March 6th, 2013
04:51 AM ET
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Malaysia hunts Filipino intruders on Borneo

A day after launching airstrikes and mortar shells in a remote part of the island of Borneo, Malaysian security forces searched house-to-house Wednesday for gunmen from the Philippines who infiltrated the area last month and clashed with police.

The group of Filipino men is believed to number between 100 and 300.

It arrived three weeks ago on the east coast of the Malaysian state of Sabah, on Borneo, demanding recognition as representatives of an old sultanate that once ruled the area.

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Filed under: Malaysia • Philippines
Indonesia sentences British woman to death for drug smuggling
Lindsay June Sandiford leaves a holding cell to the prison after her trial at a court in Denpasar, Bali on January 22, 2013.
January 22nd, 2013
05:28 AM ET
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Indonesia sentences British woman to death for drug smuggling

A 56-year-old British woman accused of smuggling in blocks of cocaine in her suitcase has been sentenced to death in Indonesia.

Prosecutors in Bali had asked for a 15-year sentence for Lindsay June Sandiford.

It was not immediately known why the judge decided to hand down the death penalty.

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Filed under: Crime • World
Indonesia floods kill 12; thousands flee raging waters
January 18th, 2013
08:08 AM ET
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Indonesia floods kill 12; thousands flee raging waters

Heavy flooding in the Indonesian capital this week has killed 12 people, driven thousands from their homes and paralyzed the sprawling city - and officials are warning that more water is on its way.

Caused by unusually strong monsoon rains, the flood waters - often carrying trash and human waste - have inundated the city's central business district, closed schools and offices, and entered the presidential palace.

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Filed under: Flooding • Indonesia • Weather • World
Russian airliner disappears over Indonesia
The jet, a Sukhoi Superjet-100, was on a demonstration flight.
May 9th, 2012
07:34 AM ET
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Russian airliner disappears over Indonesia

[Updated at 7:34 a.m. ET] Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan told Metro TV the Sukhoi jet went missing at about 2 p.m. local time in the area of Bogor, West Java.

The jet was on a demonstration flight that should've lasted 30 minutes, taking off and expected to land again in Jakarta's Halim airport. About 46 people were onboard he said.

National Search and Rescue Agency official Gagah Prakosa said on Metro TV that there was an initial search by air that's been suspended because of darkness. A ground search continues.

[Updated at 7:24 a.m. ET] Russia's newest civilian airliner disappeared Wednesday from radar screens during a demonstration flight in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, state-run Ria Novosti news service reported. There were 44 passengers on board.

The pilots requested permission to descend from 10,000 feet to 6,000 feet, air traffic controllers said. After that, all radio contact was lost.

The plane began making its descent but vanished from radar screens at 6,200 feet in a mountainous area.

By the time the plane was due to return it should have burned up its fuel, RIA Novosti said.

The Sukhoi Superjet-100 airplane arrived in Jakarta as part of a demonstration tour of six Asian countries. It had been to Myanmar, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, and was due to visit Laos and Vietnam after Indonesia, RIA Novosti said.
Sukhoi manufactures military aircraft and is known especially for its fighter jets. Its civilian aircraft is narrow-bodied with a dual-class cabin that can transport 100 passengers over regional routes.

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Filed under: Aviation • Indonesia
Suspected terrorists killed in shootout with police in Bali
Indonesian counter-terrorism police personnel look for clues at a bungalow after the shoot-out on the island of Bali.
March 18th, 2012
07:55 PM ET
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Suspected terrorists killed in shootout with police in Bali

Five suspected terrorists were killed Sunday in a shootout with police in Bali, a spokesman for Indonesia's National Police said Monday.

The suspects were planning to rob several jewelry stores to help fund their alleged terror plots, and planned on making at least two thefts Sunday night, said Senior Commander Boy Rafli Amar of the National Police.

Indonesia's counter-terrorism police, who had been following the suspects for a month, conducted two raids on hotels in the Denpasar area of Bali on Sunday night. Gunfire was exchanged before the suspected terrorists were killed, Amar said. Two guns and ammunition were recovered from the two sites, he said.

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Filed under: Indonesia • Terrorism
February 2nd, 2012
07:47 AM ET
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Philippine military: Airstrikes kill top terrorists, including one on FBI list

The Philippine military said it killed a man who is on the FBI most-wanted terror list and two other senior militants Thursday in a predawn airstrike on a remote southern island.

About 15 militants died in the early morning airstrike on the island province of Sulu, part of the autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao, according to a spokesman for the Philippines armed forces.

The dead included two senior figures in Jemaah Islamiyah and members of the militant group Abu Sayyaf, said Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos, the spokesman.

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7.3 magnitude quake hits off Indonesia's Sumatra island
January 10th, 2012
02:13 PM ET
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7.3 magnitude quake hits off Indonesia's Sumatra island

[Updated at 4:27 p.m. Tuesday ET] A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the western coast of western Indonesia's Sumatra island early Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, but witnesses reported only minor shaking on land.

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The quake, which happened at 12:37 a.m. local time (1:37 p.m. Tuesday ET) at a depth of 18.1 miles, was centered in the Indian Ocean about 262 miles southwest of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, and 590 miles west of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the USGS said.

Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami warning for the area, but the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of a massive wave like the one that devastated the region in 2004.

There were no immediate reports of damage, and hotel clerks contacted by CNN reported only mild shaking. One front desk clerk in Aceh said a few hotel guests went outside when the quake hit, but most weren't awakened.

In December 2004, Indonesia and a number of other countries were hard hit by a tsunami generated by a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off northern Sumatra. The tsunami and earthquake killed more than 280,000 people in 14 countries - mainly India, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The Indonesian region of Banda Aceh was hard-hit: About 150,000 died there.

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Filed under: Earthquake • Indonesia • Natural Disasters • Tsunami