We cannot overstate the critical role that Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) will play in the upcoming presidential election. This is not simply because NU represents the majority of Indonesian Muslims, even those who are not card-carrying members.

Fransiska Nangoy and Bernadette Christina, Jakarta – State utility PLN plans to add 32 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity and invest in grids that would be able to connect to more renewable power sources, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Theresia Sufa, Bogor, West Java – A Javan hawk-eagle has hatched in the Mount Gede Pangrango National Park in Bogor, West Java, according to a report by park officials on Monday.

Sapto Aji Prabowo, the park chief, said monitoring officials observed an egg at an active nest on Aug. 27, and later found that the hawk-eagle (Nisaetus bartelsi) chick had hatched on Saturday.

Made Supriatma – The focus is now on choices for Indonesia's next vice president after Anies Baswedan secured a surprise choice for his running mate in 2024.

Singgih Wiryono, Jakarta – Commemorating 19 years since the assassination of renowned human rights activists Munir Said Thalib on September 7, 2004, human rights activist Usman Hamid along with Once Mekel and the musical group The Blackstones, have launched a song and music video titled "Munir".

Singgih Wiryono, Jakarta – Solidarity Action Committee for Munir (KASUM) Secretary General Bivitri Susanti has expressed frustration with the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), which has made no move to declare the assassination of renowned human rights activists Munir Said Talib a gross human rights violation.

Ilham Oktafian, Jakarta – The Jakarta Police have taken decisive action in the fight against air pollution by establishing a dedicated task force responsible for inspecting factories in the city and surrounding areas.

Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso – Indonesia has declared Sept. 7 this year as "Human Rights Defenders' Protection Day." Nineteen years ago, Munir Said Thalib – Indonesia's staunchest human rights defender – was assassinated on a Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam via Singapore with a lethal dose of arsenic, which was allegedly strong enough to kill two elephants.

Daisy Dumas – Balinese police are investigating the catastrophic failure of a lift that left five hotel workers dead at a resort on Friday.

Isabella Rayner – The Indonesian government has denied claims it intimidated and bribed a Radio New Zealand (RNZ) journalist during a leader's meeting last month.

Basten Gokkon, Jakarta – Environmental policy experts are calling on the presidential hopefuls in Indonesia's election next year to lay out their strategies for moving the country away from fossil fuels and toward cleaner sources of energy.

Tenggara Strategics, Jakarta – After several delays and subsequent controversies, the Greater Jakarta LRT finally commenced official commercial operations on Monday. Within three days of operation, however, the LRT has encountered a series of issues, including train delays, train door malfunctions and sudden power outages leading to abrupt train stops.

Yustinus Paat, Jakarta – The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) on Tuesday criticized Anies Baswedan for a lack of communication after he abruptly picked an outsider as his running mate without prior consultation with two members of the coalition backing his presidential bid.

Arnoldus Kristianus, Jakarta – The Indonesian government is set to follow the lead of India and the United States in prohibiting social media platform TikTok from engaging in e-commerce activities within the country.

The plan is based on concerns of potential business monopoly, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Daniel A. Fajri, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo conducted a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta on Tuesday, September 5, 2023. During the meeting, Jokowi urged Canada to invest its pension fund in Indonesia's State Capital project IKN.

Nur Khasanah Apriliani, Jakarta – Climate and Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace Bondan Andriyanu criticizes several measures carried out by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan to tackle the air pollution issue in Jakarta.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry has spoken out over allegations that the Indonesian delegation at the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Leaders Summit in Port Vila tried to bribe and intimidate a Radio New Zealand (RNZ) journalist in late August.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has declared it will now base itself in the region after years of partial exile.

At a conference in Port Vila late last month – coinciding with the Melanesian Spearhead Group Leaders' Summit – UK-based Benny Wenda stood down as president. Menase Tabuni is now president.

Adhyasta Dirgantara, Jakarta – Former Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Budiman Sudjatmiko has revealed that Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) Chairperson Prabowo Subianto was in fact tortured and lonely because he was an important figure during the New Order regime of former president Suharto.

Liam Scott, Washington – Indonesian security officials on Wednesday attempted to block a White House pool reporter from covering the summit between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, in Jakarta.

Aisyah Llewellyn – How does someone come to sell a kidney? In Indonesia, the answer to that question can be complex.

Muhammad Maulana, Semarang – Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo and his deputy, Taj Yasin Maemoen, bid farewell on Tuesday in front of thousands of local government employees and invited guests who gathered at a soccer stadium in Semarang to see the governor off.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has recognized the rights of 15 Indigenous Dayak communities to forests on Borneo covering a combined area larger than Jakarta.

The nearly 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) is the largest cluster of customary forests ever recognized by the state.

Len Garae – The population of West Papua represented by United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) have an Interim President to succeed Mr. Benny Wenda.

He is Mr. Manase Tabuni, 45, who risked finding his way to attend the recent ULMWP Summit here in Port Vila.

Christian leaders in Indonesia have joined other faith groups to criticize a proposed government plan to control activities in religious worship places for the sake of tackling radicalism, saying it infringes on the constitutional right to freedom of religion.

Antara, Jakarta – The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Forecaster Yasir Prayuna said that 609 hotspots were detected in Sumatra on Monday, September 4, 2023. The number of hotspots has declined from the previous day which recorded 717 hotspots in the area.

Moh. Khory Alfarizi,, Antara, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo met the Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva at Merdeka Palace on Monday, September 4, 2023. The meeting discusses several agendas including the global economic situation and its sluggish movement.

Sella Rizky, Jakarta – Muhaimin Iskandar, chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), failed to comply with a summons from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Tuesday for questioning related to a corruption investigation during his tenure as the manpower minister.

Antara, Jakarta – Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian on Tuesday officially appointed nine acting governors who will serve until the upcoming comprehensive elections next year, where all regional leaders will be elected.

Stanley Widianto and Kate Lamb, Jakarta – Indonesia warned on Tuesday against Southeast Asia's bloc getting dragged into big-power rivalry as leaders gathered for a summit seeking to dispel worry about rifts over peace efforts in Myanmar and to reaffirm the relevance of their disparate group.

Koroi Hawkins – A Radio New Zealand journalist says an Indonesian government official attempted to bribe and intimidate him at the recent 22nd Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders' meeting in Port Vila.

The Indonesian government has responded on Monday saying it will "surely look" into the claims.

Nadine Roberts – Sebby Sambon used to regularly hear from kidnapped Kiwi pilot Phillip Mehrtens' captors but three months ago that stopped.

Mehrtens was taken by the West Papua Liberation Army after members stormed his plane in the Papua province of Indonesia and set it on fire in February.

Jayapura, Jubi – Namantus Gwijangge, a Papuan lawmaker, has called upon the West Papua National Liberation Army Group (TPNPB), led by Egianus Kogoya, to adhere to humanitarian principles and respect the right to life of civilians residing in conflict zones.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has criticised government efforts to overcome air pollution, which is being headed up by Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

Arnoldus Kristianus, Jakarta – Indonesia on Tuesday unveiled the National Task Force for Local Currency Transactions, a strategic initiative aimed at reducing the country's reliance on the US dollar in international transactions while promoting the use of its local currency.

Riani Sanusi Putri, Jakarta – Investment Minister and the Head of Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia along with the Financing and Investment Deputy Board of the IKN Authority attended the ASEAN Investment Forum 2023 with the theme of "Investment for Sustainable Development".

Wamena, Jubi – Human Rights Lawyers Association (PAHAM) Papua demands a thorough and impartial investigation into the death of Michelle Kurisi, a civilian who was tragically killed on August 28, 2023, in Kolawa District, Lanny Jaya Regency, Mountainous Papua Province.

Jakarta – When Indonesia agreed last year to clean up its energy system with an estimated US$20 billion (S$27 billion) of help from a coalition of wealthy countries and large financial institutions, world leaders hailed the deal as "extraordinary," "realistic," and "historically large."

Jayapura, Jubi – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has called on the police to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the murder of Michelle Kurisi Ndoga in Lanny Jaya Regency, Mountainous Papua Province.

Theresia Sufa, Bogor, West Java – Researchers at IPB University in Bogor, West Java, are looking into turning empty palm fruit bunch waste into threads with economic value for the fashion and creative industries.

Siti Nikatin, one of the researchers, said the biomass could be turned into valuable biomaterial for use in shoes, bags and hats, among other products.

Tenggara Strategics, Jakarta – Indonesia made the point of attending the summit of the club of emerging economies known as BRICS in South Africa last week, but it politely turned down an invitation to join the group, which is expanding its membership to strengthen its hand in managing global economic affairs.

Police in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province have detained a man accused of raping minor girls under the guise of healing them amid a surge in sexual violence in the Christian-majority region.

Thomas Barus, a Catholic from Lembor subdistrict in West Manggarai Regency, was arrested on Sept. 2 after angry residents beat him and paraded him half-naked.

Yvette Tanamal, Jakarta – With Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto's vision of a more military-capable Indonesia seemingly dovetailing with the United States' eagerness to forge strong alliances across the Indo-Pacific, analysts are pointing to the inevitability of cozier defense relations, albeit not without some political costs.

Ruth Dea Juwita, Jakarta – The operator of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway (HSR) said it has yet to acquire an operating permit from the government despite President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's intention of inaugurating the flagship project in less than a week.

Yustinus Paat, Jakarta – The coalition of political parties supporting Ganjar Pranowo's presidential nomination reached an agreement on Monday to appoint Arsjad Rasjid, chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), as the leader of the campaign team.

Investor Daily, Jakarta – Indonesia has received a nod from the Cambodian government for the supply of 250,000 tons of rice a year, President Joko Widodo said on Monday.

This development follows India's decision to cease rice exports to Indonesia as part of its national food security policy.

Aditya Hadi, Jakarta – Buy now, pay later (BNPL) schemes, which are an increasingly popular way to complete payments for purchases after the transaction date, have led to a rise in nonperforming loans (NPLs), as many customers fail to complete their payments on time.

Radhiyya Indra, Bangkok – Indonesia is battling an increased number of wildfires, and the haze they bring, as the dry season, which is expected to peak this month, intensifies across the country.

Jakarta – In his celebrated novel, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, the late Czech author Milan Kundera contends that "struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting". This, we imagine, is what the hundreds of thousands of 1965 communist purge survivors and their descendants have gone through over the years.

BTV, Jakarta – Democratic Party Chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono gathered regional chapter leaders on Monday, urging them to embark on a new journey only days after he failed to secure the vice-presidential nomination alongside presidential candidate Anies Baswedan, despite a months-long partnership.