Sri Lankan refugees bound for Australia are presently being held in Indonesia, waiting for countries in the region to decide what to do with them. Both Australia and the Philippines have proposed alternative solutions.

An Indonesian maid died Tuesday after she was locked in a bathroom for two days following months of reported physical abuse by her employer.

The US Geological Survey says that a magnitude 7 earthquake has struck near the Maluku Islands in eastern Indonesia. The government there has issued a tsunami warning.

As the crises continues in Sri Lanka, many migrants are trying to leave the country and seek refuge in another nation. Last week, Sri Lankans were caught in Indonesian waters as an attempt to go to Australia.

The people smugglers are back in business. The Indonesian navy has intercepted a boatload of 260 people at the request of Australia. This is part of a new approach to shutting down people smuggling and illegal entry scams in the region.

Islamic clerics in Aceh, an autonomous province of Indonesia which has introduced partial Sharia law, have severely criticized an 18-year-old woman who did not wear a jilbab or veil whilst representing the province in the Miss Indonesia contest.

The central banks of several Asian countries that are fearful of the impact a weak dollar will have on their exports, intervened in the markets on Thursday to buy the troubled U.S. currency.

Almost simultaneously, disasters and calamities occurred in South Asia, including Samoa, during the last two weeks. The typhoons have killed more than 3,000 people and injured thousands in calamity affected areas.

The Thursday morning quake in Sumatra follows a series of powerful earthquakes that have hit the area this week. Thousands may have died as a result of the series of earthquakes in the area.

Barely a day after a tsunami struck the Pacific island nations of American and Western Samoa, a tsunami warning was issued after an earthquake struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.