Now the Java Sea had yielded up a shipload, many perfectly preserved - protected in the stoneware jars from the scouring action of sand on the seafloor.

You can' t walk anywhere in Java without an entourage of the most gorgeous children, who rush up to say hello with the warmest smiles.

The country's most active volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, killed more than 350 people in a series of violent eruptions last year.

Initially, the project will mainly focus on Java, where most of the human deaths have occurred.

All three cases with recent symptom onset resided in West Java, where a resurgence of virus activity in birds has been reported.