Communist insurgents in the Philippines called off a truce with the government on Wednesday, almost two weeks ahead of schedule, raising concerns about the future of peace talks.

Celebratory gunfire killed a four-year-old boy and more than 400 others were injured by powerful firecrackers in typically rowdy New Year celebrations in the Philippines, officials said Tuesday.

The Philippines braced Sunday for its annual orgy of New Year's Eve merrymaking which every year leaves hundreds maimed by firecrackers or hit by bullets fired in the air by armed revelers.

The death toll from a tropical storm that hit the central Philippines on Christmas Day has risen to 20, with more than 20,000 others left homeless, the government said Sunday.

The death toll from a tropical storm that hit the central Philippines on Christmas Day has risen to 11 with thousands more forced out of their homes by landslides and flooding, officials said Friday.

Tropical Storm Wukong left six people dead and two missing as it cut through the central Philippines, following devastating Typhoon Bopha that killed hundreds earlier this month, officials said Thursday.

Eight people were killed and thousands left homeless as two fires struck the Philippine capital on Christmas Day, with one of the blazes sparking a riot in a slum, officials said.

A top Philippine communist rebel with a US$128,000 bounty on his head was arrested on Tuesday, the military said.

The death toll from a typhoon that devastated the Philippines earlier this month will likely hit 1,500, making it the second deadliest since the country began keeping records, the civil defense chief said Saturday.

The Philippines has passed a landmark law that criminalizes “enforced disappearances,” a presidential spokeswoman said on Saturday, in a move hailed by human rights groups.