KUALA LUMPUR - THE Malaysian government has softened an earlier ban on the use of the word 'Allah' by Christian publications to refer to God and is allowing them to use it as long as they specify the material is not for Muslims, a church official said on Thursday.

DENPASAR (Indonesia) - AN AUSTRALIAN man was sentenced to eight years in prison in Indonesia on Thursday for having sex with under-aged boys on the resort island of Bali.

JAKARTA - A SINGAPOREAN Islamist told an Indonesian court on Thursday he had met Osama bin Laden and had tried to recruit Indonesians to follow the Al-Qaeda leader's call to jihad or 'holy war'.

Mohammad Hasan bin Saynudin told the South Jakarta district court he had established a terror cell and passed on bomb-making techniques with a view to carrying out attacks against Christians and Westerners in Indonesia.