Miss World has axed the famed bikinis from this year’s pageant in Indonesia, replacing the skimpy swimsuits with conservative beach sarongs amid mounting protests from hardline Muslim groups, organisers said.

Indonesia has recorded another human case of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, raising its world-leading total to 117 cases, according to the World Health Organisation.

Residents working in waist-high mud salvaged plates and family photos from washed-out neighbourhoods in Jakarta as fresh rains today triggered more flooding, compounding the misery for hundreds of thousands forced from their homes.

A 23-year-old Indonesian man has died of bird flu, local tests showed today, as officials said that four members of the same family were being treated in hospital for symptoms of the virus.

Floods and landslides have killed at least 45 people in Indonesia.