Hagar Cohen: Hello, and welcome to Background Briefing, I'm Hagar Cohen.

Cilacap, Central Java – Asylum-seekers who washed ashore in Indonesia have claimed the Australian navy blew up their vessel after forcing the would-be refugees into a lifeboat and turni

Yogyakarta – A solidarity rally was organized in Yogyakarta on Tuesday as a mark of protest against an incident in which a petrol bomb was thrown at the house of Frietqi Suryawan, a jou

Mong Palatino – East Timor journalists and human rights groups are opposing a government-proposed media law which they believe would lead to possible media censorship and repression in

Ethan Harfenist, Jakarta – Greenpeace accused Procter & Gamble on Wednesday of sourcing palm oil from environmentally destructive firms, finding the US consumer goods giant complici

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – In the first hearing on bringing forward simultaneous elections to 2014 on Tuesday, the Gerindra Party failed to come up with a strong argument against the recent

Jakarta – The Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP) has filed a report against two political parties, the Nasdem Party and the Gerindra Party, with the Election Supervisory C

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – All 12 political parties contesting the 2014 legislative election could face the prospect of being disqualified from the race as none have submitted their

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) asserted its readiness to cooperate with any country, including China, to maintain stability in the region.

Novianti Setuningsih & Edwin Firdaus, Jakarta – The country's antigraft body will probe 14 regional heads who are suspected of bribing former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil

Ina Parlina and Margareth S.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the country's highest Islamic authority, denied on Wednesday accusations that foreign organizations hoping to sell food in Indonesia had be

Carlos Paath, Jakarta – The Indonesian government and legislators have been discussing ways to strengthen monitoring the police force following rampant abuse of power conducted by cops

Jakarta – The Surabaya District Court sentenced 10 men to six months in prison over their roles in a violent rampage in Jember, East Java, that left a popular Islamic boarding school an

Vita A.D.

Paulina Quintao – The majority of female workers in the private sector do not claim their full maternity leave entitlements due to a fear of losing out on wages, according to Alola Foun

Jakarta – The House of Representatives passed a draft bill on the ratification of the Nuclear Terrorism Convention into a law in a plenary meeting on Tuesday.

Yoseph Kellen – The Kupang immigration office in East Nusa Tenggara has prepared 5,000 square meters of land on the island of Sumba as a temporary shelter to house asylum seekers denied

Margareth S.

Berni Moestafa & Novrida Manurung, Jakarta – Indonesia officials stepped up warnings of corruption ahead of elections this year, as the anti-money laundering watchdog said the count

Carlos FS Fana & Faisal Maiki Baskoro, Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo's immense popularity makes him the most promising candidate to win the presidential election, regardles

Carlos Paath, Jakarta – Amidst controversy surrounding rumors of her resignation, Surabaya mayor Tri Rismaharini rose as another potential presidential candidate for the upcoming electi

'When I showed my footage to the massacre survivors, many said: you are onto something important, keep filming the perpetrators.'

Jakarta – Systemic police violence has been highlighted after an assault on the vocalist of a popular band in Bandung, who received at least 20 stitches after allegedly being hit on the

David Winning, Sydney – For nearly a decade, East Timor has relied on revenue from a huge natural-gas field to rebuild after the country's war of independence with Indonesia.

Attorney-General George Brandis has again defended security service raids on Canberra lawyer Bernard Collaery who was helping East Timor in its case against Australia.

Jakarta – Authorities of Silawan village in East Tasifeto, Belu regency, East Nusa Tenggara, which lies on the Indonesian border with Timor Leste, have started to identify and deport ci

Jakarta – Some 20,000 people have reported respiratory illnesses in Riau as forest fires and the resulting haze continued to worsen on Monday, the local health agency reported.

Tomy Winata – In response to an article published on the Jakarta Globe's website on Feb.

Jayapura – Three police officers have been arrested for stealing cable belonging to gold and copper mining company PT Freeport Indonesia (FI) in Timika, Papua.

Noviani Setuningsih & Edi Siprianus Hardum, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission has slammed the House of the Representatives for pressing on deliberations on a controver

Claims that Australia spied on East Timorese negotiators during oil and gas treaty talks in 2004 are at the centre of a legal row that could throw the treaty into doubt.

Jakarta – The Manpower and Transmigration Ministry said on Friday that the moratorium on Indonesian migrant workers seeking employment in Saudi Arabia had not been lifted, despite the s

Jakarta – A new public opinion poll has found that Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's electability rating is sliding while that of his strongest rival, Gerindra Party chief patron

Jakarta – Graft activists have questioned the government's corruption eradication strategies following the ongoing deliberation of the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) bill, which n

The newly-passed Village Law is expected to bring change to the grassroots level, after being neglected for years under the New Order regime, a lawmaker has said.

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – The Bogor Legal Aid Institute (LBH Bogor Raya) has recommended that the case involving the alleged physical abuse and forced servitude of 16 domestic workers by t

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The government and the House of Representatives has ignored the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) demands to drop the plan to amend the Criminal Code (KUH

Jakarta – Bali is to strengthen its Planned Generation (GenRe) project by establishing teen- and student-counseling information centers (PIK-R/M) to spread information on reproductive h

Ezra Sihite & Hendro Situmorang – A legislator has demanded that the government retake control of foreign-owned stakes in the country's biggest telecommunications companies, followi

Jayapura – Even though mostly regions in Papua have lack of teachers, the Head of Education and Teaching Department of Paniai regency, Drs.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) has pulled two television shows off the air amid complaints that the programs clearly favored the party of owner and vice presiden

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – The Bogor City Police are investigating a domestic abuse case involving the wife of a retired police general who allegedly physically abused and locked away more

Tony Ng, Jakarta – The United States plans to help modernize Indonesia's military, including provisions for training and equipment, amid heightened tensions in the South China Sea, wher

Jakarta – In response to the recent police investigation into a domestic abuse case in Bogor, West Java, the Women's Institute Foundation has urged the House of Representatives to pass

Ansyor Idrus, Palembang – Certain residents in Talang Kelapa subdistrict, Alang-alang Lebar district in Palembang, South Sumatra, were up in arms Thursday over the construction of a Hur

Rights groups have criticised an agreement between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia aimed at giving Indonesian maids more protection in the kingdom, with one saying "justice is still far away

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has reiterated its demand for Australia to stop its border operation crackdown on boat people, following Canberra's revelation that

Jeis Montesori, Jakarta – Judicial Commission chairman Suparman Marzuki has promised to investigate a suspiciously lenient sentence handed by a Sorong court to a police officer charged

Tassia Sipahutar, Jakarta – Indonesia posted slower growth in its total foreign debts – in both the public and private sectors – throughout 2013 as the country's economic growth deceler