Makassar – In a highly anticipated move the People's Conscience (Hanura) Party officially named Wiranto, its leader and founder, as its presidential candidate at the party's three-day e

The Indonesians newspapers and media are quite naturally increasingly focusing on reporting and analyzing the various aspects of the campaigning for the 2009 parliamentary and president

Makassar – Leaders of the People's Conscience (Hanura) Party have grouped in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar to discuss the Constitutional Court's ruling that requires parties to

Bangkok – East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta said Sunday he recently shook hands with the rebellious soldier who shot him last year, but had not yet named him to prosecutors.

Jakarta – Around 250,000 supporters from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) joined religious leaders in a solidarity forum at the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta on Sunday

Bangkok – The US and European Union should review their policy of imposing economic sanctions on Myanmar as the country's pariah military regime is key to the future stability of any el

Adianto P.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Around 100 people from the Islamic Reform Movement sealed off a house Friday afternoon alleged to be the center of a sect preaching alternative Islamic teach

Mohd Nasir Yusoff, Bernama – Indonesia is projected to enjoy a rice production surplus of 3.8 million tonnes in 2009 or 5.37 per cent more than last year, a senior agriculture ministry

A survey by one of Indonesia's top research groups has revealed that, as of December and according to public perception, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is the best person to lead the country.

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – "The courts are simply an extension of the perpetrators of human rights violations".

Aziz Tunny, Ambon, Maluku – Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) leader Megawati Soekarnoputri said Friday she was not phased by a number of surveys which predict a rematch b

Semarang – Around 300 ulema from Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, will gather in Semarang, Central Java, on Monday to draw up election recommendations for

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung, Jakarta – The National Police and the office of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono insist presidential candidate Rizal Ramli was named a suspect in a protest

Jakarta – An Indonesian general who was convicted and later acquitted of the murder of a leading activist, is launching defamation action against a prominent human rights leader.

Chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, Usman Hamid, has accused former top spy Muchdi Purpranjono of attempting to disrupt the investigation of the murd

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – The central government handed over 2,000 houses Thursday to former East Timorese refugees opting to reside in East Nusa Tenggara.

Jakarta – Indonesia will require commodities exporters to use letters of credit issued by local banks in future, to make sure that foreign exchange remains onshore, the trade minister s

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – While a new export regulation will help cover local firms from risk of payment default, several business associations say it may spook potential overseas buy

Palembang – The impact of the global crisis continues to claim victims around the country as more workers are laid off.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The government claims it managed to reduce unemployment and poverty rates in 2008 and will continue to further drive the figures down this year despite the loom

Jakarta – The Finance Ministry has handed more than 260 "illegal" bank accounts belonging to four ministries and two state institutions to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) fo

Jakarta – As Israel's two-week offensive in Gaza continues, massive anti-Israel and anti-US rallies have been taking place across Indonesia.

Jakarta – About 200 Indonesian women protested against Israeli military strikes in the Gaza Strip outside the Egyptian embassy in Jakarta on Friday.

Jakarta – A court in Indonesia's remote Papua region has jailed 11 activists for "subversion" after they raised the region's banned independence flag, a lawyer said on Friday.

Jakarta – Police in Indonesia's Papua province said on Friday they were hunting suspected separatist rebels who raided a police post and stabbed the wife of an officer before making off

Several large electronics companies in Bintan, Riau Island in Indonesia, affected by the global economic downturn, have begun large-scale worker layoffs, a local manpower agency officia

The Corruption Court on Wednesday jailed two lawmakers – they were sacked by their political party after their arrest – for receiving bribes to speed up the amendment of the Bank Indone

Jakarta – The National Police are the most responsive state institution when following up on public complaints while the Supreme Court (MA) is the least effective, the Indonesian Ombuds

Ari Saputra, Jakarta – Feeling boxed into a corner by many circles, former National Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy chief retired Major General Muchdi Purwopranjono 'has poured out his

Siti Rahil, Dili – Foreign investors are beginning to trickle into impoverished East Timor as it struggles to achieve stability and develop its fledgling economy six years after its vio

Panca Nugraha, Mataram – A nationwide fertilizer shortage has the country's farmers deeply concerned, especially in West Nusa Tenggara, where the rice planting season is in full swing.

Yemris Fointuna and Agus Maryono, Kupang, Purwokerto – Six children in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, have died of acute malnutrition over the past two weeks while Banyumas, Central Java,

Jakarta – Dozens of interfaith leaders and politicians visited the United Nations office in Jakarta on Wednesday to pressure it to put an end to the Israeli strikes against Gaza.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto warned local administration heads against criticizing government policies when campaigning for their respective political part

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – The central bank has given the corporate sector hope by slashing its benchmark interest rate for the third consecutive month in a bid to cushion the impact o

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned Wednesday that attempts by domestic industries to play the nationalist card to seek protectionist policies would lead to lack of competitivenes

Banda Aceh – Intimidation through setting fire to political party offices, banners, billboards and campaign advertising and threats against legislative candidates has tainted the admini

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – Indonesia's exports of non oil and gas commodities will be affected as the global economic downturn slashes demand, although exports could still grow by up t

Erwida Maulia and Ari Hermawan, Jakarta – The country faces yet another tough year in 2009 in promoting human rights, with the issue of elections likely to drown out all others on the n

Jakarta – Up to 700 workers have been laid off less than a week into the year, bringing total dismissed workers since November last year, when the global financial crunch first hit the

Adianto P.

While the campaign for the 2009 parliamentary and presidential elections have just begun, it is already possible to discern the embryonic development of a national leadership crisis, wh

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – The global economic downturn continues to strike the country's exports hard as weakening demand and falling commodity prices pushed down November's exports b

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Angelita Pires, the former lover of slain East Timorese rebel leader Alfredo Reinado, says authorities in Dili are depriving her of her freedom because her cas

Dini Mawuntyas, Surabaya – The head of the board of directors of the Tanjung Perak branch of the Land Transport Organisation in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya, Kodi Lomaha

Nieke Indrietta/Dianing Sari, Jakarta – Workers employed in four industrial sectors are still threatened with mass dismissals this year as a result of the global financial crisis, namel

Jakarta – The National Statistics Agency (BPS) has announced that in comparison with the second quarter of 2008, in nominal terms the average wage of industrial workers in the third qua

Aleksius Jemadu, Bandung – The political impact of the acquittal of former top spy Maj. Gen.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The newly endorsed law on legal education entities continues to ignite public outcry, despite the government's efforts to defuse accusations that the legislatio