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Indonesia

Indonesian gold rush puts sport centre stage

Indonesia struck gold on the first full day of competition at the Southeast Asian Games, with a flurry of first places providing a timely distraction from the chaotic run-up to the competition.
The hosts had bagged 22 golds by late Saturday, nearly half the total up for grabs after two days competition, giving them [...]

Read More » No commentNovember 13, 2011

Indonesian court slashes radical cleric’s sentence

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A radical Islamic cleric accused of setting up a terror training camp in western Indonesia had his prison sentence slashed from 15 years to nine years, an appeals court said Wednesday. No reason was given for the decision.
Abu Bakar Bashir, known as the spiritual leader of al-Qaida-linked militants blamed for [...]

Gunmen kill three at Freeport’s Indonesia mine

Gunmen shot dead three people on Friday at a strike-hit gold and copper mine in Indonesia, its US operator said, raising the number of killings this month at the troubled facility to eight.
“Unidentified gunmen opened fire and three people were killed and one was wounded”, Ramdani Sirait, a spokesman for Freeport’s Indonesian [...]

Freeport halts work at troubled Indonesia mine

Work at an American-owned gold and copper mine in eastern Indonesia was halted Monday for “safety” reasons, officials said, after striking workers blocked access to mining operations.
More than 8,000 of Freeport McMoRan’s 23,000 workers at the mine, near the town of Timika, have been on strike since September 15, demanding better wages and the company has been using contracted workers to meet [...]

Thai leads in Indonesia after birdie run

Thailand’s Somsak Khaoprathum made four birdies in a row to lead a tournament for the first time in his fledgling career, ending the opening day of the Palembang Musi Championship on six-under-par 66.
The 24-year-old from Bangkok reached the turn in one under before embarking on a five-under-par back nine — including four back-to-back birdies from the 14th [...]

Amnesty urges Indonesia to probe ‘deadly force’ at mine

Rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Indonesia to investigate the use of “deadly force” by police who shot dead one protester and injured six others at a mining protest.
Indonesian security forces opened fire Monday on workers striking over wages at a mine run by US company Freeport McMoRan in remote Papua [...]

AP Enterprise: Global Islamic group rising in Asia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The chanting crowd at the radical Muslim protest in Indonesia stood out for its normalcy: smartly dressed businessmen, engineers, lawyers, smiling mothers, scampering children.
At a time when al-Qaida seems to be faltering, the recruitment of such an educated, somewhat mainstream following is raising fears that Hizbut Tahrir, an enigmatic global movement, could prove more [...]

18 dead in Indonesian plane crash

All 18 people aboard a plane that crashed on Indonesia’s Sumatra island were found dead on Saturday, an official said, after two days of hampered efforts to reach the remote jungle site.
Hopes that some on board the aircraft might be alive had been raised when a victim’s mother reported that her daughter had called her from [...]

Homemade bomb found after Indonesia suicide attack

Indonesian police on Monday said it found a home-made bomb in Ambon, a city with a history of major sectarian violence, a day after a suicide bomber attacked a packed church in Central Java province.
National police spokesman Anton Bachrul Alam told reporters that the bomb was found near a church in Ambon, and is investigating [...]

Read More » No commentSeptember 27, 2011

Islamic healing is on the rise in Southeast Asia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A 47-year-old housewife who recently started using Islamic alternative cures emerged tearfully from an exorcism, speaking of newfound tranquility after a turbulent time in her life. Also, her abdominal pains are finally easing.
Suratmi, who suffers from an ovarian cyst, has been taking a mix of herbal treatments harking back to the [...]

Read More » No commentSeptember 26, 2011