Karima Anjani, Jakarta – The world's largest gold miner goes on trial in Indonesia next week in a dispute over pollution that has left the government torn between environmentalists and

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – "If they call for war, I will step in to protect the area we live in," proclaimed Saidah, a homemaker of Kampong Rawajeler in Bojong, Bogor.

Primastuti Handayani, Beijing – Since opening a special PO Box and call center over a month ago, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has received 2,500 letters and 140,000 text messages

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The government's plan to increase the take-home pay of the President, Vice President, ministers, and high-ranking state officials met with mixed reactions on Wed

Bandung – No Indonesian province is now free from HIV infection, with the recorded number of people living with the virus in the country standing at 7,098.

Jakarta – Regional offices of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) are calling for strong measures to prevent Muslims from converting to other religions.

Washington – The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday it welcomed the continuing improvement in Indonesia's economy in recent years.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – After wrapping up his Friday prayers with a hasty request for prosperity, Arman – not his real name – rushed to the canteen to meet his colleagues.

Jakarta – Some 10,000 people went on a rampage on Monday in Kaur regency, Bengkulu province, setting fire to government offices and houses in the area to express their disappointment wi

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Indonesia may not be able to immediately benefit from the opening of the labor market in the Southeast Asian region next year due to poor preparation and t

Jakarta – The US ambassador to Indonesia on Tuesday called on Jakarta to improve its judicial system, saying many foreign investors still questioned the fairness of the courts.

Jakarta – Muhammadiyah lent support on Monday to mounting calls for the government to revoke the new presidential regulation that allows authorities to acquire private land without a de

Jakarta – A former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) official was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday for his involvement in printing counterfeit bank notes.

Jakarta – Freedom from any form of exploitation topped children's demands conveyed to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during the National Children's Day celebration on Sunday.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Sharia police said on Sunday they had rounded up at least 36 unmarried women and men for dating in secluded, poorly-lit areas in Bireuen regency, Aceh province

Chris Brummitt, Jakarta – An international watchdog group claimed Monday that the local unit of an American gold-mining company appeared to have paid an Indonesian general accused of ri

Jakarta – While other teenagers of her age are either strolling around the city's malls or sitting quietly at home, 15-year-old Kartika (not her real name) spends her nights with guests

Thousands of residents living in the vicinity of Bojong dump in Bogor and students from Bogor universities gathered on Sunday in a mass prayer to object to the trial operation of the du

Jakarta – Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono has acknowledged that the budget to maintain major equipment of the weapons system of the Indonesian Military (TNI) was still limi

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – A member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said on Friday that looking at the preliminary evidence, last week's attack on the Ahmadiyah comp

Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to make public the report of a fact-finding team assigned to help

Jakarta – Dozens of street vendors from Kalideres, West Jakarta, demonstrated in front of the City Council on Jl.

Jakarta – Shortly after its petition was rejected by the Constitutional Court, the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) said on Thursday it planned to file a new one with additional e

Carmel Budiardjo, London – It has been asserted in your columns this week (Local Elections and Papuan Politics, July 11, 2005) that because the majority of West Papuans participated in

Haris Azhar, Jakarta – The peace deal between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) deserves a positive response because its main agenda is to restore the lost peac

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Political analysts are throwing their weight behind calls to create regional political parties in the country, arguing that such parties do not have to be synony

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today praised the Senate for agreeing today to maintain most restrictions on US military assistance to Indonesia.

Andreas Harsono, Kupang – Devastating though it was, the Asian Tsunami brought the proverbial winds of change to Indonesia by focusing international attention on the festering conflict

Evelyn Rusli, Jakarta – The peace accord between the Indonesian government and Aceh separatists that was agreed upon Sunday will be difficult to implement, given a 30-year relationship

"There will be peace." A bold statement indeed from Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin at the conclusion of the Aceh peace negotiations in Helsinki.

The formula agreed between Indonesian and separatist rebel negotiators to end nearly 30 years of conflict in Aceh maintains the momentum for peace that has been building since December'

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government condemned on Saturday an attack by members of Indonesian Muslim Solidarity on the Jamaah Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) on Friday afterno

Endy M.

Jakarta – Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, who has already been declared a suspect in the murder of top rights campaigner Munir, was expected to tell the court who the main actor was in t

Rusman, Samarinda – Nearly forty years after his arrest, Ismary Musran, 74, remains confounded by how his family's once tranquil life in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, was forever altered

Rusman, Samarinda (East Kalimantan) – Former soldier Oentoeng Soejanto, 65, never imagined that his love for acting would lead him to spend nearly half his life in a village designated

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Though the government promised to provide free basic education for all school-age children across the country starting this year, most schools are still making n

A.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Living in the capital is not easy with its uncontrolled development, pollution, traffic snarls and, more recently, flooded streets.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The government has promised to provide free basic education starting this year.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Rights activists on Friday urged the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to speed up the investigation into the murder of the country's top rights

Jakarta – The Indonesian government has pledged over US$15 million to aid in the fight against illegal logging which is leaving the country's forests depleted, the forestry ministry sai

Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – After attending to a client Agung (not his real name), an employee at the office of an abortion clinic in Dukuh Kupang, Surabaya, begins checking off names

Hera Diani, Jakarta – How much violence in this country is committed in the name of religion?

After decades of little serious effort to fight gambling, the new National Police chief's bold announcement that he planned to completely eradicate gambling nationwide came as a quite a

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Nusa Kambangan – In theory, the "official residence" of convicted murderer Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the son of former president Soeharto, is in the Batu pe

Jakarta – Twenty days after the Fact Finding Team (TPF) investigating the case of the death of human rights activist Munir handed over the conclusions and recommendations of their six m

Zakki P.

Aleksius Jemadu, Bandung – Recently, thousands of farmers took to the streets in front of the presidential palace to protest against the enactment of Presidential Regulation No.

Jakarta – House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono defended on Wednesday plans to jack up state budget allocations next year for financing overseas travel for lawmakers, despite t