Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Nearly 1,250 of 1,784 state schools in Tangerang regency are in need of renovation, but the regency administration has only allocated enough money, about Rp 60

Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Pekanbaru/Jambi/Samarinda – A senior official at the Office of the State Minister of the Environment said on Sunday that at least two-thirds of the over 1,000 fore

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – New shopping malls and lavish condominium buildings are sprouting up across the capital city and hypermarkets such as Carrefour are expanding fast, at the expen

Muhammad Uzair and Suherdjoko, Palembang/Semarang – In observance of Jilbab (Muslim headscarf) International Solidarity Day on Saturday, hundreds of Indonesian Muslim women staged separ

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives is expected to endorse the bill on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Tuesday, but a human rights campaigner doubts the ef

Rendi A.

Jakarta – International and national pressure has intensified against settling disputes over media reports using criminal charges, saying the trend will sacrifice press freedom and curb

[The Invisible Palace: The True Story of a Journalist's Murder in Java, Jose Manuel Tesoro, Equinox Press, August 2004, Rp 139,000.]

Jakarta – The presidential election runoff will mark the end of the political career of the outgoing Vice President Hamzah Haz, who announced on Friday that he would retire from politic

Phar Kim Beng – With the price of oil hovering around US$40 per barrel, it is easy to assume that the oil-producing countries are laughing all the way to the bank.

Jonathan Head, East Timor – Five years ago the people of East Timor had their first opportunity to choose their own future and a staggering 98% of registered voters turned out to cast t

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Three days before the Central Jakarta District Court hands down its verdict on a case against Tempo chief editor Bambang Harymurti, who is on trial for defamatio

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – A soldier from the Siliwangi Military Command posted in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam recently complained about his length of duty in the province.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – With the government's term nearing its end, the National Awakening Party (PKB) is giving the thumbs-down to law enforcers' efforts to eradicate corruption duri

Jakarta – State officials, particularly those in the regions, should be wary of people posing as Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) officials demanding money, the KPK warned on Fri

Indonesian security forces carried out gross human rights abuses including murder, torture and arbitrary arrests during two incidents in remote eastern Papua province, a rights body say

M.

Indonesian officials reacted with outrage after a man jailed for life for his key role in the deadly Bali bombing was treated to coffee in a Jakarta Starbucks by police, who say the ou

Banda Aceh – Indonesian troops shot dead three suspected separatists in the restive province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, while 11 other suspected rebels surrendered in six separate are

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – At least 421 separatist rebels have been killed since Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam was placed under a state of civil emergency three months ago, an official has sa

Jakarta – Indonesian presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday told a pre-poll corruption check that he was worth 4.57 billion rupiah (S$848,000), a sum likely to be dwa

Jakarta (Agencies) – A number of executives from the Golkar Party defiantly set up a faction to support the candidacy of the Democratic Party's presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yud

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – An internal rift within the Golkar Party has led several party leaders to split ranks from the party's pro-President Megawati Soekarnoputri Nationhood Coalition

A labor dispute in Timor-Leste (East Timor) is putting the World Bank's "dream [of] a world free of poverty" to the test.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – In an apparent move to prove their will to fight corruption, presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and vice presidential candidate Hasyim Mu

M.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Can President Megawati Soekarnoputri, and the country's governors, regents and legislators really claim to represent the people?

Jakarta – A rift in Indonesia's powerful Golkar party deepened yesterday, threatening to pull the rug from under President Megawati Sukarnoputri's carefully assembled coalition just wee

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Frustrated by their inability to complete case files on the main suspects in the scam involving state bank BNI 46 and the resulting low recovery of state losses,

Nana Rukmana, Majalengka – The price of vegetable paid to growers has been declining in Majalengka regency, West Java province, over the past few months, sparking concern among thousand

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) announced on Thursday that it had found initial evidence suggesting that security personnel had c

Banda Aceh – An armed gang fired on a passenger bus late on Monday in Keude Jurong subdistrict, some 450 kilometers east of Banda Aceh municipality, leaving five passengers injured, thr

Dennis Shanahan – A gas revenue deal worth $5 billion for the infant nation of East Timor is expected to go ahead despite the election campaign clashing with scheduled negotiations next

In the early hours of Sunday, one of the most feared, yet respected sons of the nation left us. Gen.

Jun Honna, the author of the book Military Politics and Democratization in Indonesia (2003), and an associate professor at Ritsumeiken University in Japan, has been in Indonesia for abo

Jakarta – Media-shy President Megawati Sukarnoputri, trailing in opinion polls weeks before the election, has refused her opponent's offer for a televised debate on issues confronting t

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – "Of course the risks are high.

Jakarta – Ex-president Abdurrahman Wahid has thrown his weight behind President Megawati Sukarnoputri's rival in next month's election but said his party had yet to decide which candida

Jakarta – The Banda Aceh District Court ordered the release of 10 councillors being detained on graft charges, prosecutors and their lawyers said on Monday, while hundreds of protesters

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Legislators with hands in the till beware: The government is on your trail and lawmakers in the provinces are a prime target as it cracks down on graft and orga

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – The ongoing deliberation of the Indonesian Military (TNI) bill at the House of Representatives (DPR) in the final days of the House members' terms in office h

Jakarta – The United States yesterday announced US$468 million (S$802 million) in aid to Indonesia, earmarking part of it for improving Islamic schools, which have been blamed for encou

Jakarta – Forest fires and hot spots in Kalimantan are spreading at a rate of more than 100 a day over the past week, an Environment Ministry official said.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) and the government wrapped up on Monday their deliberations on the truth and reconciliation commission bill following a half

Jakarta – Indonesian foreign affairs department spokesman Marty Natalegawa has said that the Indonesian government will not allow the United Nations Expert Commission to enter Indonesia

Tiarma Siboro – A true intelligence officer to the end, L.B.

If only the Indonesian Museum of Records would put on record the busiest man selling a government project to the public, Mahmun Yunan would make a good choice.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Lawmakers have criticized a stipulation in the bill on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which allows it to recommend the granting of a presidential par

Patrick Walters – A strange paradox continues to afflict Australia's bilateral relations with Indonesia.

It's been five years since the referendum in East Timor which lead to its independence.