Irawaty Wardany – The city administration may have imposed a ban on the construction of new convenience stores and minimarkets in Jakarta from 2006, but it seems that new establishments

Hans David Tampobolon, Jakarta – A report listing hundreds of suspicious transactions related to Bank Century has been handed over to police and the antigraft body, the Financial Transa

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The weak supervision of coal mining firms operating in Kalimantan has caused widespread environmental damage, say officials.

Anita Rachman – Rising politician Puan Maharani of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) on Wednesday said that although the party would never join the pro-gove

Olivia Rondonuwu – The trial of a firebrand Indonesian Islamic cleric on terror charges opened on Thursday and was swiftly adjourned on a technicality.

Mark Dodd – East Timor's defence chief has blasted Australia for its tardy response in helping the half-island state develop a patrol boat fleet to tackle people-smuggling.

Heru Andriyanto – The South Jakarta District Court was packed with supporters of Abu Bakar Bashir on Wednesday morning ahead of the controversial cleric's terrorism trial, which is bein

Jakarta – The Islam Defenders Front (FPI) warns it will overthrow President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono from government if he dares disband any mass organization, including FPI.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The Network for Civil Society Concerned with Sharia (JMSPS) in Aceh has criticized clerics and asked them not to overly interfere in enforcing the Muslim

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Bandung/Malang – A group claiming to represent the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI) in Tasikmalaya, West Java, vowed on Wednesday to laun

Dessy Sagita – The 2008 joint ministerial decree forbidding Ahmadiyah followers from promoting their activities is not to blame for the discrimination suffered by the minority sect's fo

Anita Rachman – Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso says followers of an Islamic sect deemed heretic by mainstream Indonesian Muslims should declare a new religion.

The Indonesia Council of Ulema has made its annual – and regularly ignored – call for Muslims to avoid celebrating Saint Valentine's Day on Monday.

Ulma Haryanto – In a fresh case of religious friction, some 50 people rallied on Wednesday outside an unfinished church in Bekasi, where a heavy police presence prevented any violence.

The legal aid organisation, LP3BH, has called on Papuans not to agree to be nominated for a seat on the MRP (Papuan People's Assembly) in the forthcoming elections.

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Amid concerns that some regional leaders are misusing public money and state facilities to advance their political careers, the KPK has vowed to make money politi

Fidelis E.

Ismira Lutfia – An Indonesian Web site modeled as an alternative platform for news reports not picked up by the mainstream media has officially gone live with the aim of hosting newsroo

The chairman of Commission A of the provincial legislative assembly, the DPRP, Ruben Magai, has called on the police chief to stop using political stigmatisation when conducting operati

Ismira Lutfia – The Information Commission ruled on Tuesday that data on the 17 suspiciously large bank accounts of senior police officers could be deemed of public interest and hence m

Farouk Arnaz, Eddy Pratama & Heru Andriyanto – Lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution on Tuesday quit as legal counsel for graft convict Gayus Tambunan, saying the case had become politicized

In his strongest comments since the killing of three members of an Islamic sect and anti-Christian unrest, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday called on authoriti

Mobs screaming "God is greatest" as they stone people to death; mobs calling for death to blasphemers and vandalizing churches; mobs beating liberals in the capital's thoroughfares: the

Nurfika Osman & Obey Wibinnov Sianipar – From private citizens to organizations both local and international, the growing sense of frustration was palpable.

Elaine Pearson – Last July, when the United States lifted its ban on military assistance to Indonesia's elite Special Forces, Kopassus, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates praised the Ind

Nurdin Hasan – A group of 18 civil society organizations in Aceh has lashed out at local clerics' interpretation of Shariah, which it says is unduly focused on women's clothing.

Peter Alford – Civil and religious rights group have demanded the dismissal of Indonesia's Religious Affairs Minister.

The murder of three Ahmadiyah followers in Banten on Sunday is a concrete example of state-sponsored terrorism against the country's own citizens.

Nivell Rayda & Dessy Sagita – Footage of the mob violence and apparent killing of an Ahmadiyah member in Cikeusik, Banten, on Sunday was too brutal for the country's national televi

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – Political dynasties, a growing trend in regional elections in Indonesia, should be curbed, as they undermine democracy and limit opportunities for other cand

Jambi – The population of the critically endangered Sumatran tiger – scientific name Panthera tigris Sumatrae – in Jambi province has continued to dwindle to an alarmingly low number.

Jakarta – Local communities will suffer greater difficulty in achieving environmental justice due to the absence of a simpler dispute mechanism in the midst of a steady increase of envi

A United States government watchdog called Monday on Indonesia to take action against extremists and reform its laws after a mob beat and stoned to death three members of a minority Mus

Mariel Grazella, Jakarta – The fatal Sunday attack on Ahmadis in Banten has captured the concern of not only local, but also international human rights organizations, including Amnesty

The death toll in the horrifying attack on members of the Ahmadiyah community in Banten province on Sunday has increased to four after a victim succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday.

As the National Human Rights Commission launched a team on Monday to probe the violent attack on the Ahmadiyah community in Banten, police and authorities in Java and Lombok stepped up

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Dozens of prominent figures gathered Monday with NGO representatives to condemn the fatal Sunday attack on Ahamdiyah followers in Banten, which claimed 3 liv

Dessy Sagita – National Commission on Human Rights chairman Ifdhal Kasim said that they have formed a team to investigate the fatal attack on an Ahmadiyah community in Banten that left

Nivell Rayda & Ulin Yusron – Ahmad Masihudi has bruises on his right jaw, a swollen eye and cuts all over his body, but he considers himself a lucky man.

The economy grew at the strongest pace in six years during the fourth quarter of 2010, blowing past expectations with 6.9 percent year-on-year growth.

Scenes from a video reportedly filmed in secret during the bloody attack on members of the Ahmadiyah sect in Banten on Sunday have begun circulating.

Antara & Jakarta Globe – A disheartening irony occurred on Sunday.

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Rights bodies are demanding authorities take stern measures against the perpetrators of an attack on members of the Ahmadiyah faith, while President Susilo B

Anita Rachman – The House of Representatives says it will summon the national police chief and minister of religious affairs following the religious violence that three members of the m

Eko Listiyorini & Supunnabul Suwannakij – Indonesia, the third-biggest rice importer in Asia, is seeking to "strengthen" its stockpiles to protect the poor against rising costs, Dep

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation is planning to file an ethics complaint today against legislators who barred two antigraft officials from House of Represe

Jakarta – The National AIDS Prevention Commission (KPA) says the 12 children the commission found living with HIV/AIDS in Jayapura district, Papua, are just the "tip of the iceberg".

Javanese villagers who survived the violent eruptions of Mount Merapi volcano last year are tapping into the macabre market for disaster tourism to help rebuild their shattered lives.

A global survey has placed five Indonesian lenders among the world's top 500 banking brands – but the country's central bank says Indonesian institutions are still the most inefficient

Faisal Maliki Baskoro – The government hopes improving infrastructure and developing science and technology under a new master plan for economic development will help Indonesia become o