Jakarta news stories on Newser

Indonesian Cops Nix Lady Gaga Concert

Rob Quinn — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:31:00 CDT

Religious fanatics appear to have made the world's biggest Muslim country a no-go for Gaga. Police in Indonesia have refused Lady Gaga a permit for her sold-out Jakarta concert, saying they would be unable to guarantee her safety following threats from an extremist group , reports the Guardian . The chief of...

Bodies Found at Site of Russian Jet Wreck

Rob Quinn — Thu, 10 May 2012 06:17:46 CDT

The wreckage of a Russian passenger jet that vanished over Indonesia during a demonstration flight yesterday has been located on the side of a volcano south of Jakarta, and rescuers have spotted bodies. Helicopter crews spotted wreckage on a cliff on the side of Mount Salak at an elevation of...

Muslim Group Vows to Stop Gaga Concert

Mary Papenfuss — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:28:57 CDT

Conservative Muslims' latest holy war is being waged against Lady Gaga and her Indonesia tour. The extremist Islamic Defenders’ Front (FPI) accuses Gaga of promoting devil worship, and has vowed to mobilize 30,000 protesters to intercept her at the Jakarta airport so she can't perform next month at the...

Russian Jet Vanishes Mid-Flight

Kevin Spak — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:53:29 CDT

A Russian Sukhoi SuperJet-100 disappeared during a demonstration flight in Indonesia today, vanishing from radar screens while it was still at high altitudes and failing to land at its appointed time. The plane was last heard from when it requested, and was granted, permission to descend from 10,000 feet...

Obama Reflects on Dogged, Flawed Mom

Kevin Spak — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:05:42 CDT

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...

Obama Relives Childhood Memories as Asia Trip Ends

Evann Gastaldo — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 14:14:05 CST

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...

Obama: 'Indonesia Is Part of Me'

Rob Quinn — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 05:48:43 CST

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"...

Indonesia Brings Little Obama to the Screen

Nick McMaster — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:55:00 CDT

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,...

Serial Rape, Murder of Street Kids Shatters Jakarta

Mary Papenfuss — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:10:00 CST

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...