Amongst those injured (& killed) in the Bali bombings of the 1st October, were a number of people from Newcastle, New South Wales, where I live. Some of those injured were prominent locally: one was the head of a substantial construction firm, another the head of a very large law firm, with offices in several cities & towns. None of those involved were known to me personally, but Newcastle has many of the characteristics of a small town & many people will be affected, directly & indirectly.

What happened: A group of parents & children were on a joint holiday in Bali. Most of the children (of all ages) attend a well-known Catholic school in Newcastle. Parents were waiting for dinner to be served at a beach restaurant, when the suicide bombings occurred. Many of the children were, fortunately, at the hotel. Many of those injured are still seriously ill in hospitals in Bali, Singapore, & Darwin (in the Northern Territory in Australia.)

Indonesians were, of course, the largest single group amongst those hurt & killed. There were Japanese, Koreans, one or two Americans; -- more information will, of course, emerge shortly.

The President of Indonesia condemned the bombings, as did senior Muslim clerics in Australia. The bombings are, of course, purely political: the group involved want to overthrow the present -- relatively less ‘Islamic’ -- regime in Indonesia, & have a strict ‘Islamic’ government instead:- as _they_ define ‘Islamic’. And once again, innocent people are caught in the political crossfire & suffer grievously -- because someone wants political power, -- because of all that power brings.