Marvel at these photos from the last solar eclipse of the decade - CNN

(CNN) — The universe sent one last solar salute of the decade down to Earth on Christmas day -- or Thursday, December 26, depending on where you are in the world.

Commonly referred to as the "ring of fire" eclipse, this solar event occurs annually as the moon passes in front of the sun, covering the sun's center and leaving a blazing ring of light around the moon's silhouette.

The celestial celebration wasn't visible from North America, but lucky watchers in parts of Indonesia, southern India, Oman and Saudi Arabia were able to see -- and capture breathtaking images -- of the eclipse.

Here are a few photos of the spectacular event

Sadiq Asyraf/AFP via Getty Images

A
young girl in Tanjung Piai, Malaysia, gazed at the eclipse through solar filter glasses.

Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images

Early in the morning, a group of seagulls flew above a beach in Kuwait City as the moon partially eclipsed the sun on the horizon.

Tatan Syuflana/AP

A crowd gathered outside in Jakarta, Indonesia, donning protective glasses to view the eclipse.

Rifka Majjid/AP

A radiating "ring of fire" was captured through a safety glass in Siak, Riau province, Indonesia, one of the areas in a swath of southern Asia that was able to see the full eclipse.

Rakesh Nagar/AFP via Getty Images

A group of monks wore solar filter glasses to watch the event at the Ganden monastery in a Tibetan colony in India's southern Karnataka state.

Juni Kriswanto/AFP via Getty Images

People knelt and prayed as the eclipse was projected onto a screen in the Indonesian port city of Surabaya.

Mahesh Kumar A/AP

A roadside vendor caught a glimpse of the partial eclipse through a pair of protective glasses in Hyderabad, India.

Arun Sankar/AFP via Getty Images

An eerie sight in the south Indian city of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu state as the moon totally covers the face of the sun.

Louis Kwok/AFP via Getty Images

A few workers improvised eye protection by using a piece of welder's glass to watch the solar sight in Singapore.

Eranga Jayawardena/AP

A Sri Lankan man stood outside the national planetarium wearing his protective glasses in the country's capital city of Colombo.

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2019-12-26 13:32:51Z
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Christmas Day passes with no sign of 'gift' that North Korea warned of - NBCNews.com

Christmas Day came and went with no sign of the “gift” that North Korea warned could come.

Earlier this month, Pyongyang set an year-end deadline for the U.S. to make new concessions in talks over the country’s nuclear arsenal.

And amid fears that North Korea was expanding a factory linked to the production of long-range nuclear missiles, the U.S. flew several spy planes over the Korean Peninsula during the holiday, according to South Korean media, citing military aircraft tracker Aircraft Spots.

It was the second time this week that the U.S. has monitored the secretive regime, after it flew four spy planes over the peninsula earlier this week, the news agency reported.

The Pentagon has not responded to NBC News requests for comment on the South Korean reports.

Dec. 22, 201901:13

“South Korea and the U.S. are continuously monitoring and tracking down on North Korean movements based on a close collaboration between South Korea and the U.S. intelligence offices,” South Korea’s defense spokesperson Choi Hyun Soo said in a briefing Thursday.

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“In addition, our military is resolutely maintaining standing military preparedness in case of the diverse military situation as well as work together with the U.S. through cooperation,” she added.

This followed the president playing down North Korea’s warnings, saying on Tuesday that he could receive a “nice present instead.”

“Maybe it's a present where he sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test. Right? I may get a vase, I may get a nice present from him, you don’t know. You never know,” the president quipped to reporters after Christmas Eve video conference with U.S. troops from his Florida home.

According to an analysis of satellite photos provided to NBC News earlier this month, North Korea has expanded a factory linked to the production of long-range nuclear missiles.

“There is activity at a number of locations indicating that North Korea is laying the groundwork for an expansion of their ICBM program — more systems, more buildings, more capabilities,” wrote Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, in the analysis, using the acronym for intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The U.S. relationship with North Korea has been on a roller coaster ride under President Donald Trump, who has made diplomacy with Pyongyang a centerpiece of his foreign policy efforts.

In 2017, after a ratcheting up of North Korean saber-rattling, the president warned of “fire and fury like the world has never seen" if Pyongyang continued to threaten the U.S.

Following rounds of diplomacy, Trump became the first U.S. president to meet with his North Korean counterpart at a summit in Singapore in 2018. Trump said at the time that the pair had "developed a very special bond," and described Kim as "a very talented man."

February’s talks in Hanoi between the two men abruptly broke down, but were followed by another historic meeting in June, when the president took an unprecedented step into North Korea. But an October meeting between their negotiators in Sweden broke down.

More recently, Kim has said that North Korea could seek a “new path” if the U.S. persists with sanctions and pressure against the North. It has also threatened to lift a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests and resume launches over Japan.

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton, who Trump fired in September, warned this week that the North still posed a threat to the U.S. and said that the Trump administration’s approach to North Korea is more of a “rhetorical policy” than a “real policy.”

“The risk to U.S. forces and our allies is imminent and more effective policy is required before [North Korea] has the technology to threaten the American homeland,” he tweeted on Monday.

As a result, Trump may be forced to admit that his approach to North Korea has failed, he said.

"The idea that we are somehow exerting maximum pressure on North Korea is just unfortunately not true,” he said in an interview with Axios published on Sunday.

Rachel Elbaum

Rachel Elbaum is a London-based editor, producer and writer. 

Stella Kim and Associated Press contributed.

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2019-12-26 12:28:00Z
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US sent 4 spy planes to Korean Peninsula after Kim’s ‘Christmas gift’ threat: report - Fox News

In what military watchers regard as an unusual move, the U.S. military sent four surveillance planes, simultaneously, over and around the Korean Peninsula this week in reaction to North Korea’s cryptic reference to a possible “Christmas gift” for the U.S.

The action followed reports last week that North Korea had warned of a possible missile launch or nuclear test for late December amid stalled nuclear negotiations with the U.S.

TRUMP URGED TO 'LOWER THE BOOM' ON NORTH KOREA AMID NEW THREATS

The U.S. aircraft were detected by Aircraft Spots, an aviation tracking site, according to a report by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.

The site claims that four U.S. planes – identified as RC-135W Rivet Joint, E-8C, RQ-4 Global Hawk and RC-135S Cobra Ball – flew their missions between Christmas Eve and early Christmas Day, the report said.

The first two planes flew at 31,000 feet while the Global Hawk flew at 53,000 feet, the tracking site said. Meanwhile, the Cobra Ball and a refueling plane flew over the East Sea.

Earlier this month, Ri Thae Song, a North Korean vice foreign minister for U.S. affairs, expressed doubts that the U.S. was negotiating in good faith, accusing the Americans instead of stalling as it tried to get better terms.

“The dialogue touted by the U.S. is, in essence, nothing but a foolish trick hatched to keep the DPRK bound to dialogue and use it in favor of the political situation and election in the U.S.,” Ri said. “What is left to be done now is the U.S. option -- and it is entirely up to the U.S. what Christmas gift it will select to get.”

President Trump has downplayed the matter, despite urging from some analysts and advisers in Washington that he take a harder line against Pyongyang.

When asked Tuesday in Florida whether he was concerned about a long-range missile test, Trump quipped that perhaps North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was planning a nice gift.

“We'll see what happens. Let's see. Maybe it's a nice present, maybe it's a present where he sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test ... you never know," the president said.

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But Trump stressed that the U.S. was prepared to deal with any kind of “gift” the North might send.

"We'll find out what the surprise is, and we'll deal with it very successfully," Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, according to Yonhap. "Everybody's got surprises for me, but let's see what happens. I handle them as they come along.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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2019-12-26 10:40:34Z
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Several dead after Typhoon Phanfone batters central Philippines - Al Jazeera English

At least 11 people were reported killed and six others missing on Thursday after Typhoon Phanfone battered several central Philippine islands on Wednesday, Christmas Day, making seven landfalls before heading out to the South China Sea.

The typhoon brought chaos and a wet, miserable holiday season to millions in the mainly Catholic nation. Thousands were stranded at shuttered ports, while dozens of flights were cancelled.

Images posted on social media showed some areas in Capiz and Iloilo provinces under water. Thousands were forced to evacuate before the typhoon.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer news website reported that two people died in the province of Leyte, while eight were killed in Iloilo and Capiz. One died in the province of Biliran.

The Office of Civil Defense was quoted as saying that it is verifying reports of a dozen more fatalities.

More:

Six others were missing in Iloilo, although ABS-CBN television channel reported that the number could be as high as 12.

As of Thursday morning, the Philippine weather agency, PAGASA, said that Phanfone was reported 155km (96 miles) west of the province of Palawan, with maximum winds of up to 130km/h (80 mph) and gustiness of up to 160km/h (99 mph).

Balasan, Iloilo suffers from heavy flooding due to strong rains brought by Typhoon Ursula on Wednesday, December 25. #UrsulaPH | via @AlertsPeapic.twitter.com/DA3qSBzh9p

— MovePH (@MovePH) December 25, 2019

Al Jazeera's Barnaby Lo, reporting from Manila, said it could take several days before stranded passengers are allowed to travel.

"I am very sad and I have been crying for days. I told my child I can’t do anything," one passenger told Al Jazeera. "They did not let us board the ferry because there is typhoon - and we understand that."

Phanfone also hit Boracay, Coron and other holiday destinations that are famed for their white-sand beaches and popular with foreign tourists.

The airport at Kalibo, which services Boracay, was badly damaged, according to a Korean tourist who was stranded there.

"Roads remain blocked, but some efforts have been made to clear away the damage. It's pretty bad," Jung Byung Joon said. "Everything within 100 metres of the airport looks broken. There are a lot of frustrated people at the airport as flights have been cancelled."

Another Korean tourist said she had been unable to make contact with her friend on Borocay.

"I wasn't able to get through. Maybe something isn't working," said Dahae Gong. "I don't know when I will be able to go home."

The Philippine archipelago is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons every year [Bobbie Alota/AFP]

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.

The Philippines is the first major landmass facing the Pacific cyclone belt.

As such, the archipelago is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, killing many people, 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 more frequent storms lop 1 percent off the Philippine economic output, while the stronger ones cut output by nearly 3 percent.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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2019-12-26 08:53:00Z
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Queen reflects on turbulent year in Christmas message - CNN

Riffing on this year's 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings during World War II, the 93-year-old monarch said, "those who had formerly been sworn enemies came together in friendly commemorations."

"Such reconciliation seldom happens overnight. It takes patience and time to rebuild trust, and progress often comes through small steps," she added.

The Queen also said that although the challenges people face today were different to those of her generation, she had been "struck by how new generations have brought a similar sense of purpose to issues such as protecting our environment and our climate."

In the broadcast, which was pre-recorded at Windsor Castle, the British sovereign spoke of her delight at welcoming her eighth great-grandchild to the royal family -- the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's first child, Archie.

"Philip and I have been delighted to welcome our eighth great grandchild into our family," the Queen said. "Of course, at the heart of the Christmas story lies the birth of a child: a seemingly small and insignificant step overlooked by many in Bethlehem."

Seated behind a desk in a royal blue cashmere dress designed by Angela Kelly, the Queen added that over time Jesus showed "how small steps taken in faith and in hope can overcome long-held differences and deep-seated divisions to bring harmony and understanding."

Continuing with the annual address, the monarch also admitted that 2019 had been a demanding year, saying that the path was not always smooth and "at times this year have felt quite bumpy, but small steps can make a world of difference."

The Queen did not specify whether she was referring to the political turmoil over Brexit or reflecting on events involving her own family, or both. The Queen officially remains neutral in political matters.

Her 97-year-old husband, Prince Philip, was discharged from a London hospital after a four-night stay for an undisclosed condition Tuesday morning.

Earlier this year, the Duke of Edinburgh gave up his driving license after he was involved in a car crash near the Queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk. While the duke emerged unharmed, the driver of another vehicle in the collision suffered cuts to her knee and a passenger sustained a broken wrist.

Last month also saw Prince Andrew -- the Queen's second son -- step back from public duties following a widely-criticized interview about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew has kept a low profile in the weeks since but he was pictured walking alongside his brother Prince Charles as the pair made their way to a private Christmas Day church service on Wednesday morning.

The Queen returned to the theme of reconciliation at the end of the speech, saying: "It's a timely reminder of what positive things can be achieved when people set aside past differences and come together in the spirit of friendship and reconciliation."

The Queen addressed the nation surrounded by a selection of photographs of her family including of her father George VI, her son Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, and Prince William, his wife Catherine and their children -- her father and likely successors.

A photograph of her husband Prince Philip from her private collection featured behind her, as did one of her with Apollo 11 astronauts Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin at Buckingham Palace in 1970. This year marked the 50th anniversary of the famous moon mission.

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2019-12-25 16:10:00Z
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Queen reflects on turbulent year in Christmas message - CNN

Riffing on this year's 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings during World War II, the 93-year-old monarch said, "those who had formerly been sworn enemies came together in friendly commemorations."

"Such reconciliation seldom happens overnight. It takes patience and time to rebuild trust, and progress often comes through small steps," she added.

The Queen also said that although the challenges people face today were different to those of her generation, she had been "struck by how new generations have brought a similar sense of purpose to issues such as protecting our environment and our climate."

In the broadcast, which was pre-recorded at Windsor Castle, the British sovereign spoke of her delight at welcoming her eighth great-grandchild to the royal family -- the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's first child, Archie.

"Philip and I have been delighted to welcome our eighth great grandchild into our family," the Queen said. "Of course, at the heart of the Christmas story lies the birth of a child: a seemingly small and insignificant step overlooked by many in Bethlehem."

Seated behind a desk in a royal blue cashmere dress designed by Angela Kelly, the Queen added that over time Jesus showed "how small steps taken in faith and in hope can overcome long-held differences and deep-seated divisions to bring harmony and understanding."

Continuing with the annual address, the monarch also admitted that 2019 had been a demanding year, saying that the path was not always smooth and "at times this year have felt quite bumpy, but small steps can make a world of difference."

The Queen did not specify whether she was referring to the political turmoil over Brexit or reflecting on events involving her own family, or both. The Queen officially remains neutral in political matters.

Her 97-year-old husband, Prince Philip, was discharged from a London hospital after a four-night stay for an undisclosed condition Tuesday morning.

Earlier this year, the Duke of Edinburgh gave up his driving license after he was involved in a car crash near the Queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk. While the duke emerged unharmed, the driver of another vehicle in the collision suffered cuts to her knee and a passenger sustained a broken wrist.

Last month also saw Prince Andrew -- the Queen's second son -- step back from public duties following a widely-criticized interview about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew has kept a low profile in the weeks since but he was pictured walking alongside his brother Prince Charles as the pair made their way to a private Christmas Day church service on Wednesday morning.

The Queen returned to the theme of reconciliation at the end of the speech, saying: "It's a timely reminder of what positive things can be achieved when people set aside past differences and come together in the spirit of friendship and reconciliation."

The Queen addressed the nation surrounded by a selection of photographs of her family including of her father George VI, her son Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, and Prince William, his wife Catherine and their children -- her father and likely successors.

A photograph of her husband Prince Philip from her private collection featured behind her, as did one of her with Apollo 11 astronauts Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin at Buckingham Palace in 1970. This year marked the 50th anniversary of the famous moon mission.

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2019-12-25 15:25:00Z
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Queen's Christmas Message 2019 - Global News

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2019-12-25 15:00:07Z
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