the flooding being the worst to hit Thailand since 1995, killing reportedly 283 people since July 2011

Chao Phrya river in Ayutthaya city, Thailand

An aerial view of inundated houses and a flooded road leading to a bridge across the Chao Phrya river in Ayutthaya city, Thailand, 18 October 2011. All Ayutthaya province is one of the most hit areas, the flooding being the worst to hit Thailand since 1995, killing reportedly 283 people since July 2011. Damage from two and a half months of floods in Thailand is likely to cost the manufacturing sector billions of dollars. The floodwaters have damaged more than 10,000 businesses in 15 provinces, impacting more than 350,000 workers, the Labor Ministry said on 17 October 2011. with floods killing 283 people since July 2011.

Thai factory workers

Thai factory workers

Thai factory workers and residents carry their belongings as they wade through floodwaters during an evacuation from the submerged Nava Nakorn Industrial Estate, Pathum Thani province, suburb of Bangkok, Thailand, 18 October 2011. Heavy monsoon rains have caused floods killing 315 people and affecting more than 2.4 million people since July 2011. Damage from two and a half months of floods in Thailand was likely to cost the country's manufacturing sector more than 100 billion baht (3.3 billion dollars or 2.3 billion euro). The flooding is the worst to hit the kingdom since 1995, and may soon surpass that record year.

'Rainbow Warrior III'

This is a Friday, Oct. 14, 2011 file photo of the new Greenpeace boat 'Rainbow Warrior III' as it is anchored at Fassmer shipyard in Berne near Bremen, northern Germany. The Greenpeace movement in October 2011 christened their new boat Rainbow Warrior III, a $33 million marvel, part helicopter-capable warship equipped to do battle with who they see as "environmental criminals" and part high-tech PR vessel, with widescreen conference facilities and state-of-the-art communications.

Cambodian villagers

Cambodian villagers sitting on their boats wait for relief goods at a flooded village along the Mekong river in Kandal province, Cambodia, 18 October 2011. Cambodian government provides floods relief items to the villagers who have afficted by floods. According to the figures provided by the Cambodian National Committee on Disaster Management show flooding has affected 231,000 people across nearly all of the country.

Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar popular satirist Zargana (L) and Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (R) greet supporters during the 49th birthday ceremony of student leader Min Ko Naing at the monestry in Yangon, Myanmar, 18 October 2011. Min Ko Naing is the President of Universities Student Union of Burma (Myanmar) and a leading democracy activist and dissident who is serving 65 years of imprisonment at Kengtung prison in Shan State for organizing peaceful demonstrations in August 2007.

Residents of Kabul

Residents of Kabul make their way to greet Northern Alliance fighters arriving in the outskirts of the Afghan capital Kabul, in this November 13, 2001 file photo. Ten years ago, U.S. forces began bombing Afghanistan in retaliation against its Taliban rulers who refused to hand over the al Qaeda leaders responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Within weeks, the air strikes had helped Afghan opponents topple the Taliban, but in the decade since, the deposed Islamist fighters have returned to mount an ever more aggressive insurgency against an Afghan government backed by the United States and NATO. Since U.S. President Barack Obama took office in 2009, the U.S. force has tripled in size, but Washington and NATO now plan to begin withdrawing and to hand over responsibility for Afghanistan's security to Afghan forces by 2014.

A Hazara girl covers her face

Hazara girl covers her face as she holds a child in a cave in Bamiyan, in this December 15, 2001 file photo. Ten

The bodies of five Taliban fighters killed

The bodies of five Taliban fighters killed by Afghan National Police lie in the back of a vehicle at Musa Qala in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, in this November 13, 2010 file photo. Ten years ago, U.S. forces began bombing Afghanistan in retaliation against its Taliban rulers who refused to hand over the al Qaeda leaders responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Within weeks, the air strikes had helped Afghan opponents topple the Taliban, but in the decade since, the deposed Islamist fighters have returned to mount an ever more aggressive insurgency against an Afghan government backed by the United States and NATO. Since U.S. President Barack Obama took office in 2009, the U.S. force has tripled in size, but Washington and NATO now plan to begin withdrawing and to hand over responsibility for Afghanistan's security to Afghan forces by 2014.

Afghan children

Afghan children pose for a picture on a destroyed armoured vehicle on Wazir Akbar Khan hill in Kabul October 12, 2011.

Afghan children

Afghan children pose for a picture on a destroyed armoured vehicle on Wazir Akbar Khan hill in Kabul October 12, 2011.

setting narcotics on fire in Jalalabad

An Afghan man pours fuel before setting narcotics on fire in Jalalabad October 12, 2011. Afghan officials set fire to 26 tons of narcotics which included opium and hashish on Wednesday in Jalalabad city, police said.

Afghan man works on his field

An Afghan man works on his field in Panjshir province October 15, 2011.

Afghan man holds balloons

An Afghan man holds balloons for sale in Kabul October 17, 2011.

Buddha statue and a pagoda

An aerial view of a Buddha statue and a pagoda of an ancient temple submerged by floodwater at the UNESCO world heritage historical park in the Ayutthaya province, Thailand, 18 October 2011. Damage from two and a half months of floods in Thailand was likely to cost the country‘s manufacturing sector more than 100 billion baht (3.3 billion dollars) with floods killing 283 people since July 2011. The flooding is the worst to hit the kingdom since 1995, As Ayutthaya province is one of the areas worst hit by the ongoing high water. The floods have damaged more than 10,000 businesses in 15 provinces across the country, impacting more than 350,000 workers, the Labour Ministry said on 17 October 2011

An underwater volcanic

An helicopter of the Canary Island regional government takes off from La Restinga on the Spanish Canary Island for El Hierro taken on October 10, 2011. An underwater volcanic eruption is taking place just off Spain's El Hierro island in the Canaries, which has been rocked by thousands of small tremors since July, local officials said. The eruption is taking place some five kilometres (three miles) from the island at a depth of more than 500 metres (1,500 feet) but its effects will not be felt on the island, said volcanologist Alicia Garcia of the Higher Council of Scientific Research.

underwater volcano

Neighbors of the small town of La Restinga are desplaced to a soccer field as a precaution against another possible undersea volcanic eruption closer to the coast on the Spanish Canary Island for El Hierro, on October 11 2011. An underwater volcano erupted just off Spain's El Hierro island in the Canaries, which has been rocked by thousands of small tremors since July, local officials said.

Spanish Canary Island

View of the Spanish Canary Island for El Hierro taken on October 10, 2011. An underwater volcanic eruption is taking place just off Spain's El Hierro island in the Canaries, which has been rocked by thousands of small tremors since July, local officials said. The eruption is taking place some five kilometres (three miles) from the island at a depth of more than 500 metres (1,500 feet) but its effects will not be felt on the island, said volcanologist Alicia Garcia of the Higher Council of Scientific Research.

Kashmiri villagers

Kashmiri villagers carry the body of a suspected militant, Altaf Khan during his funeral procession in Veripatchi about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 13 October, 2011. Indian troops Wednesday killed two rebels including a commander who was active in the Himalayan region of Kashmir since the inception of the armed rebellion in 1989, a police statement here said.

Mercedes-Benz SLS 63 AMG

Visitors try out the Mercedes-Benz SLS 63 AMG car at the opening ceremony of a car exhibition in Riyadh October 12, 2011. Picture taken October 12, 2011.

Kashmiri Muslim women

Kashmiri Muslim women watch the funeral procession of suspected militant, Altaf Khan ( not in picture) takes palce in Veripatchi about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 13 October, 2011. Indian troops Wednesday killed two rebels including a commander who was active in the Himalayan region of Kashmir since the inception of the armed rebellion in 1989, a police statement here said.

the premiere of "Fireflies in the Garden

From left, cast members Hayden Panettiere, Julia Roberts, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Shannon Lucio pose together at the premiere of "Fireflies in the Garden" in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011. "Fireflies in the Garden" opens in theaters Oct. 14, 2011.

flood water in southern Mekong Delta

Houses are submerged by flood water in southern Mekong Delta province of Long An, Vietnam Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011. The government says nine more deaths have brought the toll from the Mekong Delta's worst flooding in more than a decade to 43 people, mostly children.

World Gold Council

A woman holds up gold and silver dragon ornaments in Beijing on October 12, 2011. Chinese consumer demand for gold soared 27 percent year-on-year to 579.5 tonnes in 2010, according to the World Gold Council.

Wing-In-Ground (WIG) craft on the waters

A undated handout photo released on 13 October 2011 shows port officials testing a Wing-In-Ground (WIG) craft on the waters off Bieung Island in Gunsan on South Korea's west coast recently. The Korean-made aircraft, whose commercial operation is expected as early as the first part of next year, can fly between 2 and 3 meters above the surface at an maximum of 500 kilometers per hour.

ship 'Rena' litter the beach at Mount Maunganui

Material from spilt containers from the ship 'Rena' litter the beach at Mount Maunganui near Tauranga on October 13, 2011. Salvage crews readied on October 13 for a badly listing container ship stuck on a reef to break up, deepening New Zealand's worst maritime pollution disaster as it enters a second week.

Maritime New Zealand

In this photo provided by Maritime New Zealand, shipping containers float Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011, in the water around the cargo ship Rena that has been foundering since it ran aground Oct. 5 on the Astrolabe Reef, about 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Tauranga Harbour, New Zealand. The condition of the stricken cargo ship stuck that is leaking oil worsened Wednesday, with about 70 containers falling overboard and the vessel moving onto a steeper lean

Volunteers help with the clean-up of oil

Volunteers help with the clean-up of oil from the grounded container ship 'Rena' off Papamoa beach near Tauranga on October 12, 2011. The Filipino captain of a ship stuck on a New Zealand reef was arrested and charged October 12 as up to 70 containers fell into rough seas and a black tide of oil washed up on beaches.

Myanmar women

Myanmar women prisoners walk outside Insein Prison in Yangon, Myanmar Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011 after they were released. Myanmar has begun releasing more then 6,300 prisoners but has held back on freeing some prominent political prisoners. The releases began around the country Wednesday morning after President Thein Sein issued an amnesty for 6,359 prisoners a day earlier.

singer Rihanna

Barbados' singer Rihanna performs during the first day of the 10th Rock in Rio Music Festival late 23 September 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On 11 October 2011 provocative pop singer Rihanna was named the world's sexiest woman by men's magazine Esquir