Asia The death toll from an earthquake off Indonesia and tidal waves that it unleashed reached 14,122 as officials reported deaths in seven countries in southern and southeastern Asia. Indonesia Hundreds of bodies and widespread destruction could be seen in the capital of Indonesia's Aceh province after a powerful earthquake and tidal waves battered the region Thailand The death toll from tidal waves which smashed into southern Thai tourist havens approached 500 Monday and authorities warned it was expected to rise further. SriLanka Sri Lanka failed to take warnings of earthquakes seriously and was ill-prepared for the tidal waves which devastated the island's coastline and left over 4,850 dead, a senior relief official said. UN Governments and aid organisations around the world scrambled to offer aid and technical help after the devastating quake and tidal waves that killed thousands of people in Asia. Ukraine Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko won Ukraine's presidency after a historic and wrenching election in which he vowed to steer the strategic nation on a new course toward the West and away from Russia. Mideast Presidential election frontrunner Mahmud Abbas urged Palestinians to abandon the armed uprising, saying they could not hope for a military victory over Israel. Iraq Fourteen people, including a politician, were killed in Iraq as a militant group released a video claiming to show the suicide bomber who carried out the deadly attack on a US army base in Mosul. Iraq A top Sunni Muslim religious leader, Sheikh Hareth al-Dhari, said his community will lose nothing by boycotting Iraq's upcoming elections, amid reports the US may guarantee top jobs for Sunnis. Honduras A member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang confessed to involvement in a bloody attack on a city bus in northern Honduras this week that left 28 people dead and 21 injured, police said. US Thousands of passengers were stranded at airports across the United States Sunday, the victims of airline computer foul-ups and staffing woes during the peak Christmas travel weekend.