BANGKOK (Reuters) - At least 400 victims of Asia's 2004 tsunami that killed 226,000 people remain unidentified in Thailand 12 years on, police said on Monday. The 9.15 magnitude Dec. 26 earthquake triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean in one of the biggest natural disasters in history. Thailand, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka were among the worst hit countries.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday he wants to send a message to the world during his visit to Pearl Harbor that Japan will never repeat the atrocities of past wars. "The alliance between Japan and the United States is one with hope in dealing with various problems in the world," Abe said in a speech to the Japanese business lobby Keidanren.

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Christians in Aleppo celebrated under a giant Christmas tree lit up for the first time in five years, hailing what many described as the return of peace to a city that came back under full government control last week.

By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday offered a Christmas hope for peace in a world lacerated by war and terrorism, urging people to remember migrants, refugees and those hit by economic instability caused by "idolatry of money".

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Christians in Baghdad celebrated Christmas on Sunday in a heightened state of fear after deadly attacks on Christian-owned shops that sell alcohol. Two shops next door to each other were riddled with bullet holes and spattered with blood after gunmen opened fire late on Friday in Baghdad's Ghadeer neighborhood.

By Maher Chmaytelli BARTELLA, Iraq (Reuters) - Several hundred Iraqi Christians flocked on Saturday to a northern town recently retaken from Islamic State, celebrating Christmas for the first time since 2013, their joy tainted with sadness over the desecration of their church.

By Yun Hwan Chae SEOUL (Reuters) - A large crowd of South Koreans took to the streets of central Seoul on Saturday for the ninth weekend in a row to demand the immediate resignation of President Park Geun-hye, who has been impeached by parliament over a corruption scandal.

(Reuters) - A Russian defense force Tu-154 aircraft has disappeared from radar, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported on Sunday. Citing Russian media, the BBC said the plane was believed to be carrying between 70 and 100 people when it went missing soon after taking off from the Black Sea resort of Sochi. (Reporting by Paul Tait; Editing by Robert Birsel)

WARSAW (Reuters) - A crowdfunding campaign has raised over $170,000 for the family of Polish truck driver Lukasz Urban who was murdered as he apparently tried to seize back control of his vehicle as it was used in an attack on a Berlin Christmas market on Monday.

By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Saturday that Christmas had been "taken hostage" by dazzling materialism that puts God in the shadows and blinds many to the needs of the hungry, the migrants and the war weary.