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A 60-year-old Christian woman was caned yesterday (April 12) in Indonesia’s Banda Aceh province—for breaking rules aimed at Muslims. It was the first time somebody from outside the Islamic faith was caned under the province’s harsh sharia regulations. Until recently, sharia regulations applied only to the province’s Muslim population. But under bylaws that went into effect late last year, now members of other religions can also be punished under the rules—although until yesterday it wasn’t clear just how far that would go.

Scientists are using the site to help determine the frequency of catastrophes like the event of 26 December 2004. This is being done by dating the cave's tsunami-borne sediments, which are easy to see between layers of bat droppings. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote Because people thought they had no history of such things, they thought it was impossible” End Quote Prof Kerry Sieh Director, Earth Observatory of Singapore "The tsunami sands just jump right out at you because they're separated by guano layers. There's no confusing the stratigraphy (layering)," explains Dr Jessica Pilarczyk. "It makes for...

A cave on the northwestern coast of Sumatra holds a remarkable record of big tsunamis in the Indian Ocean. The limestone opening, close to Banda Aceh, retains the sandy deposits washed ashore by huge, earthquake-induced waves over thousands of years. Scientists are using the site to help determine the frequency of catastrophes like the event of 26 December 2004.

Over a hundred members of the recently banned Millata Abraham Muslim sect on Friday underwent a mass conversion to mainstream faith at the Baiturrahman Raya Mosque in Banda Aceh. The sect’s leader, Zainuddin, said the idea to convert came to him in a dream on April 19 that he had while locked away in a jail cell. He is facing a five-year sentence for blasphemy stemming from his practice of the banned religion. The mass conversion comes in the wake of pronounced relgious hostility in the province. On April 6, Irwandi issued a gubernatorial decree banning the Millata Abraham, along...

On a beautiful sunny day in 2004, the villagers of Banda Aceh in Sumatra were peacefully minding their own business when out of nowhere a tsunami washed them away: Substitute the Before photo with America today. The After photo is what America is going to look like in the wake of Zero. If you think this is hyperbolic then you haven't come to grips with the consequences of hyper-inflation. If you did, you be like what the Banda Aceh folks would have been if they'd had any warning: in panicked flight to higher ground. And here's the kicker: with hyper-inflation...

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Across this most religious of Indonesia’s provinces, brown uniformed policemen in black wagons enforce Shariah, or Islamic law. They haul unmarried couples into precincts and arrest people for drinking or gambling. Increasingly, many of the cases are pushed to the ultimate conclusion, public canings at mosques in front of pumped-up crowds. In mid-July, a 27-year-old man sentenced to 40 lashes fainted on the seventh stroke of a rattan cane from a hooded man in the yard of a mosque here in the provincial capital. The caning was televised nationally, with an announcer reporting that the man,...

THE last batch of combat soldiers in Aceh assembled on the dockside yesterday in full kit and armed to the teeth, ready to embark on their troopships as the final act of a bloody 29-year guerrilla war. Supaidin Adi Saputra, Aceh’s military commander, told them they should be proud of fighting to keep Indonesia intact — then told the watching Acehnese: “The flame of peace is burning and we must not let anyone extinguish it.” The head of the feared Indonesian military in Aceh was doing what was almost unthink-able only a year ago; telling its people that the war,...

PEACE ACCORD: The move was part of an agreement that ends Asia's longest-running separatist insurgency, and sets the stage for the guerillas to run in elections Indonesia's Aceh rebels formally disbanded their armed wing yesterday, fulfilling a crucial part of a tsunami-inspired peace accord to end one of Asia's longest separatist conflicts and paving the way for the guerillas to enter politics. "The Acehnese national army, or the armed wing of the Free Aceh Movement, has demobilized and disbanded," Sofyan Daud, one of the group's commanders, told reporters. "The Aceh national army is now part of civil society, and will...

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) - Mourners across the world gathered on Monday along ravaged Indian Ocean coastlines on Monday to remember more than 231,000 people who died in last year's tsunami. A year on, a huge reconstruction operation has brought hope to hundreds of thousands living in temporary shelters, but the sorrow and pain from one of nature's most ferocious episodes remains strong -- and fears that monster waves could come again. "We think about the lost lives, lost property and lost jobs" said 19-year-old Kanagalingan Janenthra in Sri Lanka's eastern town of Batticaloa."We are in fear. Some of us...

IN Aceh this month I came face to face with human loss so vast that it is difficult to comprehend. With it, I saw human determination that is truly inspirational. The fishing village of Kajhu, just a few kilometres out of Banda Aceh, was home to about 20,000 people last Christmas. On Boxing Day last year no less than half of the villagers were killed by the tsunami -- a disproportionate number women and children, because most of the men were either fishing at sea or working in the hills. So it came to pass that earlier this month, at...

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia : The image of the United States in tsunami-hit parts of Asia may have enjoyed a boost thanks to its massive aid donations, but one year on, residents say US policy speaks louder than dollars. The US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, along with Washington's pro-Israeli stance, have incensed Muslims across the region, and no amount of aid -- even in tsunami-ravaged Indonesia -- has soothed their anger. "I don't like the leader of the American people. I don't mind the people, I just don't like their leader," says Yan, a 35-year-old Acehnese dried fish trader who...

One of the most powerful images from the aftermath of the Southeast Asian earthquake and tsunamis, was this one from Banda Aceh just days after the terrible tragedy. The photo above is that of a young man, a looter, who was beaten into submission and then paraded through the village square with a placard around his neck that says in Indonesian "Saya Maling" (I'm a thief). Without the aid of the police or militia the photo shows the determination and the will of a altruistic, righteous and self-disciplined group of people desirous for the return of law and order to...

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 5.6 magnitude has hit Indonesia's (search) tsunami-ravaged Aceh province. The geophysics and meteorological agency says the quake was centered under the Indian Ocean, but was not strong enough to trigger a tsunami. An Associated Press reporter says dozens of people ran out of a five-story hotel and other buildings in the province's capital. Former President Clinton (search) had been in Indonesia Monday, reviewing efforts to rebuild coastal areas that were ravaged by last December's tsunami-producing tremor.

As several of you may remember, I am in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, acting as relief coordinator for my company, a world-wide medical supplies provider. It was with great trepidation I embarked upon this endeavor. I knew from reports of the print and electronic media and from personal accounts of company reps of the horror that awaited me. Nothing could have prepared me for what I have witnessed the past few weeks. I cannot adequately describe, with my limited vocabulary, what it is truly like here in Banda Aceh. This was the hardest hit area. As my friend, BamaGator, stated previously,...

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - Malaria could kill up to 100,000 people in coming months across Indian Ocean communities devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunami if authorities do not quickly move to kill mosquitoes, a health expert warned Thursday. Health agencies were planning to launch a massive spraying campaign in Indonesia - the hardest-hit country - on Friday to kill mosquitoes that carry the disease, said Richard Allan, director of the Mentor Initiative, the aid group leading the malaria campaign in Indonesia. "The 150,000 extra deaths from disease that the WHO predicts could occur ... is very plausible," Allan said,...

Time is GMT + 8 hours Posted: 11 January 2005 2025 hrs Thousands of Acehnese flee to Medan, concerns mount of overcrowding By Channel NewsAsia's Sujadi Siswo in Medan MEDAN : The North Sumatran capital of Medan has once again become the city of refuge for thousands of fleeing Acehnese. For the past 30 years, villagers fleeing the political conflict in Aceh have fled to Medan. It is no different now, since the tsunami struck. When the tsunami struck, Madam Rosme and husband took refuge in the Banda Aceh central mosque. Their first plan was to fly to Medan, where...

SURVIVOR: Third high seas rescue of survivor KLANG, Jan 10:A bizarre variety of flotsam helped a 22-year-old Indonesian survive adrift for 15 days after the deadly tsunami struck the region on Dec 26. Ari Afrizal was finally rescued by the Liberian-registered container ship MV Al Yamamah about noon yesterday some 320km off the western coast of Sumatra, and arrived safely at Westport in Klang about 11.45pm. He had been found floating in a fishing raft about 10 metres long. It was his third "lifeboat". Ari, from Desa Kabong in Krueng, Sabee, Aceh Jaya, had been working on a house in...

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A U.S. helicopter with 10 people on board crashed near the Banda Aceh airport Monday while on a tsunami-relief operation, a U.S. military spokesman said. It was not yet known if anybody was killed or injured, said Joe Plenzler, a U.S. military spokesman in Medan, 250 miles southeast of Banda Aceh. The SH60 helicopter crashed in a rice paddy about 500 yards from the airport in Banda Aceh, the main city on Indonesia's tsunami-battered Sumatra island, as it was trying to land, he said. "There was no fire ball but a little smoke," he said. "It landed...

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesia warned aid workers Sunday that separatist rebels had infiltrated camps sheltering survivors of the Dec. 26 tsunami as fears escalated that the stricken area's long-simmering insurgency could hamper efforts to help victims of the 2-week-old disaster. Violence in tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka also revived security fears for aid workers setting up operations there. Christians and Hindus clashed in the eastern part of the country, where a massive aid effort is underway. At least three people were killed and 37 injured. In Banda Aceh, gunfire echoed through the main tsunami-hit city on Indonesia's Sumatra island Sunday....

Suspected rebels fired shots early Sunday at the home of a top police official near the United Nations' relief headquarters in the tsunami-ravaged Indonesian city of Banda Aceh, officials said. There were no casualties. An unspecified number of Free Aceh Movement rebels fired at officers guarding the home of Aceh province's deputy police chief, located about 100 meters from the UN building, said police Sgt. Bambang Hariyanpo. Police returned fire but the rebels vanished into the city, he said, adding authorities were investigating the incident. Police and UN officials said the UN's relief headquarters was not the target of the...