Asia The full horror of the destruction across swathes of Asia caused by the largest earthquake in 40 years and the killer tsunami waves it spawned emerged as the death toll soared over 17,000 and hopes faded for many thousands still missing. Asia The United Nations rushed disaster teams to Asian countries hit by tsunami wave devastation as governments and aid groups sent money and rescuers to answer desperate pleas for help. Asia From the Maldives to Sri Lanka to Thailand, thousands of distraught foreign tourists were fleeing once-idyllic Asian coastal resorts after huge tidal waves spawned by an earthquake battered the region. Asia The death toll from tidal waves which smashed into southern Thai tourist havens reached 839 with authorities warning it was expected to rise further. Asia Fresh tremors again shook India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands a day after tidal waves triggered by a massive earthquake killed nearly 2,000 people, officials said. Asia The carnage suffered when Indonesia was hit point-blank range by a giant earthquake and tidal wave began to emerge as links were restored to remote areas and the death toll rose to at least 4,491. Asia Sri Lanka launched a massive humanitarian operation after tsunamis devastated much of the island's coastline, killing at least 5,860 people of which 70 were foreign tourists, while 1,555 others are reported missing. Ukraine Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko won Ukraine's presidency after a wrenching election in which he vowed to steer the strategic ex-Soviet nation on a new course toward the West and away from Russia. Iraq A car bomb explosion near the Baghdad office of top Iraqi Shiite leader Abdel Aziz Hakim killed 13 people, the interior ministry said. Mideast Israel began freeing 159 Palestinian prisoners in a goodwill gesture to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the Palestine Liberation Organisastion chairman Mahmud Abbas.