TAIPEI A strong 6.9 magnitude quake struck southeast of Taiwan on Monday, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was immediately issued. The quake hit at 10:59am at a depth of 10 kilometres with an epicentre 269 kilometres off the east Taiwanese city of Taitung, the USGS said. There were no immediate reports [...]

BADUNG The Bali Times A tourist from China has been killed while rafting on the Ayung River in Badung regency. The victim, a 26-year-old identified as Ding, was rafting with five friends on Saturday afternoon when their raft capsised and they fell into the river. Unable to swim, Ding drowned, police said, adding that the [...]

RUMBLING Elevated Status: Mt Rinjani on Bali’s eastern neighbour Lombok has been showing signs of activity in recent weeks, prompting authorities to ban trekking to the volcano, which features a mini caldera in its crater, and issue an alert.

DENPASAR The Bali Times MYSTERIOUS smoke that suddenly burst from the ground at Tajun, a mountain village near Sembiran in Buleleng, last Sunday is under close scrutiny from scientists and the provincial government. “The research involves various stakeholders, including geologists to determine with certainty the natural phenomenon,” spokesman I Ketut Teneng said this week. He [...]

GIANYAR The Bali Times GIANYAR’S regent plans to meet Governor I Made Mangku Pastika to seek key changes to the beach “green line” along the Sanur-Kusamba bypass and sort out the conflicting problems of development needs and Bali’s beach protection legislation. Tjok Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati said the provincial rules were detrimental to tourism development [...]

WELLINGTON Commemorations honouring New Zealand and Australia’s war dead were marred on Sunday when a military helicopter heading to memorial services in Wellington crashed, killing three people. The Defence Force said the helicopter was part of a formation heading to Wellington to take part in a flypast for ANZAC Day, the most significant day of [...]

SYDNEY Singapore Airlines said on Sunday it has cleared its backlog of passengers who were left stranded in Australia when a volcanic eruption in Iceland created an ash cloud that shut down European airports. Singapore said its international schedule was back to normal and all affected passengers had either left the country or were booked [...]

BANGKOK Thailand’s embattled premier vowed to clear Bangkok’s commercial heart of anti-government Red Shirt protesters as he appeared on national television on Sunday in a show of unity with his army chief. But Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva did not say when security forces planned to regain control of the Red Shirts’ sprawling protest site, which [...]

Astronomers around the world are marking this weekend the 20th anniversary of the launching of the iconic Hubble, NASA’s first orbiting space telescope that has revolutionised human understanding of the universe. More than any other instrument, the Hubble has stimulated a modern-day infatuation with deep space, beaming to Earth the most spectacular images ever taken [...]

CELEBRATING HUBBLE AT 20 Out of This World: Giving mankind a deeper understanding – and view – of the universe, the Hubble Space Telescope is 20 years old this weekend. Pictured here is the revolutionary instrument’s most famous image, stars forming pillars in the Eagle Nebula. Full report below.

DENPASAR The Bali Times Governor I Made Mangku Pastika has banned further travel agency licences, saying 800 businesses were already licensed but only 300 were actually operating. He made the announcement in the provincial assembly on Saturday. The governor also told the assembly he was considering whether licences owned by non-operational travel agents should be [...]

TERNATE An earthquake of 6.4 magnitude struck North Maluku on Saturday afternoon, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The temblor hit at 2:21pm 155 kilometers southeast of the town of Labuha, at a depth of 30 kilometers, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said. A tsunami warning was not issued.