TWENTY-SIX people were killed and some 250 were rescued after a ferry sank in stormy seas off Indonesia’s Sumatra island yesterday, a navy official said.

A powerful earthquake has jolted eastern Indonesia, killing at least two people, damaging hundreds of homes and triggering a region-wide tsunami warning.

A volcano erupted in central Indonesia today, shooting plumes of white smoke and sand 1,500 metres into the air, an official said.

A US mining company executive was cleared by an Indonesian court of dumping dangerous levels of toxins into a bay.

An anti-terror squad raided an Islamic militant stronghold in central Indonesia today, touching off a gun battle that killed nine suspected fighters and one officer.

Investigators today scoured for clues to what caused an Indonesian jetliner carrying 102 people to crash into the sea after pieces of the aircraft washed to shore or were picked up by fisherman.

Part of a plane’s tail, food trays and shards of fuselage were pulled from the sea in north-eastern Indonesia, officials said today, 10 days after a Boeing 737 disappeared in storm weather with 102 people on board.

Parts of a plane that crashed with 102 people on board have been found by fishermen or washed to shore in north-west Indonesia today, 10 days after the plane disappeared in stormy weather, officials said.

A US Navy oceanographic survey ship was today trying to determine whether large pieces of round metal found off Sulawesi Island’s western coast were the wreckage of a Boeing 737 that disappeared more than a week ago carrying 102 people.

AN Indonesian navy ship has detected metal on the ocean floor that may be the wreckage of a jetliner that disappeared one week ago with 102 people on board, a top officer said yesterday.

An Indonesian navy ship has detected metal on the ocean floor that might be the wreckage of a plane that disappeared one week ago with 102 people on board, a top commander said today.

An hour after Adam Air Flight KI-574 took off on New Year’s Day with 102 passengers and crew for what should have been a short hop between Indonesian islands, the pilot reported heavy winds – then the plane disappeared.

A plane missing over Indonesia with 102 people on board did not send out distress signals or report mechanical problems before disappearing, a top aviation official said today, as search teams intensified their hunt for the Boeing 737.

Rescuers today found the smouldering wreckage of an Indonesian plane that crashed into mountains during a storm killing at least 90 people.

Officials said today that 90 people on board an Indonesian aeroplane which crashed yesterday were killed, while the remaining 12 on board survived.

A commercial Adam Air passenger plane lost contact with flight controllers today as it flew between Indonesia's Java and Sulawesi islands, the company's chief executive said.

A suspected Islamic militant today told judges he took part in the beheadings of three Christian girls on an Indonesian island wracked by sectarian violence because he wanted to avenge the deaths of Muslims.

A SUSPECTED Muslim militant went on trial yesterday accused of the beheadings of three Christian girls as they walked to school on Indonesia’s terror-scarred Sulawesi island.

A suspected Muslim militant went on trial today accused of the beheadings of three Christian girls as they walked to school on Indonesia’s terror-scarred Sulawesi island.

Three Islamic militants convicted for the Bali bombings that killed 202 people will not be executed tomorrow as planned after saying they wanted to appeal against their sentences, Indonesia’s attorney general said.

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s Sulawesi island today, the US geological survey said.

Floods triggered by heavy rain killed 22 people in central Indonesia, the second such disaster in the sprawling nation in less than a week.

Villagers and rescue teams today searched for survivors on an Indonesian island hit by floods and landslides, as the number of dead reached 201, officials said.

Villagers and rescue teams today searched for survivors on an Indonesian island hit by floods and landslides, as the number of dead reached 190, officials said.

Seven suspected Islamic terrorists have confessed to beheading three Christian schoolgirls on Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island, police said today.

Indonesian Muslim hard-liners signed a pact saying they were ready to die in defence of the Prophet Mohammed, while others burned tyres in streets today amid fresh protests in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

Two bombs exploded Saturday at a busy market in central Indonesia, killing at least 20 people and wounding 40 others in a volatile area marred by years of inter-religious fighting, a police official said.

A fresh outbreak of bird flu on Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island has killed some 25,000 chickens, but the local government has not ordered the slaughter of healthy birds because it has no money to pay farmers compensation, an agricultural official said today.

Indonesia was rocked by a powerful earthquake today that caused panic and damaged dozens of homes, as the government and Aceh’s rebels prepared for talks to help rebuild the tsunami-shattered province.

A bomb on a minibus exploded today on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing five people and raising tensions in a region where religious fighting killed nearly 1,000 people three years ago.

A strong earthquake rocked parts of central Indonesia today, damaging several houses and injuring two people.

Soldiers patrolled towns and villages on Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island today, as thousands of people fled their homes after a week of fighting between Muslims and Christians.

Thousands of Christian villagers on Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island are reportedly fleeing attacks by Muslim paramilitaries armed with machine guns and rocket launchers.