Jakarta – The number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia rose by 1.8 percent to 16.1 million last year from 15.8 million in 2018, according to a monthly report by the Central Statistics Agency, or BPS, published on Monday.

Robert Wardi, Lona Olavia, Jakarta – The Indonesian economy managed to steer clear of global economic turbulence last year and is in a much stronger position to repeat the feat this year, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto said on Monday.

Tom Johnson – In late 2007, two young businessmen met to finalise a deal in a high-rise office block in Jakarta. On the table was a shell company with a single asset: a permit to create an oil palm plantation in Borneo. The buyer was the scion of a wealthy family with a rapidly growing landbank of palm oil plantations; the vendor, Ahmad Ruswandi, the son of a politician.

Febriana Firdaus, Bali, Indonesia – Musician I Gede 'Jerinx' Ari Astina was still a student at the University of National Education in Denpasar, the provincial capital of Bali, when he first got involved in activism.

Jakarta – A number of protesters opposing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people in the Jakarta satellite city of Depok held an audience at the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) offices at the Depok town hall on Friday January 31. During the audience, the protesters called for Depok City to immediately ratify a draft regional regulation (Raperda) against LGBT.

Jakarta – The Bali Tourism Agency organized a mass prayer on Friday amid a fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak originating from China, which has taken a toll on the famous resort island's tourism industry.

Officials from the agency alongside those working in the tourism sector held the prayer on Friday morning at Pura Candi Narmada, a Hindu temple in Kuta, Badung regency.

Jakarta – The arrest of American journalist Philip Myrer Jacobson is further evidence of the Indonesian government's paranoia and dislike of criticism. Although the official reason for the detention was a visa matter, it is difficult not to link it to Jacobson's activities in Indonesia.

Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – Mongabay environmental editor Phil Jacobson was deported from Indonesia last evening, flying from Jakarta to New York after he was ordered not to leave Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, for 45 days.

Might we be looking at the dawn of weed legalization in Indonesia?

Indonesian security forces say a West Papuan was shot dead in a clash with police and military forces in Intan Jaya regency of Papua province.

It's the latest in a series of deadly violence in Papua's highlands region where a proliferation of guns is fuelling ongoing conflict.

Hundreds of pigs across Bali have reportedly died from similar symptoms since December, prompting authorities to launch an investigation and raise better awareness among farmers and local residents as a precaution.

Asmiati Malik – Indonesia, which sits below Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand in global competitiveness rankings, is a classic example of how legal uncertainty, legislative sprawl and labor issues can put off global investors.

Jakarta – As many as 40 people's organisations and civil society groups from the Indonesian People's Faction (Fraksi Rakyat Indonesia, FRI) have expressed their opposition to the Draft Omnibus Law on Job Creation or RUU Cilaka.

The groups said that RUU Cilaka is just a tool for the government to attract foreign investment through colonial methods.

Surabaya – One of the Papuan students in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya who was the target of racist abuse last year believes that the five month jail sentence handed down against the defendant Syamsul Arifin was too light.

Marchio Irfan Gorbiano, Jakarta – Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri called on Thursday for the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) to prioritize Indonesian researchers in science and technology, a move which she deemed necessary to defend the country's national interests.

James Massola, Jakarta – Medical experts have raised concerns about Indonesia's ability to detect novel coronavirus, potentially leaving a number of undiagnosed cases on Australia's doorstep.

Riska Rahman, Jakarta – The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) slipped 1.5 percent during morning trade on Friday as fears over the spread of the new coronavirus were suspected of having affected market sentiment.

Jakarta – Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly says he is prepared to resign from his ministerial seat if Ronny F. Sompie, who was recently removed from his position as the ministry's director general of immigration, is found not guilty of covering up about the whereabouts of graft fugitive Harun Masiku.

Adrian Wail Akhlas, Jakarta – The World Bank has called on the government to strengthen tax collection to stimulate growth amid tax reforms plans that will lower tax revenue.

Jakarta – An Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician and House of Representatives lawmaker has suggested that the Trade Ministry export marijuana.

Rafli, a lawmaker from House Commission VI overseeing trade and industry, floated the idea during a hearing with Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto on Thursday.

Jakarta – In a bid to boost economic growth, Bank Indonesia (BI), the country's central bank, cut in October 2019 its benchmark interest rate for the fourth time in four months.

Riza Roidila Mufti, Jakarta – Chinese tourists are starting to cancel their trips to Indonesia over fears of an acceleration of the spread of a deadly coronavirus in the Asian nation and around the world, as the World Health Organization declared it an international emergency on Friday.

Jakarta – Starting July this year, all traditional markets in Jakarta operated by city-owned PD Pasar Jaya are to be free of single-use plastic bags.

Riska Rahman, Jakarta – Publicly listed consumer goods giant PT Unilever Indonesia recorded flat growth in sales last year amid sluggish household consumption.

The Anglo-Dutch company booked a 2.7 percent year-on-year (yoy) growth in sales to Rp 42.9 trillion (US$3.15 billion) in 2019, the company said in a statement obtained by The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Jakarta – The chaos at Republic of Indonesia Television (TVRI) seems to be never-ending. Like a household without a head, everybody at the TV station can do whatever they wish to, including elbowing and tripping others, without repercussion. Reports of internal conflict at the publicly-owned station have never come to an end.

Muhammad Hendartyo, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the omnibus law on job creation would increase labor absorption. He said that more than 3 million new workers will be absorbed.

Truly Santika, Matthew Struebig and Sugeng Budiharta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration will continue giving permits for local communities and indigenous peoples to manage forests under the Social Forestry Scheme during his second term.

Fadhilah F Primandari and Anisha Maulida – The administration of Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo accomplished little in the human rights realm last year in Indonesia. Jokowi's 2019 election campaign promised to protect democracy and deliver justice to the victims of human rights violations.

Dwi Putra Kesuma, Sawangan – Opposing the presence of the Ahmadiyah religious sect, a number of people demonstrated and called for the Ahmadiyah headquarters on Jl Raya Sawangan in the Jakarta satellite city of Depok to be torn down.

Jakarta – Philip Jacobson, an American editor for the non-profit environmental news platform Mongabay, was deported from Indonesia on Jan. 31, more than six weeks after authorities in the city of Palangkaraya detained him over an alleged visa violation, Mongabay said in a release on Friday evening.

Adrian Wail Akhlas, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has signed a new regulation to allow Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Bahlil Lahadalia to have five new expert staff members and five new specialized staff members on top of six deputies.

Jakarta – More than 40,000 workers at a vast Chinese-controlled industrial complex in Indonesia have been quarantined over fears about the spread of a deadly coronavirus strain which has killed more than 200 people in China, it said Friday.

Diana Mariska, Jakarta – The United Kingdom will be a more open and welcoming country for Indonesia post-Brexit, the UK ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste Owen Jenkins said on Friday, with plans in place to attract more Indonesian students to study there and the possibility of a future cooperation in palm oil, Indonesia's main export commodity currently taking a lot of flak fr

Philip Jacobson, an award-winning American editor for the non-profit environmental news site Mongabay, was deported from Indonesia today, January 31, 45 days after authorities in the city of Palangkaraya detained him over an alleged visa violation.

Jakarta – A foreign journalist and editor of a non-profit environmental science news outlet Mongabay, Philip Jacobson, has finally been released on January 30. His suspect status on charges of violating a business visa has also been lifted by the Central Kalimantan Immigration Office.

Nina A. Loasana, Jakarta – Jakartans have been struggling to get hold of surgical and N95 masks as sellers run out and prices skyrocket.

Adi Ahdiat, Jakarta – The Pantau Foundation – a Jakarta-based journalism research and training organisation – has given this year's Oktovianus Pogau Award to Yael Sinaga and Widiya Hastuti, two student journalists from the North Sumatra University (USU) in Medan. The award was given to them for their courage in opposing press censorship on the USU campus.

Deasy Simandjuntak – At a time when electoral democracy has retreated in the region, Indonesia successfully held one of the world's largest and generally considered free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections. President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's victory in the 2019 election was initially received with enthusiasm by supporters of religious tolerance.

Jakarta – The Central Jakarta District Court sentenced 20-year-old Luthfi Alfiandi, whose photo clutching an Indonesian flag to his face has become an emblem of the student protests against controversial legal amendments, to four months of imprisonment on Thursday.

Jakarta – The Central Sulawesi Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA Central Sulawesi) is holding a contest for anyone who is willing and able to save a wild crocodile in Palu that has been stuck in a motorcycle tire for years.

Kharishar Kahfi, Jakarta – The year 2019 saw the rise of a new generation of resistance movements in Asia, including in Indonesia, where protests were staged amid the government's failure to protect human rights and crackdown on freedom of expression, according to Amnesty International's latest report.

Eisya A. Eloksari, Jakarta – Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Bahlil Lahadalia said on Thursday that automation would impact both male and female workers after he warned women workers the previous day that they could be replaced by robots.

Norman Harsono, Jakarta – Over the past five years, state-owned electricity company PLN has been intensifying the use of palm oil in its diesel-fired power plants but, going forward, the company is intent on slowing down usage out of technical concerns.

Jakarta – Indonesia has proven its ability to maintain economic stability and resilience amid global uncertainties, a top central banker has said in front of an international forum in Bali on Wednesday.

Jakarta – If it appears as if Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has not made much of a splash in his first 100 days in office, it is by design, the senior Muslim cleric said.

Jakarta – Responding to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, animal rights organizations have called on the Indonesian government to close all markets that slaughter or sell illegal wildlife. The virus, 2019-nCoV, is believed to have first emerged among wild animals in a market in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Jakarta – House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs plans to summon Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly to demand an explanation for the removal of his aides from the ministry's Immigration Directorate General.

Triyan Pangastuti, Jakarta – Indonesia saw a slight drop in foreign direct investment in 2019 but breakthroughs in some high-profile investment during the year's last quarter fueled optimism for a recovery in 2020.

Jakarta – After an investigative report by Tempo, Yasonna Laoly finally acknowledged that Harun Masiku had returned to Indonesia. An apparent conflict of interest.

Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – The World Bank voiced its criticism on the distribution formula of Village Fund and the General Allocation Funds (DAU) currently executed by the Indonesian government.