Catatan Rhino

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake has struck the Indonesian island of Java, causing buildings to sway in the capital, Jakarta, officials have said. The epicentre was located 180km (115 miles) west of the city, in the Sunda Strait, at a depth of 50.6 km (31.4 miles), the US Geological Survey said. There have so far been no reports of any damage or casualties. A more powerful 7.6-magnitude quake devastated western Sumatra last month and left more than 1,100 people dead. An official at the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics, Suharjono, told the AFP news agency that Friday's tremor was the result of movement in the same tectonic plate, but that it was impossible to say whether the two events were related. "However, the epicentres are in the same bloc... due to a clash between the Indo-Australian and Euro-Asian plates," he said. Suharjono said the quake was not strong enough to cause a tsunami. In Cilegon, on the western coast of Java, residents said the ea...

NAIROBI (AFP) – Somali pirates attempted to storm the French navy's 18,000 tonne flagship in the Indian Ocean after mistaking it for a cargo vessel, the French military said on Wednesday. The crew of La Somme, a 160-metre (525-foot) command vessel and fuel tanker, easily saw off the brazen night-time assault by lightly armed fighters on two lightweight skiffs and captured five pirates, a spokesman said. "The pirates, who because of the darkness took the French ship for a commercial vessel, were on board two vessels and opened fire with Kalashnikovs," Admiral Christophe Prazuck said in Paris. La Somme is the French command vessel in the Indian Ocean, overseeing French air, sea and land forces fighting Somali pirates and hunting terrorists under the banner of the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom. Officers on the ship have directed commando operations to free French hostages in the hands of Somali pirates. The pirates tried to flee when they realised their mistake but were ...