Canberra – Australia staked its claim Tuesday to its vast undersea continental shelf, asking the United Nations to grant it rights to minerals and other resources under a tract equivale

Sandra O'Malley, Canberra – Australian spies are revealing secrets to Indonesia, according to one former spy, amid revelations Indonesian agents bugged politicians, the military and Aus

Sydney – Two former Indonesian presidents expressed reservations about Canberra-Jakarta relations Sunday, as Indonesia's former intelligence chief revealed his spies had tapped Australi

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – In a bid to attract badly needed foreign investment, the government is aiming to drastically reduce the time needed for investors to obtain their necessary licen

Jakarta – The Indonesian police have launched a criminal investigation into the death of rights campaigner Munir two months ago after a Dutch hospital reported finding excessive amounts

Jakarta – Governor Sutiyoso insists that his administration will go ahead with the plan to demolish the Tanah Abang textile market, although the City Council has established a special t

Jakarta – A survey showed yesterday that many Indonesians support the implementation of strict Islamic law.

Ricky Binihi – Vanuatu chiefs at the recent Melanesian Trust conference held in Tanna have unanimously agreed with other Melanesian representatives that Independence is a God-given righ

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The government has extended the state of civil emergency in Aceh, but is still undecided for how long the extension will last and what areas of the prov

Derwin Pereira – Indonesia's trouble-prone regions are flaring up yet again, casting a shadow over President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's three-week-old administration.

Rusman, Samarinda – A wooden vessel maneuvered to dock at a pier on Mahakam Ulu River, Kutai Kartanegara regency, East Kalimantan, the sound of its whistle wailing far and wide.

Semarang, Cairo – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is considering embracing separatist groups in Aceh and Papua (Irian Jaya) in order to collectively develop the Unitary State of the

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Fearing a massive influx of migrants after the Idul Fitri holiday, Governor Sutiyoso again warned would-be job seekers against coming to the city.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court was established in 2003 to provide legal certainty in the face of conflicting laws, but its ruling on Papua's division on Thu

Jayapura – Papuan rebels went on a rampage in Puncak Jaya regency causing Rp 19 billion in damages, a top government official said on Thursday.

Oct. 4, 1999: Law No. 45/1999 issued to establish West Irian Jaya and Central Irian Jaya provinces, the regencies of Paniai, Mimika and Puncak Jaya, and the Sorong mayoralty. Jan.

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A Dutch autopsy has found that arsenic poisoning killed a high-profile Indonesian human rights campaigner on a flight to Amsterdam two months ago.

Jakarta – The Central Jakarta administration will evict hundreds of street vendors from Jl. Kramat Raya and Jl. Salemba soon after the Idul Fitri holiday.

Jakarta – After months of speculation, the new government confirmed on Thursday it would reduce the fuel subsidy for next year, making a hike in domestic fuel prices in the near future

Jakarta – Indonesia would have to cut energy subsidies at the beginning of next year despite probable protests unless oil prices retreat, Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said on yesterday.

Jakarta – Bank lending this year is expected to grow by more than 20 percent, partly driven a by steady but slow improvement in the domestic business climate, Bank Indonesia deputy gove

The saga over the massive corruption case at Bank BNI has taken a new turn this week with new allegations of bribery and extortion between the suspects and their investigators.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – The Jakarta administration said on Wednesday it had locked up 6,943 people in a crackdown on homeless people, beggars, street urchins, sex workers and other me

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – A number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) urged the government on Wednesday to immediately relocate people living near Buyat Bay in North Sulawesi follow

Jakarta – Indonesia plans to issue a new law to crack down on rampant smuggling which has hit commodity prices, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said yesterday.

Pandaya, Jakarta – In recent years Indonesia has sadly been witnessing a wide variety of religious conflicts that have corroded the glue that keeps this multiethnic, multi-religious nat

Kurniawan Hari and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – At least Rp 1.35 billion (US$150,000) in taxpayers money will be wasted as the House of Representatives prepares to deliberate 36 of

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Commissions of the House of Representatives held their first hearings on Wednesday – nearly a month after it went into session – seeming to indicate that the H

Surabaya – The East Java chapter of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) will propose that the country's largest Muslim organization establish a new political party to accommodate the interests of its

Jakarta – It is hoped that the government can resolve the conflict in Aceh peacefully in the lead up to the end of the period of civil emergency on November 18.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The Indonesian Government has barred all foreign journalists from the troubled provinces of Aceh and Papua, the first such ban for at least four years.

Tiarma Siboro and Adianto P.

Veronica Brooks, Canberra – East Timor's government must return to the negotiating table with more realistic expectations if a protracted maritime boundary dispute between Australia and

Jakarta – Two oil and gas firms plan to make new investments next year in what seems to be a positive development in the country's oil and gas sector, which has seen output declining du

Jon Afrizal, Jambi – Dozens of farmers in Tungkalulu district, West Tanjungjabung regency, Jambi province, ran amok on Wednesday at an oil palm plantation, destroying several security p

Jakarta – Indonesia said yesterday its new Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono will soon visit the United States to lobby for an end to an arms embargo imposed over the Indonesian militar

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – Foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals have declined by 11 percent this year as of October, as compared with the same period in 2003, the latest data from

Jakarta – The former governor of East Timor, Abilio Jose Osorio Soares requested that the gross human rights abuse cases in East Timor be determined through a Truth and Reconciliation C

Meriam Debora, Jakarta – The United Worker Alliance (Aliansi Buruh Bersatu, ABB) says it has rejected the new provincial minimum wage (UMP) increase for Jakarta to 711,843 rupiah becaus

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Jakarta – The Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Widodo AS, has admitted that the operation to restore security in Aceh, as one of five programs which make

Neither the current East Timor government nor the international community has made a particularly high priority of bringing to justice those responsible for the human rights abuses perp

Ramidi, Jakarta – Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) says the policy of implementing a state of civil emergency in Aceh has failed.

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Jakarta – The North Jakarta administration plans to send squatters living on the riverbanks in its jurisdiction elsewhere, as it holds them responsible for annual floods in the city.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Golkar deputy leader Marwah Daud Ibrahim said on Monday that she was ready to challenge party leader Akbar Tandjung in the party's leadership election at its 7

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The study of a joint team involving 14 government agencies has found indications that Buyat Bay in North Sulawesi has high levels of arsenic, promptin

Our society is so image conscious. We love the ceremony, the symbolism, the pageantry, but without grasping the substance.

Nur Raihan, Banda aceh – The commander of the Iskandar Muda Territorial Military Command, Endang Suwarya, says that Aceh needs to remain under a state of civil emergency when the curren