The wRap Indonesia: Search for hostages, former minister jailed

JAKARTA, Indonesia – From a former minister being sentenced to jail, to Facebook adding a dislike button, here’s the top news today to start your day.

1. Crane company punished

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman sanctioned the powerful Saudi Binladin Group after concluding it was partly responsible for the collapse of a crane in Mecca’s Grand Mosque that killed at least 107 people.

An investigative commission concluded that the company had not ‘respected the norms of safety’ at the site. The king also gave $3.8 billion compensation to victims from the crane accident. Read more.

2. Former minister jailed

Former Secretary General of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Waryono Karno was sentenced to six years in prison and charged a fine of Rp 300 million.

Waryono was found guilty of corruption during his time in the ministry, and accused of misusing Rp 2 billion. Read more.

3. Companies charged now 7

Seven companies have now been charged for spreading haze to Indonesian provinces and neighboring countries Singapore and Malaysian.

The police is currently investigating 27 companies for deliberately starting fires. The government has yet to name the companies but the president vowed that they would be held legally responsible. Read more.

4. Search for hostages

One week since the kidnapping of two Indonesian loggers, the Papua New Guinea military continues its efforts to find two Indonesian citizens taken hostage by armed groups.

Officials said the military has attempted to rescues the hostages but have been unsuccessful. During the kidnapping, one other person was killed. Read more.

5. Facebook dislike

Facebook, pressed for years by users to add a “dislike” button, announced it was working on the feature and will be testing it soon.

“We’ve finally heard you,” CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg told a public town hall meeting in Facebook’s hometown of Menlo Park, California. A question submitted online by a user asked the oft-repeated question of why there were no buttons along the lines of “I’m sorry”, “interesting” or “dislike” in addition to the classic thumbs-up “like” button, through which users show their support for posts by friends, stars and brands on the social network. Read more. – Rappler.com