Liquor laced with methanol kills 25, including 4 foreigners, on Indonesian resort islands

September 18th, 2009 JAKARTA - A strong earthquake registering 6.4 on the Richter scale struck off the Indonesian resort island of Bali Saturday morning, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage, the Indonesian seismologist agency said. The quake struck at 6:06 a.m.

September 2nd, 2009 Powerful quake in Indonesia kills 7; dozens hurtJAKARTA, Indonesia — A powerful earthquake in Indonesia has killed at least 7 people and injured dozens of others. National Disaster Management Agency Satrio Nurhadiwibowo spokesman says those killed were in two towns in West Java province.

August 5th, 2009 Official: All 16 on crashed Indonesian plane deadJAKARTA, Indonesia — Rescuers have reached the wreckage of a small plane that crashed into a remote Indonesian jungle and reported that all 16 people aboard were dead, an airline official said Wednesday. The Twin Otter came down in bad weather Sunday as it flew over the Papua region in eastern Indonesia, much of which is covered with thick jungles and mountains.

August 3rd, 2009 Search begins for missing Indonesian planeJAKARTA — Search planes hunted Monday for an aircraft carrying 16 people that is believed to have crashed in eastern Indonesia. Four planes were flying close to the route that the Twin Otter was taking before it lost contact with flight controllers Sunday over the remote Papua region, said Air Force Col.

July 21st, 2009 Police: Dutch couple killed in Jakarta hotel blastJAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian police identified the remains Tuesday of two more victims of last week's suicide bombings in Jakarta, raising the number of foreigners killed to six. A Dutch couple were among those killed in a blast at the Ritz-Carlton, one of two luxury hotels targeted, said national police spokesman Nanan Sukarna.

July 17th, 2009 Police: Bombs at Jakarta hotels kill 4 foreignersJAKARTA, Indonesia — Bombs exploded at the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday, ripping the facade off the Ritz and killing at least four foreigners, police said. The head of the Health Ministry crisis center, Rustam Pakaya, said at least two people were seriously injured, including one New Zealander.

July 13th, 2009 JAKARTA - An undersea earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale struck off the eastern Indonesian island of Sumba late Monday afternoon, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage, meteorologists said. The quake hit at a depth of 86 km with its epicentre about 107 km northwest of Waingapu, a district town on Sumba island in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province.

May 9th, 2009 2 rare elephants found dead in Indonesian junglePEKANBARU, Indonesia — Two rare Sumatran elephants believed to have been poisoned with cyanide-laced pineapples were found dead in the jungles of northwestern Indonesia with their tusks removed, a conservationist said. The giant males aged 16 and 23 were discovered Thursday near Pekanbaru, Sumatra, about 560 miles (900 kilometers) from the capital, Jakarta, said Muslino, a spokesman for the Conservation and Natural Resources Agency.

May 5th, 2009 Police: Homemade liquor kills 15 in eastern IndiaCALCUTTA, India — Police say at least 15 people have died and 48 have been hospitalized in eastern India after they drank locally brewed alcohol that was apparently toxic. Senior local health official Rabikinkar Nayek says he expects the death toll to rise.

May 5th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - At least four people died and six others fell sick after allegedly consuming illicit liquor in a village in Orissa's Bolangir district, an official said Friday. The residents of Bandhpali village in Bolangir, 330 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, developed sickness after consuming liquor Thursday night.

April 17th, 2009 JAKARTA - An Indonesian plane crashed in the eastern province of Papua Friday, killing at least 10 people onboard, according to an Indonesian Transportation ministry official.

March 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Four people died after consuming spurious liquor in southwest Delhi, police said Thursday, even as protests by residents - who claimed the toll was over 10 in the past week - led to massive traffic jams in the area. 'Four people died after consuming spurious liquor in the Brahmapuri region,' the duty officer at the Dabri police station said.

March 8th, 2009 BANGALORE - Forty foreigners, four of them women, were arrested along with their 60 Indian friends early Sunday near Bangalore while they were partying at a farmhouse, where liquor was being served without a licence, police said. Majority of the foreigners arrested are students and their nationality was being checked, police said.

February 15th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - At a time when the country's general elections are just round the corner, the Haryana government Monday announced that reservations were being made for the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Backward Classes (BC) category A in allotment of liquor vends under the new excise policy for this year. Haryana Finance and Excise and Taxation Minister Birender Singh said that the reservation, the first and the 'most unique' in the country, was being made to ensure participation of these categories in economic growth.

January 13th, 2009 RAIPUR - A 24-year-old alcoholic man hacked to death his mother in Chhattisgarh after she refused to give him Rs.15 for his daily dose of liquor, police said Wednesday. The incident was reported from the Kaya village in Raigarh district, about 280 km from here.