Burst Jakarta Dam Kills 50

Grandfather discovers girl looking for home in Indonesia

(NEWSER) - Seven years ago, an 8-year-old girl was pulled from her mother's arms by the tsunami in Indonesia; now, word is she's been discovered alive. An acquaintance brought a 15-year-old girl to her grandfather's home this week; his name—Ibrahim—was the only one she could remember, state news reported. The acquaintance had found the girl in a nearby coffee shop, where she'd been taken for a beggar. More»

Reminiscing comes in profile about his time in Indonesia

(NEWSER) - Barry Obama was just 6 years old when Ann Dunham decided to take him to war-torn Indonesia, and Sunday’s New York Times Magazine examines the reverberations of that decision. On the surface the answer is simple: She was following her second husband, Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian native who’d been called back to serve in the army. But the article offers a revealing look at Dunham’s life there. Some tidbits:

• The young Barack (then Barry) was subject to constant racial discrimination; once, when other children threw rocks at him, Dunham told a friend, “He’s OK. He’s used to it.”
• When Lolo got a job with a US oil company, Dunham refused to socialize with the wealthy American wives of the other execs. She once complained to a friend that Lolo “was becoming more American every day.”
• One former servant for the couple says that Dunham once emerged from an argument with her husband with a bloody nose—though author Janny Scott notes that no one else even hinted at any abuse in the relationship.

Trip offered opportunities for personal moments

(NEWSER) - President Obama finished off his 10-day Asia trip on a personal note, visiting the Great Buddha statue in Japan that he last saw as a 6-year-old boy. “It is wonderful to return to this great treasure of Japanese culture,” he wrote in the guest book. "Its beauty has stayed with me for many years." The 40-foot, 100-ton statue dates to the 1200s. While there, he had green tea ice cream, just as he did when he was a child, Politico reports. More»

America is not at war with Islam, president tells Jakarta audience

(NEWSER) - President Obama called for a fresh beginning with the Muslim world in a speech in Jakarta today. Obama, revisiting the nation where he lived for four years as a boy, praised Indonesia for fighting terrorism and called for both the US and the Islamic world to overcome "suspicion and mistrust" to combat extremists. "Let me begin with a simple statement: Indonesia is part of me" he said in the Indonesian language at the start of his 30-minute speech to a mostly young audience at the University of Indonesia. More»

Indonesian islands weren't covered by warning system

(NEWSER) - An 18-month-old baby was found alive in a clump of trees two days after a tsunami killed more than 400 people in Indonesia. The little boy, who was found by a 10-year-old child, is recovering in a health center, AP reports. Both his parents are dead. Tens of thousands of people in the Mentawai islands were displaced by the tsunami. The official death toll is 408; officials fear hundreds more were swept out to sea. More»