UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on April 14 that the crisis could not only push millions of people deeper into poverty but also have wider political and security implications.
Special Report: Food is not enough
More than 10,000 people were killed in a devastating cyclone that tore through Burma in May. The cyclone Nargis caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Burma.
The deadly May 12 earthquake, measured at magnitude 8.0 on the Richter Scale, killed 69,227 people (official figure as of Sept. 19) and left 17,923 and 374,634 people missing and injured respectively. It is the deadliest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed at least 240,000 people.
Special Report: Wenchuan Earthquake
Diplomatic tensions and clashes between Georgia and Russia finally erupted into a war. The fighting in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia in August caused dozens - possibly hundreds - of deaths and widespread destruction.
Were the Beijing Olympic Games the best Olympics ever? Don’t know yet. But no doubt they were the most exciting. A record 87 nations won medals making it the most world-sharing Olympics ever. China won medals in 25 different sports, including its first ever medals in sailing, beach volleyball and field hockey.
Special Report: 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
Pakistan was still constantly harassed by bomb attacks and US air strikes, and its political crisis deepened following Musharraf's resignation as Pakistani president on August 18.
It was predicted that in August 2008 the Large Hadron Collider would create a bunch of micro black holes – which could grow big enough to suck up the earth.
The number of ships hijacked by the Somali pirates increased greatly over the past year, with the result that the whole world went to war against the pirates.
On November 5, 2008 Democrat Barack Obama defeated Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona and became the first African-American president of the United States.
Special Report: US Presidential Election 2008
With the collapse of a number of financial institutions in the United States, the financial crisis quickly spread around the world.
Special Report: Global Financial Crisis