Hussein executed with 'fear in his face'

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator who spent his last years in captivity after his ruthless regime was toppled by a U.S.-led coalition, was hanged before dawn Saturday for crimes committed during his reign.

Hussein's death came in "a blink of the eye" after his executioner activated the gallows just after 6 a.m. (10 p.m. Friday ET), Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, told CNN.

"This dark page has been turned over," Rubaie said. "Saddam is gone. Today Iraq is an Iraq for all the Iraqis, and all the Iraqis are looking forward. ... The [Hussein] era has gone forever." (Watch noose placed around Hussein's neck )

In a written statement, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called "on all men of the past regime and manipulated by it to reconsider their stances. The door is still open for every person who does not have blood of innocents on his hands to join in rebuilding of Iraq, which will be for all Iraqis without exceptions or discrimination."

Al-Iraqiya state television aired videotape of Hussein's last moments several hours after the execution.

The video showed Hussein, dressed in a black overcoat, being led into a room by three masked guards.

The broadcast only showed the execution to the point where the noose was placed over Hussein's head and tightened around his neck. No audio was heard.

Burial place undecided

Hussein, 69, will be buried somewhere in Iraq "in the next few hours," although talks are still under way to decide where, Rubaie said.

"We will wash him, wrap him, put him in an Islamic coffin, someone from the Islamic community will read a death prayer over him and he will be buried with old Islamic rituals," he said.

Rubaie, who witnessed the execution, said Hussein refused to wear a hood, saying "No, that's alright. I don't need that."

Rubaie said that while the execution was carried out with due respect to Hussein -- and following "all international and Islamic standards" -- some witnesses and the executioner could not resist celebrating by dancing around the body after the hanging.

"It's a very ordinary action of a number of people -- some of them officials, some of them ordinary people, even the executioner as well because they have lost their loved ones -- their fathers brothers sisters -- this is a natural reaction," he said.

"I would like to make this day a day of unity of Iraqis," Rubaie said. "We need to forgive, forget the past now and look forward and progress toward stability, security and prosperity of Iraq."

Rubaie, who witnessed the execution, said the former leader was "strangely submissive" to the process, but showed no remorse for the brutality of his regime.

"I could not see or feel any remorse in the man," he said. "I have never seen any repentance, any remorse there."

At one point, Hussein was "literally begging" to have his hand and leg cuffs loosened, which Rubaie said he ordered done.

"He was a broken man," he said. "He was afraid. You could see fear in his face."

Rubaie said that Hussein carried with him a copy of the Quran and asked that it be given to "a certain person." Rubaie did not identify that person.

The execution took place outside the heavily fortified Green Zone, Rubaie said, and no Americans were present.

"It was an Iraqi operation from A to Z," he said. "The Americans were not present during the hour of the execution. They weren't even in the building."

He added that "there were no Shiite or Sunni clerics present, only the witnesses and those who carried out the actual execution were present."

On Al-Arabiya television, Rubaie said the execution took place at the 5th Division intelligence office in Qadhimiya. He said Hussein refused to wear a black hood over his head before execution and told him "don't be afraid." (Watch Rubaie describe Hussein's final moments )

Bush: Hussein received fair trial

White House deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel said President Bush was asleep when the execution took place and was not awakened. The president had been briefed by national security adviser Stephen Hadley before retiring and was aware the hanging was imminent, Stanzel said.

The White House issued a statement praising the Iraqi people for giving Hussein a fair trial.

"Fair trials were unimaginable under Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule," Bush's statement read. "It is a testament to the Iraqi people's resolve to move forward after decades of oppression that, despite his terrible crimes against his own people, Saddam Hussein received a fair trial." (Full story)

Hussein was hanged for his role in the 1982 Dujail massacre, in which 148 Iraqis were killed after a failed assassination attempt against the then-Iraqi president. (Watch what happened in Dujail )

Two other co-defendants -- Barzan Hassan, Hussein's half-brother, and Awwad Bandar, the former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court -- were also found guilty and had been expected to face execution with Hussein, but Rubaie said their executions were postponed.

"We chose to postpone Barzan and Awwad's execution to a later date because we wanted to have this day to have an historic distinction," he said. "We wanted to have one specific date for Saddam so people remember this date to be linked to Saddam's execution and nothing else."

Rubaie said the execution was videotaped and photographed extensively from the time Hussein was transferred from U.S. to Iraqi custody until he was dead.

Many of those who witnessed the execution celebrated in the aftermath. (Full story)

"Saddam's body is in front me," said an official in the prime minister's office when CNN telephoned. "It's over."

In the background, Shiite chanting could be heard. When asked about the chanting, the official said, "These are employees of the prime minister's office and government chanting in celebration." (Watch what Hussein's death could mean in Iraq )

He said that celebrations broke out after Hussein was dead, and that there was "dancing around the body."

Iraqi-Americans celebrated in the street in Dearborn, Michigan, home to the largest concentration of Iraqis in the United States. (Watch Iraqi-Americans dancing, kissing and singing in the streets )

Al-Maliki did not attend the execution, according to an adviser to the prime minister who was interviewed on state television.

"It's a very solemn moment for me," Feisal Istrabadi, Iraq's U.N. ambassador, said on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360." "I can understand why some of my compatriots may be cheering. I have friends whose particular people I can think of who have lost 10, 15, 20 members of their family, more.

"But for me, it's a moment really of remembrance of the victims of Saddam Hussein."

Legal efforts fail in U.S. court

Friday evening, a U.S. district judge refused a request to stay the execution.

Attorney Nicholas Gilman said in an application for a restraining order, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, that a stay would allow Hussein "to be informed of his rights and take whatever action he can and may wish to pursue."

Munir Haddad, a judge on the appeals court that upheld the former dictator's death sentence, called Gilman's filing "rubbish," and said, "It will not delay carrying out the sentence," which he called "final."

Throughout the day, there were conflicting reports about who had custody of Hussein. Giovanni di Stefano, one of Hussein's defense attorneys, told CNN the U.S. military officially informed him that the former Iraqi dictator had been transferred to Iraqi custody, but that the move in U.S. court could have meant that Hussein was back in U.S. custody.

There had been speculation that Hussein would be executed before Eid Al-Adha -- a holiday period that means Feast of the Sacrifice, celebrated by Muslims around the world at the climax of the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. The law does not permit executions to be carried out during religious holidays.

Eid began Saturday for Sunnis and begins Sunday for Shiites. It lasts for four days. Hussein was a Sunni Muslim.

Meeting with half-brothers

Another defense lawyer, Badie Aref, told CNN that Hussein met with two of his half-brothers in his cell on Thursday and passed on messages and instructions to his family.

"President Saddam was just bracing for the worst, so he wanted to see his brothers and pass on some messages and instructions to his family," Aref said. The half brothers who visited were Sabawi and Wathban Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, he said.

He never asked to see anyone else -- not even his wife, said his lawyers. She was the mother of his five children.

Aref said the U.S. soldiers guarding Hussein on Tuesday took away a radio he kept in his cell so he could not hear news reports about his death sentence, which was confirmed that day.

"They did not want him to hear the news from the appeals court upholding the sentence," he said. "They gave him back the radio on Wednesday."

Aref said Saddam found out about the appeals court verdict "a few hours after it was announced."

Crimes against humanity

Hussein was convicted on November 5 of crimes against humanity in connection with the killings of 148 people in the town of Dujail after an attempt on his life.

The dictator was found guilty of murder, torture and forced deportation.

The Dujail episode falls within 12 of the worst cases out of 500 documented "baskets of crimes" during the Hussein regime.

The U.S. State Department says torture and extrajudicial killings followed the Dujail killings and that 550 men, women and children were arrested without warrants

New toll rates

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government is sharing the burden of the public by subsidising the toll increase for five expressways.
Works Minister Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu said, for example, the Government was paying 50 sen for every passenger car passing through the Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP) toll plaza.

“Although the toll will be increased by 60 sen from Jan 1 next year, the Government will still be subsidising 50 sen,” he told a press conference at his office here yesterday.
He also announced the toll increase for the Cheras-Kajang (or Grand Saga) Highway, Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway, Guthrie Corridor Expressway and Kesas (or Shah Alam) Expressway during the press conference.

Samy Vellu said the Government had paid RM479.7mil in toll subsidy in the past six years

Dear Mr. Samy Velu, I do know that you didnt pay a sen more or a sen less than all the rest of Malaysian when passing these toll, but seriously speaking, have you or have you not taken a cents or dime from them while buidling these road, we do not know for sure.

So it would be very unfair that we have to pay up these guy to feed you ... fuck you little ass hole Mr. Samy !!!

Abdullah: Proud moment for Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: The launch of Measat 3 in Kazakhstan demonstrated that Malaysia could take another step further in the development of satellite communication technology, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.

In a recorded message aired at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre where Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and about 1,200 guests were gathered to witness the launch, the Prime Minister said: “It is our proud moment. It demonstrates our seriousness in the development of satellite technology communication.”

The Proton Breeze-M rocket carrying the Measat 3 satellite successfully took off at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7.28:30am Malaysian time (5.28:30am Baikonur time). The launch was beamed live via satellite video feed at KLCC.

Abdullah said: “We want to be a serious player in the application of such technology in the fields of education, communication, broadcasting and entertainment.”

He said the satellite launch had provided Malaysia the opportunity to share experiences and technology with other countries developing the same technology.

Najib said Measat 3 has effectively catapulted the country into the top echelon of technologically-advanced nations.

He said the launch of the new satellite was proof that Malaysians could achieve their goals if they put their hearts and minds to it.

Najib said that the possibilities for advancement through satellite technology were endless, with all kinds of applications possible in healthcare and education.

“In healthcare, those in remote areas can have access to better diagnosis and treatment as rural healthcare professionals can communicate with specialists in top hospitals,” he said.

The Measat 3 satellite, costing RM1bil, will increase the capacity of Measat Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd and expand its ability to better serve all its customers in the Asian region on top of its existing Measat 1 and 2 satellites

I am proud too ... good job and bravo ...

Race against time as U.K. police hunt murderer

Prostitutes in England urged to stay off streets

Police in eastern England are searching rural areas for clues in the deaths of five women, all believed to be prostitutes killed by a serial killer. Police are warning prostitutes to stay off the streets of Ipswich, fearing the killer could strike again. "Clearly it's not safe, they need to stay off the streets," said Chief Supt. Stewart Gull of Suffolk police.


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Saudi king warns spark could ignite region

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia’s king warned Saturday that all of the Middle East is threatened by escalating conflicts around the region, from spiraling sectarian violence in Iraq to rising tensions in Lebanon to fighting among Palestinians.

“Our Arab region is surrounded by dangers,” King Abdullah said at the opening of a summit for leaders of the oil-rich Arab nations around the Persian Gulf. “It is like a keg of gunpowder waiting for a spark to explode.”

Palestinian factions are fighting each other, and Iraq is slipping into “the darkness of strife and mad struggle,” a danger that also looms over Lebanon’s diverse communities, he said in a speech before the leaders began a closed session

The two-day meeting of the six Gulf Cooperation Council nations is focusing on how to head off wider strife exploding from those conflicts or the nuclear standoff between a defiant Iran and the West.

Iraq panel’s report on the agenda
The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman are also expected to discuss a U.S. advisory panel’s recommendations on the Iraq war. The bipartisan Iraq Study Group urged the Bush administration to engage Syria and Iran in a diplomatic effort to stabilize Iraq.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal warned earlier this week that Iraq “poses a great challenge to the region, its security and its future” and called for “halting all forms of interference in Iraq” — an apparent reference to Syria and Iran.

Each has ties with key factions in Iraq: Iran with Shiite Muslim parties that dominate the U.S.-backed government and have militias blamed for much of the sectarian bloodshed, and Syria with Sunni Arabs, who are the main force in the insurgency. But both Iran and Syria deny supporting violence in Iraq.

Fears of a ‘security vacuum’
Kuwaiti columnist Youssef al-Rashed expressed alarm Saturday that suggestions from the Iraq Study Group could lead to a too rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces, saying that could hurt Persian Gulf nations.

“If the United States is unable to manage the situation shrewdly, any sudden or premature pullout would result in a security vacuum that would affect us all,” al-Rashed wrote in the newspaper Al-Anba.

Kuwaitis are nervous that Iraq’s Sunni-Shiite bloodshed could spill over to their country, where Shiites make up 30 percent of the people. Similar concerns are shared by Saudi Arabia, which is up to 15 percent Shiite, and Bahrain, a Sunni-ruled island kingdom in the Persian Gulf with a Shiite majority.

Iran standoff raises tensions
Gulf countries also worry about the international standoff between Iran and the West over suspicions the Tehran regime is developing nuclear weapons in violation of treaty commitments and are pressing for sanctions. Iran insists its program is only for generating electricity and vows to continue defying a U.N. demand that it suspend uranium enrichment.

Leaders of the Arab nations around the gulf have publicly focused on safety issues involving Iran’s plan to start its first nuclear reactor late next year.

But they are equally worried about a possible military clash pitting Iran against the United States and its ally Israel. The gulf states that are host to U.S. military bases — Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar — fear Iran could retaliate against them.

Iran’s top national security official, Ali Larijani, has urged the gulf Arab countries to evict the U.S. bases and join in a regional security pact with his government.

Qatari political analyst Mohammed al-Musfir called on the Arab leaders meeting in Riyadh to take a tougher stance on Iran and abandon the “very mild” statements usually issued at the end of their annual summits.

“They follow a policy of appeasement. ... They have to issue an outright rejection of (Iran’s) nuclear armament,” he said

UK, French inquiries confirm Diana's driver was drunk

PARIS (Reuters) - Princess Diana's driver Henri Paul was drunk on the night she died in 1997, British and French inquiries will show, a French official who took part in the investigation said on Saturday.

Although the official French inquiry blamed the crash on the chauffeur being drunk and driving too fast, conspiracy theorists have always questioned that verdict.

Mohamed al Fayed, father of Diana's companion Dodi, who was killed in the crash, has repeatedly said the pair were murdered because their relationship was embarrassing the royal household.

He and Paul's parents said the driver was sober when the car hit a pillar in a Paris underpass.

They have said that blood samples taken from him after his death which showed he had been drinking, might have been swapped in hospital to pin the blame for the crash on him.

The French police ordered DNA tests on Paul's blood sample to prove it was his and had not been switched in hospital.

"The DNA tests allow us to confirm that the blood samples analysed at the time of the accident did indeed belong to Mr Paul," Jean-Claude Mules, an ex-French police commander who took part in the inquiry, told Reuters.

Mules was recently questioned by British authorities to help their investigation. "The UK enquiry will confirm point by point the results of the French enquiry," Mules said.

British and French authorities have dismissed the welter of conspiracy theories about the death of Diana, the ex-wife of Britain's heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles.

Former London police chief Sir John Stevens was called in to investigate the crash and the theories surrounding it. He is due to unveil the results of his three-year probe next week. Newspapers say he will conclude the crash was a tragic accident.

Paul was a member of the security staff at the Ritz Hotel in Paris where Diana had dined.

In a British newspaper interview on Saturday, French detective Martine Monteil, who led the French investigation, said there was "not a shred of doubt" the crash was caused by Paul's high-speed drunk driving.

"Those DNA samples and the test results were all sent to the British police," she told the Daily Mail. "Nothing was swapped."

British inquest hearings into the deaths of Diana and Dodi al Fayed are due to begin next month

Bar Council on the controversial polls

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Bar is a victim of fraud and not the perpetrator of any act of dishonesty, says Bar Council chairman Yeo Yang Poh.

Commenting on the recent Bar Council election in which 50 forged ballots were later found, he said the incident was a deliberate attack of sabotage against the Bar and an attempt to embarrass the body.

He said it was absurd for some quarters to accuse the Bar of lacking in integrity for a fraud that it did not commit.

“The Bar is a victim of the deliberate act of one or more fraudulent persons with sinister motives.

“We are the victims and it is not fair to point to the victim that its name has been tarnished,” Yeo, who is also the Malaysian Bar president, said at a press conference yesterday.

The council had lodged a police report over the matter.

It is standing by its decision that the election is not null and void, as recommended by the election’s three scrutineers.

It wanted the scrutineers to conduct a verification process on all the ballots but two of the scrutineers disagreed, saying that they did not want to be accused of tampering with evidence.

A member of the Bar had also filed a suit against the body to seek court orders that the election should not be nullified just because 50 forged ballots were found and discarded.

Yeo said the fraud was “a deliberate act to sabotage” the election and not to influence the election result.

“This seems clear from the fact that all 50 forged ballots carried serial numbers that fell outside those assigned to valid ballots,” he said.

He said the election this year was carried out the same way as in previous years but nobody had tried to sabotage it in the past.

“It is likely that the person is a member of the Bar, but we also cannot discount the possibility that it is not. We simply do not know at this stage,” Yeo said.

He said the Bar would not succumb to the saboteur’s plan – which was for the council to declare the election null and void.

“We will now leave it to the court to decide and give our full co-operation to the police.”

The Bar, Yeo said, was an important and vocal institution, adding that there were perhaps some quarters who were happy to see the Bar embarrassed.

“But the Bar will not be easily discouraged.

“The Bar will stand the test of time, and defeat the unfair criticisms that some have chosen to levy on the Bar in an irresponsible and unjustified manner,” he said

Police: Ill. gunman felt cheated over invention

CHICAGO - The gunman who fatally shot three people in a law firm’s high-rise office before he was killed by police felt cheated over an invention, authorities said Saturday.

Joe Jackson forced a security guard at gunpoint to take him up to the 38th floor offices of Wood, Phillips, Katz, Clark & Mortimer, which specialized in intellectual property and patents. He carried a revolver, knife and hammer in a large manila envelope and chained the office doors behind him, police said.

Jackson, 59, told witnesses before he was shot that he had been cheated over a toilet he had invented for use in trucks, Police Superintendent Phil Cline said Saturday

He was holding a hostage at gunpoint Friday when a SWAT officer shot him from about 45 yards away, Cline said earlier. There were no negotiations and the hostage was unharmed, police said.

“He had already shot four people. He had reloaded his gun,” Cline said Saturday. There were 25 to 30 other people on the floor at the time, Cline said earlier.

Mayor Richard Daley said police did a “tremendous” job handling the situation.

The confrontation at the 43-story Citigroup Center sent office workers fleeing and stranded commuters who use a train station in the building.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office identified the victims Saturday as Michael R. McKenna, 58, of Chicago; Allen J. Hoover, 65, of Wilmette; and Paul Goodson, 78, of Chicago.

Tried to enter another time
Colleagues told reporters Hoover was a partner at the firm and McKenna was a patent attorney who rented space from the firm and also had offices in suburban Northbrook and in Hawaii. They said Goodson worked part time at the firm, sorting mail and making deliveries.

Jackson had McKenna’s business card in his pocket, Cline said.

“We know he went there for Mr. McKenna, then he continued to shoot other people,” Cline said Saturday.

Cline said Jackson had tried at least one other time Friday to go up to the firm’s offices but was turned away.

Jackson had three criminal offenses on his record, Cline said. In 1968 he was arrested for unlawful possession of a weapon and in 1977 he was arrested for a stolen motor vehicle and disorderly conduct.

Police said McKenna’s longtime paralegal, Ruth Zak Leib, 57, of Oak Park, was wounded. She was treated for a gunshot wound to the foot and was released Friday night, Rush University Medical Center spokeswoman Kim Waterman said.

A partner at the law firm, Stephen D. Geimer, declined to comment Friday night.

Fire officials said they received reports of shots fired on the 38th floor around 3:15 p.m.

'Scary as hell'
Cindy Penzick, secretary in a law firm on the 37th floor, said that after a co-worker told her she had heard gunshots, a police officer with his gun drawn appeared on their floor and yelled at them to get out.

Penzick said she is usually calm, “but I have to tell you this was scary as hell.”

Keegan Greene, who works at Verizon Wireless on the first floor, was helping a customer when fire alarms went off.

“One of the security guards came up to us and started saying “Run, run, run, run, run!” Greene said


What a silly guy ....

Genting wins casino licence

SINGAPORE: Genting International-Star Cruises Consortium has won the Singapore government’s approval for the proposed Resorts World at Sentosa, a casino resort which will be home to the region’s first Universal Studios theme park.

The park will also include DreamWorks Digital Animation Studios.

“We are extremely delighted to have been chosen and are very excited and honoured to be entrusted with the great task of taking Singapore’s tourism sector to the next level,” said Genting International plc and Star Cruises chairman Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay in a statement yesterday.

The Genting group beat two other contenders – Bahamas-based Kerzner International, which teamed up with Singapore property developer CapitaLand, and Las Vegas firm Eighth Wonder, which led the consortium of Australia’s Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd, Hong Kong’s Melco International Development Ltd and Isle of Capri Casinos Inc.

Resorts World at Sentosa, which will be launched by early 2010 and dubbed Asia’s most “mesmerising” family resort, will welcome families with a dazzling array of leisure, entertainment, learning and discovery experiences, the statement said.

The world’s largest oceanarium, Quest Marine Life Park, will provide visitors with interactive experiences to learn about, and discover, the life of marine creatures and the need for ocean conservation, while Equarius Water Park will incorporate the latest water theme park technology, nestled under Sentosa’s forest.

The Maritime Xperiential Museum, the only museum in the world dedicated to the maritime heritage of Asia, will engage visitors’ five senses to re-tell the fascinating history of the Asian maritime Silk Route. It will also feature Asia’s first marine genomics research and learning centre, which will be set up by Dr. J. Craig Venter, a pioneer and leading expert in the field.

The resort will offer six world-class hotels with a combined 1,830 rooms as well as house the region’s first fully integrated wellness spa, which will be operated by luxury spa operator ESPA, the Genting statement added

adapted from the STAR

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Typhoon sends red-hot boulders into villages

MANILA, Philippines (CNN) -- Survivors told of red-hot, car-sized boulders loosened by typhoon rains barreling into Philippines villages Friday after Typhoon Durian roared across the island nation. At least 388 people were killed, Red Cross officials said.

Flooding and blocked roads challenged rescue efforts after the storm hit Thursday with winds gusts up to 165 mph. At least 75 people were missing.

"Rescue teams have been sent out by boat, but many areas are inaccessible," said Gwendolyn Pang, executive assistant to the Red Cross director in Manila. (Watch as Typhoon Durian blows into Philippines) Video

Many northeast provinces have lost power, making communication practically impossible and some of the areas are in "neck-deep" water.

Fernando Gonzalez, governor of the hardest-hit Albay province, said the death toll included people who died in mudslides on the slopes of the 8,000-foot Mayon volcano, The Associated Press reported.

"The disaster covered almost every corner of this province -- rampaging floods, falling trees, damaged houses," Gonzalez said.

"It happened very rapidly and many people did not expect this because they haven't experienced mud flows in those areas before," Gonzalez said.

"By the time they wanted to move, the rampaging mud flows were upon them."

Noel Rosal, mayor of Legazpi city, Albay province's capital, said: "It's terrible. We now call this place a black desert."

Rosal told the AP that three of the five communities comprising one village of 1,400 people had been "wiped out" with only several roofs visible above the muck and debris.

Survivors said steaming boulders as big as cars washed down from the Mayon volcano, Rosal told AP.

Rosal told AP his own house was engulfed in a flash flood. "I was almost a goner. I had to swim," AP quoted him as saying.

"When the water suddenly rose, we ran for our lives," said Lydia Buevos, 58, told AP.

According to the Red Cross, rescue boats are ushering people to shelters and are also being used to survey the damage.

"Our rescue teams are overstretched rescuing people on rooftops," Glen Rabonza, head of the national Office of Civil Defense, told AP.

Durian weakened Friday with sustained winds of 94 mph and gusts of up to 116 mph, AP reported. It was headed north from the Philippines.

Durian is the fourth devastating typhoon to strike the Philippines in the past four months.

A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that occurs in the western Pacific or Indian oceans.


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