Jakarta – Indonesian MPs are planning an all-expenses paid jaunt around Asia to carry out a study of the perks accorded to their peers, the Jakarta Post reported Wednesday.

Bandung – Hundreds of prisoners at the Kebon Waru Penitentiary in Bandung, West Java, were involved in an extremely intense riot on Thursday, damaging the warden's office and smashing w

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Government intervention in political parties' internal affairs, commonplace during the authoritarian New Order era, is making a comeback, analysts say.

Jakarta – Indonesia signed a new letter of intent with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday, paving the way for the disbursement of a long-delayed US$400 million (S$732 milli

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – National Intelligence Agency chief A.M.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Legislators rejected on Thursday some articles in the government-sponsored antiterrorism bill which, it was widely feared, would justify human rights abuses.

[On November 21 President Megawati Soekarnoputri signed off on a new anti-corruption law.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung's days are numbered as parliamentary speaker and party leader as foes within and outside Golkar conspire to establish a special

Jakarta – Former president Suharto could not be tried because of illness but it was up to prosecutors whether or not to take him to court again, the Supreme Court said yesterday.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – The City administration is hastily implementing stopgap measures to prevent an outbreak of disease threatened by the mounting piles of trash throughout Jakarta,

Jakarta – Employees of state-owned cement maker PT Semen Gresik will strike on Friday, with support from its president, if the government does not drop plans to sell a 51 percent of the

Jakarta – United Development Party (PPP) chairman Hamzah Haz dismissed on Wednesday media reports claiming that his party had received money from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and

Jakarta – Indonesia has proposed raising domestic phone charges by an average of 15 percent starting next year in a move which will help state phone monopoly PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia

Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) passed a bill mandating the creation of a council to help the President develop a policy on national defense into law Monday.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra's lawyer, Elza Syarif, played down on Monday the allegation that there was a deliberate ploy between her client and the police ove

Ambon – The situation in Ambon, the provincial capital of Maluku, was tense on Tuesday morning following an explosion onboard the California passenger boat, which was in Ambon Bay saili

Annastashya Emmanuelle, Jakarta – Jakarta may sink under a mountain of rotting garbage within a matter of days unless the city administration finds new appropriate dump sites for the 25

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Legal experts strongly criticized on Monday the antiterrorism bill currently being formulated at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, saying that the bill

Chris McCAll, Poso – Osama bin Laden's photo adorns sentry posts along the road into Poso, with the words "jihad post" scrawled on the wooden walls.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – In an unprecedented alliance, the environment and forestry ministries and the navy have launched a get-tough policy against illegal loggers and timber smuggl

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) Spokesman Rear Marshall Graito Usodo admitted on Monday that the Air Force charged US$4,500 (approximately Rp 45 million) an hour

Jakarta – The House of Representatives approved on Monday the controversial National Police bill, which critics claimed was overly militaristic and was possibly open to abuse by the pre

Jakarta – The majority of factions in Indonesia's parliament on Monday rallied behind the idea of a probe into a financial scandal with which its influential speaker has been linked, a

Jakarta – Indonesia may generate just over half of its targeted 6.5 trillion rupiah (640 million US) in privatisation revenue for the full year, an official said Monday.

Jakarta – Four more provinces – Riau, South Sumatra, Bengkulu and South Kalimantan – have followed suit by increasing their minimum wages by 20 percent to 30 percent.

Kartika Bagus C., Surakarta – Thousands of workers employed in more than 40 textile companies in Surakarta, Central Java, face the threat of mass dismissal amid decreasing textile order

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Human rights abuses across the country are on the rise this year, particularly in areas of conflict such as Aceh, Irian Jaya, Maluku, Poso in Central Sulawe

[The world marks the 53rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Day today, yet, there are no signs that major human rights violations in Indonesia will be properly

Jakarta – The Indonesian parliament on Monday passed a bill that placed the police force directly under the president and stipulated that police violations will be judged by a civilian

Christian refugees trekked for two days through mountain forest to escape advancing Muslim warriors armed with bombs and rifles, a Christian leader in a riot-torn district in Indonesia'

Jakarta/Surakarta – Well aware that the creation of a special committee to investigate House Speaker Akbar Tandjung's alleged corruption may not materialize due to stiff opposition, leg

Jakarta – Disgusted by recriminations that Golkar swindled most of the 54 billion rupiah (S$9.5 million) from a financial scandal involving a state agency, a government minister said mo

Bahrul Ilmi Yakub, Palembang – Environmental activists have called for a transparent investigation into the pollution on Musi River in Palembang that has allegedly originated from a fac

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – A team examining October's controversial verdict issued by the Supreme Court exonerating Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra from all charges has concluded that the Co

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – As whole villages are destroyed by renewed religious violence in Central Sulawesi, its local leaders blame Indonesian security forces and a team of governmen

Kuala Lumpur – Around 2,000 illegal immigrants detained in a Malaysian camp rioted and burnt down some of their quarters overnight before police fired tear gas to re-establish control,

Indonesia will get a 400 million dollar loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help it reform and return its state-owned corporations to private hands, the Philippines-based lend

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Some 4,500 workers from 24 companies launched a strike here on Monday demanding better pay, fair treatment of layoff victims and higher Idul Fitri bonuses.

Canton, Mass – The Reebok Human Rights Award Program announced today that for the first time in its 13-year history, the annual Reebok Human Rights Award will be presented to four women

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Despite pressure to bring to justice high-ranking officials suspected of involvement in a number of human rights violation cases, Chief Justice Bagir Manan said

Jakarta – The Indonesian Importers Association (Ginsi) estimated on Thursday that the government has been losing at least Rp 40 trillion (US$3.8 billion) a year in revenue from import d

Robert Go, jakarta – The arrest of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra on Wednesday capped a year-long manhunt by the police, but now the government faces its real test – putting former presid

Chris McCall, Jakarta – The fugitive son of former dictator Suharto was officially put behind bars yesterday after a night of questioning.

Annastashya Emmanuelle, Jakarta – Workers' hopes of enjoying a 38.7 percent increase in the minimum wage here next year will likely not materialize as employers have rejected the hike.

Roger Maynard, Sydney – Indonesia and Australia signalled a significant thaw in their relations yesterday, after Jakarta's Foreign Minister suggested an early resumption of military tie

Rob Taylor, Canberra – Australia and Indonesia are set to resume military ties frozen in the diplomatic fallout from East Timor, following a two-day visit by Indonesian Foreign Minister

Bahrul Ilmi Yakub, Palembang – More than 200 workers of state-owned coal company PT Bukit Asam held a demonstration at the South Sumatra legislative building in Palembang on Tuesday, de

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Legislators from the Golkar Party successfully foiled attempts on Wednesday to create a House of Representatives (DPR) committee to examine alleged corrupti

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Several of Indonesia's political parties appear to be backing down from a plan to investigate a financial scandal allegedly involving House Speaker Akbar Tandju

Badri Djawara, Poso – At least five people were killed and five others were injured when two rival sectarian groups clashed in the Central Sulawesi riot-torn town of Poso late on Tuesda