These tweets were taken as an insult to both Islam and the prophet, and caused an influx of Twitter responses condemning the messages. In Saudi Arabia, blasphemous statements about Islam or its prophet are illegal and punishable by death. The result of Kashgari’s comments saw an outcry for his execution and led him to flee the country in fear for his life. Attempting to make it to New Zealand, he was stopped in Malaysia, which is strongly Islamic in its beliefs. The young journalist was placed under arrest for his comments and four days later was returned to Saudi Arabia to face trial. Kashgari has apologized for his comments and will be hoping to avoid the death sentence for what he said on the social networking site.

The building collapsed during the 2011 6.3 magnitude earthquake and was responsible for two-thirds of the deaths that resulted from the quake. Details of the report have been passed on to the local police who will be performing an in-depth investigation. The current head of Alan Reay Consultants Ltd., the engineering firm that built the building, claims that the report was “technically inadequate” and that some of the assumptions were highly questionable.

The original death toll of the 2011 earthquake had 181 victims, but the ongoing investigation review has recently increased this number to 185. It is possible that had the building been assessed as unsafe before the event and torn down the death toll would have been much less. The ramifications of these latest reports and the ongoing investigation could be massive for all those involved in the construction and maintenance of the building.

With the possibility of full financial disclosure, wives can now see if money is being spent in suspicious ways such as on extra-marital affairs. The move is being met with a general attitude of acceptance by most civil servants as often the wife runs the family’s finances. This change will help weed out those few workers who keep how much they earn secret from their spouses. In cases where civil servants have more than one wife, which is accepted in the region, the pay will go to the account of his legal wife. For a marriage to be legal in Indonesia it must be registered with both the religious affairs office and civil registry office. The new transparency law will go into effect beginning in March, 2012 in northern Indonesia.

It is estimated that this will lead to more than two thousand more trees a month, and of course will naturally lead to the families of Sumatra treasuring their trees all the more highly. Upon registration each couple will receive two seedlings, which are theirs to plant where they choose.

Indonesia once had the largest forests in south-eastern Asia, but years of lumbering, forest fires, and overpopulation have taken a severe toll. According to United Nations observers, Indonesia lost almost seventy-five thousand square miles of forest a year from 2000 to 2005. That’s an area bigger than the entire state of Florida that was gone every year, with all the attendant problems of deforestation, pollution, and erosion. The muslim community feel that the legacy of this exploitation directly threatens the presence of human life on their island, or even the existence of their island at all. Tying the future of their young couples to the life of the land is a brilliant maneuver to help the island of Sumatra thrive.

Footage from Indonesian abattoirs showing animal cruelty resulted in Australia placing a ban on live exports a year ago in an attempt to improve animal treatment in Indonesia. After a new set of standards and rules was drawn up by Australia for Indonesian abattoirs to follow, the ban was lifted. Tension was caused between Indonesia and Australia at the time with Indonesia’s Minister of Agriculture complaining the move was unfair. This export issue makes this most recent infringement within Australia’s own abattoirs all the more embarrassing. Indonesia’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture has steered clear of commenting on this new scandal, saying only that it is a matter for Australia to deal with themselves. The animal rights groups who formerly protested the Indonesian abattoirs are now pointing their anger internally and being openly critical of Australia’s own system.