Jakarta – Both employers and labor unions slammed the House of Representatives and the government for the much-criticized labor bills, saying the House and the government team preparing

Simon Cameron-Moore and Elaine Monaghan, Bandar Seri Begawan/Singapore – Indonesia defended its record in fighting terrorism on Tuesday as US Secretary of State Colin Powell lent suppor

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has ruled out immediate membership for East Timor, the world's newest country, officials said Tuesday.

Jakarta – Setting fire to a giant cardboard replica of a Reebok shoe, more than a thousand workers from the US-based manufacturer protested outside the American Embassy in Jakarta over

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The urban centres of Batam, Java and Sumatra will be swamped by at least 100,000 workers returning from Malaysia this week – and they won't be welcome.

Mario Osava, Rio de Janeiro – Brazil will provide assistance in a wide range of areas to help rebuild East Timor, the world's newest nation and one of its poorest, whose first president

Banjarmasin – Activists of two student groups rallied on Monday to demand that South Kalimantan Governor Sjachriel Darham step down for incompetence.

Jose Belo, Dili – Although it's one of Asia's poorest nations, East Timor is open to receiving 56 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers stranded on a boat in its capital's harbor, its acting foreig

Moch. N.

Jakarta – Five senior police and military officers charged with allowing a church massacre to take place in the former Indonesian province of East Timor pleaded innocent on Tuesday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's military chief said on Tuesday the problems in rebellious Aceh province should be resolved through dialogue but that separatists must drop their call for an indepe

Police in Indonesia's Papua province say they plan to crack down on separatist activists in the resource-rich region if dialogue fails.

An Indonesian army officer suspected of involvement in last year's murder of a Papuan independence leader said the man had died suddenly while being questioned by soldiers, his lawyer s

Berni K.

Jakarta – Reebok International Ltd, the world's No.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The victims of the July 27 incident are unlikely to see justice served in the near future as legal enforcers are reluctant to handle the case seriously, par

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Convict Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra received important guests on Monday as more than 30 legislators, accompanied by hundreds of reporters, paid a vis

Jakarta – What was President Megawati Soekarnoputri doing when thousands of her die-hard supporters and victims of the July 27 bloody attack were crying out for justice last Saturday?

Jakarta – Indonesia's top Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) yesterday demanded that an article guaranteeing religious freedom be kept untouched in the country's Constitution.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – In a move to net potential voters who have been disappointed with the performances of existing political parties represented in the country's supreme la

Jakarta – Indonesian police have been questioning witnesses to a bomb blast that ripped through a crowded market, injuring 53 people in a Christian neighbourhood of the religiously divi

[First to Indonesia, where the convicted favourite son of former President Suharto is likely to appeal a 15-year jail sentence for masterminding the murder of a judge and other crime

Robert Go.

Vietnam and East Timor have established diplomatic relations in a brief ceremony the eve of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers' annual meeting in Brunei.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Life behind bars must be terrible, especially in the notorious Cipinang penitentiary in East Jakarta.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Poverty and desperation almost drove Dinda to prostitution in her teenage years.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Around 1,000 people gathered on Saturday on Jl.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Defence lawyers for former President Suharto's youngest son, who was convicted on Friday of ordering the killing of a judge, intend to focus their appeal to the Hig

Robert Go, Jakarta – The judges heaved a sigh of relief, the prosecutors claimed justice had been done, the defence lawyers cried foul, but the media responded to Friday's guilty verdic

Bandar Seri Begawan – Tommy Suharto's conviction augurs well for the independence of the judiciary in Indonesia, according to Datuk Param Cumaraswamy, the United Nations special rapport

Grace Nirang, Jakarta – Life had returned to normal on the streets of Indonesia's troubled eastern city of Ambon on Sunday, police said, a day after a bomb blast that injured 53 people

Michael Casey, Jakarta – A bomb exploded in a crowded marketplace in Indonesia's religiously divided province of Maluku Saturday, injuring 53 people, police said.

The Central Jakarta District Court finally handed down the verdict for Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra without the presence of the defendant, who claimed to be sick.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri's performance in dealing with rebellious Aceh province is worse than her two predecessors Abdurrahman Wahid and B.J.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – An alliance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) criticized the government on Friday for its lack of transparency in implementing policies to end

The youngest son of former Indonesian dictator Suharto has begun a 15-year prison term for masterminding the murder of a judge amid protests that his sentence failed to match the severi

Max Lane – There is an interesting parallel between the history of East Timor and of Indonesia in relation to how international public opinion changed towards the presidency of General

An Indonesian court has jailed for 15 years the son of former dictator Soeharto for ordering the daylight shooting one year ago of a Supreme Court judge.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The trial of nine members of the Army's special force (Kopassus) accused of killing Papuan leader Theys Hiyo Eluay will likely face further delay because the mi

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has again extended the deadline for the repatriation of East Timorese refugees living in squalid camps in West Timor.

East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta says the legal framework needed to attract foreign investment will be established by the end of this year.

Berni K.

The diplomat who nursed East Timor to nationhood is the new UN Human Rights Commissioner. Jill Jolliffe recalls his reign in Dili.

Peter Kammerer – Relations with Indonesia are progressing strongly, with issues such as the return of refugees to be settled within months, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said yester

President Xanana Gusmao vetoed the East Timorese government's tax-hiking fiscal bill Friday, in his second clash this month with Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri over financial and economic

Jakarta – The Indonesian military said its troops shot dead on Friday at least 13 men believed to be separatist rebels in troubled Aceh province, where thousands have died in more than

The head of the UN mission in East Timor met Friday with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri for discussions aimed to "consolidate and intensify" relations between Dili and Jakar

Jakarta – The political reforms that Indonesia has introduced since 1998 have been duly noted by the United Nations, but these have done little to improve the country's international st

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) said on Wednesday it had secured at least Rp 17.75 trillion (US$2.4 billion) in proceeds from a sale of loan a

Emad Mekay, Washington – Two very distinct welcomes have greeted the newest member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF): free-market advice from the Fund and World Bank and warnings