October 14, 2006: Although Indonesia received two Russian Su-30 fighters in 2004, it has not yet received weapons for them. This will be taken care of next year, as well as upgrading the Su-30 electronics so that the Russian aircraft can communicate with the other, largely American, aircraft in the air force. Eventually, Indonesia will have a dozen Su-30s, an aircraft roughly similar to the U.S. F-15.
October 13, 2006: In Sulawesi, some children out playing, found a cache of weapons and bomb making materials in a cave. There have been five bombs set off in the area during the last five months. Tensions between Christians and Moslems continues to be high. Islamic radicals remain in the area, urging Moslems to rise up and drive out, or kill, the half of the population that is Christian.
October 12, 2006: Moderate legislators managed to defeat a proposed "pornography" bill that would have jailed women for wearing knee length, or sleeveless dresses. The bill was pushed by Islamic conservatives, who continue to try and replace current laws with Islamic law.
October 10, 2006: Peacekeepers in East Timor are preparing for an outbreak of more violence, as prosecutors get ready to announce the names of the hundred or so people believed responsible for most of the violence over the last six months.
October 11, 2006: Lax prison rules has allowed jailed Islamic terrorists to use their time for recruiting, translating Arab language terrorism material into local languages and keep in touch with terrorist networks outside. Imprisoned terrorists have been caught with laptops (with Internet access) and cell phones. Indonesian prisons have always been pretty lax, especially for celebrities (which the jailed terrorists are), the powerful and the rich.
