Between July and August 2014, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory experienced escalated levels of violence. Aerial, naval and land bombardments hit the Gaza Strip and rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel.
Hurricane Matthew swept through Haiti, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. Thousands have lost their homes, crops have been flattened, and livestock have been swept away.
On 26 December 2004, almost 250,000 people were killed when an earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggered a tsunami wave that wiped out whole communities across south Asia.