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WORLD NEWS Friday 27 december 2019

Christmas typhoon leaves 20 dead in Philippines

By JIM GOMEZ trocution.
Associated Press A father, his three children
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — and another relative were
A strong typhoon that bar- among those missing in
reled through the central hard-hit Iloilo province after
Philippines left at least 20 a swollen river inundated
people dead and forced their shanty, officials said.
thousands to flee their The typhoon slammed into
homes, devastating Christ- Eastern Samar province
mas celebrations in the on Christmas Eve and then
predominantly Catholic plowed across the archi-
country. pelago's central region on
Typhoon Phanfone strand- Christmas, slamming into
ed many people in sea seven coastal towns and
and airports at the peak of island provinces without
holiday travel, set off land- losing power, government
slides, flooded low-lying vil- forecasters said.
lages, destroyed houses, Provincial officials, army
downed trees and electri- An outrigger boat destroyed by Tphioon Phanfone sits on the coastline Thursday Dec. 26, 2019, in troops, police and vol-
cal poles and knocked out Ormoc City, central Philippines. unteers spent Christmas
power in entire provinces. Associated Press away from home to tend
One disaster response offi- to thousands of displaced
cer described the battered anything. The town looked into the South China Sea rain on Christmas Day, the residents in town gymna-
coastal town of Batad in like a ghost town," Cindy with sustained winds of weather agency said. siums and schools turned
Iloilo province as a "ghost Ferrer of the regional Office 120 kilometers (74 miles) Most of the 20 deaths re- into emergency shelters.
town" on Christmas Day. of the Civil Defense said by per hour and gusts of 150 ported by national police Many more people spent
"You can't see anybody phone. kph (93 mph) after lash- and local officials were Christmas Eve, traditionally
because there was a total The storm weakened slight- ing island after island with due to drowning, falling a time for family reunions,
blackout, you can't hear ly on Thursday as it blew fierce winds and pounding trees and accidental elec- in bus terminals. q

Japan executes first foreigner in 10 years in family murder

By MARI YAMAGUCHI dumped the bodies into which (Wei) killed four inno-
TOKYO (AP) — Japan exe- the ocean after attaching cent members of a happy
cuted its first foreigner in 10 weights to them, Mori said family," she said.
years on Thursday, a Chi- at a news conference. Wei's two accomplices
nese man convicted in the Japan has maintained were tried in China, where
2003 murder and robbery the death penalty despite one was sentenced to
of a family of four. growing international criti- death and the other was
Wei Wei, 40, was hanged cism. given life imprisonment, ac-
Thursday at a detention Mori said she signed the cording to Japan's Kyodo
center in Fukuoka where execution order after care- News agency.
he had been on death row ful examination, taking Amnesty International said
for more than 16 years, Jus- into consideration the in- the hanging showed Ja-
tice Minister Masako Mori ternational anti-execution pan's "shocking lack of re-
said. movement. She said Japan spect for the right to life."
Wei was convicted of rob- was a law-abiding coun- "The country has shown
bing and killing a clothing try and the execution was that it lags far behind most
store owner and his wife based on its criminal justice of its peers," Arnold Fang, Japan's Minister of Justice Masako Mori speaks at a press con-
ference on the execution of a convict Thursday, Dec. 26, 2019,
and two children at their system. an East Asia researcher for in Tokyo.
home in Fukuoka. He and "It was an extremely cold- the group, said in a state- Associated Press
two Chinese accomplices blooded and cruel case, in ment. q