I've been watching a special news service on Swedish television this morning. It’s terrifying and sad to see them showing footage from the earthquake that struck in South East Asia (India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Maldives etc) in the early hours of the morning. It's magnitude of 8.9 on the Richter Scale means that it is the 5th strongest earthquake in the last hundred years.

The bulk of the damage was done by tsunamis (huge waves) or as someone described it.. “It wasn’t as if it was a wave coming in, it was more like the whole sea suddenly rising with about 20 ft”

The scenes are of utter devastation, with many thousands dead or missing across several countries. It's very sad. There is more about it on BBC World and Australia's ABC. My heart goes out to those families affected by this disaster. How tragic. I can't even begin to imagine.

At times like this I wish there was something more I could do besides just watch the news.

The other news was the horrifying death toll on the roads both here and in Australia. In Sweden, seven people died on Christmas Eve in car accidents. In Australia, it was a shocking 15 so far. That's 22 who woke up a couple of days ago, who will not be waking up today. On Friday they were planning their Christmas - but they never made it to whatever they were going. They got "stuck in traffic". Permanently.

So whatever you do, people - drive safely!