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BANGKOK, 2 November 2010 (IRIN) - Concurrent disasters experienced in Indonesia in the week of 25 October - a volcano in central Java and an earthquake and tsunami off the southern coast of Sumatra - underscore the unique challenges this archipelago nation faces.

“I am surprised that the authors could arrive at such a strong conclusion from such inconclusive data,” said Stephen Miller, a professor of geodynamics and geothermics at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland who has published findings in support of the earthquake hypothesis. “All science screams that Lusi is natural.”

Mahkamah konstitusi is the highest court in Indonesia that rules on the constitutionality of laws & regulations passed by government bodies.

The end may be near for an erupting mud volcano that has wreaked havoc in Indonesia. In a few years, the volcano will spew just 10 percent as much mud as it does today, scientists predict.

Ever since it first erupted in 2006, the mud volcano Lusi in East Java has not stopped gushing grey mud and has swallowed at least 12 villages. A new study estimates that it won't stop for decades to come.

TANAH KARO, Indonesia ? Tens of thousands of people packed emergency shelters Monday after a long-dormant volcano in western Indonesia spewed clouds of hot ash and smoke more than a mile (several kilometers) into the air ? an eruption that caught scientists off-guard.

Since it roared to life in May 2006, a mud volcano near Indonesia's coastal city of Sidoarjo has swallowed homes, rice paddies, factories, and roads, killing 15 people, displacing 40,000, and harming the livelihoods of many more. As the ongoing eruption nears its 5th anniversary, observers wonder whether it will ever stop. The answer: Not anytime soon. A new study predicts the volcano will continue spewing significant amounts of mud for another 2 decades. A second study forecasts that it could grind on as long as 87 years.

Earthquake, not drilling, likely caused 2006 eruption in Java.

Indonesia’s antigraft body intensified its investigation into the disgraced head of upstream oil and gas regulator SKKMigas, adding an additional charge of money laundering to the growing docket of Rudi Rubiandini, a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) official said on Thursday.

Oil and gas company Minarak Lapindo Jaya said on Wednesday that all victims of the mudflow disaster in East Java would be fully compensated by the end of May.