Ferry sinks c. 500 passengers drown
The Senopati ran into trouble off Mandalika island, about 300km north east of the capital, Jakarta, amid heavy storms. Huge waves crashed over the bows as the ship was travelling across the Java Sea from Borneo to the port of Semarang, central Java. In the last radio contact, the captain said that the ferry was damaged and capsizing.
Flash floods kill 260+ in Aceh
More than 200,000 persons are estimated affected by widespread floods since 22 December 2006. The confirmed death tool has been reportedly now above 260 with some people still missing. The United Nations is responding to the request by the Government of Indonesia to provide emergency relief to the regions that have been affected.
SBY tells Lapindo to pay compensation
But just 20% by the end of March will be ok. Lapindo has agreed to respond to the government's request and will pay for the houses, factories and community facilities inundated by the volcanic mudflow they set off. Claims, however, must be backed up with land certificates, which only (!) 10% can be.
Lapindo vice president Yuniwati Teryana, who also heads the public relations division, said Lapindo would only purchase land, buildings and rice fields that have ownership certificates. Those who do not have certificates will be given a two-year grace period to get the certificates in which their houses would be rented by Lapindo. Thus the victims would have received two years rent while waiting for the problem to be solved.
"It's a common practice to buy land or building which has a certificate. The certificate is important to ensure legal ownership and it will help prevent conflict among people," she said.
And so another year of disasters passes .....
Camera footage of the final minutes of Saddam Hussein shows him being taunted by Shia hangmen and witnesses, a scene that risks increasing sectarian tension in Iraq.
A shouts at him to "Go to hell". Saddam, seemingly accusing his enemies of destroying the country he once led, replies: "The hell that is Iraq?"
The US military disclosed that an American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad on Saturday, the 2,999th death since the invasion in 2003. But the website www.icasualties.org, yesterday also listed the death of Specialist Dustin Donica, 22, on December 28 as previously unreported, bringing the total to 3,000.
Although the 3,000 figure is symbolically important for Americans, Iraqis suffer that rate of casualties on a monthly basis.
Wishing you what you wish for yourselves in 2007.
