Jakarta  - A ferry with some 250 people on board sank in rough waters off the Indonesian province of West Sulawesi early Sunday, leaving more than 200 missing and feared drowned, officials said.

Eighteen people were rescued from the sea, including a crew member, who told officials that the ship was engulfed by huge waves before it sank, said Ilham Rachman, an official at the post in West Sulawesi port town of Majene.

"The crew member said the weather was very bad and the seas were rough," Ilham said.

"We haven't been able to get much information from them because they are still very weak and traumatized," he said about the survivors.

Jakarta - Councillors in Indonesia's second largest city Surabaya are seeking the closure of what is believed to be the only synagogue in the country to protest against Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip, a council member said Friday.

Protestors on Wednesday symbolically sealed the synagogue during a protest against Israel's strikes on Gaza that by Friday had killed 776 Palestinians and injured more than 3,000 people.

"We are asking the city administration to close the synagogue and verify the presence of the Jewish community here," said Ahmad Suyanto, a member of the Surabaya City Council.

Jakarta - Police in Indonesia's Papua province said on Friday they were hunting suspected separatist rebels who raided a police post and stabbed the wife of an officer before making off with four guns and ammunition.

About 20 suspected rebels of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) attacked a police post in Puncak Jaya district on Thursday night and stabbed the wife of a policeman in the chest, said Papua police chief Bagus Eko Danto.

"The woman is in critical condition after she was stabbed three times with a sickle," he said.

He said the attackers were armed with traditional weapons such as sickles, arrows and other crude weapons.

Bagus said the attackers also stole 60 bullets.

Jakarta  - A fire gutted a boarding house in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta early Thursday, killing eight people local media reports said.

The fire broke out at about 3 am (2000 GMT Wednesday) and immediately engulfed the two-story boarding house in West Jakarta suburb of Palmerah, when the residents were sleeping, said Tatang, an officer from the city's traffic police.

Jakarta - An Indonesian court on Wednesday jailed two lawmakers for their

Jakarta- Indonesia's central bank on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 8.75 per cent to support growth amid a global economic slowdown.

The cut was higher than expected after Bank Indonesia reduced the rate by 25 basis points in December.

"For 2009 our monetary policy should pay more attention to efforts to support economic growth while continuing to rein in inflation and stabilise the financial sector," Bank Indonesia governor Boediono, who, like many Indonesians goes by only one name, said in a statement.

Bank Indonesia raised its key interest rate six times during 2008 to 9.5 per cent to curb inflationary pressures.