Province forcing residents to flee for their lives Government Troops backed by tanks are mounting a ground assault on the last talk of the resistance hundreds of thousands of people in rebel held areas have taken to the road with nowhere to go but makeshift camps where conditions are squalid. Im married to evanston its good to have you with us. A deadly typhoon has struck the central philippines at least 16 people have been killed and the fear is that the death toll could rise many buildings and other properties have been flattened large areas are without internet or electricity typhoon found phone brought severe rain and wind speeds of up to 195 kilometers an hour on christmas day. The extent of the damage caused by the typhoon is beginning to emerge the. Sun phone destroyed many homes leaving families to spend christmas sheltering in the open air bus or shes evacuated tens of thousands of people ahead of the storms arrival as a precaution. Sun phones powerful winds wrecked have a conservative provinces in central philippines the same part of the country where thousands of people died when it was hit by typhoon haiyan around 6 years ago. Damage from fon fon blocked roads and cut communication lines there are reports of people taking shelter in the regions airports. Now that the storm has passed for those who are returning home the job of teaming up and rebuilding their lives has begun although the philippines is hit by storms several times a year typhoon fan phone has made this christmas one that will be remembered. Santos joins us now from manila for the latest on typhoon fan phone hello to you anna what can you tell us about the extent of the damage what are authorities telling you now. I spoke to the Natural Disaster council had earlier and he said that relief and peering operations are under way but theyre slowed down by areas that are still blocked by all the trees and debris and areas that are flooded there on watch now for possible landslides in the area and this means that those people who are in Evacuation Centers will still not be able to go back home i think we should also. Oh it sounds like we are losing our connection to our correspondent in manila and a santos. And i can you hear us. Yes i can hear you ok go on we just lost you for a moment but now we can hear you again please go on. I spoke to a resident doctor all by mr edward messianic hes not in an Evacuation Center he is at home but he is very much affected by this title is very yes he doesnt have electricity its cold and he has limited access and its about release operations he also said that out on the streets towards us there are long lines at the gasoline stations and the a. T. M. So he doesnt know when hell be able to replenish his cash and food supply so for many people like mr medion theres still very much to go well anna in the philippines of course thai food are sadly quite common just 60 years ago there was an even more powerful typhoon which killed more than 7000 people so were authorities better prepared this time around for this particular typhoon. Loons are no stranger to us here in the philippines and we did learn a lot of lessons from typhoon haiyan though this still are not as strong as i am but you can see that there was more preparedness in terms of you know people are one cooperate jim when it comes to preemptive evacuations theres better coordination among the different Government Agencies thats why they were able to mobilize resources and track the trajectory of. How ever the government really needs to do better in Building Back the communities that are affected over and over the same ones that are affected by that. These are communities along coastal areas and farmland so the government really needs to do better in terms of Building Back making sure that these communities and their lives and livelihoods are not as disrupted as they are by the ones which have become normal for us here in the senate. And a santos reporting from manila thank you so much. Lets get a check now of some of the other stories making news around the world israel says its fighter jets have struck a number of hamas terror targets in gaza you know cement comes hours after rockets were fired from Palestinian Militants towards israel an election rally in by Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu was allegedly interrupted by an incoming rocket. At least 11 soldiers have been killed in another terrorist attack in bourke enough aso earlier the countrys president rushed to war a call for 2 days of mourning after 35 civilians almost all of them women were killed by jihad is near the town of barbin. Russian opposition politician alex and of all these says one of his key staff has been forcibly conscripted into the military the military said roussillon chavez enough seen here with no ball in the earlier this year is being made to perform his Obligatory Service at an arctic base theyve only said the move amounted to quote kidnapping. To syria now where a relief group says more than 200000 people have fled a government assault on is a live province and most of them have been heading towards the Turkish BorderSyrian Regime forces backed by tanks are continuing their ground advance against rebel held areas in southern and eastern it live about 250 people have been killed in the latest flare up of violence. Syrian tanks fire on saw gets the ground was sold to provence advances. Government forces come to do the job to their immediate opening a major highway thats been closed to 7 use the ultimate you want to return to the province from the outside of the militias which control it. So the troops push forward civilians try to flee the line of fire tens of thousands. On the run. We are leaving because of the shelling i was worried about our children and that the situation. Why else would we leave why would anyone leave his house. A regiment table. With the Turkish Border closed the only option for shelter is makeshift camps like these its cold and the conditions a desperate. Scam for a couple roma because of the shelling. Can hardly survive here in the sort of mud the people are suffering because of the work record. The situation in the camps is likely to deteriorate tens of thousands of syrians are already stuck in places like these. And every day thousands more take to the roads to get out of the war zone. Well for more im joined now by doing a correspondent dorian jones who is standing by in istanbul dorian as weve been reporting many of those displaced from it live are heading towards turkey just how hard is it going to be for them to actually cross the border into turkey itself. Well thats right but were getting reports his all the roads in it leave heading toward the Turkish Border now filled with cars and people streaming away from the fighting south we understand that thousands more people are joining the already obstacle in some agencies as many as 200000. 00 people who have fled the fighting and heading towards the Turkish Border and the Turkish Border is currently sealed as a large partition wall that has been erected since the start of the civil war so these refugees are now being trapped on the other side of near the Turkish Border theres refugee camps of already housing over 200000 people but escaped earlier fighting earlier in the year now those camps of face being overwhelmed in what is now winter conditions when it cold even getting reports of people even burning their clothes that they have to keep warm. In the very difficult situation facing them and turkish president tykerb one says his country simply cannot take anymore refugees turkey heart currently is hosting over 3 and a half 1000000 syrians more than anyone else in the world and president says the country cannot cope with any more. Europe 30 if they are facing another exodus europe could to face another exodus of refugees with turkey frightened to open its borders to europe this is a many ways a plea for help that they basically expect europe to do more more Financial Support support for turkeys plan to resettle syrians in another area of syria currently under Turkish Military control the situation is seen to be critical given the fact that turkey could be facing another several 100000 people entering turkey if this current continues. Can and what other options. Have. Well i think they will be pinning on the hopes on intense diplomatic efforts with moscow to end this current offensive turkey sure did delegation was in moscow earlier this week and we understand that those talks are still continuing will be looking to moscow to use its influence under the massacres regime to end its offensive understand turkish Russian Military planes are at the forefront of this offensive and expect the maskers to be reined in from this current offensive those diplomatic efforts have in the past succeeded in stopping previous damascus offenses and turkey were banking on its relations with moscow to end this current offensive and prevent a further exodus of refugees into turkey. Communities across asia are marking the 15th anniversary of the indian ocean tsunami on the morning of december 26th 2004 a 9 point one magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami that hit coastlines across the region that is the aster killed more than 200000 people in thailand people place flowers at a memorial to the victims of the tsunami in the village of. That village was the worst hit place in thailand with at least 1400 people who died there. 3 lankas eastern coast was hit especially hard more than 10000 people died in the southern on par region. Can die as you look out over the indian ocean nearly every day get up and deter life 15 years ago when she lost almost her entire family to the massive tsunami. Only a little bit did not good all 9 of us lived near the beach so many tonight when i think about the children i get very sad i only managed to save one little go that i never saw the others again when i got back at my house was destroyed. I can die and now shares her home with the one granddaughter she rescued and her small child the waters forced their way some one and a half kilometers inland the town of power in sri lanka south was worst affected thousands of children were among the victims. On his help many survivors back then he was the only psychiatrist in the worst affected area of southern sri lanka he treated adults and children alike. Children as you know or have a huge amount of lucidity at this and they have a lot of the mets trained to come out of these things and that depends on the had doubts at all then. Control board and complete then still be in with the problems the childrens anxiety and stress much much less. After the tsunami sri lankan psychiatrys formed a network with the help of the World Health Organization today Elementary School teachers are being taught how to recognize signs of trauma in children but talking about the effects of trauma is still to do. With the country has installed an Early Warning system for tsunamis the fear of another giant wave has never gone away nor has the memory of the victims of 2004. A quick reminder now of our top story. Typhoon found found has battered the central philippines the storm tore across a number of popular holiday islands destroying property and killing at least 16 people. Here up to date now on. Up next is our documentary on the iconic noirish bunch time cathal american evan stand by me and the entire news team thanks for the company. Its. The adventures of the famous naturalist and explorer. In the bridge alex on the phone its 250th birthday were reporting on a voyage of discovery. Expedition voyage