Continue reading »]]> Indonesian police Saturday were studying DNA evidence from the remains of two suicide bombers who carried out twin attacks on luxury Jakarta hotels, as security was tightened across the country.

Suspected Islamist suicide bombers detonated powerful devices at the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in an upmarket business district Friday, leaving nine dead and up to 50 injured including at least 18 foreigners.

A New Zealand businessman was confirmed dead and Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, who is due in Jakarta later Saturday, said he feared the worst for three missing Australians, including diplomat Craig Senger.

National police chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri called on hotels and shopping malls across the vast, mainly Muslim archipelago of 234 million people to raise their security protocols amid warnings of follow-up attacks.

A military spokesman said 500 troops were on standby to deploy in Jakarta in support of police.

Police across the Philippines were also on heightened alert over fears homegrown Islamists could try to emulate the Jakarta bombings, and citizens were urged to report any suspicious behaviour or unattended baggage.

Hotels in New York were also increasing security although Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said there was no information that a Jakarta-style attack was imminent.

US President Barack Obama condemned the bombings and offered Indonesia help in the recovery effort.

“I strongly condemn the attacks that occurred this morning (Friday) in Jakarta and extend my deepest condolences to all of the victims and their loved ones,” he said.

Manchester United were due to stay at the Ritz-Carlton next week as part of an Asian tour but they cancelled the trip, denying a sell-out crowd of 100,000 the chance to see the English football giants play an Indonesia XI on Monday.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombings, the worst in Indonesia since 2005, but suspicion inevitably fell on the Jemaah Islamiyah terror network responsible for the 2002 Bali attacks that killed 202 people.

Investigators said they found an unexploded bomb, as well as explosive chemicals and bomb-making materials in room 1808 of the Marriott, which they believe served as a control centre for the attackers.

The bombs were packed with nails, ballbearings, nuts and bolts to maximise the carnage, and appeared to be “identical” to ones previously used in JI attacks, police said.

They were also the same as bombs found in a recent raid on an Islamic boarding school in Central Java, carried out as part of the hunt for master-bombmaker Noordin Mohammed Top, leader of a JI splinter group.

Noordin is wanted for his role in the Bali attacks as well as a 2003 bombing at the Jakarta Marriott, which killed 12 people, and the 2005 truck-bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was re-elected in a landslide on July 8, said the attack was an act of terror that would have “wide effects on our economy, trade, tourism and image in the eyes of the world”.

Tourism operators on the Hindu-majority resort island of Bali said they feared for the lucrative tourism industry, which was just getting back to normal after the horrific attacks of 2002.

“I am afraid that the tourism sector which is now thriving in Indonesia would be affected significantly,” Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry representative for small businesses Sandiaga Uno told Anatara news agency.

“We hope that the bomb blasts would not deter foreign and domestic investors in making the investment in the country.”

Tourism is one of the biggest sources of foreign capital for Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, which has avoided recession in the global financial crisis, but needs more foreign investment to maintain its growth trajectory.

The country’s mainstream Muslim groups joined Yudhoyono and world leaders in condemning the attacks, saying they could never be justified in Islamic teachings.

Condemnation poured in from around the world including from UN chief Ban Ki-moon, and from Indonesia’s neighbours in Southeast Asia, where JI is accused of plotting to create a pan-Islamic state.

Indonesian police examine remains for clues

Continue reading »]]> A 7.9 magnitude quake about 209km (130 miles) south-east of Tonga triggered a tsunami in the South Pacific, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

A regional tsunami warning was issued, but withdrawn just over an hour and a half later.

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) had said high waves were likely to hit Tonga, Samoa and other islands around the region.

The quake hit at 0618 local time (1818 GMT) at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles).

“It may have been destructive along coastlines of the region near the earthquake epicentre,” the centre said.

There were no immediate indications of any damage or casualties on Tonga’s main island, Tongan police said in the capital, Nuku’alofa.

US monitors advised that some coastal areas of Hawaii could see a rise in sea level and strong currents lasting up to several hours but said no destructive impact was expected.

‘People laughing’

Tonga resident Pesi Fonua told the Associated Press the quake had lasted for “something like 20 seconds” but he had seen no damage.

Police spokesman Niua Kama told the agency residents did not appear to take the warning seriously.

“People are out on the roads, laughing at the warning,” he said.

They were not moving back from the coast despite tsunami warnings, the spokesman added.

Mary Fonua, a resident of the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa, described experiencing “a lot of rattling and shaking”.

“It went on for about 30 seconds, and I went outside and the house was shaking for about another 30 seconds,” she told AFP.

The epicentre is 480km (300 miles) south-east of Fiji’s Ndoi Island and 1,830km (1,140 miles) north-east of Auckland, New Zealand.

The island state of Tonga is a developing tourist destination.

Tsunami after South Pacific quake

Continue reading »]]> The death toll from Australia’s deadliest bushfires may reach 300, officials said, as police probe whether the blaze in the worst-hit town of Marysville was lit deliberately.

At least 181 people are confirmed dead in the wildfires sweeping through Victoria state and the coroner is prepared for as many as 300 bodies, Police Commissioner Christine Nixon told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“We are going house by house, street by street to search for bodies,” Nixon told the ABC’s Lateline program yesterday. Authorities believe “there are clearly more people who have died in this fire.”

The bushfires destroyed four major towns and dozens of hamlets, razing more than 1,000 houses and leaving 4,200 people homeless, according to the Country Fire Authority. As many as 100 of the 500 residents of Marysville, a town 60 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of the state capital, Melbourne, may have died and authorities view that fire as suspicious, Nixon said.

“The direction it came from, the pace it came with, all of those things are a part of the way we investigate a fire,” Nixon told the ABC. “Part of the concerns about Marysville is that it was just unexplained.”

Road blocks are set up around the town to prevent anyone except authorities from entering. Bodies are still being removed from buildings and being identified, Victorian Premier John Brumby said yesterday.

Record High Temperatures

Two weeks of record high temperatures, that reached 46.4 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) in Melbourne, and hot northerly gales across southeast Australia made conditions over the weekend worse than in February 1983, when 75 people in Victoria and neighboring South Australia died in what are known as the Ash Wednesday fires.

Thirty blazes are still burning across Victoria, with firefighters tackling three major fronts, the CFA said. Milder weather is allowing authorities to build so-called containment lines — bulldozing away scrub and forest — to slow the progress of the fires.

Victorian police believe fires in the Churchill area, southeast of Melbourne, were deliberately lit and the arson squad is investigating another 173 sites, CFA Chief Fire Officer Russell Rees said earlier this week.

Two people are “assisting police” in their inquiries in relation to fires in Yea and Seymour, Victoria Police said in a statement today.

People found guilty of arson can expect to be jailed for 25 years, the same penalty that applies to a murder conviction in Victoria, Brumby said this week.

Memorial Service

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s office said the federal government is planning a memorial service for the bushfire victims. “The whole nation stands with Victoria during this time of national tragedy,” it said in a statement.

The Australian Red Cross said its bushfire appeal has raised A$50 million ($32 million).

More than 450,000 hectares (1.1 million acres) of land has been destroyed, according to the CFA. The total damage of the blazes may be more than A$2 billion, Standard & Poor’s said.

Bloomberg.com: Australia & New Zealand

Continue reading »]]> SUVA, Fiji (AP) — Authorities rushed on Monday to deliver clean drinking water and other supplies to thousands of villagers who fled flooding from tropical storms that have killed at least eight people on this Pacific island nation.

The government declared a state of emergency in the western districts that were the hardest hit and are also home to most of the country’s international resorts. There have been no reports of tourists in trouble.

Fiji’s largest airport in Nadi, on the main island of Viti Levu, remained open but the city was flooded and some tourists were being turned back to their points of origin.

Tourists still at resorts were advised by the National Disaster Office to hunker down in preparation for more rough weather.

“We’d planned this holiday for a year, but it’s just turned into absolute hell,” Jane Bullock, an Australian tourist, told the Australian Associated Press news agency by telephone from the Sheraton resort on Denarau Island. “It’s scary stuff, and there’s more than a mild panic setting in.”

Floodwaters were slowly subsiding Monday in some of the worst hit villages, the government said, but forecasters predicted more heavy rain later this week.

“There’s another depression heading toward Fiji within the next two days and that will bring an additional threat,” Aisea Qumihajelo, the acting chief of disaster management, told The Associated Press on Monday.

Four days of torrential rains have flooded the towns of Nadi, Ba, Sigatoka and Labasa and many rural villages on Viti Levu, he said. Sugar cane crops have been washed out, roads severed and bridges submerged by surging floodwaters.

Authorities said six people drowned in floodwaters and two were killed in a landslide.

More than 6,000 people have been forced into emergency shelters in schools and other public buildings.

The military ruler, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, declared an emergency in parts of Veti Levu, allowing authorities to impose night curfews to deter looting.

New Zealand announced $59,000 (NZ$100,000) in funding to assist relief efforts by the Fiji Red Cross.

The Associated Press: Floods in Fiji kill 8; thousands seek shelter

Continue reading »]]> French search divers have recovered the cockpit voice recorder from the Airbus plane that crashed in the Mediterranean killing all seven people on board.

The black box was to be dried out in Paris before data was retrieved, said Air New Zealand’s Ed Sims.

Four of the airline’s staff, one aviation official and two German pilots were on the plane. Only two bodies have been found off the Perpignan coast.

More than 40 divers have been searching the sea for bodies and wreckage.

Mr Sims said the recorder appeared to be in a good condition.

“This marks a significant step in the process of understanding what caused this tragic accident.

“French authorities continue to put every effort into the recovery operation.”

Family visit

They will continue to search for the flight data recorder, he added.

Airline officials and family members have travelled to France, as well as representatives from the airline’s investigation unit, the New Zealand police, and New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission.

The plane, built in 2005, was leased by Germany’s XL Airways from Air New Zealand, and was undergoing checks after a refit before being handed back to Air New Zealand.

AFP news agency said some of the debris had drifted towards the Spanish coastline, about 20 miles (30km) from the crash site.

Airbus said the plane had been built in 2005 and had accumulated about 7,000 hours of flying time.

The A320 is a single-aisle aircraft that can seat about 150 passengers and is one of the most popular Airbus jets in use.

BBC NEWS

Continue reading »]]> A New Zealand air force plane is searching the Pacific Ocean for 29 Taiwanese fishermen after their burnt-out boat was found adrift north of Fiji.

The men have been missing since October 28.

The New Zealand air force says the search was launched after the Taiwanese long line boat was spotted with no-one on board and all its life rafts gone.

The Orion aircraft will cover around 54,000 square kilometres of ocean around the Phoenix Islands, a group of atolls belonging to Kiribati.

Around a third of the area has already been searched with no trace of the missing men.

NZ aircraft searching for missing Taiwan fishermen

Continue reading »]]> NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga – A powerful magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck beneath the South Pacific Ocean on Sunday, shaking buildings in the nearest country, Tonga, for about two minutes, officials and residents said. No damage or injuries were reported.

The earthquake, which hit shortly after 5 a.m. local time, was felt in the archipelago’s southern islands and shook the capital, Nuku’alofa, residents said.

It was centered 94 miles southeast of the capital at a depth of 20 miles in the South Pacific ocean, officials said.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said earthquakes of Sunday’s magnitude could cause destructive a tsunami within 60 miles of the epicenter. But it said “no destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data.”

Hours after the earthquake there were no signs of a tsunami.

Tonga is near the end of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” — a geological fault line stretching from Chile in South America up through Alaska to Japan and down the western Pacific to New Zealand and Tonga.

7.1 magnitude earthquake rocks Tonga – Yahoo! News

Continue reading »]]> An earthquake with a 5.5 magnitude has struck off New Zealand, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no early reports of casualties or damage.

The quake hit at a depth of 35 kilometres off the remote Kermadec islands at 2:50am local time, the USGS said.

Earthquakes are frequent in New Zealand, where the boundaries of continental plates meet as part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” causing earthquakes and volcanic activity.

Quake hits off New Zealand – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Continue reading »]]> WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck near New Zealand’s remote and largely uninhabited Kermadec Islands early Tuesday, New Zealand’s GNS Science geological agency said.

New Zealand’s Ministry of Civil Defense issued no tsunami warning following the quake, while the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin on its Web site that “no destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data” for the Kermadec area.

Only the Kermadec’s Raoul Island is inhabited, with up to six New Zealand Department of Conservation workers living there at any time.

The Hong Kong Observatory said the quake was centered about 630 miles south-southwest of Nuku’alofa, Tonga and was recorded in Hong Kong at 4:19 a.m. Tuesday, New Zealand time.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 7.0 and said its depth was 12.5 miles.

7.3 quake strikes outer New Zealand islands – Yahoo! News

Continue reading »]]> WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck near New Zealand’s remote and largely uninhabited Kermadec Islands early Tuesday, New Zealand’s GNS Science geological agency said.

New Zealand’s Ministry of Civil Defense issued no tsunami warning following the quake, while the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin on its Web site that “no destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data” for the Kermadec area.

Only the Kermadec’s Raoul Island is inhabited, with up to six New Zealand Department of Conservation workers living there at any time.

The Hong Kong Observatory said the quake was centered about 630 miles south-southwest of Nuku’alofa, Tonga and was recorded in Hong Kong at 4:19 a.m. Tuesday, New Zealand time.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 7.0 and said its depth was 12.5 miles.

7.3 quake strikes outer New Zealand islands – Yahoo! News