Jakarta - Indonesian stocks dropped by more than 4 per cent Tuesday, counter to the rebound experienced by most Asian markets, while the country's currency fell sharply to reach its lowest since July 2001.

The Jakarta Composite Index fell to a new low, closing at 1,111.39, down 55.02 points, or 4.72 per cent.

Indonesian President Susilo Bamband Yudhoyono said that he might outline steps to help the embattled rupiah later Tuesday.

"We will do everything to save our economy," Yudhoyono told reporters, without saying what steps he had in mind. He added that Bank Indonesia and economic advisors were in a meeting to discuss measures to help the local currency.

Jakarta, Oct 28 : The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) is planning to report to the police a rich Muslim cleric in Semarang, Central Java, who married a 
12-year-old girl, accusing him of having illegal sex with a minor.

KPAI secretary Hadi Supeno said on Sunday that the commission’s fact-finding team sent to Semarang at the weekend found that cleric Pujiono Cahyo Widianto, 43, owner and head of an Islamic boarding school there, had married and very likely slept with 12-year-old Lutfiana Ulfa. 

“According to the girl’s parents and some witnesses, the marriage between Pujiono and Lutfiana is valid according to religion (kawin siri), but it is not registered with the state,” The Jakarta Post quoted Hadi, as saying. 

Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian marine police have detained 43 Indonesians for attempting to enter the country illegally by boat in the eastern Sabah state on Borneo island, an official news report said Tuesday.

Police detained the immigrants early Tuesday during river patrols, said district marine police chief Husaini Zainal Abidin.

"A check on a boat found that the passengers comprising 14 men, 13 women and eight children had no travel documents," Husaini was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

He said eight others who did have travel documents were also detained for further questioning.

The 21-year-old boat captain and his two assistants, all believed to be Malaysian, were also detained.

Jakarta - Indonesian stock

Jakarta - An undersea earthquake registering 6.4 on the Richter scale struck off Indonesia's north Sulawesi province Sunday afternoon, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage, the governmental seismology agency said.

The quake struck at 4:08 pm Jakarta time (0908 GMT) with an epicentre about 91 kilometres south-west of Gorontalo on Sulawesi, Indonesia's National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said. It occurred at about 32 kilometres below sea level.

Jakarta, Oct 24 : The three Islamic militants convicted of the 2002 Bali bombings will be executed in early November.

According to news. com. au, a spokesman for Indonesia''s Attorney General''s office said they would be shot dead in their prison on Nusakambangan Island, off Central Java, where their high-security jail is located.

The spokesman also indicated that the Attorney General did not believe there were valid grounds for any further legal appeals by the three convicted - Amrozi, his brother Mukhlas and Imam Samudra.