An explosion and blaze at a fireworks factory near the Indonesian capital has killed at least 47 people, most of them female workers, and injured dozens more, police said.

An Indonesian woman has died of bird flu, bringing the country’s death toll from the disease to 103, the Health Ministry said today.

A bird flu outbreak in northern China that sparked the culling of about 370,000 birds lies along a migration route that spans from East Asia to Australia, it was reported today, as officials continued killing thousands of birds east of Beijing.

Indonesia today became the first known country to destroy pigs in its efforts to contain the rapid spread of bird flu, which has killed at least 57 people across Asia and devastated poultry stocks.