An earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale shook Indonesia’s Sumatra and adjoining smaller islands today.

A second powerful earthquake rocked western Indonesia today as rescuers struggled to reach survivors of the previous day’s shock which is feared to have killed thousands.

INDONESIA’S most wanted Islamist militant was killed in a police shoot-out in Central Java, police said yesterday, lifting a major security threat ahead of a planned visit by US President Barack Obama.

The death toll rose to 57 today as Indonesian rescue workers pulled bodies from village homes buried in a landslide triggered by a powerful earthquake that severely damaged more than 10,000 buildings across West Java.

A leading south-east Asian terrorist suspect reportedly killed in a gun battle with police at a village hideout was planning a suicide car bomb attack on Indonesia’s president, the national police chief said.

South East Asia’s most wanted terrorist was reportedly shot and killed by police officers who stormed a suspected militant hide-out in Indonesia today to end a 16-hour siege.

The secular party of Indonesia’s president tripled its share of the vote in parliamentary elections and support for religious parties nose-dived – a sign of how even devout believers in the world’s most populous Muslim nation are delinking faith and politics.

The party of Indonesia's president won a resounding victory in parliamentary polls, handing him a stronger mandate to push a reformist agenda in the world's third largest democracy.

A series of powerful earthquakes shook remote eastern Indonesia today, toppling or badly damaging more than 100 buildings and leaving at least four people dead and dozens injured.

The international aid effort for hundreds of thousands of Burma’s cyclone victims finally gathered pace today.

Family members said they would leave it to doctors to decide if former Indonesian dictator Suharto should be removed from life support after almost all of his organ functions failed. Physicians described his condition as “very critical,” putting his chance of survival at just 50%.

RELIEF operations swung into gear yesterday, a day after a powerful quake rocked the Indonesian island of Sumatra, as a senior official revised the death toll down to 52.

At least 23 people were killed today when a packed Indonesian plane burst into flames as it landed on Java island.

FLOOD waters receded in parts of Indonesia’s capital yesterday, but huge areas remained submerged, heightening the risk of disease amid questions over why more had not been done to prevent the disaster.

US President George Bush shrugged off massive protests against his visit to the world’s most populous Muslim nation today as a sign of a healthy democracy, as thousands braved heavy rains to call him a war criminal and a terrorist.

US President George Bush’s unpopularity in the world’s most populous Muslim nation made intense security jitters and angry protests the hallmarks of a six-hour trip to court Indonesian favour.

Three Christians on death row for killing Muslims during religious clashes in Indonesia six years ago have asked for a presidential pardon, lawyers and government officials said today.

The Islamic world’s biggest bloc today demanded an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and a role for Muslims in a UN peacekeeping force, stressing that a slow end to Israel’s warfare could drown chances for lasting peace.

A powerful earthquake sent a two-metre high tsunami crashing into a beach resort on Indonesia's Java island today, killing at least six people and causing extensive damage to hotels, restaurants and homes, police and witnesses said.

A powerful earthquake flattened buildings in central Indonesia early today, killing up to 1,325 people and leaving overwhelmed doctors begging for help, a government official said.

Condoleezza Rice is making her first visit as US Secretary of State to the world’s most populous Muslim nation today amid tight security.

Search and rescue workers today raced to reach victims of landslides that buried several Indonesian villages beneath tonnes of mud and rocks, but hopes of finding survivors were fading.

A bomb ripped through a crowded market in an Indonesian province plagued by sectarian violence early today, killing eight people and wounding 45 others. Many victims were believed to be Christians.

IN Indonesia’s Aceh province on Sumatra island, one survivor dismissively gestured at a jumble of scrap iron and plastic sheeting — all that remains of his neighbourhood.

The world’s grief and compassion returned to the Indian Ocean’s tsunami-battered shores today, marking a year since giant waves crashed ashore in a dozen countries, laying waste to communities and sweeping away at least 216,000 lives.

An off-duty pilot was today sentenced to 14 years in jail for the poisoning death of Indonesia’s top human-rights activist, but critics said the masterminds remained free.

Indonesia expelled a leading American expert on south-east Asian terrorist networks for the second time in as many years, officials said today. No explanation was given.

POLICE found more than 30 bombs in the hideout of a South-East Asia terror ringleader shot to death during a raid by an elite security unit, triggering speculation he was planning more attacks, authorities said yesterday.

One of Asia’s most wanted terrorists was staying in a safehouse packed with London-style backpack bombs when he was killed, police said today, triggering speculation he was planning more terror strikes.

The top US health official was reviewing Indonesia’s ability to identify and contain bird flu outbreaks today, warning it will be almost impossible to halt a pandemic if the virus mutates into a more dangerous form.

The top US health official arrived in Jakarta today to discuss ways to respond to the bird flu outbreaks.

Australia’s foreign minister, set to visit neighbouring Indonesia in the aftermath of the latest Bali bombings, said he will urge the country’s government to bolster its counterterrorism capabilities.

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.

The two most wanted men in south-east Asia are believed to have masterminded the suicide bombings at three crowded restaurants on the Indonesian tourist resort island of Bali, officials said today.

Suicide bombers wearing explosive vests targeted tourist resorts on Bali with coordinated attacks that devastated three crowded restaurants on the Indonesian resort island, killing at least 26 people and wounding dozens of others, officials said today.

Two people were killed today in a series of blasts on the popular tourist island of Bali.

AN INDONESIAN jetliner crashed into a crowded neighbourhood moments after a shaky take-off yesterday and burst into flames, killing 147 people, including dozens on the ground.

Parents lined up across Indonesia early today to take part in a polio vaccination drive that will target 24 million children, as health officials worried the crippling disease could spread to other Southeast Asian countries.

Indonesia's government and Aceh rebels have reached a peace deal to end the 29-year insurgency in the tsunami-devastated province, a top Indonesian official said today.

Officials estimate 1,000 people have died since Monday’s 8.7-magnitude quake, and said Indonesia would welcome foreign military help for its latest disaster.

Candles flickered at the heads of about 20 corpses, lying in the street wrapped in white sheets outside the Santa Maria church in the devastated main town on Nias, the Indonesian isle known as a surfers' paradise.

Indonesia’s government is considering a law banning unmarried couples from kissing in public – and harshly penalising those who do, The Jakarta Post reported today.

Indonesia today increased its tsunami death toll by 5,000 – pushing the worldwide toll from the December 26 disaster to more than 162,000 people – as the nation’s defence minister said there is no three-month deadline for foreign troops helping in the massive relief efforts to leave.

Indonesia said today it would set up an early warning system for disasters with its neighbours, as it raised its death toll from last week’s earthquake and tsunami to 94,081.