Environmental degradation, instead of being tackled, appears to be worsening, as evident in the scorching heat in many cities, prolonged droughts during dry seasons and widespread floods and landsl

Erika Anindita – A survey conducted by the Muhammadiyah Tobacco Control Center (MTCC) revealed on Wednesday that farming tobacco in Indonesia is no longer a profitable business.

Dewanti A. Wardhani, Jakarta – The plan to impose a 12 a.m.

Jakarta – The Jakarta Remuneration Council has decided to set the provincial minimum wage at Rp 3.1 million (US$213) per month next year.

George Monbiot – A great tract of Earth is on fire and threatened species are being driven out of their habitats. This is a crime against humanity and nature.

Khoirul Amin, Jakarta – The Trade Ministry has defended its stance on a revised regulation annulling the timber legality verification system (SVLK) requirement for exporting 15 downstream products

Jakarta – Thousands of workers from Jakarta and its satellite cities have gathered near National Monument (Monas) park in Central Jakarta to reject the new payment formula as stipulated in newly is

The renowned artist village of Ubud is in the global spotlight again this week.

Teri L.

Nicholas Owen, Karang Jati, Indonesia – On a dry and dusty sports field in central Java, Indonesian men dressed as traditional warriors take turns to battle with wooden staves, while village women

Dewanti A.

Jakarta – A recent report by the World Bank revealed that doing business in Indonesia has become easier, especially after the government implemented an online system in several licensing sectors.

Jewel Topsfield, Ubud, Bali – The censorship of the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival has spread from sessions discussing the 1965 anti-communist massacres to other politically sensitive topics on

Arientha Primanita, Jakarta – The National Police ordered all of their personnel to anticipate any potential conflicts in society caused by hate speech.

Alex Morales – Indonesia's forest fires have catapulted the southeast Asian nation to the top of the rankings of the world's worst global warming offenders, with daily emissions exceeding those of

Tama Salim and Nani Afrida, Jakarta – Indonesian military (TNI) chief Gen.

Corry Elyda, Jakarta – The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) is investigating two arrested Indonesian soldiers for allegedly distributing drugs at nightclubs around Jakarta.

Jakarta – Several Indonesian farmers' associations and activists on Tuesday submitted to the Constitutional Court a motion for a judicial review of the country's 2014 Plantations on Law, claiming i

James Giggacher – There must be nothing more frightening than the prospect of a mild-mannered book fair made up of authors, readers, activists and academics politely discussing events from half a c

Jakarta – Hundreds of workers took part in a street rally in Jakarta on Wednesday, expressing their dissatisfaction at the newly announced government regulation on the calculation of minimum-wage i

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – Former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali provided free accommodation for United Development Party (PPP) politicians who joined him on a haj pilgrimage in 2012, a wi

Yogyakarta – Hundreds of coastal farmers in Kulonprogo regency, Yogyakarta, staged a rally and hunger strike on Monday, protesting at a plan to develop an airport on their farmland.

Edna Tarigan, Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama has said that the Jakarta provincial minimum wage will increase to Rp 3.1 million (US$227.93) next year from the current minim

Hamish McDonald – In 1977, only 12 years after they started, the massacre of Indonesian communists haunted Java's exquisite landscape of tiled-roof villages, fast-flowing rivers and irrigation chan

Laksmi Pamuntjak – A week ago I received a message from Janet DeNeefe, director of the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival.

Jakarta – Jakarta-based polling company Populi Center released on Monday the results of a survey of 1,200 respondents across the country's 34 provinces showing public approval of only 49.2 percent

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo witnessed investment agreements worth a total of US$20 billion between Indonesian and US companies during his trip to the US on Monday.

John Vidal – Raging Indonesian forest fires have advanced into dense forest on Borneo and now threaten one third of the world's remaining wild orangutans, say conservationists.

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI), one of the country's most reformed institutions that now focuses only on defense affairs, has gained the most public trust and respect, defeat

Suherdjoko, Semarang – National Commission on Human Rights' (Komnas HAM) deputy chairperson Roichatul Aswidah visited Salatiga, Central Java, on Friday to collect information regarding a ban on a s

Fedina S.

Jakarta – A smear campaign against the national palm-oil industry is underway, the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (GAPKI) has claimed, as pictures went viral on social media showing youn

Kate Lamb, Jakarta – Raging forest fires across Indonesia are thought to be responsible for up to half a million cases of respiratory infections, with the resultant haze covering parts of Malaysia

Arientha Primanita, Jakarta – Non-governmental organizations have called on the government to provide security for citizens to hold open discussions on the 1965 massacres, saying it would help the

Arya Dipa, Jakarta/Bandung – Bima Arya, the mayor of Bogor in West Java, has come under heavy criticism from human rights groups over his decision to ban members of the Shia community in his city f

To prevent a rapid return to the fearful, censored and militaristic days of the New Order, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, after a year in office, can and must lay down the law.

Kyle Knight – Draconian new by-laws came into effect in Indonesia's Aceh province last week, mandating harsh punishments for gambling and adultery, and the option of 100 lashes for gay people "caug

John Sifton – There are lots of reasons why President Barack Obama is meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo today in Washington.

Ni Komang Erviani, Denpasar – Hundreds of people have staged a rally in Denpasar to reject a planned reclamation project in Benoa Bay featuring both traditional and modern performances.

Serang, Banten – To prevent local people from becoming strangers in their own home, there should be no more foreign workers flocking to Banten province, the student wing of one of the country's key

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo departed on Saturday to the US on his first visit to the superpower, where he is scheduled to hold a meeting with President Barack Obama

Jewel Topsfield, Jakarta – Panel sessions and a film on the 1965 anti-communist massacres in Indonesia were prohibited at an international literary festival in Bali due to a 1966 government regulat

Harry Bhaskara, Brisbane – The Herb Feith Foundation, which sponsored events at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) that were eventually cancelled by authorities, has expressed its disappo

Lindsay Murdoch, Bangkok – A conservation scientist has described an acrid haze choking parts of South-east Asia as one of the worst ever man-made environmental disasters, saying that it is affecti

KoPi – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), a social organisation concerned with the environment, has released a list of big companies causing the forest and land fires in Indonesia.

Indonesia's freedom of expression and critical thinking are under attack.

Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama has revealed that he recruited interns and special staffers who have affiliations with giant private companies and developers, including Lip

Jakarta – Ten people have died in Sumatra and Kalimantan due to smog from forest and land fires, which include those killed during fire extinguishing operations and victims of acute respiratory inf

Fedina S.

Bogor – Mayor Bima Arya Sugiarto of Bogor has banned Shiites in the West Java city from commemorating Ashura this Sunday, citing security concerns, as Shiites in Bandung were forced by hard-liners