An aircraft with 54 people on board crashed in Indonesia’s remote and mountainous region of Papua yesterday, a government official said.

Eight drug-trafficking convicts from several countries were executed by an Indonesian firing squad shortly after midnight yesterday, media said, but a Filipina who was on death row with them was unexpectedly spared at the last minute.

Indonesian officials have dropped a plan to require female students to pass virginity tests in order to graduate from high school and apologised after sparking a public outcry, human rights campaigners said.

People have abandoned their homes in a bustling city of 400,000 at the foot of Indonesia’s rumbling volcano today, cramming onto trains, buses and rented vehicles as authorities warned Mount Merapi could erupt again at any time.

International airlines cancelled flights into Indonesia’s capital today after a volcano hundreds of miles to the west unleashed its most powerful eruption in a century, incinerating villagers as they fled a searing gas cloud.

THE world’s smallest wallaby and a frog with a Pinocchio-like nose were among the new species discovered in a remote mountain wilderness, conservationists said.

Thousands of followers of a conservative Islamic group held peaceful demonstrations in several Indonesian cities against the planned visit of President Barack Obama.

Confectionery giant Cadbury became the latest victim of China’s poisoned milk scandal, reporting findings of melamine in its Chinese-made chocolates.

A 38-year-old man has died of bird flu in Indonesia, bringing the unofficial death toll in the world’s hardest-hit nation to 111.

Five people were injured when an airliner skidded off a runway while landing today the latest in a string of aviation accidents to hit Indonesia in the last year.

An American who was reported missing in Indonesia has turned up safe, an embassy official said today, but details were not immediately available about an Italian, Japanese and Singaporean believed to be with him.

Investigators picked through the charred debris of a Boeing 737-400 that burst into flames after careering off a runway in Indonesia, as forensic experts struggled to identify the 21 people killed, many burned beyond recognition.

An Australian coroner investigating the killing of a British journalist during Indonesia’s 1975 invasion of East Timor invited a former military commander to testify about the circumstances of his death.

Deadly floods that have swamped the Indonesian capital Jakarta since last week began receding today, enabling emergency workers and evacuees to reach previously inaccessible areas and start a daunting cleanup operation.

COFFEE lovers around the globe are drinking coffee which was illegally grown inside one of the world’s most important national parks for highly endangered tigers, elephants and rhinos, according to an investigative report published yesterday.

Students protested in Indonesian towns and cities today against a visit next week by US President George Bush.

The Indonesian government has confirmed another death in the country due to bird flu, an official said today.

A large eruption of searing hot gas and volcanic debris sent more than 1,000 villagers fleeing from the slopes of Mount Merapi today, a day after Indonesian government scientists lowered the alert level at the mountain.

Indonesia’s president condemned caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, saying today that a Danish newspaper’s decision to publish them was ”insensitive”.

A MYSTERIOUS new creature has been discovered in dense tropical forest, wildlife campaigners announced yesterday.

Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual head of an al-Qaida-linked terror group, will not have his prison sentence reduced to mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the Indonesian government said today.

Indonesia’s president said today that deadly bombings on tourist-packed restaurants in Bali and other terror strikes were battering the country’s reputation and called on his military to stamp out the scourge of terrorism in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

NEW terror fears gripped Asia yesterday, sparking security scares at embassies and travel alerts, but Indonesia shrugged off calls to outlaw the elusive militant group suspected in deadly suicide bombings on Bali island.

New terror fears gripped Asia today, sparking security scares at embassies and travel alerts, but Indonesia shrugged off calls to outlaw the elusive militant group suspected in deadly suicide bombings on Bali island.

There are conflicting reports this morning about whether or not an Irish person is missing following the bomb attacks in Bali over the weekend.

Acehnese rebels emerged from their jungle camps today to surrender a second batch of weapons, as the guerrillas and Indonesian government argued over what kind of guns should count under their peace deal.

Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s Aceh province handed over their first batch of weapons today, a key part of a recent peace deal that has brought hope to the tsunami-ravaged region.

Hundreds of Acehnese rebels will be released from prison today to mark Indonesia’s independence day, officials said, including some who had the chance to escape during the December 26 tsunami, but instead turned themselves in.

THE Indonesian government and Aceh rebels yesterday signed a peace treaty to end nearly 30 years of fighting that has seen 15,000 people killed, but rebel leaders voiced concern about troops remaining in the province.

The Indonesian government and Aceh rebels are poised to sign a peace treaty today, aimed at ending nearly 30 years of fighting in the oil and gas-rich province that has killed 15,000 people.

Three family members who died of bird flu earlier this month were infected by chicken droppings that carried the H5N1 strain of the virus, the Indonesian government said today as it scrambled to contain the disease’s spread.

The Indonesian government said today it would start withdrawing troops from Aceh in September as part of an agreement with rebels to end three decades of fighting that has killed 15,000 people.

Charities are warning it could take ten years before rebuilding is completed in the areas devastated by the Asian tsunami.

Australia’s military today ended six years of peacekeeping duties in East Timor, wrapping up a mission that strained ties with Indonesia and heralded a new era of regional military intervention by Canberra.

Bacterial powder that sparked a terror alert when it was sent to the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra, Australia, was probably harmless, an initial police report said today, though tests were continuing.

WE were shocked to read about the unfortunate circumstances of young Tristan Dowse in the article by Ann McElhinney (Irish Examiner, April 15).

International rescuers abandoned their search today for survivors among the rubble of wrecked homes in the main city of the Indonesian island that bore the brunt of a powerful earthquake four days ago.

A major earthquake struck late today off the west coast of Indonesia, and police said hundreds of people may have been killed in collapsed buildings.

Two Indonesian journalists were missing in the turbulent Iraqi city of Ramadi, the country’s Foreign Ministry said today, stopping short of saying they’d been abducted by insurgents.

Indonesia today rejected an offer by Acehnese rebels to put their independence claims on hold in return for an eventual referendum on the issue, but mediators were optimistic that coming peace talks could be fruitful.

The Indonesian government and separatist rebels will meet this week to discuss a formal ceasefire in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province, officials said today.

The UN agency helping feed tsunami victims said today it was sending its first ship to deliver food to ravaged west coast areas in Indonesia’s Aceh province - a sign that civilian groups are preparing to fill the gap as foreign troops begin pulling out.

Foreign relief workers could be expelled if they don’t declare travel plans in Indonesia’s tsunami-devastated Aceh province, the government said today citing security concerns, as the United Nations appealed to donors to follow through with promises of aid.

Peter Dejong, Banda Aceh