SLAMMED by one crisis after another - natural, financial, man-made - the past year has left many breathless with dread. In a year of upheavals, at times too great for words, there is no better way to remember the passing of time than through pictures. We bring you more images selected by The Straits Times Picture Editor, Michael Sargent, that portrayed the defining moments of 2008.
Soldiers rescue a child from the rubble after an earthquake in Beichuan, Sichuan province May 13, 2008. China poured more troops into the earthquake-ravaged province of Sichuan to quicken a search for survivors as time ran out for thousands of people still buried under rubble and mud. PHOTO: REUTERS
A Georgian man cries as he holds the body of his relative after a bombardment in Gori, 80km from Tbilisi. A Russian warplane dropped a bomb on an apartment block in Gori on on August 9, 2008, killing at least 5 people. The bomb hit the five-story building close to Georgia's embattled breakaway province of South Ossetia when Russian warplanes carried out a raid against military targets around the town. PHOTO: REUTERS
Firefighters battle a blaze at the Namdaemun gate, one of South Korea's most historic sites, in central Seoul on February 11, 2008.The oldest wooden structure in Seoul, given the status of "National Treasure number one" in 1962, was first constructed in 1398, rebuilt in 1447 and has since been frequently renovated. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
People duck as gunshots are fired from inside the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai on November 27, 2008. Indian commandos earlier freed hostages from Mumbai's Taj Mahal hotel but battled on with gun-toting Islamist militants who launched an audacious attack across India's financial capital. PHOTO: REUTERS
Picture of the late Lo Hwei Yen, a 28-year-old Singaporean lawyer who lost her life in The Oberoi Trident Hotel, one of several Mumbai landmarks attacked by terrorists during the 2008 Mumbai terrorists attacks. The rampage by the terrorists left over 170 people dead. PHOTO: COURTESY OF PUHAINDRAN FAMILY
Police patrol for intruders in the ruins of the Oakridge Mobile Home Park, where 480 homes were destroyed by wildfire as residents are escorted in by bus to see their devastated neighborhood, November 17, 2008 in Sylmar, California. Residents are not yet allowed to go into the ruins as authorities continue to search for bodies. The Sylmar Fire, now referred to as the Sayre Fire, has charred 10,000 acres, burned 630 structures, and injured five firefighters. Firefighters have built containment lines around 40 per cent of the advancing fire and are getting a break as the strong Santa Ana winds that stoked a series of major wildfires across Southern California begin to dissipate. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
This September 10, 2008 NASA handout image received on September 12, 2008 shows a picture of Hurricane Ike downlinked by the crew of the International Space Station, flying 220 statute miles above Earth. The center of the hurricane was near 23.8 degrees north latitude and 85.3 degrees west longitude, moving 300 degrees at 7 nautical miles per hour. The sustained winds were 80 nautical miles per hour with gusts to 100 nautical miles per hour and forecast to intensify. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Traffic lines Interstate 45 leaving Houston as Hurricane Ike approaches the Texas Gulf Coast Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008 in The Woodlands, Texas. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
A sign hangs outside a foreclosed home November 13, 2008 in North Las Vegas, Nevada. A report by RealtyTrac Inc. found that Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation for the 22nd consecutive month in October with one in every 74 homes receiving a foreclosure filing. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A man walks through a revolving door at an American International Group (AIG) building in New York's financial district September 16, 2008. US stocks clawed back from their biggest drop in seven years as optimism grew that U.S. authorities may finance a rescue of insurer American International Group. PHOTO: REUTERS
A worker is seen carrying a box out of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers offices, in the Canary Wharf district of London on September 15, 2008. Some creditors of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) will likely lose their money, but it will take a long time before it becomes clear how much, administrators Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) said PHOTO: REUTERS
Protestors hold signs behind Richard Fuld, Chairman and Chief Executive of Lehman Brothers Holdings, as he takes his seat to testify at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the causes and effects of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 6, 2008. Mr Fuld told Congress on Monday that US banking regulators knew exactly how Lehman was pricing its distressed assets and about its liquidity in the months before its collapse. PHOTO: REUTERS
(L-R) Chairman and CEO of General Motors Richard Wagoner, United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger, President and CEO of the Ford Motor Company Alan Mulally and Chairman and CEO of Chrysler LLC Robert Nardelli testify before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee about a proposed US$34 billion (S$49 billion) federal bailout for the US auto industry December 4, 2008 in Washington, DC. The executives had to return to Washington for a second round of hearings after Congress sent them back to Detroit to refine their bailout proposals after a poor showing on Captiol Hill last month. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Two students from Singapore Chinese Girls' School (SCGS) navigate through a sea of military personnel stationed just outside Dunearn Road as the search continued for escaped Jemaah Islamiah (JI) detainee Mas Selamat Kastari, the terrorist who planned to crash a hijacked plane into Changi Airport. Military personnel also stood guard every ten metres along Goldhill Ave. Mas Selamat Kastari, escaped from Whitley Road Detention Centre on February 27 at 4:05 pm. PHOTO: SPH
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