Kabar Indonesia

The first Christmas Mass held at Jakarta Cathedral went on smoothly on Sunday despite drizzle showering down the Indonesian capital.

The congregation came to the cathedral since 3 p.m. local time while police were on alert outside the 2,000-seat church. The church also deployed 80 security guards, the Antara news agency reported.

The second mass is slated at 7:30 p.m. while the third at 10 p. m.

Jakarta Police deploys 18,000 officers at churches in the capital while tens of thousands are on duty elsewhere across Indonesia.

Police searched worshippers and swept for bombs at churches in Indonesia on Sunday amid warnings by Western nations that Islamic militants may be plotting Christmas attacks.

Indonesian officials downplayed the alerts, which have become something of a tradition themselves since Christmas Eve bombings at churches across the country in 2000 killed 19 people.

Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir said on Friday that a court ruling clearing him of any part in the 2002 Bali bombings was a blow to the West and served as a warning that Western attempts to subjugate Indonesia would fail.

Hundreds of Indonesian women marched through Jakarta today in two rallies for and against polygamy after a popular Islamic cleric took a second wife and sparked heated debate on multiple marriages. A large group of veiled Muslim women supporting polygamy staged sketches on a main city street depicting harmonious relations between two women marrying the same man.

"Polygamy is halal (allowed in Islam). Extramarital affairs are haram (forbidden)," said one of their posters. Moments later, another group of women marched at the same location, shouting anti-polygamy slogans. "One, I love my mother. Two, I love my father. Three, I love my brothers and sisters. One, two, three, I reject polygamy," they chanted to the tune of a well-known children's song.

The protests came after popular cleric Abdullah Gymnastiar took a second wife, prompting fiery discussion about polygamy laws in the world's largest Muslim country where multiple marriages are only banned among civil servants. The turban-clad but leather-jacketed Gymnastiar's announcement led the government to consider extending the ban to lawmakers, a move that sent many legislators leaping to the defence of polygamy, arguing it is allowed under Islam.

Europe: Security officials are worried about terrorist attacks during the holiday season, saying the threat is at the highest level while acknowledging they have not uncovered any specific plots. The concerns stem from perceived Muslim anger about world events this year, the foiling of several terror plots across Europe, and the large numbers of travelers during the holidays. The threat is considered much greater in Europe than in the U.S.

Indonesia: The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta issued a statement reminding Americans that in recent years terrorist attacks have occurred in Jakarta and elsewhere during the Christmas-New Year's holiday season, and urged travelers to remain vigilant. Most of the attacks against Westerners have occurred in Jakarta and on the island of Bali. Thousands of police have been deployed throughout the country to guard Christian churches against possible attacks by the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah. Pickpocketing and drive-by purse-snatching also increase at this time, and sometimes thieves watch people shopping to choose their targets.

A worker uses a steamer to smooth the wrinkles on a large billboard advertisement for a skin care product in Jakarta, Indonesia. Indonesia is struggling to boost its economic growth through foreign investment as a vast capital injection is needed to tackle widespread poverty and unemployment in the world's fourth most populous country.

Dozens of new species of animals and plants including a catfish with protruding teeth and a tree frog with striking bright green eyes have been found in the past year in the forests of Borneo, a WWF report said on Tuesday.

Americans and other Westerners in Indonesia should remain alert to the possibility of militant attacks over the Christmas and New Year period, the US embassy in Jakarta said on Monday.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, has in recent years been hit by a series of bomb blasts blamed on Islamic militants.

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