Muslims attacks Indonesia Java churches

Indonesia: Angry Muslim crowd attacks Java churches

More than 1,000 Muslim protesters have stormed a courthouse and burned two churches in central Java, Indonesia.

The attacks in Temanggung happened after a Christian man was sentenced to five years in jail for distributing leaflets deemed insulting to Islam.

Indonesian police said the crowd considered the sentence too lenient and were demanding the death penalty.

The incident came two days after Muslim villagers in western Java killed three members of a minority Islamic sect.

A police spokesman told the BBC that the angry crowd began attacking the court building in Temanggung after the verdict was read out.

The violence spread to surrounding neighbourhoods where two churches were set on fire and a third was damaged.

Police fired warning shots into the air to disperse the crowds.

In a separate development, a video has emerged of Sunday's deadly attack on members of the minority Ahmadiyah Muslim sect.

The footage - seen by the BBC - shows two men being beaten to death; a third died off-camera.

The Ahmadiyah sect has been labelled by the government as deviant, but is not banned.

A body which advises the US government on religious freedom has said Indonesia must act against "extremist" attacks.

"Indonesia is a tolerant country that should be more intolerant of extremist groups. It's time the Indonesian government brings them to account for the violence and hatred they spread," said Leonard Leo, chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population but it is a secular nation.

International human rights groups say more hardline fringe groups have been harassing religious minorities in recent years. The Indonesian president has been criticised for not doing enough to protect the rights of all citizens.

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Earthquake in Papua New Guinea

Powerful earthquake hits Papua New Guinea.

Earthquake News Updates! A powerful earthquake struck waters off Papua New Guinea early Thursday. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no threat of a widespread, destructive tsunami.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 and struck 20 miles (32 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor.

It hit near the island province of New Britain, 295 miles (470 kilometers) northeast of the national capital Port Moresby. Residents contacted by phone said they could not even feel the tremor.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a statement saying there was no threat of a widespread, destructive tsunami.

Indonesian volcano death rate

Death toll from Indonesian volcano rises to 191.

Indonesian volcano News Updates! Indonesia says the number of people killed by its most volatile volcano has climbed to 191.

Muhammad Anshori, a disaster official, says the earlier toll of 153 did not take into account those who died of respiratory problems, heart attacks and other illness linked to Mount Merapi.

The volcano, one of the world's most active, roared back to life two weeks ago, spewing clouds of hot ash and gas into the air almost continuously, with lava, rocks and debris cascading down its slopes.

Continuous eruptions from an Indonesian volcano spewed clouds of ash into the skies Wednesday, forcing some international airlines to again cancel flights and President Barack Obama to cut short his visit.

Mount Merapi, hundreds of miles (kilometers) east of Jakarta, has belched volcanic debris high into the air for more than two weeks, killing at least 153 people and causing travel chaos.

Obama sliced several hours off his whirlwind 24-hour tour to Indonesia on Wednesday and flew to South Korea for the Group of 20 summit.

Syaiful Bahri, who oversees operations at Jakarta's international airport, said concerns about the ash also forced several international carriers to again cancel flights into and out of the capital. Among them were Cathay Pacific, Value Air, Qantas and Malaysia Air.

One of the world's most active volcanoes, Merapi has erupted many times in the last century, killing more than 1,400. But last Friday was the mountain's deadliest day since 1930, with nearly 100 lives lost.

Merapi was still issuing explosive roars as it shot clouds of gas and debris up to 3,000 feet (1 kilometer) in the air as ash and pyroclastic flows poured down its slopes.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 235 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanoes because it sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped string of faults that lines the Pacific Ocean.

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Obama praised Indonesia

Politics News Updates! The US President, Barack Obama, has praised Indonesia's transition from dictatorship to democracy and identified it as a ''critical leader'' in the region and on the world stage as he made a historic return to his boyhood home.

Mr Obama conceded it was ''disorientating'' to be back after 40 years, with Jakarta barely recognisable from the city he lived in as a young boy.

After arriving late yesterday from New Delhi, Mr Obama and his wife, Michelle, travelled straight to the presidential palace for a series of meetings. He signed a ''comprehensive partnership'' that both nations said would expand their relationship beyond the traditional preoccupation of security.
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Rain and heavy security kept wellwishers to a minimum as his motorcade sped to the palace.

For Mr Obama, who has identified himself as the ''Pacific president'', Indonesia is a key ally. He thanked it for sponsoring the US membership of the East Asia Summit, a group of Asian nations that includes Australia. Mr Obama said it will be the chief multilateral institution to manage security and political issues in the region.

''Indonesia will be a critical partner, a critical leader in that,'' Mr Obama said.

Mr Obama and the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, spoke at length about the summit's potential, in particular its role in solving the territorial dispute in the South China Sea, arising from China's claim to much of the resource-rich area.

The comprehensive partnership covers economic, security, political and environmental realms. It aims to double educational exchanges between the two countries and will also include enhanced dialogue between non-government groups on the contentious topics of corruption and human rights.

Indonesia, said Mr Obama, was on the front line of climate change and, as an archipelagic nation, was likely to feel its effects soon.

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Indonesia volcano eruption

Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano eruption death toll hits 25.

Indonesia volcano News Updates! The death toll following the eruption of Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano has risen to 25, officials say, amid fears of fresh eruptions.

Experts told the BBC that the ash levels had subsided a little, but that their readings suggested there would be more volcanic activity soon.

Thousands fled their homes on Tuesday as ash spewed out of the volcano, turning the landscape white.

But many people refused to leave, and rescuers fear the death toll may rise.

One rescuer, Christian Awuy, told the BBC that he feared up to 50 could have been killed.

Many people ignored the initial warnings and stayed behind, reluctant to leave their properties and livestock.

Mr Awuy said about 10,000 people had been evacuated to makeshift shelters with straw sleeping mats and bags of clothes and food.

The BBC's Rachel Harvey, who is at the scene, says people are also trying to return to their homes.

She says farmers, particularly young men, are returning to the volcano's slopes to check on their livestock and property.

Although an exclusion zone has been set up around the volcano there are lots of small lanes that give access to the slopes, and this is making it very difficult for the authorities to keep track of people, our correspondent says.

Endita Sri Andiyanti, a spokeswoman at the main local hospital, said 25 people were dead and more than a dozen others were being treated for injuries including severe burns.

A two-month-old baby was among the dead.

The man known as the volcano's spiritual gatekeeper, Mbah or grandfather Marijan, was also found dead in his house about 4km (2.5 miles) from the summit.

For many Javanese, Merapi is a sacred site. Marijan was appointed by the nearby ruler to mediate with the spirits of the mountain.

Eyewitnesses say the area is covered by a layer of dust.

A cameraman for Reuters was quoted as saying: "Several houses and cattle have been burned by the hot cloud from the mountain. All the houses are blanketed in ash, completely white. The leaves have been burned off the trees."

Government vulcanologist Subandrio told the BBC's Karishma Vaswani in Jakarta that the volcanic activity appeared to have subsided based on the recordings of the levels of hot ash in the air.

However, he said he expected more eruptions soon, although there was no way of telling when or how big they would be.

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Indonesia tsunami: Rescuers to reach survivors

Rescuers battle to reach survivors at Indonesia - Sumatra.

Indonesia tsunami News Updates! Indonesian rescue teams are battling to reach an estimated 400 people believed to be missing since a tsunami struck small islands off the coast of Sumatra.

Officials say a 3m-high wave crashed into the Mentawai islands after a quake on Monday, killing at least 154 people.

Rescuers are now in the region, facing bad weather and post-quake aftershocks in villages levelled by the wave.

Indonesia's president is cutting short a trip to Vietnam to visit the islands and oversee the relief operation.

Officials said Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would fly back from a meeting with regional leaders to help deal with the tsunami aftermath.

He will also be briefed on the rescue effort on Java, where an erupting volcano has caused chaos.

US President Barack Obama, who spent some of his childhood in Indonesia, has spoken of his sadness at the deaths.

"At the same time, I am heartened and encouraged by the remarkable resiliency of the Indonesian people and the commitment of their government to rapidly assist the victims," he said in a statement.

He said the US was ready to help in any way.

At least 10 villages are thought to have been flattened by the tsunami, which was caused by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake late on Monday.

Waves reached 3m (10ft) high and the water swept inland as far as 600m on South Pagai.

The first images emerging from the Mentawai Islands show empty clearings where homes and buildings once stood, levelled and cleared by the power of the wave.

In the tsunami zone, regional disaster official Hermansyah confirmed that the number killed had risen to 154, and said those who had survived were in urgent need of help.

I'm so sorry that I couldn't save my wife and children as I panicked and didn't know what to do”

Rough seas were making it difficult to ship aid to the Mentawai islands from Padang, the nearest major port on Sumatra. Forecasters say the bad weather is likely to continue in the coming days.

The islands are described as extremely remote, with few roads or functioning telephone lines even before the tsunami hit, making it difficult to make an accurate assessment of the scale of the damage.

Sumatra - Indonesia Earthquake death rate increases

At least 40 dead, 380 missing after Indonesia quake.

Sumatra News Updates! At least 40 people were killed and 380 others were left missing after 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off Sumatra on Monday, Indonesian officials said Tuesday.

The numbers were in flux because information was trickling in from remote parts of Indonesia, a country made up of myriad islands.

Large waves also were keeping rescue crews from reaching the disaster zone, Hendri Dori Satoko, head of the Mentawai Islands parliament, said on local television.

More than 100 of those missing were presumed aboard a tourist ship that lost contact, said Surya of the West Sumatran disaster management board.

"The local residents in the Mentawai Islands reported seeing a tsunami as high as 3 meters [that] reached as far as 600 meters inland," said Mujiharto, of the Indonesian health ministry.

The quake struck at 9:42 p.m. Monday. A tsunami warning was triggered shortly after, but was lifted about two hours later.

"It is possible that a small tsunami has occurred, especially in the islands. We, however, don't have an official report at the moment," said Fauzi, the head of Indonesia's meteorological and geophysics department.

Eight to 10 of those aboard the missing were thought to be Australians.

"The Australian Embassy in Jakarta is continuing its efforts to contact the Australian captain of a tourist boat, the MV Southern Cross, which is understood to have been in the affected area when the earthquake occurred," said Lisa Bateman, a spokeswoman for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

"The embassy's efforts to contact the captain have been hampered by poor telephone coverage in the area and by the fact that the boat is reportedly not equipped with a satellite phone," she said.

Indonesia's sea security coordinator said that it had not received any distress calls from boats in the area, she added.

The epicenter of the quake was 240 kilometers (149 miles) south of Padang, at a depth of 20.6 kilometers (12.8 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The magnitude was revised upward from a preliminary magnitude of 7.5.

The city of Padang and the Mentawai Islands, a popular surfing destination, are located at the meeting of two tectonic plates, making them vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis.

Earthquake in Indonesia: Tsunami Nearby Sumatra

Earthquake hits Indonesia, tsunami warning lifted nearby Sumatra.

Earthquake News Updates! A major earthquake of magnitude 7.7 struck the western coast of Sumatra (Indonesia) some hours ago and as a result of it, a tsunami of about 3 meter hit the nearby residents. There is however no casualties reported yet. The earthquake struck at about 14:42 GMT (21.42 Indonesian time).

The epicenter of the quake was located nearby the Mentawai Islands which is about 240 Km south of Padang (West Sumatra) and at about 20 kilometers deep. The United States Geological Survey says that the earthquake was a shallow one. Following the earthquake, Indonesia’s seismological agency immediately issues a tsunami alert for all nearby coastlines.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also issued a tsunami watch, which was canceled about an hour later. While officials initially said no tsunami had been generated, officials later said the huge earthquake had generated a significant tsunami that struck nearby areas. And while the tsunami was in most locations relatively small, the wave was large enough to travel hundreds of kilometers (miles) from the earthquake epicenter.

According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, small tsunamis were also recorded in Tanahbalah, Padang and Enggano in Indonesia. Fortunately, there were no reports of casualties from both the tsunami as well as the earthquake in any of these regions.

Deadly floods hit Indonesia - Asia

Death toll from Asian floods tops 100.

Indonesia News updates!– Helicopters dropped food to isolated villages and security forces helped search for survivors as the number of people killed by floods and landslides across Asia climbed Wednesday to more than 100.

Three-quarters of the deaths were in eastern Indonesia, where days of torrential downpours caused tons of mud and debris to crash into hillside villages. Twenty-six fatalities were reported in Vietnam.

On the nearby Chinese island of Hainan, 64,000 people had to be evacuated.

Hundreds of homes were damaged when a river burst its banks in the hardest-hit Indonesian village of Wasior, sweeping away residents in a fast-moving wall of sludge, rocks and heavy logs and leaving thigh-high water in its wake.

"Many people didn't have time to save themselves," said one woman, Ira Wanoni, as she waded through the rubble.

With roads and bridges across West Papua province submerged or completely destroyed, it took days for help to arrive.

It wasn't until a navy ship arrived Wednesday, carrying soldiers and police — together with tents, sleeping mats, instant noodles, clean water and medical supplies — that the extent of the damage became clear.

Dortheis Sawaki, heading local relief operations, said 75 bodies had been pulled from the mud and the wreckage of crumpled homes, but dozens more were still missing.

Another 90 people were hospitalized, many with broken bones. Some had to be evacuated by helicopter and, as hospitals in the district of Manokwari became overwhelmed, others were taken by ship to neighboring provinces.

"There are just too many injuries," said Sawaki, adding that some medical facilities had been hit by power outages and downed phone lines. "We can't handle it alone."

In Vietnam, 11 bodies were recovered in the worst-hit province of Quang Binh, where authorities were also searching for five sailors from a sunken barge, disaster official Nguyen Ngoc Giai said.

At least seven other bodies were found in Ha Tinh province, five in Nghe An and three in Quang Tri, officials there reported, as floodwaters slowly started to recede.

On China's nearby island province of Hainan, meanwhile, seven straight days of heavy rains left two people missing and forced 64,000 to evacuate, said an official in the provincial flood control office who gave only his surname, Wu.

Indonesian volcano

Thousands flee as Indonesian volcano erupts.

An Indonesian volcano spewed a vast cloud of smoke and ash high into the air on Monday, disrupting flights and sending thousands more people into temporary shelters, officials said.

Airlines were warned to avoid remote Mount Sinabung in northern Sumatra as it erupted for a second day after springing to life for the first time in four centuries.

"It erupted again at 6:30 am (2330 GMT) and lasted about 15 minutes. The smoke and ash reached at least 2,000 metres (6,600 feet)," government volcanologist Agus Budianto said.

The eruption was bigger than Sunday's when 2,460-metre (8,100-foot) Sinabung rumbled into action for the first time since 1600, adding its name to the list of 69 active volcanoes in the sprawling Southeast Asian archipelago.

Another 3,000 people arrived at temporary shelters today, bringing the total in government care to 21,000, disaster management official Andes Mbaga said.

Sixteen shelters have been set up to accommodate people who evacuated their villages as ash and stones fell around the fertile farming area early on Sunday.

Witnesses said a strong smell of sulphur filled the air and many people fled their homes on foot before receiving the order to evacuate. Authorities have ordered everyone within a six-kilometre (3.7-mile) "danger zone" to leave.

Marsita Sembiring, a vegetable farmer, said she fled Sukanalu village, which is about four kilometres from the volcano with her husband and four children on Sunday.

They spent the day at a shelter in the town of Kabanjahe, 20 kilometres from Sinabung, but returned to the village for the night to protect their home from looters.

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Volcano erupts in eastern Indonesia

Indonesia — Officials say one of Indonesia's most active volcanos has erupted.

Mount Karangetang is located on Siau, part of the Sulawesi island chain.

Surono, a disaster official, said it spewed lava and hot ash hundreds of yards (meters) into the air on Friday.

He says several villagers living on the mountains slopes are missing.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is located on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

Earthquake in Indonesia's Sumatra island

7.7 quake hits off Indonesia's Sumatra island; brief tsunami warnings issued.

A huge earthquake has struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra, triggering blackouts, widespread panic and tsunami warnings.

The 7.8 magnitude quake, the second major temblor to hit the island in six months struck at 5.15 am local time (2215 GMT) 125 miles off the city of Sibolga, on Sumatra's north west coast, which was devastated in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Buildings shook and residents of coastal cities fled to higher ground, and there were blackouts in Medan and Banda Acheh. However there were no reports of major damage or casualties and the tsunami warnings issed by the Indonesian Government and Thailand were lifted two hours later.

Residents of Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, said they felt the earth shudder with frightening intensity for about a minute as the first earthquake was followed by three strong after-shocks.

Many fled their homes or piled onto motorcycles to head inland in fear of destructive waves .

"People panicked and ran out of the house, it lasted almost a minute," an AFP reporter in Banda Aceh said. "I saw a lot of people who live close to the sea using motorcycles to drive inland."

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at a depth of 29 miles (46 km). The epicentre was 60 kilometres southeast of Sinabang, on Simeulue Island, the epicentre of the 2004 earthquake.

Officials in Sinabang and the Indonesian capital of Jakarta said there were no immediate reports of damage near the epicentre. "Our personnel haven't found any damage in Sinabang," local police chief Dedi Junaidi told MetroTV.

Indonesia sits on the so-called Pacific rim of fire, along which 90 per cent of the world's earthquakes and 80 per cent of the world's largest earthquakes occur.

Today’s earthquake comes six months after a 7.6 magnitude quake devastated the Sumatran city of Padang, 200 miles (350 km) to the south of Sibolga, killing 1000 people.

A massive 9.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the west coast of Sumatra in 2004, triggering the tsunami that inundated coastal communities in Indonesia and other countries in the Indian Ocean rim killing about 220,000 people, most of them in Aceh.

Geologists regularly warn that the Sumatra is due a massive earthquake that will be even bigger and more devastating than the 2004 tremor.

Indonesian Landslide News Updates

Five dead, dozens buried in Indonesia landslide.

Five people are dead and more than 30 remain missing after a landslide buried part of a tea plantation in Indonesia, officials say.

The landslide struck about 8:00am (local time) on Tuesday after heavy rains in flood-ravaged Bandung district, south of the capital Jakarta.

"Five bodies have been pulled out. Thirty-five people are still missing. About 35 houses were buried so deep even the rooftops weren't visible," Jakarta search and rescue head Budiawan said.

He says more than 300 search and rescue personnel with heavy equipment rushed to the area near Ciwidey village, about 35 kilometres south-west of Bandung city.

"We'll work through the night to try to rescue as many people as possible," he said.

Bandung health ministry official Ahmad Kustiadi earlier told ElShinta radio station that 72 people were still missing beneath the earth, which crushed an office, processing plant and workers' housing belonging to the plantation.

"Five people have been found dead and 72 are missing, 47 in the field, 15 in the office and 10 at the factory," he said.

But Disaster Management Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono says about 40 people are missing.

"It had been raining very heavily since [Monday] and that probably caused the landslide," he said.

"We believe the landslide area could be the size of two football fields. The tea processing plant and 50 houses were also buried."

Mr Kardono says roads to the area had been cut, hampering efforts to bring in heavy earth-moving equipment.

"We're facing problems trying to reach them," he said.

The plantation was owned by a company called PT Dewata, which could not be reached for comment.

Landslides usually triggered by heavy rain are a major killer in Indonesia, which is currently being lashed by monsoonal downpours and widespread flooding.

Thousands of people have been forced out of their homes by flooding in Bandung and Jakarta over the past fortnight.

Many of the floods and landslides which hit Indonesia every wet season are blamed on rampant illegal logging and unchecked development in water catchment areas.

In October 2008, 25 miners were killed in a landslide on Sulawesi Island. In July 2007 more than 130 people were killed in floods and landslides on the same island.