Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Aceh needs at least 100 more judges to fully implement sharia across the province, with many sharia courts operating with only three to five judges.

Jakarta – The fight against corruption is apparently taking a back seat to poverty eradication programs, at least in terms of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's instructions to the Pr

Honolulu – Peace is possible in Indonesia's troubled eastern province of Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Representatives of four regencies in southern Papua met with the provincial legislative council Friday to demand the establishment of a South Papua provin

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – A study on corruption in Indonesia has found that although the government's political will to fight the crime is increasing, it still lacks the autho

Achmad Sukarsono and Sugita Katyal, Jakarta – Fears of disease gripped Indonesia's flood-hit capital on Friday with thousands of people living in cramped emergency shelters and some str

In between the nonstop television news coverage of the Jakarta floods this week was a report from Australia about a man plucked from a tree by a helicopter as floodwaters raged below.

Seth Mydans, Jakarta – Too many shopping malls in the city. Too many squatters on the riverbanks. Too many villas on the southern hillsides.

Fabio Scarpello – When former rebel Irwandi Yusuf was sworn in on Thursday as the first directly elected governor of Indonesia's Aceh province, the ceremony capped one of Southeast Asia

In little more than a decade, Indonesia has transformed itself from international pariah to indispensable regional power.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – After surviving Aceh's long struggle and even being jailed in 2003, former rebel leader Irwandi Yusuf has been installed as governor of the once-defiant provin

Imron Rosyid, Solo – The families of activists abducted in 1997-1998 are calling on the House of Representatives (DPR) to summon President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) following a sta

Dili – Hundreds of people protested Thursday over the decision to clear former prime minister Mari Alkatiri of allegations that he formed a hit squad to kill his opponents during unrest

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Jakartans have seen floods before – the last major inundation was in 2002 – but they were surprised by the vast area of the city that was covered by water

Prodita Sabarini, Jakarta – Squatting, a man stared intensely down at the water in front of him. Feeling a tug on his fishing line, he gave a quick yank.

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Padang – West Sumatra's new local ordinance requiring all Muslim students and couples intending to get married to be able to recite the Koran received mixed reacti

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Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The name of West Irian Jaya will be changed to West Papua to match the preferences of local people, the provincial government announced Tuesday.

Putting decades of armed conflict and the devastating tsunami behind it, Aceh will embark on a new era when the new governor takes office Thursday.

Reporter: Emma Alberici

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The losses suffered by manufacturing firms due to the floods that have paralyzed the capital since last Friday may reach more than Rp 1 trillion (US$105.2 millio

Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – Policyholders whose homes, cars and other property were damaged by the floods over the past days may find themselves being turned away by their insurance compani

Jakarta – The World Bank has banned 40 Indonesian firms and 29 individuals from participating in its projects for between 1 and 5 years due to their alleged involvement in fraud and cor

Duncan Graham, Surabaya – Bureaucrats everywhere seem to be afflicted with the same handicap: They don't listen to advice from those they're supposed to be serving.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The government is drafting a regulation that would likely shackle local political parties in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

Aqida Swamurti/Sutarto, Jakarta – The National Commission for Human Rights has said that it considers President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono knows about the information on activists who wer

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Lindsay Murdoch – East Timor's former prime minister Mari Alkatiri intends to sue the ABC for defamation over an award-winning Four Corners program that led to him being forced from off

Hamish McDonald – Former Indonesian information minister Yunus Yosfiah gunned down Channel Nine cameraman Brian Peters as he tried to surrender in East Timor in 1975, a witness told an

Jakarta – While the number of non-governmental organizations has increased sharply since the collapse of the New Order, some question whether their professionalism has kept pace.

Reporter: Emma Alberici

Jakarta – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) believes that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has a great of information about the abduction of pro-democracy activists in

Mark Dodd – Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has withdrawn plans to invoke a rarely used national-interest exemption clause to fast-track ratification of the Timor Sea Treaty through p

The massive flooding in Jakarta over the past few days is further proof that crisis brings out the best in most people.

ID Nugroho, Surabaya – The government needs to speed up the distribution of HIV antiretroviral medicine throughout Indonesia to help people with HIV/AIDS, an activist said Monday.

Tangerang – Tangerang city administration should carefully monitor businesses that channel wastewater into the Cisadane River during the rainy season, an environmentalist warns.

Jakarta – Aceh Governor-elect Irwandi Yusuf met Monday with Army chief of staff Gen. Djoko Santoso to seek support in leading the province.

Mark Dodd – Prosecutors have dropped an investigation into allegations that former East Timorese prime minister Mari Alkatiri ordered a hit squad to kill political rivals, clearing the

Mark Forbes, Jakarta, and Hamish McDonald, Sydney – A former Indonesian military commander has denied ordering the killings of five Australian journalists in Timor in 1975.

Sydney – An Indonesian military commander who later became a government minister opened fire on a group of Australian-based journalists killed in East Timor in 1975, an inquest heard Tu

Ian McPhedran – At dawn on October 16, 1975, four young Australian-based journalists walked out of a house in Balibo, East Timor, with their arms above their heads.

Reporter: Geoff Thompson

Prodita Sabarini, Jakarta – Flip... flop... flip... flop... The sound of a man's sandals blended with the chattering of children in their pajamas in the lobby of a hotel.

Zakki Hakim, Jakarta – Horse-drawn carts rescued residents from flood-stricken districts in the Indonesian capital on Monday after flooding burst riverbanks, killing at least 29 people

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – East Timor's rebel leader, Major Alfredo Reinado, has agreed to surrender and face charges, including attempted murder, but a deal he negotiated secretly from

Reporter: Emma Alberici

Mark Dodd and Nigel Wilson – East Timor's ruling Fretilin Party has threatened to withdraw from parliamentary elections unless they are held before the end of May, following confirmatio

Hamish McDonald – If Canberra's defence and foreign affairs establishment thought Maureen Tolfree was going to give up, this was another intelligence failure.

Tom Hyland – East Timor's Fretilin party, the dominant political force in one of the world's poorest nations, is pushing for lavish pensions and other benefits for former government min

Adianto P.