Tokyo - Indonesian nurses and care-givers planning to train and pursue a career in Japan said Friday they hoped to break down barriers of prejudice for more of their compatriots follow.

"As a group of pioneers (in this project), we are hoping to gradually change Japan's mindset so that more of our counterparts can be easily accepted to work here for a long term," Erli Ridwan, 35, said at a press conference at Tokyo's Japan Press Centre Friday.

Ridwan arrived in Japan Thursday, along with 204 other Indonesian nurses and care-givers to start working in Japan's medical sector.

Jakarta - An undersea earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale shook parts of eastern Indonesia on Thursday morning, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The quake struck at about 5:41 am (2241 GMT Wednesday) with its epicentre about 51 kilometres north-east of Sumbawa Island, according to an official report from the Jakarta meteorology and geophysics agency.

Jakarta - Indonesia on Wednesday received six Russian-made Mi-17-V combat helicopters as part of the country's effort to improve its existing armaments.

After a lengthy process, the six fully armed combat helicopters, ordered in 2003, arrived at the Indonesian Navy's airbase in East Java at Suarabaya, the state-run Antara news agency reported.

Rear Marshal Eris Heriyanto, director-general for defence facilities at the Indonesian Defence Ministry, said after signing notes on the helicopters' delivery that the three combat choppers would be used by the army's Aviation Centre.

The helicopter procurement process was marred by a corruption scandal which caused the state to lose around 3.24 million dollars.

Jakarta - Hundreds of white-clad Indonesian Muslims rallied Monday outside the presidential palace in Jakarta, demanding the government immediately outlaw a minority Islamic sect branded by the country's top clerics as "heretical."

Organized by the Islamic Forum of Ummat (FUI) - a broad coalition of fundamentalist Islamic groups in Indonesia - the protestors chanted slogans, shouted "Allahu Akbar," 
("God is Great") and unfurling banners denouncing the Ahmadiyah sect.

Jakarta - Rescue workers searched Sunday for eight missing people after a ferry sank in rough waters in eastern Indonesia, state media said.

Eight bodies were picked up from the sea and 48 other people survived the MV Mole ferry overturned near the Sula Islands district in North Maluku province Thursday, the state-run Antara news agency reported.

Jakarta - Indonesia's Attorney-General's Office (AGO) on Friday insisted it would proceed with plans to execute by firing squad three Muslim militants sentenced to death over the 2002 Bali bombings, despite their lawyers' protests that such a method amounts to "torture".

Junior Attorney-General Abdul Hakim Ritonga said the executions of of Imam Samudra, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron were legal, based on the Supreme Court's decision to reject the bombers' first appeal.