Mideast Mahmud Abbas was savouring a landslide victory in the Palestinian presidential election but Israel was swift to urge the moderate former premier to get tough with militants if progress is to be made in the Middle East peace process. Mideast Palestinian president elect Mahmud Abbas held talks with prime minister Ahmed Qorei whom he has already said he wants to head up a new government. Asia A US helicopter crashed and a strong aftershock struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island as aid groups struggled to reach survivors of the tsunamis that killed more than 156,000 people around Asia. Asia A UN conference on small islands opened in Mauritius with a call to set up an early warning system in the wake of the tsunami disaster in Asia that left more than 156,000 dead. Iraq Saudi Arabia is ready to train Iraqi soldiers though not necessarily in the kingdom itself, Defence Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz said. Iraq US troops arrested four Iraqi police after a bomb and small arms attack by insurgents at a checkpoint in southern Baghdad killed two men dressed in police uniform and a pair of civilians, a US Army spokesman said. Mideast Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was expected to seek parliamentary approval for his new coalition cabinet, the last hurdle in stitching together a government prepared to implement his Gaza pullout plan. China China and Taiwan held talks on allowing direct flights between the territories over the Chinese New Year holidays, as the mainland aviation administration put forward a basic plan for non-stop air links, officials said. Philippines Thirteen Muslim separatist rebels and eight government soldiers were killed as Muslim guerrillas attacked an army outpost in the southern Philippines, violating a two-year-old ceasefire. Luxembourg Princess Josephine-Charlotte of Belgium, the mother of Luxembourg's reigning Grand Duke Henri died, aged 77, the royal court said. Britain The northwest of England braced for more brutal weather after three people were killed, and more than 1,000 homes flooded, over the weekend in one of the worst winter storms in decades.