• MALAYSIA
  Houses and plantations in Pengkalan Chepa are submerged in floodwaters on December 27, 2014, as the worst flooding to hit the country in decades had forced more than 100,000 people to leave their homes (XINHUA/AFP)
• THAILAND
  Villagers take part in a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the 2004 tsunami at the Ban Nam Khem Tsunami Memorial Park in Phang-nga Province on December 26, 2014. Prayer recitals and solemn visits to mass graves took place that day across tsunami-hit nations for the 220,000 people who perished in the disaster (XINHUA/AFP)
• THE UNITED STATES
  The casket of New York police officer Rafael Ramos, who was shot alongside his partner Wenjian Liu on December 20, 2014 on the heels of nationwide protests accusing police of racism, is carried out of Christ Tabernacle church in New York City on December 27, 2014 (XINHUA/AFP)
• GREECE
  Passengers rescued from the Norman Atlantic ferry accident arrive at the airport of Elefsina, west of Athens, on December 29, 2014. The Italian ferry caught fire in rough seas in the Adriatic the day before, causing at least 10 deaths (XINHUA/AFP)
• MEXICO
  The Popocatepetl volcano, one of the world’s eight most dangerous active volcanos, spews ash on December 28, 2014, in Puebla State (XINHUA/AFP)
• AFGHANISTAN
  Soldiers attend a ceremony marking the end of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force’s combat mission in Afghanistan at its headquarters in Kabul on December 28, 2014, formally ending NATO’s involvement in the 13-year-long war (XINHUA/AFP)