Torrential rains across Indonesia triggered a pair of fatal landslides in Sumatra and another one in Bogor on the weekend and prompted flood evacuations in parts of Kalimantan, reigniting debate over the causes for wet-season fatalities.
In the latest incident, seven people were killed and three injured in a landslide in Agam, West Sumatra, early on Sunday.
Arya Dipa, Bandung – Around 200 members of the Banua Niho Keriso Protestan (BNKP) or the Nias Protestan Church in Bandung, West Java, were unable to conduct Sunday service following local residents forbidding the use of a house on Jl. Cibuntu in Bandung Kidul district for any religious activities.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is under growing pressure to raise fuel prices and curb oil imports as currency risks persist and the window to act narrows ahead of elections in 2014.
Farouk Arnaz & Banjir Ambarita – While cold, hard cash is typically the preferred medium of exchange for kidnappers the world over, an armed group in Papua has given new meaning to the phrase "bringing home the bacon."
Amid all the controversy on illegal wives and polygamy is the silent hope among some women – the hope for a spouse, one way or the other. "If polygamy is banned, what about me?" asked one single mother.
Banjir Ambarita – Papua Armed Forces Chief Maj. Gen. Christian Zebua said on Monday that they have learned of plans to disrupt the provincial gubernatorial polls this week.
Spiritual leaders say that religious-based clashes in Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, have highlighted the inability of the government to address the root causes of conflicts that have plagued the country in recent years.
Jakarta – Urban planners are urging the central government and the Jakarta administration to leave behind their old-fashioned ways to counter the capital's endemic flooding problem and to start looking for eco-friendly solutions.
Jakarta – Indonesia's army special forces (Kopassus) and Japan's self-defense forces army will continue to develop their cooperation to later even cover natural disaster mitigation.
The Australia West Papua Association congratulates the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) on the official launching of its Silver Jubilee celebrations in Port Vila on the 28 January. We also congratulate the MSG on its past successes and on it's increasing importance around the Pacific region.
Markus Junianto Sihaloho & SP/Robertus Wardi – They can sing, dance, act and walk the runway, but the question on voters' minds is whether they represent the people and can pass quality legislation.
Fitri, Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara – Advocates of ethnic and religious tolerance have demanded that police immediately bring to justice those responsible for instigating an attack on Tuesday against an ethnic Balinese community in West Nusa Tenggara's Sumbawa district.
Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The House of Representatives should be stripped of its power to select members of important state commissions such as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to avoid conflicts of interest, experts say.
Sulthoni Farras is a worker that became a victim of layoffs at a company in the capital city of Jakarta when the crisis hit in 1998. Despite this, he continued with the struggle by building the cross-sector union that later became the union Federation Progresip under the confederation KASBI.
Banjir Ambarita & Camelia Pasandaran – Jayapura/Jakarta. Indonesian authorities have announced the surrender of more than 200 members of the Free Papua Organization (OPM), but human rights activists aired doubts about the claim.
A group that had crossed the Papuan border to join the Free Papua Movement (OPM) led by Daniel Kogoya in Papua New Guinea (PNG) have handed over three firearms to the Cenderawasih Military Command chief Maj. Gen. Christian Sebua at the Muara Tami district office in Jayapura.
Jakarta – The National Police on Friday defended their plan to spend Rp 1.366 trillion (US$140 million) for a number of procurements including the purchase of seven horses and 90 dogs that would cost Rp 16.65 billion alone.
Tito Summa Siahaan – Frustrated over the low realization of investment commitment in the exploration of oil and gas sector, the government will tighten its supervision over oil and gas companies' activities in the country, aiming to single out obscure firms.
Nurfika Osman, Jakarta – Indonesian Logistics Association (ALI) has predicted that logistics costs in the country will increase by about 3 percent this year following a rise in port fees resulting from port operators' service expansion.
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The NasDem Party's first national congress in Jakarta on Friday was filled with uplifting and encouraging remarks from the fledgling party's leaders in the face of an internal rift that could lead to the resignation of thousands of members.
The congress, which will last until Sunday, was opened by party chairman Patrice Rio Capella.
East Timor's former justice minister Lucia Lobato is in jail, after losing her last appeal against corruption charges. She was sentenced to five years in prison over contracts for prison equipment that were given to her husband.
Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – The Religious Affairs Ministry's office in Blitar, East Java, has finally recommended the closure of six Catholic schools for refusing to provide Islamic teaching for their Muslim students.
Office head, Imam Mukhlis, said his office had recommended Blitar Mayor Samanhudi Anwar take legal action based on existing regulations against the schools.
Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – In what could be seen as a triumph of the online movement against misogyny, the House of Representatives on Wednesday left out rape joke judge Muhammad Daming Sunusi from the list of eight candidates who had passed the fit and proper test for Supreme Court justice positions.
Ina Parlina and Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono again called for religious tolerance in the country, a demand that will ring hollow among members of the Sampang Shia community who are now living in destitution following the government's failure to protect their rights.
Nurdin Hasan – Women's rights activists in Aceh have urged the chief of police in Simeulue district to show more seriousness in addressing a case in which three policemen allegedly drugged and raped a 19-year-old woman.
Former Justice Minister Lucia Lobato has begun serving her five year prison sentence inside Gleno Prison.
Dili District Police officers arrested former Minister of Justice Lucia Lobato after the Court of Appeal sentenced her to five years in prison to be served at the women's jail in Gleno, Ermera.
The residence of the Minister of Finance, Emilia Pires, which is of luxurious architecture, clearly demonstrates discrimination between the incumbent Minister of Finance and other members of the government.
James Balowski, in Jakarta – Ignoring outrage and mockery at home and overseas, a town in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh is pressing ahead with a by-law banning female passengers from straddling motorcycles on the grounds that doing so reveals a woman's "curves".
Jakarta – The government officially started its campaign to strike off three zeros from the rupiah on Wednesday, with top officials expressing their optimism that the "redenomination" would make the economy more efficient without sparking inflation.
Nurfika Osman and Raras Cahyafitri, Jakarta – As the government has withheld its approval for PT Pegadaian and PT Pos Indonesia to debut on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), it is almost certain that there will be no state-owned companies floating their shares this year.
The National Police Commission has criticized law enforcers' recent naming of a woman as a suspect in a traffic accident in Banyumas, Central Java, that killed her 11-year-old daughter and rendered the woman herself disabled.
Chris Brummitt, Jakarta, Indonesia – Cheering crowds greeted the new leader of this Asian megacity as he toured its flooded business district atop a handcart typically used to haul garbage. Men, women and children waded through dirty water to shake his hand, shout greetings and hear his vague promises that their lives will get better.
Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Representatives of displaced Shia adherents from Sampang, East Java, met with presidential advisor on human rights Albert Hasibuan on Wednesday to convey their grievances after being "abandoned" by the Sampang regental administration at a poorly equipped shelter.
A last ditch attempt by Lucia Lobato to appeal against a decision to sentence her to five years imprisonment over corruption has been rejected by the Court of Appeals, Timor-Leste's highest court (Radio Liberdade).
Dion Bisara – Foreign direct investment in Indonesia accelerated in the final quarter of last year due in part to investment in the metal, machinery and electronics industries.
The President of the Republic Taur Matan Ruak has criticized the quality of domestic public works projects that the government contracted private companies to undertake because they are of poor quality and because of this it is development that is akin to just throwing money out onto the rubbish heap.
Yoseph Kelen, Kupang – Police in the East Nusa Tenggara island district of Lembata are closely monitoring a group who have syncretized various religions and are suspected of spreading deviant religious teachings.
Muhamad Rizki, Jakarta – National Anti-Narcotics Board (BNN) public relations division head Sumirat Dwiyanto says that Timor Leste is still considered a crucial point of entry for drug trafficking into Indonesia. The country is often used as transit destination before the drugs are smuggled into Indonesia.
Papuan civilians around Timika have again been made wary of military provocations that may potentially revive a bloody horizontal conflict, after a former Freeport mine worker's mutilated body was found in a roadside trench on January 19.
Bandung – The Bandung State Court has decided to add one more year to the prison term of Sebastian Joe, who was sentenced to four years imprisonment for blasphemy of Islam by the Ciamis District Court in West Java.
Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – With various pollsters predicting a gloomy outlook in the upcoming elections, Muslim-based political parties are preparing strategies to appeal to the country's increasingly secular voters.
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the largest Islamic party, said it would focus on boosting its performance and image as a clean party.
Kusumasari Ayuningtyas, Klaten, C. Java – Some 2,000 tobacco farmers and artisans in Klaten regency, Central Java, staged a rally on Tuesday demanding that the government revise Articles 10 and 11 of Government Regulation (PP) No 109/2012 on the security of materials containing addictive ingredients, as the rule could threaten their livelihoods.
Edio Guterres and Ivo Mateus Goncalves, Dili – The euphoria of the Christmas and New Year period has settled in Timor Leste as the country enters a new era. Having celebrated different historical moments in its history throughout the year, Timor Leste bid farewell to 2012 and in doing so made history.
Mariel Grazella, Dili – Indonesia and Timor Leste are keen for Indonesian state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to invest in Timor Leste to accelerate economic and infrastructure development, officials agreed recently.
State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said that he wanted to see more state-owned enterprises expand into Timor Leste, Indonesia's erstwhile province.
Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Islamic clerics in Aceh have demanded that the three police officers in the Simeulue district, who allegedly drugged and raped a 19-year-old woman, be caned for the reported offense.
SP/Edi Hardum – Legislators have urged Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar to crack down on officials who extort illegal fees from migrant workers returning from overseas.
Tasikmalaya – Thirty six followers of Ahmadiyah "converted" to Sunni Islam during a ceremony conducted at Agung grand mosque in Tasikmalaya, West Java, on Thursday.
"We really appreciate the move from those former Ahmadiyah followers," said Tasikmalaya Religious Affairs Ministry office head Dadang Romansyah.
[Lecture by Sidney Jones at International Policy Studies program of Stanford University, 5 December 2012, as amended 22 January 2013.]
Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Chairman of the House of Representatives' Commission II on regional autonomy Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa has asked the General Elections Commission (KPU) to be lenient with regard to the 30 percent quota for female membership of political parties contesting in the 2014 legislative election.
Jakarta – The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) is bucking a United Nation's campaign to ban female circumcision, demanding that the government keep the practice legal.
MUI deputy secretary-general Amirsyah Tambunan told reporters at a press conference on Monday that the government should continue to allow female circumcision, calling it a constitutional right.