Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Despite his unpopularity and lacklustre performance, Jakarta's Governor Sutiyoso is likely to be picked by Parliament to head the city administration for a seco

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's potential ambassadors perceive the job as a chance for a vacation and have little idea of how to promote the country overseas, a parliamentary co

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – Analysts predict that less than 10 political parties will be eligible to contest the 2004 general election should the proposed bill on general elections be ena

Jakarta/Ambon – Skepticism loomed on Friday over the neutrality and capability of the newly established team to investigate human rights abuses in Maluku because it is run by the govern

Jakarta – The International Financial Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, warned on Friday that the country's weak legal system was scaring away badly needed foreig

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Poverty remains a major problem in Jakarta because the city administration's programs fail to address its underlying causes, accordi

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – There are many theories to explain why the government's various programs to eliminate poverty have been futile.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Mayor Abdillah of Medan, the North Sumatra capital, introduced new fares for public minivans on Thursday following a protest by hundreds of minivan drivers grou

Bernie K.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Is that a rice cooker or a bomb in the shopping bag?

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – The bill on general elections, which provides that members of the military will be able to vote and be elected in the 2004 general election, is a good start bu

Jakarta – A fight broke on Thursday between North Jakarta public order officers and around 200 becak (pedicab) drivers in Sungai Bambu subdistrict in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Imagine a squalid three-by-four-meter house under a large water pipe on the Western Flood Canal in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

Robert Go, Jakarta – In a triumph over the central government, the Batam authorities have successfully lobbied Parliament to block Jakarta's efforts to take over the island's sea and ai

Jakarta – Indonesia told international creditors yesterday that its efforts to turn around the sickly economy were bearing fruit, and the creditors largely agreed.

Howard LaFranchi, Washington – The outrage was global in the late 1990s when Indonesia's military and goon-like militias associated with the army ran roughshod through independence-seek

Kasparman, Padang – Thousands of protesters expressed on Wednesday their support of a government plan to dismiss the current management of state cement maker PT Semen Padang, lending fr

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti and Minister of Finance Boediono have made a new economic reform agreement with the Internatio

Jayandra Menon, Perth – Senior Australian defence officials are worried that the Bush administration's war on terrorism is being exploited by some of its "supposed allies" for their own

Jakarta – More than 200 burning seams of coal could threaten huge areas of forest in East Kalimantan province, an environmental official said on Wednesday.

Medan – The Military Police in Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra, are questioning three Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers for their alleged role in an attack on the Serbelawan Police sub

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Sunday's bombing in the Indonesian capital may be the work of criminal gangs and not rogue elements of the military who have been blamed for previous bombings,

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – At least 100 members of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) branded chairwoman Megawati a traitor for her endorsement of the nomination

Debbie A. Lubis, Jakarta – Astri, 14, from Bunga Sari Japatan village, Indramayu West Java, has spent the past seven months of her life working in a Jakarta brothel.

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri told a United Nations summit on food and agriculture that the burden of foreign debt on poor nations restricted access to food and undermined

Jakarta – Despite strong criticism of their performance, members of the House of Representatives (DPR) remained stubbornly undisciplined on Tuesday, skipping a scheduled plenary meeting

Jakarta – Members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police will have to leave politics ahead of schedule as the newly proposed bill on general elections states they will no

Dewi Anggraeni and Syafi'i Anwar – There is something unnerving about Singapore senior minister Lee Kwan Yew's call last week that the world (read the United States) should rely on the

Max Lane – The persistence of the movement for a self-determination referendum in Aceh, the emergence of the Papuan Peoples Council and the troubles in Ambon have all raised concerns ab

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has agreed to increase import tariffs on all food and agricultural commodities in the near-term, a report said.

Police in the Indonesian capital have warned that more bombings are likely in the city following a blast outside a discotheque early Sunday which injured five people.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – A significant increase in the level of donations allowed for political parties has won the support of political observers and a politician, who see the increas

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Thousands of fisherman in the Lampung provincial capital of Bandarlampung are still unable to go to sea due to serious pollution in Pelabuhan Panjang w

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – If you are an ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, you need to be a star to get your citizenship papers. And even then it is not easy.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – It is called the office of the Clean Ciliwung Campaign – which is supposed to conduct activities to clean Ciliwung and other rivers in the city, but the two

Jakarta – Six countries have agreed to set up the Southwest Pacific Forum and will hold a first annual meeting in Indonesia in August, reports said Sunday.

The new chief of Indonesia's powerful armed forces has been sworn in, promising to protect President Megawati Sukarnoputri from any unconstitutional move to topple her government.

Medan – Thousands of workers at state-owned plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara II continued their protest here on Wednesday, demanding their firm's president director Suhairi Lu

Jakarta – Malaysia, which has been aggressively looking at business opportunities in Indonesia, joined a host of other foreign countries on Wednesday in voicing concerns about the growi

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The automated message comes in a soothing alto voice: "The number you are calling is being repaired." And it is heard often, as the poor resort to ripping out telep

Jakarta – A company owned by Tommy Suharto spent 12 billion rupiah on financing protests against Mr Abdurrahman Wahid after the then Indonesian president rejected his pardon plea in Nov

Tangerang – Dozens of residents of Cipondoh subdistrict rallied at the municipal administration office on Wednesday to protest the new subdistrict chief.

Jakarta – A five-day strike by thousands of workers at Indonesia's largest cigarette company Gudang Garam appeared to have ended on Monday.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia should not extend its contract with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) when it expires, said National Development Planning Minister Kwik Kian Gie yeste

Yogita Tahilramani, Jakarta – Corruptors who build on their relationships with leading political figures bring more havoc to the Indonesian legal system than other issues that lead to c

Jakarta – An international non-governmental organization (NGO) warned on Monday that endangered species in Indonesia were close to extinction due to poaching and the outlawed animal tra

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Legal experts called on to testify for corruption defendant Akbar Tandjung told the court here on Monday that the former minister/state secretary coul

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Strong criticism from the public, particularly legal experts, has changed the West Jakarta Mayoralty's stance on its own instruction obliging students in public

Jakarta – Lieutenant-General Ryamizard Ryacudu, the outspoken Kostrad commander who took a tough public stance against separatist revolts in Aceh and Papua, has been named as Indonesia'