The AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea last month climbed faster than "normal speed" and stalled, Indonesia's Transport Minister has revealed.

A Kiwi facing the firing squad for allegedly smuggling 1.7kg of crystal meth into Indonesia will use a landmark legal strategy to argue his innocence - and plead for his life.

Divers have retrieved a black box from the crashed AirAsia flight from the bottom of the Java Sea, officials say.

Indonesian divers have said they are hopeful that the black box from doomed AirAsia flight 8501 has been located.

Pictures show the wreckage of flight QZ8501 lying on the bottom of the Java Sea, including what appears to be the tail fin showing the AirAsia logo.

AirAsia crash victim's family learned of their loved one's fate after being sent a selfie he featured in, taken on board flight QZ8501 as it prepared for takeoff.

The first official Indonesian report on the AirAsia crash says the accident was caused by "icing" that damaged the plane's engines - a finding experts immediately doubted.

Trip to meet dream woman landed "naive" New Zealander Antony de Malmanche in a police station cell with 27 others and facing the death penalty over drug smuggling.

Indonesian search officials have now confirmed they have located the fuselage of AirAsia flight 8501 on sonar radar, upside down on the sea floor.

Warship sent to take oil sample as air traffic control chief reveals pilot's request came just minutes before plane disappeared.

Airbus has rushed two specialists to Jakarta to assist in the investigation of the disappeared A320 airliner operated by AirAsia, the budget carrier that rose from almost nothing in 2001 to be its biggest customer.

An Indonesian official last night said objects had been spotted in the sea by a search plane hunting for the missing AirAsia jet.

The billionaire CEO of AirAsia has described the disappearance of flight QZ8501 as his "worst nightmare", as the search for the missing plane resumes.

Fearful friends and relatives of passengers on board the missing AirAsia flight have gathered at emergency centres awaiting news of the search and rescue operation.

162 people on board flight QZ8501 that went missing between Indonesia and Singapore.

A fundraising page has been set up to help Wanganui man Antony de Malmanche pay for a lawyer as he fights drug charges that could lead to a death sentence in Bali.

PM John Key met new Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Myanmar today, and foreign fighters and boat people were on the agenda.

A respected international college where rich UK expatriates send their children is embroiled in a major scandal involving claims of sexual abuse by staff of pupils as young as five

Over the years, Maureen Tolfree has grown used to the lies and obfuscation, the tiny steps of progress followed by further setbacks.

In Bali's hip spot, Katie Furze is torn between watching surfers and protecting her offspring from the local primates.

A haven of traditional culture, Ubud is an hour's drive but a world away from the bustle of Kuta, writes Tamara McLean.

Schapelle Corby's parole will be monitored more strictly and she will get a severe warning after her boyfriend was charged with possessing marijuana.

Indonesian police have charged the boyfriend of convicted Australian drug smuggler after they allegedly caught him carrying drugs on Bali street.

A NZ couple who swam for their lives when the Indonesian ferry they were on sank say their experience should serve as a warning to other travellers.

Two Kiwi tourists who braved 11 hours clinging to their capsized ferry in Indonesia swam in searing heat and swift seas for up to eight more hours.

Two New Zealanders rescued after a boat travelling through eastern Indonesia sank have been identified.

About 200 forensic experts from around the world are identifying the MH17 bodies at a military barracks in a Dutch forest.