Manila - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Wednesday it has expanded its trade finance facilitation programme to 1 billion dollars to help ease a "dramatic reduction" in funding caused by the global financial crisis.

The Manila-based ADB said the programme's expansion could generate up to 15 billion dollars in much-needed trade support by the end of 2013.

Jakarta  - An undersea earthquake registering 6.1 on the Richter scale struck the western coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra Wednesday, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, the Indonesian seismology agency said.

The quake struck at 1:29 pm (0629 GMT) and was centred in the Indian Ocean, 227 kilometres south-west of Bintuhan in Bengkulu province, Indonesia's National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

It occurred 30 kilometres beneath the seabed, but the statement did not say if the quake was a tsunami threat.

Jakarta  - Two Sumatran elephants have been shot and killed in Indonesia's Bengkulu province, a conservation official said Tuesday.

The elephants were killed last week in the Kerinci Seblat National Park, said Dudy Wuryanto, head of the nature conservation agency in the neighbouring province of Jambi.

He said the motive for the killings was unclear.

Jakarta  - Indonesian rescue teams intensified their search Monday for more than 100 people missing in a dam break on the outskirts of Jakarta as the death toll rose to 98, officials said.

The National Disaster Coordinating Agency said 11 of the 98 people confirmed dead were unable be identified while as many as 115 people remained unaccounted for. Up to 113 others were injured in the accident.

Jakarta  - Rescue teams searched Sunday for more than 100 people listed missing after a dam burst on the outskirts of Jakarta as the death toll climbed to 91, officials said.

The National Disaster Coordinating Agency said up to 109 people were also injured after the Situ Gintung dam in the Tangerang district, just south of the capital, collapsed early Friday, unleashing a torrent of water that tore through a low-laying valley, inundating flimsy houses and surprising residents in their sleep with waves of mud and water.

Jakarta  - The number of people killed after a dam broke near Jakarta rose to 67 Saturday as authorities searched for the missing, police and officials said.

Estimates for the number of missing ranged from 22 to 78 after the Situ Gintung dam in the Tangerang district, 50 kilometres south Indonesia's capital, collapsed early Friday, sending water crashing into a crowded residential area.