Explosions Rock 2 Hotels in Indonesia; 8 Dead

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»

Country to present boyhood flick to pres. in June

(NEWSER) - Indonesia will have a special present for President Obama when he visits in June: a movie about his years living in Jakarta. Little Obama tells the story of the president's life from ages 6 to 10, when he lived there with his mother and Indonesian stepfather. "It's about his friendships, his hobbies, just a childhood story," the screenwriter tells the AP . "It's not about politics, it's just the story of a boy." More»

Cigarette vendor gave them food, shelter, death

(NEWSER) - The serial rape and murder of 14 young Jakarta street boys by a cigarette vendor has shocked a nation where such attacks are almost unheard of. The vendor—known as Babe, or father, to the boys he lured with food and a comfortable place to stay—killed boys as young as 9, in some cases sexually assaulting them after they were murdered. The killings have highlighted the plight of some 12,000 Jakarta street kids, who are often kicked out of their poverty stricken homes to make their own way. More»