THE NOVINY your daily news at hand.: canada

'IT'S MORE FUN' HERE, PHILIPPINES TELLS TRAVELERS

The Philippines is highlighting the ebullient nature of Filipinos in acampaign to draw more visitors to Asia's tourism laggard.The country says: "It's more fun in the Philippines."Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez says, "What differentiates the Philippines from other offerings is the Filipino.

'SENDONG' DEATH TOLL IN PHILIPPINES MAY REACH 3,000

It's going to be "Silent Night" on Christmas Eve for thousands of people who lost their loved ones in the worst storm to hit the country this year. Many households in the flood-ravaged cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan are grieving. There will be no fireworks, not even firecrackers there. Instead, candles will be lit in houses where power has yet to be restored, and in funeral wakes..

SYRIA BURIES VICTIMS OF CONTESTED BOMBING

Crowds waving Syrian flags and pictures ofPresident Bashar al-Assad gathered on Saturday to bury 26 people who the authorities said were killed by a suicide bomber at a busy Damascus crossroads.

PHILIPPINES TO SHUT SOME MINES AFTER LANDSLIDE

The Philippine government on Friday ordered the shutdown of gold-mining tunnels threatened by landslides in a southern town where a chunk of a mountain tumbled down on sleeping residents, killing at least 27 people. The landslide struck hours before dawn Thursday on a mountain dotted with mine shafts and crude shanties with corrugated metal roofs in Napnapan village in Compostela Valley province.

SOUTH KOREA TAKES "MAJOR STEP" TO ACCEPTING CANADA BEEF

South Korea has taken a "major step" to ending an eight-year-old ban on imports of Canadian beef, Canada's agriculture and trade ministers said on Friday. The South Korean Parliament ratified import health requirements for Canadian beef under 30 months of age on Friday, one of the final steps to ending the ban, the ministers said in a release. South Korea is the last major beef-importing country to agree to lower its restrictions on Canadian beef, since a 2003 case of mad-cow disease (BSE) in Canada.