Canadian Teacher In Indonesia Convicted Of Child Sexual Abuse

 The Canadian Press
An Ontario teacher found guilty Thursday of sexually abusing three children at an Indonesian school said he will appeal the decision.

A three-judge panel sentenced Neil Bantleman, of Burlington, Ont., to 10 years in prison.

"Today is completely a miscarriage of justice," Bantleman told The Associated Press. "I'll keep fighting."

The court also ordered Bantleman, 45, to pay a fine of nearly $10,000 or serve six additional months in jail.

"The defendant has deliberately committed violence and obscene acts," the judges said in their verdict.

Missing AirAsia spotted in sea by search plane

Looks like the AirAsia flight that went missing early yesterday morning may be at the bottom of the sea. Indonesian officials say a search plane hunting for the missing plane have spotted objects in the sea believed to be wreckage from the plane which was carrying 155 passengers and 7 crew members.

An Australian Orion aircraft early this morning detected suspicious objects near Nangka island, about 160 kilometres south-west of Pangkalan Bun, near central Kalimantan, which is about 1,120 kilometres from the location where the plane lost contact while an Indonesian helicopter saw two oily spots in the search area a few hours later, this is according to Indonesian officials.

Experts believe that the aircraft was likely flying too slow to avoid a thunderstorm they encountered and this caused the plane to stall and crash.

Air Asia plane with 162 on board goes missing in Indonesia

This file photograph taken on February 15, 2012 show an AirAsia plane taking off from Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta.AFP/Getty Images

Ali Kotarumalos And Margie Mason The Associated Press
A massive sea search was underway for an AirAsia plane that disappeared Sunday while flying from Indonesia to Singapore with 162 people on board through airspace possibly thick with dense storm clouds, strong winds and lightning, officials said.

More than 12 hours later, shocked family members huddled at the Surabaya airport from where the Airbus A320 had taken off, awaiting any news of the jetliner operated by an airline whose parent company is based in Malaysia. It is the third incident involving Malaysia this year following two of the worst aviation tragedies that hit Malaysia Airlines — in March Flight 370 disappeared with 239 people and in July Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on it.

Indonesia and Singapore launched a search and rescue operation for Flight 8501 near Belitung island in Java Sea over which the jetliner lost contact with ground traffic control, about 42 minutes after taking off from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city. The flight had completed a little less than half of its journey time to Singapore.

Tragic! 32 die, 76 missing in central Indonesia mudslide

Indonesian soldiers and rescue team members lift a cattle trapped in the mud after a landslide hit the village of Sampang in Banjarnegara on Dec.

Rescuers pulled more bodies from the debris today after heavy rain in central Indonesia loosened soil and collapsed a hill, setting off a landslide that killed at least 32 villagers and left 76 others missing under piles of mud, The Times of India reports.

About 2,000 rescuers, including soldiers, police and volunteers, were digging through the mud and the wreckage of crumpled homes, getting some relief from clear weather following days of heavy rain. Excavators, meanwhile, shoved aside earth and the remains of decimated wooden homes.

Residents of Jemblung village in Central Java province’s Banjarnegara district said they heard a roaring sound followed by the raining down of red soil that buried more than 100 houses late Friday.

Thirsty! African and Indonesia women 'dry' their vaginas with sand and bleach to make sex more pleasurable for men

Some women in Central Africa, South Africa, and Indonesia go through harmful practices to “dry” their vaginas because of a cultural belief that doing so increases the sexual pleasure of men they sleep with.

According to Daily Mail, these women insert materials like sand, chalk, pulverized rock, herbs, sponges, or paper before sexual intercourse. In addition, they douse their privates in bleach, alcohol, detergents, antiseptics. Women in Java, Indonesia are said to “smoke out” their privates, by standing over burning herbs.

In addition to the belief that the practice will give men pleasure, it is also believed that the dryness will make the vagina firmer, as men are thought to reject women whose privates have been “stretched out” due to sex.

World Aids Day Photo

 Indonesian activists wear masks and hold red ribbons during an AIDS day campaign at a street in Surabaya, Indonesia, 01 December 2014. Dozens of activists staged a rally to mark the International AIDS day in several cities in the country.  EPA/FULLY HANDOKO

WTF! Indonesia police force female recruits to undergo 'virginity tests'

According to Human Rights Watch, the organization fighting to get the practice abolished - female police recruits who make only 3% of the country's police force, are being forced to take 'virginity test' before they begin training.

The Indonesia police recruitment website says, ‘All women who want to become policewomen should keep their virginity."

The female police officers who have undergone this test, which examines them to make sure their hymens are still intact, say its ‘painful, traumatic and really upsetting’ and are asking that it be stopped.

"I feared that after they performed the test I would not be a virgin any more. It really hurt. My friend even fainted because … it really hurt, really hurt.’ a recruit told HRW

Human Rights Watch say they are working with the government to get rid of the practice as its ‘discriminatory and a form of gender-based violence’.