Neil Chatterjee – Indonesia's anti-corruption agency predicted an increase in graft in the run-up to elections this year, with its vice chairman anticipating the rise will land major ca

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The Election Supervisory Committee (Bawaslu) is due to summon officials from 10 ministries over allegations of the misuse of social aid funds for election

Tangerang – Workers from car component producer PT Putra Bangun Reberindo in Cikupa Industrial Estate went on strike Wednesday to protest outsourcing at the company.

Lenny Tristia Tambun & Hotman Siregar – Twenty-six high-ranking bureaucrats in the Jakarta administration were removed from office and replaced on Wednesday as part of a sweeping re

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party is mulling whether to pair chief patron Lt. Gen.

Kate Davidson & Poppy Saker-Norrish, Jakarta – One young man wakes up each day in Jakarta wondering if his family members in Quetta, Pakistan, have been murdered because they belong

Mario Filomeno da Costa Pinheiro – The Government of Timor-Leste has indicated that it is committed to joining the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by 2015, but as the dat

Jakarta – Two of three children with HIV/AIDS in Tanah Sereal, Tambora, had to be treated at house while the other child, a 6-year-old, who was in critical condition was treated at the

Margareth S.

Camelia Pasandaran, Jakarta – Brushfires continued to rage on the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday, blanketing the troubled Riau province in heavy haze and prompting calls of c

Nurfika Osman, Jakarta – Local communities in Batang, Central Java, have urged the government to drop its plan to construct a US$4 billion coal-fired power plant, saying that its enviro

Max Lane, Melbourne – It would appear that at least three times in recent weeks, the Australian navy and also the customs service has detained Indonesian and other foreign citizens trav

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – A bloody clash between two groups in Timika, Papua, has claimed one life and severely injured 28 others. The clash lasted two days.

David Robie, Auckland (Cafe Pacific/Pacific Media Watch): Timor-Leste Press Club has this week transformed itself into the fledgling Timor-Leste Press Union and now seeks to become affi

Jakarta – The Indonesian and Timor Leste governments have agreed to boost security and defense ties during a meeting between Defense Minister Poernomo Yusgiantoro and visiting Prime Min

Jakarta – The Religious Affairs Ministry is considering the creation of a directorate general for Confucianism, a Chinese philosophy that was banned during the New Order era and was onl

Carlos Paath & Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – When convicted drug trafficker Schapelle Corby was released on parole from a jail in Bali on Monday, it wasn't just the horde of r

Jakarta – The Jakarta Police have said that a preliminary investigation into an attack at a police post near the National Police headquarters has revealed that military personnel might

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen.

Biak, Papua – The district court of Biak, Papua sentenced Oktavianus Warnares, defendant in the separatist "Morning Star" flag raising case in Biak Timur, Papua, on May 1, 2013, to thre

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Jayapura Corruption Court sentenced on Monday former West Papua Legislative Council (DPRD) speaker Yosef Yohan Auri to 15 months in jail and fined him

Jakarta – Hundreds of ex-workers of Tangerang tap water company (PDAM) Tirta Benteng staged a rally in front of the Tangerang Administration Office on Monday demanding their jobs back.

Riwanto Tirtosudarmo, Jakarta – Demography is rearing its ugly head, and as a result, political development in Papua has become convoluted.

The head of the Indonesian Council of Ulema's (MUI) branch in Bengkulu has warned the city's mayor that his pray-for-rewards program is in danger of propagating discrimination and gende

John McBeth, Jakarta – Indonesia's exports of mineral ore are now at a standstill, with unprocessed bauxite and nickel the target of an outright ban and mining companies either refusing

Edi Hardum, Jakarta – Unrelenting rains in Jakarta, which have been continuing for weeks since the beginning of January, have caused businesses in the capital to lose as much as Rp 300

Deti Mega & Lenny Tristia Tambun, Jakarta – After several supposedly new buses purchased for use on the TransJakarta Busway and the Integrated City Busway (BKTB) were proven to be u

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali has denied that corruption had taken place in the management of the haj pilgrimage fund and that his ministry had intr

Jakarta – The House of Representatives said that it would back the government's plan to scrap payment for election observers in the 2014 legislative election.

Jakarta – A new public opinion poll has found the majority of Jakartans are not in favor of Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's presidential nomination.

Aubrey Belford, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara – On New Year's day, 45 asylum seekers in a ramshackle wooden boat slid ashore on a small island off the Australian city of Darwin.

Robertus Wardi, Jakarta – The United Development Party (PPP) on Sunday announced that it would postpone the nomination of a candidate for the 2014 presidential election until after the

Hans Nicholas Jong – An election watchdog has slammed the General Elections Commission's (KPU) plan to criminalize campaigning for abstention from voting ahead of the 2014 poll.

Paulina Quintao – Minister Isabel Amaral Guterres warned the MSS will halt natural disaster relieve assistance to victims because of cases where construction materials given by the gove

Paulina Quintao – The Monitoring and Advocacy Officer for Programs at the Timor-Leste Coalition for Education (TLCE), Joao Soares R.

Jakarta – Almost all rape cases could be brought to justice if the government revised the Criminal Code and changed its perspective to match that of victims, and if the police improved

The chairman of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, Victor Tutugoro, says the group's special meeting to discuss the outcome of a visit to Indonesia's West Papua has been put off until the

James Robertson, Tessa van der Riet – The Indonesian government has been forced to defend its decision to grant Schapelle Corby parole in the face of accusations of hypocrisy and specia

Surya Didik Mashudi, Kediri – A "Tan Malaka" book dissertation in Surabaya was closed down by protesters from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – Five Indonesian fishermen remained missing as of Sunday after military officers in neighboring Papua New Guinea allegedly told them to jump off their boat be

Jakarta – Surabaya police refused to issue a permit for a book discussion on independence fighter Tan Malaka after Islamic groups, including the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), rallied i

Loro Horta – Contact between Chinese and Timorese dates back to the early 15th century when the ships of the legendary Chinese explorer Admiral Zheng He arrived on the island in search

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Imposing sharia on non-Muslims is inappropriate as Islamic law only regulates matters relevant to Islam and to do so tarnishes the image of the faith and

Isabelle Arradon – It is always difficult to say when an armed conflict is truly "over".

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Golkar Party chairman and presidential candidate Aburizal Bakrie said on Friday that a slew of a graft allegations leveled against the party's top brass were

Rizal Harahap and Jon Afrizal, Pekanbaru/Jambi – The regency administration of Meranti Islands, Riau province, has declared the forest and field fires in the region as an extraordinary

Suherdjoko, Semarang – Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo said the floods, land subsidence and landslides seen in many places in the province had lead to Rp 1 trillion (US$82 million)

David Robie – The proposed Timor-Leste media law is a draconian mixed bag.

Jakarta – The little-known National Republic (Nasrep) Party may not be contesting this year's legislative election but it has a big plans for 2019.

Edwin Fajerial, Surabaya – A book discussion on Tan Malaka that was due to be held at the C-20 Library on Number 20 Jl.