Fifty countries voted in elections in 2024 - a year that also brought extreme global weather events, continued fighting in Ukraine and the Middle East, and rioting across the UK.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would be open to peace talks with Ukraine in Slovakia "if it comes to that".

An oil tanker transporting oil to Russia, which is suspected of severing power and internet cables in the Baltic Sea, has been seized by Finnish authorities.

Two sailors have died after being struck on their yachts during a race in Australia amid poor weather conditions, organisers have said.

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.

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said he was at Yemen's Sanaa airport when it was hit by Israeli air strikes.

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.

The Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed killing 38 people was downed by a Russian air defence system, according to four Reuters sources.

Azerbaijan is observing a national day of mourning after 38 people were killed in a plane crash - as footage from inside the aircraft emerged.

A funeral has taken place for five journalists killed in an Israeli strike outside a hospital in Gaza, according to its health ministry.

Donald Trump has suggested the US could take control of Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal in a series of Christmas Day social media posts.

A killer whale mother who carried her dead calf for 17 days in an apparent show of grief has given birth to a new calf, scientists have said.

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.

Hundreds of inmates have escaped a prison riot in Mozambique's capital which has left 33 people dead and 15 injured.

The sinking of a Russian cargo ship that was sent to Syria to collect weapons was an "act of terrorism", the vessel's owner says.

Or Levy's brother Michael is a tall, kind man with a weather-beaten smile.