On this day 20 years ago, the world looked aghast as the deadliest tsunami in history ripped across the Indian Ocean. It took just seconds for the Earth's crust to be pulled apart and the devastation it left behind was almost unfathomable.
A Syrian former equestrian champion has told how he was jailed and tortured for 21 years after he beat Bashar al Assad's older brother in a competition.
At least 10 people, including five journalists, have reportedly been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, while a three-week-old baby girl froze to death while staying in a tent camp.
Indonesia and Thailand are marking 20 years since a tsunami caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people in one of the worst natural disasters in modern history.
The possibility that a power cable under the Baltic Sea between Finland and Estonia has been sabotaged is being investigated after it stopped working on Christmas Day.
Syrian officials say 14 of its forces, part of the group which toppled Bashar al Assad's regime, have died in clashes with supporters of the ousted dictator.