvel on Thursday at a “ring of fire” solar eclipse.
The so-called annular eclipse, in which a thin outer ring of the sun is still visible, could be seen along a path stretching from India and Pakistan to Thailand and Indonesia.
Authorities in Indonesia provided telescopes and hundreds of special glasses to protect viewers’ eyes. Thousands of people gazed at the sky and cheered and clapped as the sun transformed into a dark orb for more than two minutes, briefly plunging the sky into darkness. Hundreds of others prayed at nearby mosques.
“How amazing to see the ring of fire when the sun disappeared slowly,” said Firman Syahrizal, a resident of Sinabang in Indonesia’s Banda Aceh province who witnessed the eclipse with his family.
The previous annular solar eclipse in February 2017 was also visible over a slice of Indonesia.
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China Sams US Defense Act Over Trade Restrictions
Beijing on Thursday said it “firmly opposes” trade restrictions included in a new U.S. defense act, having already admonished the bill for interfering in China’s internal affairs.The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — signed into law last week — bars the use of federal funds to buy railcars and buses from China, and slows the lifting of sanctions on tech giant Huawei.It comes as Beijing and Washington have agreed to a temporary truce in their bruising nearly two-year trade war, with a “phase-one” deal that has rolled back tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods.”We have noted that the U.S. defense authorization act… contains a number of adverse provisions against Chinese enterprises, which China firmly opposes,” Chinese commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng said at a regular briefing.The act is expected to dent the bottom lines of two Chinese companies: state-owned railcar maker CRRC Corp. and BYD Motors, which sells electric buses in the US.New restrictions contained in the bill prevent Washington from taking Huawei off a U.S. Commerce Department list that bans American firms from working with the company without specific exemptions.U.S. intelligence chiefs claim Huawei’s equipment is a threat to national security as the United States and other nations introduce next-generation mobile networks.”China will pay close attention to the impact on Chinese enterprises during the implementation of the bill, and take all necessary measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” Gao said, without offering details of the possible countermeasures.U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer had said China had agreed to purchase $200 billion worth of American goods over the next two years as part of the mini-deal, but the Chinese side is yet to confirm the details.”At present, China and the United States are carrying out the necessary procedures of legal review, translation and proofreading, and are in close communication on the subsequent steps toward signing the agreement,” Gao said.The NDAA also calls for strengthening Washington’s ties with Taiwan and support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protestors — measures which on Saturday Beijing said “blatantly interfered” in its internal affairs.
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China Sails Carrier Through Taiwan Strait
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that China had sailed its newest aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait for a second time.The move comes as Taiwan prepares to hold a presidential election January 11.The Chinese carrier first went through the strait November 17 for what China said was “routine training” in the “relevant waters of the South China Sea.”Taiwan’s foreign minister, Joseph Wu, responded to that transit with a Twitter post accusing China of attempting to interfere with Taiwan’s elections and said voters would not be intimidated.The Foreign Ministry had a similar message Thursday, saying in its own post, “Military threats like this only toughen Taiwan’s determination to defend itself and preserve regional peace and stability.”China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s and threatened to take it by force if needed.
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Australia Firefighters Brace for Heatwave This Weekend
Firefighters battling wildfires in Australia’s most populous state attempted to make headway Thursday amid favorable conditions, before a heatwave hits this weekend.Thousands of firefighters in New South Wales took advantage of cooler weather and continued to strengthen containment lines. More than 70 fires, however, were still burning across the state with areas in the south coast at the “watch and act” level issued by fire services. About 5 million hectares (12.35 million acres) of land have burned nationwide over the past few months, with nine people killed and more than 950 homes destroyed. New South Wales has received the brunt of the damage, with around 850 homes razed in the state.Authorities are bracing for conditions to deteriorate as high temperatures return. Sydney is forecast to hit 31 degrees Celsius (88 Fahrenheit) Sunday before reaching 35 C (95 F) on Tuesday. The city’s western suburbs could reach 41 C (106 F) Sunday.Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Rose Barr said a heatwave is building in southern parts of New South Wales before worsening on the weekend.“Some areas are forecast to reach extreme heatwave conditions,” she said. “With the increasing heat and winds, the fire danger will worsen into the new week, with Monday and Tuesday most likely to be the most significant fire weather days.”Fire danger ratings remained very high in northwestern New South Wales, and high in Sydney.Meanwhile, South Australian firefighters Thursday were battling wildfires in Adelaide Hills, which has been downgraded to the “advice” level. South Australia state last week reported 86 homes destroyed after wildfires flared in catastrophic conditions. A return of extreme temperatures, however, are expected with Adelaide, the state capital, set to reach a sizzling 40 C (104 F) Friday to start a four-day heatwave, its second such hot spell in just over a week.
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Typhoon Leaves at Least 16 Dead Across Central Philippines
Tourists on the popular Philippine holiday island of Boracay were stranded Thursday after a typhoon swept through Christmas Day, killing at least 16 people in other parts of the county.Typhoon Phanfone, with wind gusts reaching 200 kilometres (125 miles) an hour, tore roofs off houses and toppled electric posts as it ripped through the central Philippines Wednesday. At least 16 people were killed in villages and towns in the Visayas, the central third of the Philippines, according to disaster agency officials.Phanfone also hit Boracay, Coron and other holiday destinations that are famed for their white-sand beaches and popular with foreign tourists.Mobile phone and internet access on Boracay was cut during the storm Wednesday and the networks remained down Thursday, making assessment of the damage there difficult.“Still, communication lines are down. Electricity is still down,” Jonathan Pablito, police chief of Malay town in Aklan province, which is on a neighboring island to Boracay, told AFP. Pablito said ferry services between Boracay and Aklan, the main way to travel to and from the holiday island, were not operating Thursday.“We have no news from coast guard if ships were allowed to sail. Since the 24th… all those going to the island and coming from the island weren’t able to cross,” he said.General view of storm debris in Biliran, Philippines, Dec. 26, 2019, in this picture obtained from social media. (Vermalyn Maloloy-on Navarrete/Reuters)The airport at Kalibo town in Aklan, which services Boracay, was badly damaged, according to a Korean tourist who was stranded there and provided images to AFP.“Roads remain blocked, but some efforts have been made to clear away the damage. It’s pretty bad,” Jung Byung Joon said via Instagram messenger. “Everything within 100 meters of the airport looks broken. There are a lot of frustrated people at the airport as flights have been cancelled.”Though much weaker, Phanfone tracked a similar path as Super Typhoon Haiyan, the country’s deadliest storm on record, which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in 2013.
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Singapore Police Probe Indian for Alleged Modi Citizenship Law Protest
Singapore police are investigating an Indian national for allegedly being involved in a public protest against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s controversial citizenship law. Unauthorized public assemblies and protests over political situations in other countries are banned in Singapore. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to Indian streets to protest the citizenship law enacted by Modi’s Hindu nationalist government that provides non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who moved there before 2015 a pathway to Indian citizenship. Singapore police said following a report on December 24 they were investigating a 32-year-old male Indian national for participating in “a public assembly without a police permit” at the Marina Bay waterfront financial and tourist district. “He allegedly carried out the activity in Marina Bay, to show his opposition to India’s Citizenship Amendment Bill,” police said in a statement late Wednesday. The statement did not give any more details of the assembly. Local media reported the man posted a picture of himself on social media with a placard “to express his unhappiness.” The police said organizing or participating in a public assembly without a police permit in Singapore is illegal and that they would not grant any permit for assemblies that advocate political causes of other countries.
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Rakhine Rebels Say Myanmar Official Killed in Fighting
Rebels in Myanmar’s Rakhine region said a captured official from Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling party has died, two weeks after being taken for organizing protests against genocide accusations faced by Myanmar at the World Court. The Arakan Army rebels said Buthidaung National League for Democracy (NLD) Chairman Ye Thein, the most senior civilian official to die in the growing insurgency, was killed Monday in an attack on the rebels by Myanmar’s army. There was no independent confirmation. The incident underscored the increasing loss of government control in a region that came to world attention when 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh to escape an army crackdown on a different rebel group in 2017. The Arakan Army said its positions had come under attack from Myanmar’s army. “Due to big explosions, some detainees died and some were wounded. The NLD chairman from Buthidaung, Ye Thein, died on scene,” the Arakan Army said in the statement. It said he had been taken prisoner on December 11. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in Rakhine since clashes between the Arakan Army and the army began around a year ago. The insurgents, whose forces are from the largely Buddhist Rakhine people, are fighting for greater autonomy. The say they have no links to the Rohingya rebel group whose attacks sparked the 2017 army crackdown that led to the accusations of genocide brought against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice by The Gambia. The Arakan Army is among several ethnic armed factions that have said they support the case against Myanmar. Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto ruler, personally led Myanmar’s defense against the accusations at hearings in The Hague earlier this month. The army made no comment on the report of the NLD official’s death. NLD party spokesman Myo Nyunt said it was the responsibility of the Arakan Army.
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Clashes Mar Christmas Celebrations in Hong Kong
Christmas festivities turned tense in Hong Kong late Wednesday when police fired tear gas and used pepper spray on anti-government protesters and made arrests amid a second day of hostile confrontations.The latest clash came as the semi-autonomous city’s Beijing-appointed leader, Carrie Lam, condemned what she called “reckless and selfish rioters” for ruining the celebrations. The Hong Kong CEO said the government would “make sure those who break the law suffer the consequences.”Plain clothed police officers arrest protesters in a mall during Christmas Eve in Hong Kong, Dec. 24, 2019.The clashes occurred as activists held flash mob protests in malls and shopping districts across Hong Kong on Christmas Day. Police also stopped and searched many young people dressed in black — the signature dress code of activists who have been involved in the anti-government movement since it started in June.In Mongkok, a bustling downtown shopping district, riot police armed with shields exchanged insults with protesters, shoppers and passersby before firing multiple rounds of tear gas at them and making arrests. Officers were heard calling protesters “trash.” It was not clear if police were provoked.Scores of people had gathered on the streets in the area, some waving U.S. and Hong Kong independence flags.One man was pepper-sprayed after arguing with police. He was wrestled to the ground and arrested on suspicion of assaulting an officer, reported public broadcaster RTHK. Police used pepper spray again later as a crowd of onlookers heckled officers, it said.An outdoor food stall was engulfed in the noxious gas as staff threw away fish balls, tofu and snacks that had been contaminated.Debris burns on a street during a rally in Hong Kong, Dec. 25, 2019.Hundreds of riot police officers and police vehicles remained in the area as of late evening, as protesters continued to shout slogans to condemn the police. Journalists and passersby were stopped and searched.There were also arrests and tense confrontations between police and protesters in upmarket shopping malls in the out-of-town Shatin and Kowloon Bay districts, after activists marched, some singing the protest’s unofficial anthem, “Glory to Hong Kong.” Many shops closed early.Police were hostile to journalists, shoving some with shields and shooing them away. A number of journalists became drenched in pepper spray when police shot the irritant at them, reported RTHK.Large numbers of riot police were standing guard in Tsim Sha Tsui, an area with luxury hotels and shops popular with tourists, stopping and searching mostly young people. On Christmas Eve, police shot multiple rounds of tear gas in the area, engulfing the tourist spot adorned with decorations.Residents dressed for Christmas festivities react to tear gas as police confront protesters on Christmas Eve in Hong Kong, Dec. 24, 2019.At an upscale shopping mall, Times Square in Causeway Bay, some protesters dressed as snowmen, reindeer and Santa Claus, amusing passersby.Large crowds had gathered in shopping malls since Christmas Eve in response to online calls to “go shopping” to voice their discontent with the government and to demand greater democracy. Wednesday’s scenes of chaos were already less intense than those on Christmas Eve, when tear gas and rubber bullets were fired in several locations and police severely beat activists in confrontations. Protesters blocked roads, vandalized businesses seen as pro-government and threw sporadic fuel bombs.The anti-government movement in Hong Kong, sparked by a controversial extradition law, shows no signs of abating. Protesters say they will not give up unless the government meets their political demands, which include universal suffrage and an independent investigation into police brutality.
The Christmas unrest broke out after a few weeks of relative calm in a city that has been roiled by the civil unrest that had seen more than 6,000 people arrested, some as young as 12. The brief period of calm came after violent clashes at two universities and after the pro-democracy camp last month won a landslide victory in local district elections, which yielded no direct political power.Police said 105 people were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly taking part in an illegal assembly. They said the crowd, including teenagers as young as 13, shouted slogans, occupied pedestrian walkways and caused inconvenience to the public. A protester who gave his surname as Chan said police were overreacting to what were meant to be peaceful Christmas protests and their actions intimidated members of the public and instigated conflicts.“The presence of so many riot police officers is itself a provocative gesture. Nothing would have happened if they weren’t there, and now they’re putting all the blame on protesters,” he said.
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Wildfire-ravaged Areas of Australia get Holiday Relief
Areas of Australia that have been ravaged by deadly wildfires experienced temporary relief on Wednesday, but oppressive conditions are expected to return this weekend.About 5 million hectares (12.35 million acres) of land have burned nationwide over the past few months, with nine people killed and more than 950 homes destroyed. New South Wales, the country’s most populous state, has received the brunt of the damage, with around 850 homes razed in the state.Parts of New South Wales, including Sydney, experienced cool and damp conditions on Christmas Day, but more than 70 fires continued to burn across the state. New South Wales has been in a seven-day state of emergency, which was to expire on Wednesday night.About 2,000 firefighters and 400 firetrucks battled the blazes in more favorable conditions, but high temperatures are set to return. Sydney is forecast to hit 31 degrees Celsius (88 Fahrenheit) on Sunday, while the city’s western suburbs could reach 41 C (106 F).Fire danger ratings remained very high in northwestern New South Wales, and were between high and moderate for the rest of the state.In his annual Christmas message, Prime Minister Scott Morrison paid tribute to the families of the two firefighters — Geoffrey Keaton, 32, and Andrew O’Dwyer, 36 — who died last week battling blazes southwest of Sydney.The wildfire crisis forced Morrison to cut short his much-criticized family vacation in Hawaii. He returned to Australia on Saturday night.“To Andrew and Geoffrey’s parents, we know this is going to be a tough Christmas for you, first one without both those two amazing men,” he said.“I want to thank all those who serve our nation, serving as volunteers fighting those fires as we speak,” Morrison added.Meanwhile, about 200 firefighters continued to battle a wildfire Wednesday in the Adelaide Hills, which is currently at the “watch and act” level issued by the South Australian Country Fire Service.South Australia state, which last week had 86 homes destroyed after wildfires flared in catastrophic conditions, is bracing for a return of extreme temperatures, with Adelaide, the state capital, expected to reach 41 C (106 F) on Saturday.
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Mongolian Youth Seek to Preserve Reindeer-Based Tradition
Mongolia was once solely a land of nomadic communities moving from location to location, depending on the season. One tribe that has lived in the isolated mountains in the north of the country for generations is the Tsaatan. As the country urbanizes and cities continue to grow, the government has rezoned land on which they were previously free to roam. As Libby Hogan reports from northern Mongolia, young Tsaatan people now face the choice of moving to the city or staying and continuing a traditional nomadic life.
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Australian Firefighters Spend Christmas Containing Blazes
Australian firefighters used cooler conditions Christmas Day to try and contain bushfires ahead of hot, dry weather later in the week, as leaders and communities thanked them for sacrificing time with their families over the holidays.In the state of New South Wales (NSW), which saw entire towns devastated by fires over the weekend, state premier Gladys Berejiklian and the head of the NSW rural fire service, Shane Fitzsimmons, attended a breakfast organized by volunteers in the small town of Colo, 90km (55 miles) northwest of Sydney.“Community volunteers provided food, company, conversation, wrapped presents & hampers to share for crews heading into the field,” Fitzsimmons tweeted. “It was just lovely & spirits were high.”Christmas Day offered cooler conditions in many parts of the country as firefighters, many of them volunteers, spent the day trying to contain blazes.An aerial scene shows firefighters extinguishing wildfires in the Adelaide Hills, Australia, Dec. 24, 2019, in this image made from video.Intense heat is forecast to return again by the weekend, especially in Australia’s south, where temperatures are expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).The last few months have seen more than 900 homes lost across the dry continent, according to authorities, even though the southern hemisphere summer has not yet reached its midpoint.The fires have destroyed more than 3.7 million hectares (9.1 million acres) across five states and at least six people have died in NSW and two in South Australia during the bushfire emergency.Prime Minister Scott Morrison used a Christmas message to thank volunteers for their willingness to spend the day away from their families.“As we look forward to next year and as we celebrate this Christmas I want to thank all of those who serve our nation,” Morrison said in a video shared on social media Wednesday morning.Morrison has faced sustained political pressure as the bushfires have raged, following his decision to take a family holiday to Hawaii last week and his conservative Liberal-National coalition government’s climate policies.
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Typhoon Phanfone Brings Misery to Philippines on Christmas Day
Typhoon Phanfone pummeled the central Philippines on Christmas Day, bringing a wet and miserable holiday season to millions in the mainly Catholic nation.Thousands were stranded at shuttered ports or evacuation centers at the height of the festive season Wednesday, and residents cowered in rain-soaked homes as Phanfone leapt from one small island to another for the second day. The typhoon toppled houses and trees and blacked out cities in the Philippines’ most storm-prone region, but no deaths were reported.Though weaker, Phanfone was tracking a similar path as Super Typhoon Haiyan, the country’s deadliest cyclone on record, which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in 2013.Residents rest in an evacuation center, as Typhoon Phanfone makes landfall, in Borongan, Eastern Samar province, central Philippines, Dec. 24, 2019.Thousands strandedMore than 10,000 people spent the night in schools, gyms and government buildings hastily converted into evacuation centers as the typhoon made landfall Tuesday, civil defense officials said.”It was frightening. The glass windows shattered and we took cover by the stairs,” Ailyn Metran told AFP after she and her 4-year-old child spent the night at the local state weather service office where her husband works.A metal window frame flew off and landed on a car parked outside the building, she said.With just two hours’ sleep, the family returned to their home in the central city of Tacloban early Wednesday to find their two dogs safe, but the floor was covered in mud and a felled tree rested atop a nearby house.The weather office said the typhoon strengthened slightly overnight Tuesday and was gusting at 195 kilometers (121 miles) an hour, velocities that can knock down small trees and destroy houses made of light materials.More islands in storm’s pathMore islands along the storm’s projected path are expected to be hit with destructive winds and intense rainfall before it blows out into the South China Sea early Thursday, the weather office added.More than 25,000 people trying to get home for the traditional Christmas Eve midnight dinner with their families remained stranded at ports on Christmas Day with ferry services still shut down, the coast guard said.Scores of flights to the region also remained canceled, though the populous capital Manila, on the northern edge has so far been spared.The Philippines is the first major landmass facing the Pacific cyclone belt.As such, the archipelago gets hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, killing scores of people and wiping out harvests, homes and other infrastructure and keeping millions perennially poor.A July 2019 study by the Manila-based Asian Development Bank said the most frequent storms lop 1 percent off the Philippine economic output, with the stronger ones cutting output by nearly 3 percent.
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Ex-Cambodia Daily Reporter: ‘No Clue’ What Triggered Criminal Charges
It was in the spring of 2017 that veteran Cambodia Daily reporters Aun Pheap and Zsombor Peter traveled to the country’s Ratanakiri province, home to the sole commune that Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling CPP party had failed to win in earlier elections.Aiming to find out why the rural province’s isolated Pate commune was the nation’s sole backer of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) in 2012, Pheap and Peter spent a day asking random locals about upcoming polls and interviewing then-incumbent SRP commune chief Romam Yuot.Shortly after publishing the article, the reporters were faced with charges of “inciting the people,” while their employer was hit with a $6.3 million tax bill and a prime minister’s order to pay up or “pack up.”Long known for diligent reporting on government corruption and human rights violations — along with extensive exposes on illegal logging and labor violations in the country’s garment sector — the Cambodia Daily published its final print edition Sept. 4.With the first incitement hearing slated for Wednesday, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which ranks Cambodia 143rd out of 180 countries in its 2019 World Press Freedom Index, has called for immediate withdrawal of the “absurd, trumped-up charges.”RSF, like other international free press advocates, says charges levied against Pheap and Peter likely have nothing to do with their 2017 news reports filed from Pate, but only to serve as an example to others.“This whole fabricated process [is] clearly a way for the Hun Sen clan to notify journalists that this would be what they risk if they dare to report independently,” said Daniel Bastard, RSF’s Asia-Pacific expert, who also warned that the looming trial is bound to have the effect of greater self-censorship among journalists.“Scheduling the initial hearing on Dec. 25 is an additional mean trick of the kind you expect from the most authoritarian regimes, which often take advantage of the end-of-year holidays in many democratic countries to violate human rights without too much publicity,” said the RSF statement. “Well-known Chinese blogger Wu Gan was sentenced to eight years in prison on 26 December 2017. And it was on 25 December 2009 that a Beijing court sentenced Liu Xiaobo, a Nobel peace laurate and RSF Press Freedom laureate, to 11 years in prison.”Pheap, 55, who has since fled to the U.S., and Peter, 41, who continues covering Southeast Asia from outside Cambodia, face up to two years in prison if convicted.We caught up with Peter, a Canadian journalist who continues writing for the Cambodian Daily online and is a regular contributor to VOA, its sister outlet, RFA, and other publications.VOA: Are these charges about your reports on a given commune voting against Hun Sen’s continued leadership, or are they really about reports on illegal logging?Zsombor Peter: I have no clue. I wish I could give you a more satisfying answer. If I could, that would mean I knew who all were truly behind this case. But I simply don’t know, so it’s all just a guess. That’s one of the most frustrating things about this case —not knowing who is really suing us. The people who filed the complaint are just puppets.The puppet masters could be the illegal logging syndicates we’ve upset with our investigative reporting, ruling-party politicians scared of honest election coverage, or both.What I am sure of is that the charge against Pheap and I is not only baseless, but absurd, conjured out of thin air. Two of the three people accusing us of incitement spoke with us willingly; the third was never even approached for an interview. How can that be “incitement to commit a felony”? What’s more, no one has ever explained what felony we were allegedly inciting people to, because the lie of this case is so transparent that they can’t come up with one. All that is to say that the case is purely politically motivated.VOA: Aun Pheap has relocated to the U.S., but you continue to report from the region. Has the recent announcement of a trial date created problems for you personally and/or professionally? Are you now forced to keep a lower profile?ZP: The case has caused me trouble since the charge was laid in October 2017. Pretrial detention is common practice in Cambodia, in politically motivated cases especially, so the possibility of arrest became very real at that point. That makes a return risky, especially to report. So that’s eight years of country knowledge I built up that I can’t use. And, as a reporter who still covers Southeast Asia, that means fewer job opportunities. If I’m convicted, that also raises the possibility of being extradited back to Cambodia to serve my sentence.VOA: What advice might you have for other reporters faced with these types of politically motivated charges? Would you advocate staying put and continuing to report despite the threat of imprisonment or worse? Or, would you encourage reporters to find a safe space to report from a reasonably safe distance?ZP: I left Cambodia in October 2017, when I was charged. So I’m in no position to give advice on whether others should leave or stay put.VOA: If you could make a prepared statement to the court about these charges, what would it be?ZP: I would not make a prepared statement for this “court.” I would reserve a prepared statement for a real court, a court where the facts might make a difference. The fact that this case has progressed to trial without a shred of evidence is proof enough that this is not a court.VOA: If you could return to Cambodia and report on any topic you like without fear of reprisal, what would it be?ZP: I would report on the same things I was reporting on before I left Cambodia, which over eight years were many. They would include the illegal logging business and all other forms of corruption; the government’s repression of peaceful dissent; labor rights abuses, mainly in the garment sector, and human rights abuses more broadly; Cambodia’s balancing act with China on one hand and Europe and the U.S. on the other; and the government’s damming of the Mekong River and its tributaries. I also reported often on Cambodia’s ongoing battle with malaria drug resistance and UXO contamination and would want to pick that up as well.
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Hong Kong Protesters Clash with Police During Christmas Eve Confrontations
Hopes for a peaceful Christmas were dashed in Hong Kong Tuesday after riot police fired tear gas and protesters set fire at various locations across the city that has been roiled by civil unrest for more than six months.Large crowds had gathered in several shopping malls and a busy tourist area in response to online calls to voice their discontent with the government and to demand greater democracy.The anti-government movement in Hong Kong, sparked by a controversial extradition law, has entered the seventh month and shows no signs of abating. Protesters say they will not give up unless the government meets their political demands, which include universal suffrage and an independent investigation into police brutality. After 9 p.m. local time, police fired several rounds of tear gas in a popular tourist area, Tsim Sha Tsui, to disperse protesters — including outside the luxury Peninsula Hotel. Hundreds had gathered to disrupt traffic earlier and riot police warned they were taking part in an illegal assembly.A riot police officer shoots a tear gas to disperse anti-government demonstrators protesting on Christmas Eve in Hong Kong, Dec. 24, 2019.The gas covered a large area, engulfing buses and other traffic in the tourist spot adorned with Christmas illuminations. Families with young children were seen covering their faces as they hurried away. Police ordered people gathered on the scenic harbor front to leave, although many appeared to be just celebrating Christmas. As riot police pushed along the seafront, a young child dressed in a Santa Claus costume looked frightened while clinging to his mother’s shoulders.Scores of black-clad protesters got into a stand-off with police officers near the Peninsula by hiding behind opened umbrellas. Later in the evening, protesters placed large objects including wooden crates and bus signs across a thoroughfare and set them on fire.Hong Kong police said in a late night statement that protesters threw fuel bombs at the Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station at 11 p.m. local time and warned members of the public to stay away from the area. They said protesters occupied a thoroughfare and set barricades on another street and police used crowd management vehicles to disperse “rioters” — eyewitnesses said water cannon were used on the crowds. The statement also said police warned the rioters “to stop their illegal acts.”In the busy Mong Kok shopping district, protesters ignited objects at an entrance to the metro station. Other protesters targeted an HSBC bank by smashing its glass panels and setting fire to the front of the building. HSBC had suspended the account of non-profit platform Spark Alliance that raised funds for protesters. Some sprayed-painted the message, “Don’t forget Spark Alliance,” onto the outer walls.Plainclothes police officers arrest protesters in a mall during Christmas Eve in Hong Kong, Dec. 24, 2019.Hong Kong police last week froze the equivalent of about $9 million held by Spark Alliance and arrested its four members — moves decried by critics as an attempt to clamp down on the city’s protest movement and smear its reputation.HSBC Bank said the activities of Spark Alliance’s corporate account did not match the client’s stated business purposes. The bank maintained last week that the closure of the group’s account was “completely unrelated to the Hong Kong police’s arrest of the four individuals” and “unrelated to the current Hong Kong situation.” After clashes broke out Tuesday night, the metro company closed down stations at Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui early, saying the move was necessary to protect the safety of passengers and staff. The metro system had planned to extend its service hours on Christmas Eve.On Christmas Eve, police officers also clashed with protesters inside several upscale shopping malls, using pepper spray and beating people with batons as both sides shouted verbal abuse at one another. Local media reported that one man fell inside a shopping center in out-of-town Yuen Long while escaping police officers. In Harbor City shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui, black-clad protesters got into a fight with people they suspected were undercover officers earlier in the evening. They threw objects at riot police officers who entered the mall while police pointed their crowd control weapons at the demonstrators. Plainclothes officers used batons to beat protesters while yelling at them. Several people were subdued. Many shops pulled down their shutters.
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Typhoon Phanfone ruining Christmas for thousands of Filipinos
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 kilometers (90 miles) an hour that snapped branches off trees and knocked down power pylons and mobile phone relay towers.”[There are] no signs of heavy damage except for houses made of light materials,” Ben Evardone, the governor of Eastern Samar province, told AFP, adding there were no casualties there.Just under 1,700 people were evacuated from coastal areas as well as those prone to flooding and landslides, according to early official tallies seen by AFP.”Some families are reluctant to evacuate because they want to celebrate Christmas at home, but local officials will force them out if they refuse to heed our warnings,” regional civil defense official Reyden Cabrigas earlier told AFP.The state weather service said homes made of wood, straw or bamboo risked “heavy damage,” though there were so far no reports of giant waves crashing onto coastal communities as the state weather service earlier warned.Phanfone, Laotian for “animal,” was forecast to cut across the central islands through Christmas Day Wednesday before roaring out to the South China Sea.All boats on the storm’s projected path through the central islands were ordered to stay in port and many commercial flights were cancelled, stranding thousands of people who were trooping to their hometowns.Though much weaker, Phanfone was tracking a similar path as Super Typhoon Haiyan — the country’s deadliest cyclone on record which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in 2013.More than 23,000 ferry passengers trying to get home for the Christmas holidays have been stranded at ports as shipping shut down, the coast guard said Tuesday.The state weather service said Phanfone would bring moderate to strong winds over the capital Manila on Christmas Day.The Philippines is the first major landmass facing the Pacific cyclone belt.As such, the archipelago gets hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year.Strong winds and associated dangers such as floods, landslides, and — more rarely — giant walls of seawater kill scores of people each year, wipe out harvests and destroy roads, bridges, power lines and other infrastructure.A July 2019 study by the Manila-based Asian Development Bank said the most frequent storms lop one percent off the Philippine economic output, with the stronger ones cutting output by nearly three percent.
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