Asia The confirmed number of people killed in the massive earthquake and tidal waves that struck Indian Ocean shorelines at the weekend passed 71,000 and there were warnings the true toll could be far higher. Asia A desperate fight for life was under way in Indonesia as survivors of the giant waves scrambled for food among mud and corpses while the death toll shot past 36,000. Asia Almost 4,100 people - at least half of them Western holidaymakers - are listed as missing and more than 1,600 are confirmed dead after giant waves ripped through beach resorts in southwest Thailand. Asia The death toll in Sri Lanka from the tsunami disaster climbed to more than 22,000, an official said as the government pressed its entire public service and the military into an internationally-backed relief operation. Asia Official figures showed that the death toll in India from the giant tidal waves that crashed into the coasts had reached nearly 11,000 with many thousands of people still missing. Asia Relief workers raced to prevent disease and help hundreds of thousands of homeless and shocked victims of the tsunami as the largest international aid operation for decades rolled into devastated coastal areas. Asia The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned that millions of people will be at risk of disease unless there is immediate action to provide clean water in communities hit by the disaster in South Asia. Iraq Thirty people were killed in Iraq when a house rigged with explosives blew up during a police raid on insurgents, the latest calamity to befall Iraqi security forces a month ahead of national elections. Saudi Saudi security forces shot dead a gunman in Riyadh in a new shootout as they combed the district where a terror suspect and a civilian were killed in a clash the previous night. Ukraine Ukraine opposition leader and winner of a rerun presidential vote Viktor Yushchenko struck a fresh blow to his electoral rival Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich when the opposition leader's supporters scuttled a planned cabinet meeting. Cambodia A Cambodian court sentenced Indonesian terror suspect Hambali, in absentia, and five other Muslims to life in prison for plotting a terrorist attack in the country. US American feminist author Susan Sontag has died at age 71 following a long struggle against cancer.