The Philippine capital, Manila, the worst-hit victim of Typhoon Ketsana, was devastated by the storm's arrival on Septe

The streets of Manila were left underwater after the Philippines were hit by typhoon Ketsana on Saturday, bringing the country its heaviest rainfall in 40 years. See the photos...

A violent tornado touched down in the Canadian province of Ontario, Canada on Thursday. Several more twisters ensued, leaving nothing in their path. Here are a few amateur videos of the event...

Twelve foot waves battered the shoreline of a national park in the north-eastern state of Maine on Sunday, attracting thousands of spectators. The following video shows the coastguard rescue of one of three onlookers swept into the Atlantic Ocean. Another of them however, a seven-year-old girl, drowned. See the video…

Taiwan has been hit hard by Typhoon Morakot. Fourteen are dead, 51 officially missing, and hundreds more unaccounted for. Bridges and even damns have been swept away by "unseen" amounts of rainfall, displacing over a million people. A meteorologist visiting the country filmed the following footage on his camera. Read his account...

Rainy season in Cote d'Ivoire has taken a heavy toll on the country's financial capital, where 19 people have been killed by mudslides. Our Observer in Abidjan says that it's negligence on the part of the authorities that's to blame. Read more...

All catastrophes breed their heroes and martyrs. The rugby team of L'Aquila, where a devastating earthquake killed at least 200 people on Monday, has both. Read more…

An Italian scientist had warned a month ago that a devastating earthquake was about to rock the area around L’Aquila, in central Italy, where over 170 people perished in their sleep on Monday morning. At the time, the authorities rebuffed him for scaremongering. Today, he says he is owed an apology. Read more and watch the videos...

A devastating earthquake, measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale, rattled central Italy in the early hours of Monday morning. The quake’s epicentre was located under the city of L’Aquila, in the picturesque Abruzzi region, some 100km northeast of Rome. Emergency services say at least 100 people perished under the crumbling city centre, though many more are feared dead as rescuers scramble to clear the rubble. Read the account of our Observer on the spot and view his photos.

Riyadh was hit by a massive sandstorm on Tuesday leaving the capital's residents with only metres of visibility. One of our Observers there went out to photograph the event. See the images plus videos posted by YouTubers...